to allow operation of the vehicle windows or other functions you may need to make or
obtain spacer rings to move the unit forwards. You need to ensure that the cone and
surround will not touch anything during playback. Remember that the cone will move a
good few mm forwards during operation. Should you need to make your own spacer rings,
we suggest MDF or similar, since the additional solidity and lower resonance goes a long
way towards eliminating vibrations when compared to a plastic ring.
When you mount the speaker with screws it is really important to make sure that you do
not damage the speaker surround with tools or any retaining washers. If you need to drill
new holes for mounting the speaker into the steel of the panel then make a small pilot hole
first to ensure accuracy, after first marking the points with a felt tip pen.
Crucially, you also need to ensure that there is no gap between the speaker framework and
the door panel or installation baffle as leaks like this will ruin the bass response.
Additionally it is vital that the chassis of the speaker is tightly mounted and perfectly flat.
We strongly advise that you consider sound proofing the car at least around the speakers
themselves to ensure that the sound produced does not get lost in the vibrations created in
the panel. This will allow your speaker to be more rigid, giving you the best sound quality
and most output possible.
When installing sound proofing it normally helps to warm the material before use. Try to
double up the layers close to the speaker itself. You are trying to increase the weight of the
panel, lower the resonance and give the speaker something solid to kick against.
When you install the amplification please ensure that you maintain the same phasing setup
throughout your installation. So it’s either “stripe to positive” or “stripe to negative” right
the way through.
When it comes to setting up your system for sound, please remember that the single most
common cause of speaker failure is distortion. And the single most common cause of
distortion is an amplifier set at too high a level.
We do recommend the use of an external amplifier to drive our midbass and midrange
speakers. If you are going to power your new speakers off your head unit then please
remember that head unit manufacturers insist on producing products that actually distort
at about three quarters the way up their volume scale. If you add a little bass to the
settings this critical point can be as low as half the way up the volume level! The result of
this is that the owner of the system blames the speaker for the distortion. The comment is
usually “the speakers are not powerful enough to take the sound.” In reality, you need to
ensure that you play the system within the scope of the capability of the amp you are
using. If this is a simple head unit then consider adding a subwoofer if you need more bass
– or add an amplifier to the speaker outputs if you need to drive your new speakers harder.
Remember that it’s easy to burn out speakers with distortion and this isn’t part of the
warranty.
With your Bassface speakers you are going to experience a much finer tonal balance and a
superb stereo experience. What you are not going to do is to make your amplifier or head
unit more powerful than it already its, or to re-write the rules of physics and create sub
bass out of a speaker that is not designed to do that.
