Cab upgrades

yea i just saw.  One last question, do you like the way the polks sound with the sub.  not counting anything behind the seat, just the polks and the sub

I built it -at the time- to optimize the 8" Polk's that were in there.

But for now I just want to get a good sounding pair of rear speakers, without diving into a new project of figuring volume, densities, reversions, etc.
I put a new front panel on it and can cut whatever size holes I want.

It's okay

Definitely need to tune it in, but I'm pretty happy with the sound. (For what it is)

Ok, here is what we are dealing with.  Being the box is behind the seat,  i would probably go with the daytons.  From design, that bullet thing that is in the middle is where your highs are going to come from.  it is made of metal, and the high end can tend to be a bit brash, i personally do not care for metal material being used on a tweeter, but this can work to your advantage being they are firing into the back of the seat.  Having a tweeter would be a bit of a waste as the seat will absorbe the sound energy coming from the tweeters..  when reworking the box, if there is no acoustic material inside, ie, foam, my preference is carpet underlayment.  Line it, dont stuff it and keep the box sealed, no ports.  this will calm down the high spl spl of the daytons.   I really do want to go out on a limb here and say go with the daytons  but hold on, let me look at it again and let me read some reviews.  I dont really go by reviews , but i read what gary wrote and i just want to check and i dont want to steer you in the wrong direction.   ill be back in a minute or so

I read the reviews, and i still will say go with them.

The bad reviews on parts express are from people trying to use these as replacement speakers, as far as that goes, they are not suited for that.  These speakers are intended for use in a system that utilizes a subwoofer.  No, these people would not like these, they would not like what i have in the back of the Ranchero because it is based on the same principle as these.

The cones of these speakers are very stiff and are classified as what is known as a " Musical Instrument speaker"  dont let this scare you away.  These types of speakers have very stiff suspension, and are limitided in there bass response ( unless you have a huge box )  these were the types of speakers used in the 60's like i was telling you about with the very big boxes.  anyway, you dont them to do bass, that is what your sub is for.  but the bass a " musical Instrument speaker " can do, will surpass any woofer or sub.  the mdbass and lower midrange frequencies will surpass any stand alone midrange speaker.  Basically, any frequency these types of speakers " can do " will surpass anything else.

Given your situation, i would go with them.  if you decide to get them, do what i said to the box, its a nice big box and the speakers will love it.   so yea,i'm going out on a limb here and telling you to get them.

if you get them, once you install them, get back with me on your thoughts and we will tweak the head unit

one ther thing.  I like your box.  plywood sounds better then MDF

Ok

From what you say, I'll probably jump into the dark with the Daytons.
They tick all my boxes as far as frequency, sensitivity and power handling, but were completely off my radar.
Even at 96DB they are head and shoulders above the competition.

The safe bet would be to go with another pair of the Polk 8" MM, or the 6.5 DB's like the front channel.
But I'm willing to take a chance, and provide unbiased feedback.

Thanks again!  

Baltic Birch has many veneers (all the same thickness throughout) and no voids (like marine ply)

It's nice to work with.
You don't sand through a skimpy face ply, and it comes in 1.5M square or 4x8' sheets.

Birch is my fav.  my speakers in the house are made of birch.   I'm glad you are going with them.  i really do think you will like it

The box is lined lined with foam underlayment.
But it is ported.

I can easily eliminate the ports.
That's not a big deal.

It is behind the seat and doesn't need to win any beauty contest.

leave the ports alone right now, the only reason i said to seal it was to calm down the spl of the speaker, being it is going to fire into the back of the seat you should be ok with that.  If you instal them and they happen to knock, then seal off the ports, but i doubt this will happen.  

I want to clarify something about Class D amps.   It's not like they are horrifying and are of low fidelity, they are not.  They have quite a few high grade class d amps and there are people who like them.  I've had back and fourth heated conversations with many audiophiles on this subject.  me, i just flat out do not like them, neither does nick, but we are lucky.  Nick can build amplifiers and make them do anything he wants them to do so we are not stuck with class d in the cars.  Brutu's sound system while is only 50 watts per side and is only going to have 6 x 9's in the door.  here's what you wont see, and the sound system in the ranchero is the same way, just more powerful.   the head unit, it is the exact same radio Brutus came with, the only difference is the inside's have been gutted of everything except for the IF section ( which is the tuner )  Ford made darn good tuners, but the sound take off and everything on the tuner is Nick along with the preamplifier.  the amplifier is 50 watts per channel class AB.    But we can do this.  I am a picky anal retentative audiophile that is set in his ways and wont get off alot of my thinking.  People can try to sway me, but when they end up finally hearing our stuff, there opinions quickly change.    You may not here what i hear with a class D amp, i can almost assure you , you wont.   As far as being true to the signal, you have to spend some big bucks to get that irregardless of its class of amplification.  Class D dosen't sound bad, it's just different

Ok, I'll leave *the box* for now.
Maybe I can scrounge up the speakers come Friday.

I 'hear' you on the -lack of- fidelity with a class D amp.
(But I don't have to wait for the tubes to warm up either!  )

It's only us fossils that know that 'Pop' and waiting for the color of the glow to get right before we could turn it up!

I'm not a connoisseur, or a sound snob.
I just want something solid to listen too. (It's not like I really COULD hear what you do... with my ears)
But I'd rather give it consideration and seek advice -Thanks!- than be unhappy or disappointed and want to rip it out.

Not that most tube amps are very high fidelity.

My sense is that the great majority are 'bouncy' or full of reverb, but that's a artifact of the resonance and harmonics that is their trait.

Of course a Macintosh or other enthusiast tube amp can have great fidelity, but that is not the scope of my needing car speakers.

you should if you are getting them from amazon if you have prime.  best thing is if they dont work or you dont like them, they take them back no questions asked and if they dont work, chances are they send you new ones and tell you to keep the old ones and throw them away.  

The $30 differential from Parts Express has me wondering though...

I don't see Prime on my app.
I see "sold by and ships from..."

So even if I do pay the extra $, they're still getting drop shipped from P.E. (to me)

from what i see, on amazon it comes from parts express, i checked parts express the price is the same so i'd just elminate the middle man and order them from parts express

I must have been looking at their 10 or more price....

But yeah, if coming from Parts Express anyhow, I don't need to let Bezos & Co. suck up P.E.'s profit.
Amazon is doing well enough for themselves thanks to the pandemic.

I AM looking far down the page at recommended cabinet volumes (vented & invented) .15 Cu feet single or .28 double seems pretty small to me, given the depth of the speakers mounting.

I see my ports lay squarely in the middle of Patrick's recommendations for single and double cabinet.

And how do you factor to reduce the designed volume for the bulk of the speaker that sits inside it?

Sorry for the naive questions...