Speakers in the A-pillar - Side curtain airbags

[Tempe]

I have been infatuated with car audio for almost 20 years now. I have gone from turning my head in awe to a car booming while driving by to being a sound quality nut. I have not had a full aftermarket system since 2009 with my Ford Ranger. Last December I purchased my 2010 Yaris Sedan, and I fell in love with the idea of putting midranges and tweeters in the A-pillar. I know some purists say that midranges sound better in the kick; I would rather have path-length difference issues in lieu of my passenger's legs blocking the sound.

After noticing the side curtain airbags in this car, I was disappointed that it might be unsafe to mount speaker pods on the A-pillar. I have done a ton of searching on this forum and on other car audio forums, and I cannot find a definitive answer as what to do.

If the airbags go off, I am sure that the A-pillar plastic panels will break off to allow deployment. However, I am sure the plastic panels will not go flying in my direction; surely they will just open up and stay attached to something. If I secure the speakers and pods well to the plastic panel, then I should be okay. This is my of thinking:

Without any aftermarket speakers attached to the plastic panels one would be safe in an accident. Adding pods and then speakers would add more weight, but proper mounting / installation would mean that the speakers would just stay attached to the plastic panel, rendering my car safe to be in during an accident.

I would love to hear your feedback.

T

[CTScott]

The clips for the A pillar are designed to allow it to pop out, but not go flying, so as long as your speakers are attached well to the pillar, they should be fine in the event that the airbags pop.

[_S7V7N_]

Read this install thread.http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26150

[sqcomp]

^that looks VERY familiar!

The airbags don't really come down into the a-pillar too much. Like CT said, attach the speakers well and you'll be fine. Take a closer look at Derick's thread to see what he did. I still have my old pillars, I'd let them go but they're made for specific speakers

[derickveliz2]

I have gone from turning my head in awe to a car booming while driving by to being a sound quality nut. I know some purists say that midranges sound better in the kick; I would rather have path-length difference issues in lieu of my passenger's legs blocking the sound.
I would love to hear your feedback.
T

From my experience with my Yaris Sedan: Sound Quality, Mids go down in the kick area

"Passenger's legs blocking the sound..."

If you can see your speaker (Mids) you'll be fine, I'll try to take a picture from pilots point of view with a passenger on board, I never had that problem even with the subwoofer in the passengers side

When I had Mids up in the a-pillars stage was very narrow. Down in the kick area it opens up, and properly tune stage is up high, wide and deep.

But if you like your Mids up there and don't care much for Sound Quality it's up to you.

D.

First attempt:

http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu61/derickveliz/Front%20Stage/NarrowStaged.png

2nd attempt:

http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu61/derickveliz/A-Pillars%20v2/3e6876b9.jpg



3rd attempt and final: Sounds like heaven!!! believe it or not (o: jeje I didn't believe but trial and error + some learning got me to this point and I'm a happy man!

http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu61/derickveliz/L6/b0fc6fbd.jpg



Subwoofer up front:

http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu61/derickveliz/IDQ/I6SW/36aadcf0.jpg

[Tempe]

Derick, I just went through your entire build thread, looking at each picture. I have heard a ton of good things about mids in the kicks. The lady has LONG legs. There's no way the mids would not be blocked with her in the car.

T

[Tempe]

PS the quality of your camera takes some awesome shots!!! I'm stuck with a point and shoot, but I am strongly considering a Canon PowerShot SX130 IS.

[derickveliz2]

Thanks we are here to help, feel free to ask any questions (O:


D.

[derickveliz2]

Derick, I just went through your entire build thread, looking at each picture. I have heard a ton of good things about mids in the kicks. The lady has LONG legs. There's no way the mids would not be blocked with her in the car.

T

On a second thought...

Once I have a passenger with me, I turn down the volume since my system is for one side only, the image really doesn't mater at that time, so it doesn't matter if the Mids are blocked or not.

The sweet spot is the pilots side all the 3Dimensional of the music happens there, the passengers can't tell, you still have the nice sound, crisp highs, clear voices (singer) and lower notes all over the place, but not quite in 3D any more.

So even if I knew my Mids will be block at some point I still would like to have my sweet spot when I'm by my self or to impress a friend. Having the Mids on the a-pillars and a passenger it would be the same, the image and 3D only happens on the left side (pilot) any way.

my 2 cts. :thumbsup:



D.