Can You Suggest Some Full Range, Lightweight Speakers for Porsche?

[Ds1]

Hey guys,

This is sort of a weird post, but I thought the TB forum and "Live Sound" would appreciate this best.

I'm building a lightweight Porsche 911 street/track car, but as a musician and audiophile, I want to retain a stereo (unlike every other track car).

In order to do so, I'm planning on buying/building a simple D-class amp with only volume control and a 1/8 input for a iPhone or whatever. Speakers are my question though - I want to go neodymium to save weight, but I also only want to run 2 speakers total, and need something that can still thump some bass frequencies when I'm listening to Victor Wooten.

4 Phil Jones drivers in each door would be fricken cool. Any ideas?

 

[BioWeapon]

To minimize weight and keep freq. Response, you want coaxial drivers. I can't recommend any as it is, but it's a lighter, better sounding solution than just a driver.

 

[M0ses]

Agreed, you won't be happy with a mono-cone system. It's just not possible to get reasonable full range fidelity at any volume you'll be able to hear over the engine and wind.

 

[Ds1]

Yeah, that's the other thing - the car is quite loud, so the speakers need to be able to handle some good power. Thankfully a D class amp can provide piles of power

 

[Bufalo]

Polk MM series coaxes use neo-magnet drivers and would provide plenty of sound. Amazon has the best prices.

 

[Robroy]

I'm guessing the car is not very well soundproofed. I'd just go with my smartphone and ear buds.

 

[hover]

Yeah, you're gonna have to make concessions somewhere, given your parameters.
A pair of coaxial drivers will get you so far, the fidelity will be there, but where you mount them in proximity to your ears is just as important as the juice you pump into them. Sounds like a less than optimal listening environment. w/o a sub, you won't be rocking any serious bass. Throw a tube-type / bazooka sub behind / under the seat to compensate. won't take up that much more room, but you'll need a crossover and second amp that can handle the high discharge / refresh rate of sub bass.

 

[Bufalo]

Where are you mounting the speakers, in what chassis 911? I know different people have different ideas of the requisite civility level inside a "lightweight street/track" car; are you retaining any interior panels, or is it just going to be bare sheetmetal and roll cage tubing?

 

[Ds1]

Yeah, I mean I'm not expecting perfect audio, but for example my 2003 Jetta has pretty great bass response (not ground pounding, but that's not what I'm into anyway) on the stock system. It's just annoying when you have a car that someone put aftermarket speakers in that have no bass response and can never handle the amount of power you really need.

I hate earbuds. Ruins the sound of the exhaust and the wind

It's an '82 911SC. I will not be going "full" stripped - I will have a lightweight RS carpet kit and RS door panels.

Bazooka tubes are out of the question. Way too heavy. I was just thinking "hey, since us bassists are so into these 3lb heads and 10lb speaker cabs, why can't I do that in my car?"

I'll post some pics of what I'm going for and look into the Polk MM's.

 

[FatBoutedGirls]

Parts express has neo faitalpro 4", that does 90 - 20,000 hz and a 50x2 amp chip that runs on 12 volts and fits in the palm of your hand. Forget subs, maybe some transducers under the seat to simulate bass. That would be light and simple.

 

[Lowactnsatsfctn]

Kenwood Excelon Dualmags are what I would use. They are the lightest, and IMO, sound better than any thing else I've used aside from my Boston Pro components, which even @ dealer cost where a few hundred dollars. With the Kenwood, The mid driver's cone goes all the way across and the tweeter is held on the front with a composite bracket that sits just off the cone, so they have an extremely low profile. The Mid bass response on them is good, one of the most under rated car audio speaker I think. The sensitivity is also much higher than most comparable brands higher models.

Without a good subsonic filter and hpf that most good head units have, boosting the bass turns to farts quick with small speakers. You need to filter what's too low out to really get everything out of them. There are a few manufacturers that make small amps like you described. They are generally marketed for power sports.

 

[GBassNorth]

To the OP - I'm an avid Porsche driver, collector, club member (you name it) and bass player. I assume you're looking for low weight speakers because you intend to track your SC. Its an interesting dilemma, how do you extract the most out of your car on the track while still making it livable on the street. I must admit, usually the sound system is the first thing to get extracted when lightening a car for competition.

If you're set on having a really nice sounding stereo with real capable speakers you're going to add weight, maybe as much as 20 to 50 pounds for the entire system (radio, amp, wire, speakers, etc). That's not going to help on race day. So I'd suggest you contact a local auto stereo speciality shop to see if they can make a modular system that would fit in the back seat area (seats folded down) when not racing and could be easily removed for racing. If you go that route you might be able to have two large co-axial or tri-axial speakers, along with a bazooka type subwoofer and power booster/amp all in separate low profile cabinets on the rear ledge with plenty of ability to overcome the engine noise. Then on race day you just lift out the separates and only have a stereo head left in the dash.