SQ VW Jetta - Mid & Tweeter Install
For this part of the system Simplicity in Sound consulted with Morel's own Casey Thorson. The guys were thinking of a semi on-axis dash pod but dismissed the idea because the MKVI Jetta windshield (unlike the MKV) is MUCH closer to the dash and does not have the little kick up at the end. They determined the dash pod would have had to come out so far that it would be ridiculous looking.
The end goal was to get the tweeters, which were more prone to beaming, installed about 10-15 degrees off-axis from the listeners ear. The CDM880 was far better off-axis so they wanted to aim them to the point that they would clear the instrument cluster shroud, about 30 degrees off-axis. To mimic the tweeter angles with the mids would require them to be a lot more inboard, which would both cut into the vision of the driver and decrease stage width.
The new pillars were textured and painted to match the other pillars and the CDM880 was flush-mounted with its own Lotus grille.
The Piccolo tweeter went into the only location that could give us that 10-15 degree off-axis aiming point, and that was the OEM sail panels. Because the tweeter is quite large, it made for a trick mold. It is textured as well and painted satin black like the OEM piece.
Here some build pics of the midrange and tweeter pods. To start, the OEM pillar was stripped of its top cover.
SiS aimed the two ring baffles using a flat laser pointer and secured them to the A-pillars.
Then grille cloth was pulled, forming the shape of the pod.
Resin was applied, allowed to cure, and excess cloth was trimmed. The Duraglas/resin mixture was poured inside to reinforce the pods.
After body filler and smoothing, sound proofing was added on both inside the pods and on the backside of the OEM pillar piece.
SiS painted the Octopus grille for the CDM-880 black.
For the sail panel pods they scuffed them with 36 grit sandpaper to give some bite to the fiberglass.
Then using the laser pointer, they aimed the two tweeters to be identical degrees off-axis from each ear, and secured the baffles to the sail panels.
Next, grille cloth was pulled and attached to the panels, forming the shape of the pod.
Resin was applied and when that cured, milkshake was poured into the pod to strengthen it. Excess cloth was trimmed off.
After three layers of filler, they sanded the pods to the desired curvature and shape.
A layer of STP gold damper also went into the pods.
They then sprayed them with high build primer.
The A-pillars were textured and painted to match the other pillars.
The sail panels were textured and painted in satin black and the Morel Supremo Piccolo tweeters were wired up and installed.
Our thanks to SiS, Bing Xu and Joey Knapp for sharing their work with Morel! Visit their Facebook page (http://facebook.com/SimplicityinSound) or, better yet, their store in the San Jose, CA area.
