And so it came to pass, on 13-06-96 21:38,
   that BOB ALLMAN spake unto Matt Ion:
 BA> Matt,   In the case I'm referring to it's a '96 Mazda Miata.  The
 BA> trunk is only 3.2 cubes and the cockpit is ample for 2 people and
 BA> thats about it.  
Hmm.  Kinda tight, but it can be done.  I've seens several Miatas grace the 
pages of the various car audio magazines over the years.
One thing you might want to look into is the "aperiodic membrane" (partially 
developed and marketted by car audio guru Richard Clark and those gods at 
SpeakerWorks, as I recall).  It's a substance than can be placed over the 
front of a woofer or as the back of a very small enclosure that will act as 
if there were a much more substantial air mass there; in effect, it makes the 
driver "see" a large box where there is none.
If that's a little too esoteric (or expensive), you can also look into an 
isobaric enclosure.
 BA> I also have an '86 Ford diesel F250 and a restored '73 Dodge
 BA> Challenger muscle car.   
Hmm, no shortage of space in those beasts :)
 BA> The Miata comes with a Panasonic AM/FM/cassette unit driving door
 BA> mounted 5 1/4 coaxials and a pair of mid/tweeters in each seat's
 BA> headrest.  The speaker response is pedistrian.  The amp is around
 BA> 10w/RMS per channel. Hence my queries about what might make sense
 BA> to improve the overall sound. No boomers but better output across
 BA> the band and audibility without distortion at 75mph hiway speeds
 BA> with the top down!   
I've never really like the headrest speaker idea (Fiero did it too, years 
ago).  The very concept f***s with the notion of "accurate" audio placement 
and imaging.
I'd probably start by replacing the door speakers with some good (Quart if 
you can afford them, Boston Acoustics if you can't :) 5-1/4 coaxials, or if 
there are decent places to mount the tweeters, separates (it's been a while 
since I took a good look at the Miata's interior).  In fact, I'd take a good 
look at the door locations to see if shallow 6.5s couldn't be massaged in 
there somehow; the extended bass response would make a significant difference 
for those summer highway cruises :)
I'd want to upgrade the amp at the same time; in this case, I think the exact 
choice would depend partially on what kind of space is available for mounting 
the amp.  Your best bet would probably be a single four-channel job that 
could drive the door speakers and sub (make sure it's bridgeable, since 
you're likely only going to fit a single sub and as such only need one bass 
channel -- and make sure it's got a built-in sub crossover!).  Any 
*quality-brand* amp rated at 50W/ch or so should suffice (note the 
*quality-brand*!  You can get a cheap amp rated at 200W for <$200 and it 
won't come anywhere close to a good name-brand 50W amp costing $300).
 BA> My pride 'n joy is still my home system: 

Drool! Drool!
 BA> Some of this equipment dates back to 1971 but each was selected on
 BA> performance/price ratios.  
The only way to go.  Some of the brands that are now regarded as "junk" used 
produce very good components in their heyday (a friend has an old Sanyo 
receiver that kicks some serious ass).
 BA> The system sounds great.  Despite that I'm VERY interested in the
 BA> $2k homebrew speakers based on a Carver 60" ribbon that is
 BA> currently included in an $80k high end audiophile speaker system. 
Someone now makes electrostatic tweeters for the car, believe it or else :)
IKEA ... Swedish for "particle board."
--- Sqed/32 1.10/unreg
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