Do speaker baffles actually improve bass at all? Much of the bass from my speakers seems to dissapate into the doors instead of going into the cab. I can see the mirrors vibrating, but the bass isn't really that great. There seems to be a lot of space in the door, but I want to find out for sure if baffles will actually help or if I am just wasting money.

 

i got some xtc(i think) baffles for the speakers in all 4 doors... and i ended up pulling the ones from the front out because they vibrated so bad when i turned up the music. you might notice some improvement, but i'd say it depends on what youre pushing your speakers with. baffles on a door speaker being powered by the deck might benefit more than, say a door speaker being pushed by 100+ watts, as the foam baffles didnt seem to hold up well at that power level, in my experience. (tons of vibration, plus the foam expanded and contracted from the amount of air being moved by the speaker) i think others have used foam baffles on 150+ watt pushed speakers with no problems, so i guess it depends on your setup. if youre going to get them, get them for the fact that they protect your speakers from the non-waterproof door interior, and not in the hopes that theyll increase your bass...

your mirrors will vibrate regardless... that isnt bass being lost out the door, thats just the vibration from the speaker traveling through the door to the mirrors.

finally... if you REALLY want more bass, consider adding a sub. door speakers wont EVER be able to give you the quality or fill of bass that a good sub is designed to give.

 

Baffles are pretty much to keep water out / protect your speakers, as previously mentioned. The doors act as an enclosure to reproduce the low frequencies. Stock door speakers and most aftermarket size replacement speakers cannot produce notes low enough to sound like bass from a subwoofer. Those speakers are for midbass which works well in my truck, I have 2X 5.25" in each front door.

 

Mine work pretty good in terms of making the midrange better. I compared sides when doing the install, so i can definatley say they work. For bass, I didn't see a whole lot of differance. 6x8 are an odd size for good bass anyways. A perfectly round speaker is always best IMHO.

With the new headunit, I'm getting a tiny bit of distortion on the right door. It's hard to pinpoint, since it's only at one certain volume and frequency. Not sure if it's related to the baffle or not. I'll have to throw a tone on it and find out.

If you decide to do the install, there's a how to here

 

So they probably won't help much? I'm not looking for bass like you would expect from a sub, just something better than what I got. Besides, I use the area behind the seat too much for a sub.

I'll probably just go for Infinity speakers to replace the Xplods. I have only had the Xplods for a few months and I feel like I wasted $60, but they just don't sound quite right.

 

are your speakers amplified? are you still using the stock head unit? aftermarket speakers will never really sound a whole lot better than stock unless you got something other than stock pushing them. ive got my front pioneers on a small (free!) sony amp and it sounds 100% better

 

I don't have an amp. I have a sort of stock head unit...it's an AM/FM/CD from an F-150 (different from the ones in Rangers - don't know all the specs on it). I like the head unit and want to avoid replacing it. I'm really just after a decent sounding system for day to day use. The current setup (Sony Xplod 5x7 2 ways in the doors and the HU I mentioned) works fine for rock, but leaves some to be desired with rap.

Right now I am looking at Infinity Reference 6x8 2 way speakers and Pioneer 6x8 4 way speakers.

 

yeah... you have 5 x 7s, so you could always up to the infinity 6 x 8s and squeeze a little more lows out of them, but theres really only so much the stock hu can do. that would definitely be the limiting factor in the setup.

 

Anything is better than the sad excuse for an enclosure called a ford ranger door/ rear trim panel. It will provide suspension. But as pointed out already, it'll only be noticable (if that) on the mid-range frequencies on higher powered systems.

 

put fibre fill in the doors :p

 

a couple points:
1. Foam baffles are for driver protection
2. Mirrors WILL alwalys vibrate
3. A perfectly round speaker will not have as much surface area as an elliptical one
4. Amping your speakers WILL make them sound better and louder
5. You can always install a speaker-level input device to hook up an amplifier
6. Going up a size in speakers will definitely make a difference in bass. personally 5x7s are s**t for bass. but 6x8s make a big improvement.
7. That "sad excuse" for an enclosure could become something great with a little B-Quiet or Dynamat and sound Cascade VB-1 spray or Dynamat Liquid sound Control Duplicolor even makes a sound damping/underbody spray, but I wouldn't use it inside the doors becuase of the smells when it gets hot. When you even quieten your interior by 3dB that's like having 2x power to your speakers.

So, overall... 6x8s (infinity or jbl plus one speakers) and some sound damping will definitely do the trick!!

 

oops, forgot. fiberfill will only slow down and slightly diffuse standing waves behind the speaker, you could buy some Cascade Deflex(?) pads or whatever they're called and clean up the sound.

 

uuummm. Baffles are good... mmmkay.

 

i just posted this question on another forum. not interested in speaker performance (they are amped) but protection. seeing as they should work i may invest in some.