So I have a few parts in my other vehicles I’d like to get into the Metris, but rather than randomly throw parts I figured I would go ahead and do this one right.
First order of business is to measure the stock system in the stock van. I’ll measure from Driver and center of front row. I intend to tune for two seats, but understand that some may only want the Driver seat measurements.
I will be updating this post as time goes on with data put in the later posts.
Measurements from my setup (REW, UMIK-1, Onkyo DAC HA200 fed into the stock aux port, vehicle on accessory, all fans off).
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Took measurements of the central speaker mounts up under the windshield, and according to the Focal documents (they publish exact dimensions for their stock fit speakers) the front center speakers are using a Mercedes SURROUND mount, NOT a center mount. I measured approximately 84.5mm edge to edge on the narrower set of holes with my pocket calipers (only model I had that would fit) and MB uses 7mm mounting posts giving me an approximate 91.5mm center to center. I can't measure the other dimensions because my calipers don't fit and my van didn't come with a speaker to remove. The normal speakers are 81.5mm, center are 61.2mm, and surround are 93.6mm. Audiotec Fischer sells a reasonably priced speaker for this location (S4MB-SUR) and Focal sells a nice Coaxial (ICR MBZ 100). The issue becomes the fact that they are at the center of the dash and without heavy processing would cause all kinds of havok with imagining. They do have what look to be decent mounts and some good air space behind them, however, so it may be worth giving it a shot as a midrange fill and dealing with the loss of imaging, especially for a stealth install. Since we don't have wiring building in a passive crossover feeding off of the tweeter wiring would be the best way to add them, though the distance between the components would further muddy imaging.
As of now it looks like the best way to use these will be to try running them as a sum of L+R in series across both. That should keep the volume fairly low, while not narrowing the stage TOO much, and let them open up the front. I may grab a set of the cheaper Audiotec Fischer speakers to try, or maybe pop for the Focal Coaxials.
For the stock mount tweeter, both Focal and Audiotec Fischer make a drop in, but they are only available off the shelf as part of a speaker set which includes their door speakers, which... we can't use in a stock/stealth install. If you'd like one (and maybe even the matching crossovers that those kits come with) eBay is your friend.
07SEP2020: I decided to throw the dice and grabbed a set of CDT Unity 8.0's (2" wide range speaker) on super sale, and a set of refurb ES-CRM-6iMK mid bass woofers (kevlar cone cast basket inverted magnet 6.5's). I'll run them active off my DSP and amp and see how it goes with the Unity's in the stock tweeter locations. It should also pull more of the staging up onto the dash; we shall see. I'll be comparing the JBL 670GTi, 670GTi + Unity 8, and the Unity 8 + 6iMK to see what I like the best. I get the feeling that the three way may be the winner, but I'll have to see.
10SEP2021: So I got my CDT Unity 8.0's in, and it looks like they will fit as a tweeter replacement if you are willing to cut the plastic cover. They would surface mount there, and the magnet fits perfectly in the tweeter mount.
Something interesting I found after pulling the tweeter is that it has a 4.7 uF cap, which means it's high passed to 11.3kHz... it barely plays anything.
My intention is to test the Unity 8.0's up top and see what frequency they like up there. Other reports have them crossing between 250 and 400 Hz, and they are reported to play up through 10kHz with no issues, falling off in that last octave. Ironically that means they would match the stock tweeter and fill in the midrange, if I can come up with a decent mount that leaves the stock tweeter in place. That's something I'm investigating, though I'll have to see how to make it work with the stock head unit.
Part of this project is to leave a record on what can be done reasonably and easily for owners without replacing the entire system, hence trying to make this work within certain confines.
First order of business is to measure the stock system in the stock van. I’ll measure from Driver and center of front row. I intend to tune for two seats, but understand that some may only want the Driver seat measurements.
I will be updating this post as time goes on with data put in the later posts.
Measurements from my setup (REW, UMIK-1, Onkyo DAC HA200 fed into the stock aux port, vehicle on accessory, all fans off).
Took measurements of the central speaker mounts up under the windshield, and according to the Focal documents (they publish exact dimensions for their stock fit speakers) the front center speakers are using a Mercedes SURROUND mount, NOT a center mount. I measured approximately 84.5mm edge to edge on the narrower set of holes with my pocket calipers (only model I had that would fit) and MB uses 7mm mounting posts giving me an approximate 91.5mm center to center. I can't measure the other dimensions because my calipers don't fit and my van didn't come with a speaker to remove. The normal speakers are 81.5mm, center are 61.2mm, and surround are 93.6mm. Audiotec Fischer sells a reasonably priced speaker for this location (S4MB-SUR) and Focal sells a nice Coaxial (ICR MBZ 100). The issue becomes the fact that they are at the center of the dash and without heavy processing would cause all kinds of havok with imagining. They do have what look to be decent mounts and some good air space behind them, however, so it may be worth giving it a shot as a midrange fill and dealing with the loss of imaging, especially for a stealth install. Since we don't have wiring building in a passive crossover feeding off of the tweeter wiring would be the best way to add them, though the distance between the components would further muddy imaging.
As of now it looks like the best way to use these will be to try running them as a sum of L+R in series across both. That should keep the volume fairly low, while not narrowing the stage TOO much, and let them open up the front. I may grab a set of the cheaper Audiotec Fischer speakers to try, or maybe pop for the Focal Coaxials.
For the stock mount tweeter, both Focal and Audiotec Fischer make a drop in, but they are only available off the shelf as part of a speaker set which includes their door speakers, which... we can't use in a stock/stealth install. If you'd like one (and maybe even the matching crossovers that those kits come with) eBay is your friend.
07SEP2020: I decided to throw the dice and grabbed a set of CDT Unity 8.0's (2" wide range speaker) on super sale, and a set of refurb ES-CRM-6iMK mid bass woofers (kevlar cone cast basket inverted magnet 6.5's). I'll run them active off my DSP and amp and see how it goes with the Unity's in the stock tweeter locations. It should also pull more of the staging up onto the dash; we shall see. I'll be comparing the JBL 670GTi, 670GTi + Unity 8, and the Unity 8 + 6iMK to see what I like the best. I get the feeling that the three way may be the winner, but I'll have to see.
10SEP2021: So I got my CDT Unity 8.0's in, and it looks like they will fit as a tweeter replacement if you are willing to cut the plastic cover. They would surface mount there, and the magnet fits perfectly in the tweeter mount.
Something interesting I found after pulling the tweeter is that it has a 4.7 uF cap, which means it's high passed to 11.3kHz... it barely plays anything.
My intention is to test the Unity 8.0's up top and see what frequency they like up there. Other reports have them crossing between 250 and 400 Hz, and they are reported to play up through 10kHz with no issues, falling off in that last octave. Ironically that means they would match the stock tweeter and fill in the midrange, if I can come up with a decent mount that leaves the stock tweeter in place. That's something I'm investigating, though I'll have to see how to make it work with the stock head unit.
Part of this project is to leave a record on what can be done reasonably and easily for owners without replacing the entire system, hence trying to make this work within certain confines.
