Audio Question

[Eagle]

Not sure which board this belongs on ... this is probably as good as any.

Doing some sorting and organizing, and I stumbled across a pair of Radio Shack 2" piezo tweeters that are left-overs from a long-ago home speaker project that never went beyond the planning stage. I'm wondering if they could be used in one of the XJs or MJs.

Q1 -- they are rated for 75 watts "peak music power" (RMS not given) and 5,000-25,000 Hz. Could I tap one off each door speaker in parallel and call it done, or would I need some kind of crossover filter? I don't run an amp -- the '88 XJ has a Kenwood head rated 22 watts per channel, and the '88 MJ at the moment still has the OEM AM/FM radio.

Q2 -- if they will work at all in an auto environment, what's the best orientation for them? Should they be pointing right at me or can I tuck them up under the dashboard, out of sight? What about cutting them into the door panels up near the top of the panel (just below the window)?

TIA

 

[imma honky]

If they work, Im not sure about the 88, but in mine, there is a spot for some (i even think they are tweets) inside the lower dash. I have seen many pics with people placing they tweets on the front pillars at head level.
IMO, I think they should work. Will prolly only take a few mods. I would also go crossover.

 

[Sarge]

Tweeters should be pointed at you.

Sarge

 

[Centrevillemx]

Since the high end of the music frequency is more directional, they tweets should be near the front. The reason most people put sunbwoofers in the back is because Bass is less directional. Are you using the stock AMP? if not you may not even get anything out of them and the load would drag down the speakers you are trying to rig it to.

 

[Georgia Mike]

Put a 2.2uf ($0.99 @ Radio Shack) capicitors in line with the positive wire of each one and you'll be OK.

 

[Hawaiian Style]

Don't home speakers tend to run at 8 ohms and car speakers at 4 ohms, generally speaking of course. They'll work no matter what the case, just not quite the way they were designed to. If you wire them into your exsisting set up you'll end up with 12 ohms wired in series, or 6 ohms if not, of course that's if I remember correctly. I'm sure about the 12 but not the 6.

 

[Tucker]

Be sure your amp will handle the extra power... Hawaiian Style was close, but putting another speaker in parallel will actually reduce the impedance and draw more power from the amp. In the case of the piezos, this is rather trivial because they don't draw much, they're real efficient. There will be a small extra draw from the amp.

You don't need a crossover, it just helps filter frequencies that the speaker can't handle. Sort of redundant in this case, the piezos won't respond to lower frequencies and muddy the sound. If you have one lying around, use it, it might help with the mid-range speaker response, but it is not a requirement.

 

[eric91xj]

Eagle,

You by all means should use a crossover. You need to block out all low frequencys going to it, just because it is'nt capable of puttign out low frequency's does'nt mean it is'nt trying to unless you put a cross over in it. You'll blow them real fast without one. For that do what Georgia Mike said as he is correct, or i'll give ya the ones i have for what ever it takes to ship them from NY. Being they are home speakers they should be 8 ohms, yes you'll get 12 ohms if run in series with your current woofer and 6 ohms if in parrallel. This does'nt mean anything other than your not gonna get very much wattage going to them. The higher the ohm rating the less output you get from the reciever but clarity increases with is why home audio speakers are right in the middle at 8 ohms usually. You can mount them anywhere you want but ideally the driver side tweeter should be pointed at the front passenger's left ear and the passenger side tweeter should be pointed at the driver's right ear for proper imaging. I dont' know if you have power windows and locks or not but i dont' in my jeep so i mounted my tweets right there where the controls would be. Good luck.

eric

 

[Eagle]

Thanks, guys.

These are for home speakers, originally, and I completely forgot about the difference in resistance. The FSM shows the front tweeters (or in-dash speakers, I guess those were tweeters) wired in parallel and they don't appear to have any crossover unless it's built into the speakers.

All in all, it just doesn't seem worth the bother it's looking like it will require. I think I'll stay with Plan A, which was to replace the tired old OEM speakers with new Kenwood 2-ways and call it done.

Thanks again.