I don't know much about car audio but I would like to upgrade my system
just a bit. I have congenital hearing loss and I don't hear midrange very
well, it sounds muddy. So I want to upgrade my factory speakers (Ford
F150) to either 2 ways or 3 ways to emphasize the higher and lower
frequencies a bit. What are the pros/cons of 2 ways vs. 3 ways?

Who are some recommended online sources for receivers, amps, etc. ?
--
Mac Cool

As you probably know, a 2-way system divides high and mid frequency sounds
between 2 speakers, a tweeter and a mid-range. A 3-way system adds a "low-mid"
speaker into the mix, which helps to ease the work-load the other 2 speakers
have to deal with by handling certain frequencies itself. This also serves to
better blend sound between the main speakers and the subwoofer. A well designed
3-way system should be more accurate than a 2-way system. However, the benefits
may be lost because of your hearing issues. The downside to a 3-way system in
general is that it requires more space inside the car, and makes both
installation and system tuning more difficult. The best possible sound is often
achieved with a tri-amped 3-way system, where the tweeters, mids, and low-mids
get their own amps. This setup is extremely costly and space-consuming.

Who are some recommended online sources for receivers, amps, etc. ?

Crutchfield and Sound Domain are reliable online resellers, but I heartily
reccomend aganist buying a deck online. A big part of picking your ideal deck
lies in deciding which user interface you like the best. Alpine decks are among
the best made but I personally dislike their user interface and choose not to
buy one based almost entirely on that fact. Pioneer and Blaupunkt, IMO, have
the easiest interfaces with Eclipse (the brand I went with) somewhere between
them and Alpine. Picking a system is based on a sort of formula. You have to
weigh the kind of music you listen to, what you expect your system to do with
that music, how much you want to spend and what level of modification you are
willing to make to your truck. The solution to that formula will help you make
a short list of the products that fit your wants and needs and then you can
pick from among them.
Steve Grauman

I would disregard any notion you may have that a 3-way speaker will sound
any better than a 2-way. It would be like a general (false) belief that
just because a car has a turbo charger that it will be faster than a non
turbocharged one. I've heard plenty of 2-ways that sound much better than
3-ways for example. Having said that, I would highly recommend that you
personally audition your speakers before you buy them...especially since you
have a hearing deficit.

You might be more interested in choosing a head unit that can control the
boost of the midrange frequencies if you have troubles hearing them, for
example.

Tony


--
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500 Amplifiers,
Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure
"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
I don't know much about car audio but I would like to upgrade my system
just a bit. I have congenital hearing loss and I don't hear midrange very
well, it sounds muddy. So I want to upgrade my factory speakers (Ford
F150) to either 2 ways or 3 ways to emphasize the higher and lower
frequencies a bit. What are the pros/cons of 2 ways vs. 3 ways?

Who are some recommended online sources for receivers, amps, etc. ?
--
Mac Cool

If your perception of sound means you need to apply substantial gain to
midrange frequencies, a 3 way set might be just the ticket. By using a
separate amp and a separte midrane driver, the attention you give to isolating
and increasing mid frequencies can be even better focused.
An electronic crossover can add to your control. You might consider buying a
decent pair of 2 way comps, and pick up a set of mids rated for higher power
than the comps. It's not unusual for people who have desire/need to
artificially spike a specific bandwidth to burn up alot of speakers. Purchasing
mids with a higher power handling ability should fix that possibility.


More likely, the problem is perception of clarity rather than volume.
3-ways have the potential to be more accurate.
Unfortuneately, most of the increase quality would be lost on you.
To help you sense the best definition possible, I would do the following:
Limit your full range reproduction to 1 set of drivers - whether you use
coaxes, 2way or 3 way comps.
Next, do whatever you can to get your mid-producing speakers as close to ear
level as you possibly can, so you can bring the relative volume of mids down as
much as possible, to reduce the reflection and therefore further loss of
clarity.
If you have a sedan, maybe your rear deck is the place to put the soundstage.
If you go high up in your front door panels,
you'll best find a shallow mount speaker that doesn't require alot of air space
behind it, and in your case definitely Dynamat the door.
Then, get as good of a parametric equalizer as you can afford.
This may even help you find the specific frequencies that are problematic,
and will give you the best shot at addressing only the problem freqs while
leaving some life in your music reproduction.
In this scenario, on paper 3 ways are better, but in practice, your deficit is
probably going to cost you the subtle nuance you would gain from a 3-way anway.
My vote is for a 4" or 5.25" comp set (smaller mid to give you more mounting
versatility)
and a quality sealed sub enclosure that can pick up the bit of mid bass lost by
the smaller midrange driver.

www.MAINSTREET-AUDIO.com
~ ~ ~ Where SERVICE never goes out of style ~ ~ ~

V I S I T O U R F O R U M
http://63.74.14.174/forum/phpBB2/index.php

My bad...for some odd reason I thought we were talking about 2 and 3-way
coaxials, not components.

Disregard.

Tony


--
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500 Amplifiers,
Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure
"Tony Fernandes" wrote in message
...
I would disregard any notion you may have that a 3-way speaker will sound
any better than a 2-way. It would be like a general (false) belief that
just because a car has a turbo charger that it will be faster than a non
turbocharged one. I've heard plenty of 2-ways that sound much better than
3-ways for example. Having said that, I would highly recommend that you
personally audition your speakers before you buy them...especially since
you have a hearing deficit.

You might be more interested in choosing a head unit that can control the
boost of the midrange frequencies if you have troubles hearing them, for
example.

Tony


--
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500
Amplifiers, Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped
In Front and Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In
Aperiodic Enclosure
"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
I don't know much about car audio but I would like to upgrade my system
just a bit. I have congenital hearing loss and I don't hear midrange very
well, it sounds muddy. So I want to upgrade my factory speakers (Ford
F150) to either 2 ways or 3 ways to emphasize the higher and lower
frequencies a bit. What are the pros/cons of 2 ways vs. 3 ways?

Who are some recommended online sources for receivers, amps, etc. ?
--
Mac Cool

I think your initial impression was correct. It sounds like he's asking
about coaxials vs. triaxials.

On Sun, 14 Nov 2004, Tony Fernandes wrote:

My bad...for some odd reason I thought we were talking about 2 and 3-way
coaxials, not components.

Disregard.

Tony


--
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500 Amplifiers,
Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure
"Tony Fernandes" wrote in message
...
I would disregard any notion you may have that a 3-way speaker will sound
any better than a 2-way. It would be like a general (false) belief that
just because a car has a turbo charger that it will be faster than a non
turbocharged one. I've heard plenty of 2-ways that sound much better than
3-ways for example. Having said that, I would highly recommend that you
personally audition your speakers before you buy them...especially since
you have a hearing deficit.

You might be more interested in choosing a head unit that can control the
boost of the midrange frequencies if you have troubles hearing them, for
example.

Tony


--
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500
Amplifiers, Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped
In Front and Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In
Aperiodic Enclosure
"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
I don't know much about car audio but I would like to upgrade my system
just a bit. I have congenital hearing loss and I don't hear midrange very
well, it sounds muddy. So I want to upgrade my factory speakers (Ford
F150) to either 2 ways or 3 ways to emphasize the higher and lower
frequencies a bit. What are the pros/cons of 2 ways vs. 3 ways?

Who are some recommended online sources for receivers, amps, etc. ?
--
Mac Cool

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
I don't know much about car audio but I would like to upgrade my system
just a bit. I have congenital hearing loss and I don't hear midrange very
well, it sounds muddy. So I want to upgrade my factory speakers (Ford
F150) to either 2 ways or 3 ways to emphasize the higher and lower
frequencies a bit. What are the pros/cons of 2 ways vs. 3 ways?

That is an interesting question, because I have never been very fond of 3 way
speakers for exactly this reason - they tend to emphasize the upper midrange too
much. They will only cost slightly more, all else being equal. I would not
normally recommend them (in general - unless the speakers just happened to be
excellent and just happened to be 3 way.) But in your case, I'd definitely
recommend 3 way speakers.

Who are some recommended online sources for receivers, amps, etc. ?

Crutchfield is a good start - they have good guides for fitting specific cars.