Thread: where to put the crossover?

When I shake them it does feel like theres something loose inside, not loose like screw loose, but like theres something solid inside that moves, that's why i'm asking. Both of them are like that, so I don't think theres anything wrong with them. Also, there are no mounting holes, will two faced tape hold them fine?

What brand are they? Most open up so that you can get to the mounting positions. If not some good 2 sided tape or Velcro should hold it. Just try to avoid putting it inside your door panal.

you dont have to mount it at all. as long as you put it somewhere snug enough so it wont shake itself loose or fall out, etc.

professional installers usually put the crossover inside the door. saves the trouble of having to run new wiring through the doors. However, you can technically put yours anywhere you want, depending on how much work you want to do. there are three classic locations:

#1 inside the door panel.
#2 inside the underdash on each side.
#3 in the trunk next to your amplifier.

#1 is my favorite option. theres always space, you can wrap the crossovers up if you want to, all you have to worry about is whether itll shake itself into a position ot interfere with the power window.

#2 is probably the most functional. youll have access to your crossover for phase testing after the whole car is put together, and you dont have to run a gazillion wires from the trunk forward. you WILL have to run at least one set of wires through the door grommet. But chances are, if youve been listening to the internet community, that you were planning on doing that anyways, even new wires for the tweeter. best of all, the crossovers are hidden when you arent fiddling with them.

#3 is more of if you want to experiment with biamping in the future, or want to display your crossovers. its a pain in the butt, takes a ton of wiring, your car is a mess, the judges have an easier time tearing your car apart, showing them off invariably looks like cramming 10 pounds of poop into a 5 pound bag, the list goes on.

However if you really are going to experiment with active processing, its the way to go.

so overall, youll have to be a judge of your needs/motivation to install. all thre locations are common and have their advantages/disadvantages. but in the end, they are all good locations, too.

I thought of putting them in the door panels, but then I figured the doors being slammed, and water leaking into it... I suppose I can just cover them with a zip lock bag or something, I'll use velcro to mount them. The brand is focal, by the way.

I find it best not to mount the xovers inside a door. If it is the only location possible make sure the xover is mounted with the terminals facing down and between the drivers inner door skin and the door panel. Alot of water gets inside the doors...if it gets in the xover the xover will prematurely fail.

As for actuall mounting...anything that is to be permanent in the car should be mounted securely to prevent it from traveling incase of an accident or sudden halt.

I went with trunk mounting by the amps.

I have my tweets in the A-pillers and woofers in the door, so I'd have had to have run the tweet wire out of the door in addition to the moisture/heat/abuse of mounting in the door frame or under the door panel. Ran all new speaker wire anyhow (16GA woofers, 20GA tweets), so it wasn't that big a deal to add the tweet wires...

If you are using stock speaker wire, go with the mounting by the speakers, as it will save you some time.

I've found that the best non-permanent mounting solution is the plastic "velcro-like" fasteners that radioshack sells... Have like 20lb/in tensile strength and basically require a screwdriver to pry the two sides apart, they don't shift like normal velcro does.