Audiophiles w/ Model 3's

[dfwatt]

Yes, I meant outer door metal (outer skin of door). Door Cavity behind the speaker acts as speaker cabinet, hence it is important to reinforce that. Yes to do that, you need to at least remove speaker and apply dynamat directly behind at minimum. Because of large surface area without many creases outer door skin need more reinforcement compared to inner. Also, if space permits something like wave breaker kit (Hushmat Wave Breaker Kit) is beneficial.

Last two cars I did, I removed complete inner panels, not just speakers and applied several strips of dynamat to outer door skin. It makes substantial difference on how door feels(knock test also), and helps reduce low frequency rumble transfer from outside.

I did not open my Model 3 yet, but based on images I saw, it should not be big effort to remove the front door speaker and apply Dynamat behind it. Normally sealants are very flexible and reusable, and worst case you can use outdoor silicone sealant to seal.

Don't know if I feel differently now about the amount work .. Only recent work I did on car speakers is, a month ago, I had to replace factory JBL mid/woofers on friend's Prius with JBL premium sound system as those failed. Replace both with 3 Ohm Rockford 60W mids. Built new harness so that factory harness need not be cut, and also needed to modify mounting ring to fit those. Took couple of hours though.

Thanks for sharing your work, photos and thoughts! Generally I am too lazy/not inclined to take photos while I work, if I start, I just want to finish it off first!!

Nice catch on that product. Will install once I have a replacement speaker from BadDesign that is straight pop in. Not a lot of margin in chasing it right now, as I will just have to open up that space later with the replacement driver. Thanks!

 

[aspec818]

I’m about to tackle the doors and likely trunk with some Noico in the near future. I’ve completely raammatted my old wrx some years back so i have some experience in this. Glad there are others interested in sound deadening as well. I’d take any small improvement on the road noise in the 3. Maybe there should be a dedicated 3 sound deadening thread?

 

[groovyd]

Put in an order for 36sqft of the material you used looks pretty good deal considering it is heavier then most. also ordered a pair of the 8" FAST rings (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KIG6JEG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for the woofers if I decide to 'do it right' once I get in there probably next spring. Hoping someone has a recommended woofer replacement identified by then. Will just do the dashboard and tweeters until then since the doors gives me a little more anxiety and i'd rather wait until a warm weekend to tackle it and once a replacement woofer has been identified.

 

[groovyd]

I’m about to tackle the doors and likely trunk with some Noico in the near future. I’ve completely raammatted my old wrx some years back so i have some experience in this. Glad there are others interested in sound deadening as well. I’d take any small improvement on the road noise in the 3. Maybe there should be a dedicated 3 sound deadening thread?

i'd say sound deadening metadata would suit audiophiles mostly to just be in the same thread since they will obviously want to consider that too.

 

[groovyd]

Nice catch on that product. Will install once I have a replacement speaker from BadDesign that is straight pop in. Not a lot of margin in chasing it right now, as I will just have to open up that space later with the replacement driver. Thanks!

Decided just to pull the trigger on the Focals as well. Will probably install the tweets with the dash 4's and wait on the doors until things warm up around here.

 

[dfwatt]

Decided just to pull the trigger on the Focals as well. Will probably install the tweets with the dash 4's and wait on the doors until things warm up around here.

Are they straight pop in replacement fitment? If so, please provide a link!

 

[flashflooder]

Are they straight pop in replacement fitment? If so, please provide a link!

No, they are not. The stock speakers sit in a very odd-shaped ring, themselves. You can carve them out and reuse the ring, or try to design a ring that gives a little more clearance for the magnet while still allowing the door trim to snap back on (I’m working on it... slowly)

I’m going to go on a limb and say that due to the odd factory ring / spacer, there won’t be any drop-in replacements.

 

[groovyd]

No, they are not. The stock speakers sit in a very odd-shaped ring, themselves. You can carve them out and reuse the ring, or try to design a ring that gives a little more clearance for the magnet while still allowing the door trim to snap back on (I’m working on it... slowly)

I’m going to go on a limb and say that due to the odd factory ring / spacer, there won’t be any drop-in replacements.

possibly a 6.5" with reducing ring? Is there any clearance in front of the driver for example if a spacer or shim was inserted between the speaker and existing mount? How much space is in front of the speaker before it hits the panel or grill?

 

[dfwatt]

No, they are not. The stock speakers sit in a very odd-shaped ring, themselves. You can carve them out and reuse the ring, or try to design a ring that gives a little more clearance for the magnet while still allowing the door trim to snap back on (I’m working on it... slowly)

I’m going to go on a limb and say that due to the odd factory ring / spacer, there won’t be any drop-in replacements.

Bummer if true. I suspect (hope?) that BadDesign will try to create a pop-in aftermarket replacement. If not, the market would be wide open. Perhaps you should take a shot at a custom backet 3D printed for a commonly available 8 inch woofer? Morel or something like that. Just need time off from the kids to design?

 

[flashflooder]

Bummer if true. I suspect (hope?) that BadDesign will try to create a pop-in aftermarket replacement. If not, the market would be wide open. Perhaps you should take a shot at a custom backet 3D printed for a commonly available 8 inch woofer? Morel or something like that. Just need time off from the kids to design?

Yea, I’m thinking once I get the design down, it should be a pretty universal fit for most 8” drivers. The design could easily be tweaked to accomodate other sizes, it’s the general shape that’s hard to nail down due to the tight clearances.

To answer the other question, there is almost zero clearance in front of the stock speaker. The door trim actually has a plastic “rim” in the speaker section that pushes right up against the stock woofer’s surround.

 

[dfwatt]

Yea, I’m thinking once I get the design down, it should be a pretty universal fit for most 8” drivers. The design could easily be tweaked to accomodate other sizes, it’s the general shape that’s hard to nail down due to the tight clearances.

To answer the other question, there is almost zero clearance in front of the stock speaker. The door trim actually has a plastic “rim” in the speaker section that pushes right up against the stock woofer’s surround.

yes, I saw that too. It is an 8 incher though yes? About to pull my last of four front doors apart for dynamatting . . .might see how much bracket fabrication work to get peerless 8 incher to fit. Does anybody know how frequency spectrum is apportioned in the front driver complement?

Also, is this the Infinity that you replaced the front dash speakers with? How did you mount? It requires three screws 120 degree separated at least in the video I saw, while most replacement drivers have four in a 90 degree spread?

 

[Thomas Edison]

For anyone interested in a low profile sub. I dropped my TW3 into the lower trunk to see how it fits. It has about a 1.25” gap under it when pushed down as snug as I can get it.

 

[flashflooder]

yes, I saw that too. It is an 8 incher though yes? About to pull my last of four front doors apart for dynamatting . . .might see how much bracket fabrication work to get peerless 8 incher to fit. Does anybody know how frequency spectrum is apportioned in the front driver complement?

Also, is this the Infinity that you replaced the front dash speakers with? How did you mount? It requires three screws 120 degree separated at least in the video I saw, while most replacement drivers have four in a 90 degree spread?

Yes, that's the Infinity I used... I only used 2 of the 3 screw holes. Figured it's good enough since 4" drivers aren't going to be moving much air.

Yes, the front woofers are 8" (more like 7-3/4, but 8" speakers will fit).

 

[groovyd]

For anyone interested in a low profile sub. I dropped my TW3 into the lower trunk to see how it fits. It has about a 1.25” gap under it when pushed down as snug as I can get it.
View attachment 370407View attachment 370408 View attachment 370404

very interested in this sub... running it from the factory sub amp or somehow adding another? this would be great if you can dial in the lowpass cutoff and gain. It doesn't need a lot of bass just a slight and tight punch in the very lows to help skip your heart a beat.

 

[groovyd]

Yes, that's the Infinity I used... I only used 2 of the 3 screw holes. Figured it's good enough since 4" drivers aren't going to be moving much air.

Yes, the front woofers are 8" (more like 7-3/4, but 8" speakers will fit).

have you found the dash rattle you mentioned earlier yet? also wondering if it would make sense to put some baffling wool behind the 4"s in the dash.

 

[flashflooder]

have you found the dash rattle you mentioned earlier yet? also wondering if it would make sense to put some baffling wool behind the 4"s in the dash.

The rattle comes from the liner overhead, specifically the section that houses the vanity mirrors and map lights. Just need to get behind there (not sure how) and apply some dampening.

 

[Skione65]

Decided just to pull the trigger on the Focals as well. Will probably install the tweets with the dash 4's and wait on the doors until things warm up around here.

@groovyd,

How much sound are you guys getting out of the OEM A-Pillar Tweets? I’m no audiophile but the sound is just super minimal if anything...almost imperceptible.....is this accurate and correct? Can’t even hear the highs.

Ski

 

[flashflooder]

@groovyd,

How much sound are you guys getting out of the OEM A-Pillar Tweets? I’m no audiophile but the sound is just super minimal if anything...almost imperceptible.....is this accurate and correct? Can’t even hear the highs.

Ski

Correct. The tweeters they were referring too, I believe, are the ones right above the doors (behind the sideview mirrors). Those do put out quite a bit of sound.

 

[dfwatt]

@groovyd,

How much sound are you guys getting out of the OEM A-Pillar Tweets? I’m no audiophile but the sound is just super minimal if anything...almost imperceptible.....is this accurate and correct? Can’t even hear the highs.

Ski

It is minimal, but I suspect that the design is pretty carefully balanced in terms of output from all the drivers. I'm going to do frequency sweeps and see which drivers are primary in which ranges, as one of my concerns about replacing the front 4 inch driver is whether it is full range or simply midrange rolled off on treble due to intrinsic driver limits vs. crossed over - suspect the former, in which case, putting in the Infinity could alter tonal balance, since the Infinity has significant high frequency output from a coax tweeter. Might sound better on the other hand, due to some need to boost treble in the stock system. Lots to learn about this system IOW

 

[groovyd]

@groovyd,

How much sound are you guys getting out of the OEM A-Pillar Tweets? I’m no audiophile but the sound is just super minimal if anything...almost imperceptible.....is this accurate and correct? Can’t even hear the highs.

Ski

I haven't installed anything yet so i'll let you know once I do. Have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit as i'm a whoos