P5 kickpod advice needed

[basementgeek]

I'm going to experiment a bit with some fiberglass and want to do up some kicks for my Focal KP's. They're 6 1/2 (big for kicks i know) and I've seen all the tutorials, but I just need some advice how to mount them to my P5.

I went to the wreckers and got another pair of panels that I can hack up, and I've relocated the fuse panel. I need the drivers to sit as far to the side as possible to keep some kind of foot room. So should I cut out the middle of the panel, (and just leave a "frame") glass on to it and mount the pod to the car like the stock panel? Or should I use mdf and make a plate of sorts to mount to the car, and then glass to that?

I know the imaging will be WAY better as I've played with angles and such already, but I'm worried about getting good mid bass. The Focals play pretty low and I want to minimize vibration and resonance without having to bandaid a bad design with excessive dampening.

Any ideas? I hope that made sense....

 

[chuyler1]

6.5" speakers in the kicks is pretty tight but it has been done. However, due to the severe limitations with regards to air space, they won't sound very good below about 150-300Hz and you WILL have to dampen things and eq certain frequencies.

I would plan on putting a midbass driver in the stock door location if you are building kicks. This will take care of the 70-150Hz range and you won't have to worry about the nasty peaks that you will get in that range from the kick panels. I've done kicks in 3 different cars (2 with 6.5"s) and never got the midbass I was looking for.

Another option is to get a matching 4" driver and build kicks with the 4 and tweeter. Then put your 6.5" in the door. Getting the 4"s in the Protege kicks is a breeze and you only have to use it for 200Hz-up when you have the 6.5" in the door.

 

[basementgeek]

I was hoping that if I built the pod to be extended up with an open top that it would simulate a door well enough....but guess that wouldn't really be infinite baffle....more ported enclosure. The woofers really pound in the doors so the more I think about it, the more doomed that idea seems.

Focal does make a 4" mid that matches my components so I'll probably go that route, and keep the woofers in the doors. The mids are also fairly shallow so footspace will be less of an issue.

Given the smaller driver, I guess I could glass to the kick panel itself? I'd just cut away the hump from the fuse panel so they sit back further. Like what Poseur did here:

I'm thinking that would be the fastest way to get it clean and functioning. The panel is kinda flimsy though, so I'm worried about it distorting when I fleece. Do you have these finished Poseur?

 

[chuyler1]

Did you ever make kickpods?

 

[basementgeek]

Did you ever make kickpods?

Nope.....didn't get that far yet . I did glass my woofer into the jack side of the hatch though (that was learning experience!).

I want to use 4" in the kicks, put then I can't decide what to do from there. I 'm running an Audison 4 channel amp bridged right now. The possible xover, amp, and driver combinations is what's stopping me. Can't decide to run the 3-way xover in the deck (Alpine 9855), use a stand alone, or use Morel Elate 3 way comps instead of mixing and matching my Focals, or just dump it all and re-design the entire set-up!

So much drama....