Tutorial: Making Baffles For Your Mids - Buy & Sell Car Audio Equipment

**donpisto** · 01-30-2008, 07:53 AM

First step, as always, is to have all the tools and items you will be using. In the pic below you will see what I used. The list includes:

- Drill
- Drill Bit
- Pencil
- MDF
- Jigsaw
- Original Baffle

You need to figure out what thickness baffle you can use. I started with 3/4" but then the mid would hit the door panel. I then used 1/4", but then the speaker wouldn't mount since it was hitting the window. I used 1/2" and had no problems at all.

REMEMBER: Check the bottom and top depth for clearance. When checking bottom depth, make sure you have your windows rolled down. You don't want them up, otherwise, if you miscalculated and roll your windows down, they will not go all the way down. If you don't have enough clearance from the top, your mids might be pressing up against the door panel or grill.

Onto making the baffles. I first cut a square for my baffle, then when mounting on the door it did not fit, it needed to be the shape of the original plastic baffle. This may not be the case with you, but if there is a stock baffle, I would recommend using that and tracing it like so.

Make sure the baffle doesn't move and you have a clean trace.

Next, use your jigsaw to cut the baffle.

Here is how it looks, though yours will more than likely look different.

Next, put the stock baffle over the one you just cut out. Then trace the cutout.

Next, drill a hole so you can use the jigsaw.

Now, use your jigsaw and cut. You will end up with something like this.

**donpisto** · 01-30-2008, 07:54 AM

Time to test to see if the mounting holes for the mids fit fine.

In my case, they do. Now onto the next step. Since the mounting holes line up just fine, it's time to get the stock baffle and mark the holes for mounting.

After you marked the holes, it is time to drill. Make sure that the hole is not too large to where the screw head will go right through.

Next, do the same thing for the mounting hole for the mids as you did with the baffle mounting holes.

Time to screw the mid onto the baffle.

Notice how I got a crack. My hole was close to the edge and I did not pre-drill. To solve this, I used some wood glue and let it dry to prevent it from cracking more.

Time to wire up the speaker. Make sure you have the polarity correct.

Go ahead and mount it into the door.

**donpisto** · 01-30-2008, 07:55 AM

You can see that I have a gap. This is not a big deal. I have not done so yet, but what you want to do is get some non-hardening molding clay and put it between the gaps so ensure a nice seal.

Once you have done this, you are now all set.

I plan to post pictures of how I deadened my doors in another thread soon to come. There are many ways to go about it, I'll show the way I did it. Stay tuned!

BassBaller5 · 01-30-2008, 07:58 AM

great build man!

one thing to keep in mind however is that the size of the baffle has great affects on the frequency response of the driver. For example, having the baffle extend out 1 foot past the outter edges of the speaker would greatly improve bass response.

since this is not always possible, always making the baffle as large as possible is ideal

**donpisto** · 01-30-2008, 08:15 AM

Great tip! I wanted to go with 3/4" baffles, but the door panel would not permit it. I'm just glad my mids actually fit. There are very few speakers that are 6.5" and will fit in an Accord door. My other option was Rainbow mids or the Hertz Hi-Energy. Got the Iridiums for a good deal so hopefully I'll be happy with them.

xDATx · 01-31-2008, 01:20 AM

Great tutorial, very helpful.

cshaw · 01-31-2008, 04:29 AM

nice don! i had a crack were it gets thin in the baffle as well, a little wood glue fixes that right up. i saw you had a pad in there right behind the driver.i used acoustical foam that i had and it improved mid bass a little as well.
as for extending the baffle, look at some studio monitors. the mids are a little in front of the axis of the tweeter and both are flush mounted as close to the surround as possible. sound waves will bounce off edges and screws causing bad imaging. though a car is way different, i think this can be applied for tweeters and if applicable the mids as well improving freq response and imaging.

though i can see extending the baffle to create a small wave guide of some sort!!

**CAJunkyard** · 01-31-2008, 05:07 AM

Sweet tutorial!!! Thanks!!!

(Show some PROPS to the tutorial author by pressing the THANKS button on the bottom right!!!)

BassBaller5 · 01-31-2008, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cshaw

nice don! i had a crack were it gets thin in the baffle as well, a little wood glue fixes that right up. i saw you had a pad in there right behind the driver.i used acoustical foam that i had and it improved mid bass a little as well.
as for extending the baffle, look at some studio monitors. the mids are a little in front of the axis of the tweeter and both are flush mounted as close to the surround as possible. sound waves will bounce off edges and screws causing bad imaging. though a car is way different, i think this can be applied for tweeters and if applicable the mids as well improving freq response and imaging.

though i can see extending the baffle to create a small wave guide of some sort!!

studio monitors also have the benefits of being build around the speaker, unlike a car door.

And yes flushing a driver will greatly improve the wave patterns (as well routing out the back of your baffle with a roundover bit... helps improve backwave response!

However increasing the diameter of a baffle doent cause negative reflections (if flush mounted).

**donpisto** · 01-31-2008, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cshaw

nice don! i had a crack were it gets thin in the baffle as well, a little wood glue fixes that right up. i saw you had a pad in there right behind the driver.i used acoustical foam that i had and it improved mid bass a little as well.
as for extending the baffle, look at some studio monitors. the mids are a little in front of the axis of the tweeter and both are flush mounted as close to the surround as possible. sound waves will bounce off edges and screws causing bad imaging. though a car is way different, i think this can be applied for tweeters and if applicable the mids as well improving freq response and imaging.

though i can see extending the baffle to create a small wave guide of some sort!!

The pad I used behind the speaker is the speaker tweaker kit from Second Skin. Several people claim for it to make a big difference. Here's a link to it: Sound Deadening Materials - Soud Deadening Pads. I can't say I noticed a difference with my stock speakers, but with the aftermarket ones, I won't be able to tell since I won't be taking them off to compare, but I'm sure it does have some sort of positive effect.