Speakers and amp for a truck camper?

[Jakes_dad]

We bought a used truck camper last year and have slowly been outfitting it for our needs.

Exhibit A:



The camper is prewired for a car stereo and has a pair of 5 1/4" speakers mounted over the dinette:



We won't be doing any critical listening, maybe just some low volume background music if we get stuck in the camper all day due to inclement weather.

My first thought was to just replace them with some replacement car speakers, but I am not sure how they would sound with the limited "enclosure" space, I hooked an amp up to the speakers that came with it and it was unlistenable, like nails on a chalkboard.

When I removed the speakers:




5" diameter and about 2" deep, About 40 cubic inches.

I cobbled up a couple of test baffles and auditioned a few small drivers that I had on hand:

Peerless TC9FD18-8
SB SB10PGC21-4
Dayton ND90-8

Picture of one of the baffles:



After trying them all, I liked the ND90 the best. I can live with the amount of bass it put out, the other 2 were lacking quite a bit.

Any suggestions on other drivers I should try?

The ND90s sound OK, I could live with them the way they are, but I was thinking of maybe adding a tweeter, I have a pair of Dayton ND16FA-6s on the shelf, any thoughts on using those with the ND90s?

As far as the amp is concerned, I will probably end up with an automotive style unit. I was trying to find an amp that works off of 12v and has balance adjustment to try and tweak the "sweet spot" to my side of the dinette, but really couldn't find anything besides the automotive ones.

Any other ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Richard

[djg]

Toss the automotive door units, make a pair of small TM boxes to just sit wherever, or on wall brackets.

[Jakes_dad]

There is very limited wall space to mount speaker boxes and what space there is would be an invitation to a head trauma. I have already removed a couple of light fixtures and a valance that had become way too familiar with my forehead! I was also trying to avoid anything that sat on the counter or table. I did consider a tabletop radio or bluetooth speaker, but I worry that it would always be getting shuffled around from table to counter and back again.

[LOUT]

Something like this might work alright if there's room for XO parts and if there isn't much diffraction or BaffleStep:

This is just simulated. The wonky jagged bits are from something goofy in PE's ND16FA-6 FRD/ZMA response....which I should probably try to fix manually now that I'm thinking about it.

I think the ND90-8 on its own is pretty good all the way up to 8000hz or a little over.
The tweeter should help the highs sound more consistant and smooth, but sticking with just the ND90 should still be pretty nice if fitting a tweeter and XO ends up being a nightmare.

[Jakes_dad]

Thanks for the reply. I posted my sim below using your crossover. I am not 100% sure I did everything correctly, but that 2.5k crossover point might be a bit low for that tweeter.. Let me know what you think.

[Jakes_dad]

LOUT,

This is what I come up with using your crossover and traces of the Dayton FRD/ZMA files, no BSC or diffraction:

[tomzarbo]

What did the camper have as a head unit? Do you need radio, or would mp3, Bluetooth be okay? What space do you have available for it? Also, is there a TV or do you plan on having one?

I have a few ideas.

TomZ

[Jakes_dad]

Tom,
There was no head unit ever installed, there is 12V wiring and a spot to cut out for a single DIN head unit. The plan is to play music from my phone, so bluetooth + a wired backup (3.5mm, RCA jacks or similar) in case of bluetooth connection issues would be nice. The need for balance adjustment is the one that has been hard for me to find outside of an automotive head unit or 110v amp

[tomzarbo]

You have a PM

[LOUT]

Thanks for the reply. I posted my sim below using your crossover. I am not 100% sure I did everything correctly, but that 2.5k crossover point might be a bit low for that tweeter.. Let me know what you think.

This is what I come up with using your crossover and traces of the Dayton FRD/ZMA files, no BSC or diffraction

Always nice to confirm another software/SIM shows the same results, thanks for checking.

Good point about the tweeter being asked to play too low. That XO/HighPass has the tweeter's resonant peak (around 2200hz) pushed down by only 6-8db compared to the rest of the response. I think something closer to 10-15db down is said to be a lot safer.
Shrinking the HighPass' 4uF Cap down to ~2.2uF (and maybe also shrinking the LowPass 12uF cap to something like 6.8uf - 10uF) pushes the XO point up a bit and pushes the tweeter's resonant peak down about -10db. Still probably not great, but I also think the tweeter will only get its full 10watts if your radio/head is able to push a full 80watts-per-side into a pair of 8ohm speakers...so I think you'll likely be running another -6db down just because you'd probably need to really search to find a car radio/amp that'll realistically push more than 20watts into an 8ohm load.

I am pretty new to all this though, so second-opinions and double-checking things I'm saying are good plans that definitely won't offend my delicate feelings, lol.

[Dukk]

It will be a real challenge trying to get decent sound out of automotive 5.25" speakers in that space so good call on just moving to something else.

I would consider picking up a standard car single DIN headunit for all of the conveniences it offers - multiple sources, balance/fader/tone controls (even expanded EQ controls on more expensive models), built in power that might be enough for you, as well as RCA outs if you want to use a small amplifier or even add a small subwoofer at some point, and many have remote controls which can be handy as they often stuff the radio location into a less than convenient place in campers.

[Jakes_dad]

Yeah, I am leaning towards an automotive head unit.

[wogg]

+1 on an auto head unit. Big fan of Pioneer, for a little over $100 you can get a full featured unit. You can go active on the crossover too, they have built-in high/low pass to use the front and rear outputs as tweeter and woofer. Lots of EQ bands, Bluetooth, USB, 1/8"..... all that.

[LOUT]

Neat. Built-in, active XO's could certainly save some space in the already tight overhead speaker areas.

[Jakes_dad]

+1 on an auto head unit. Big fan of Pioneer, for a little over $100 you can get a full featured unit. You can go active on the crossover too, they have built-in high/low pass to use the front and rear outputs as tweeter and woofer. Lots of EQ bands, Bluetooth, USB, 1/8"..... all that.

Before I started this thread, this was the one I had settled on if I went with an auto head unit:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...ers/MVH-S322BT

Can be had most places for $80. Is this what you had in mind?

Thanks,

Richard

[wogg]

Before I started this thread, this was the one I had settled on if I went with an auto head unit:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...ers/MVH-S322BT

Can be had most places for $80. Is this what you had in mind?

Thanks,

Richard

Yeah that's pretty much it, and I only say "pretty much" because the seem to change the aesthetics every year or so. I put one of those in the kid's car a few years back and a dual DIN version of the same radio in my previous car. Since they don't have a CD transport they're really shallow and light.

[Dukk]

I too like Pioneer a lot and that one in the link has a great set of features. I have found that Pioneer can sometimes be a little more troublesome when used with some outboard amplifiers.

Should you are for another option, my go-to headunit these days is Kenwood. I prefer an Excelon model but even their standard lineup is excellent.

I do dislike the current trend from all manufacturers of putting the USB port on the face of the deck. It makes for a cluttered appearance IMO. Some of the Excelon models also have a rear USB that can then be connected with an extension to wherever it is convenient.