[bstern]

I'm wondering if anyone has installed Tuxmats on your Type S and what you may have done about the mats covering the speakers on the side of the console? I hate to cover them up and muffle that great sound. Also hate the idea of cutting a big hole in the mats.
Anybody else run into this & have a slick solution?

Thanks!

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

Interesting.... I put Tuxmats in the Type S I bought for my fiance and I didn't even notice they cover speakers. I'm going to have to go take a look.

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

Sure as ****... covers up some big speakers. I've complained the 25 speaker ELS system isn't as impressive as I expected. Having 2 big speakers covered up probably explains a big part of that.

I'm for sure going to cut a hole in the tuxmat. My thought is to cut a hole in the tux mat and put another speaker grill over the opening that will cover the cut edges of the mat and give it a professional finished look.

I don't know how the existing speaker grills are attached. If possible if I cut it just right I might be able to re-use the existing speaker grill if there is enough compression in the carpet on the console to let the tuxmat tuck in behind the speaker grill when I snap the grill back on.

 

[Huskyluv]

I had read another discussion on this very subject on a FB group and they were saying those speakers that get covered by the Tuxmats on the Type-S are subwoofers and therefore do not affect sound quality.

I have my Tuxmats on hand but haven't installed them yet so I can't say how it affects the sound personally. However, based on the FB discussion I read through I am not really concerned. If anyone has any info to the contrary I would love to hear it.

 

[IanCH]

If you are covering up the airflow out of a speaker grille you are definitely affecting the sound...

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

I had read another discussion on this very subject on a FB group and they were saying those speakers that get covered by the Tuxmats on the Type-S are subwoofers and therefore do not affect sound quality.

I have my Tuxmats on hand but haven't installed them yet so I can't say how it affects the sound personally. However, based on the FB discussion I read through I am not really concerned. If anyone has any info to the contrary I would love to hear it.

Those would be the smallest sub's I've ever seen. The sub is in the cargo area from my recollection.

Even if it was the sub, Bass is what I think the ELS is lacking the most. So uncovering them could only help.

 

[bstern]

After thinking about it, I had a similar thought of installing some grills in the Tuxmats in front of the existing grills. You can get some five or 6 inch ones off Amazon pretty inexpensively.
But after installing the tux mats, I really can’t discern much if any difference in the sound quality with them in place. I even pulled the tux mats away while playing music and really couldn’t discern any difference. I think I’m gonna just leave them in place as is.

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

So I cut into the tuxmats today. I figured if I F them up I'd just buy a new set. I am 95% happy with the result.

I didn't want to have the mats attached to the car (via a grill over the opening) because we want to be able to pull the mats often to clean.

So I cut into them and used a black magic marker to color the white foam-like inner layer of the mats.

The ONE thing I would do differently.. was very careful to get the hole centered perfectly. I taped a thumb tack to the exact center of the speaker grill and pushed the mat into it to poke a hole to perfectly mark the center, then cut the exact radius I needed. The only problem. since the mat doesn't stay flush against the carpeted sidewall but rather a half inch off, with the angle standing looking down it it, I should have cheated the opening I cut slightly up to accommodate the view angle looking down. Now a you look from the angle you get into the car, you see slightly below the grill.

 

[Huskyluv]

And the million dollar question here is do you hear a discernable difference after the modification?

Mine is still in the shop so I haven't been able to test it out with our Tuxmats yet.

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

And the million dollar question here is do you hear a discernable difference after the modification?

Mine is still in the shop so I haven't been able to test it out with our Tuxmats yet.

Good question. I bought the Type S for my fiance, so she drives it. I've only ridden in it a handful of times.

I don't think she'd be very attuned to a difference in sound.

I saved the cut-outs. I'll push the cutouts back into the hole and see how much different it sound with, and without them.

 

[KneeDragr]

Why can’t you take the tuxmats out?

 

[KneeDragr]

Disregard my last post, I looked into it and saw how you need to install tabs in order to keep them in place. I will probably get the Maxpider ones that you can take out and clean. Also I really only use them on trips when I know I will be tracking a lot of mud into the car, I generally prefer the carpet.

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

Disregard my last post, I looked into it and saw how you need to install tabs in order to keep them in place. I will probably get the Maxpider ones that you can take out and clean. Also I really only use them on trips when I know I will be tracking a lot of mud into the car, I generally prefer the carpet.

We don't use the clips. The tuxmats come out nice and easy.

I originally thought I'd cut a hole in the tuxmat and then put a speaker-grill over the tuxmat to hold the tuxmat flush against the side of the center console area and give it a finished look, but I have not decided not to do that since just cutting the hole and using a marker on the white foam core of the mat looks fine to me.

 

[bstern]

We don't use the clips. The tuxmats come out nice and easy.

I originally thought I'd cut a hole in the tuxmat and then put a speaker-grill over the tuxmat to hold the tuxmat flush against the side of the center console area and give it a finished look, but I have not decided not to do that since just cutting the hole and using a marker on the white foam core of the mat looks fine to me.

Your open cutouts look great. I don't think you (or I) would need to add grills for a more finished look after all. I may follow your lead if I determine the covered speakers need to be relieved. For now, I think they are OK as-is. Great job!

 

[Huskyluv]

We got our S-Advance back and installed the Tuxmats. I'm no audiophile, but in a blind test I honestly couldn't tell when the speakers were covered versus not. My husband feels the same, so we are not going to bother modifying our Tuxmats as we don't hear a discernable benefit to doing so.

 

[Ghostrider10-32]

So yesterday I had a chance to throw the cutouts back on and see if it muffled the sound at all.

2 things.. First I discovered that the passenger side console speaker wasn't working. It didn't seem like any sound was coming out so I shined a flashlight in the grill to see if the speaker cone was vibrating and it wasn't. Then for comparison I shined a flashlight into the speaker grill on the drivers side (same song same volume and could see mega movement of the speaker cone). SO off to the dealer my fiance will be going this week.

None-the-less I tested on the drivers side speaker to see if I could tell a difference and I could not. Now granted, it wasn't very scientific. I had the door open and was kneeling down by it to put the cut-out in and out of the hole.. Perhaps if I had closed all the doors and sat in the vehicle and listened with and without the cutout I might have been able to discern a different, but even then. I suspect most people at normal listening volume would not notice a difference.

It seems like the speakers in the door are the elephant in the room when it comes to sound production. The large door speakers seemed to overpower anything else down there.