You know the saying about free advice, but here goes anyway... a few points IMHO to consider (about general installs)

1) The install is 90% of what matters (a great install can make "bad" speakers sound good, and a bad install can make great speakers sound terrible).

2) Signal processing (EQ, time alignment, etc) is a bandaid that should be used as the finishing touches. This goes back to my first point... the better the install, the less processing should be required to "fix" things.

3) It doesn't matter what an RTA, computer, etc says... what matters is the person listening to it (you, and you only, unless you are competing


JL's flash tutorial does not show you how to balance the output of your speakers... it shows you how to set your gains so that when you turn your HU to 3/4 volume you do make the amp clip the signal. This is a good thing, but not something that will equally balance the sound output from the sub, mid and tweeter.


Let's start at the beginning though... the install. If you are willing to install your front components in a different location (kick panels), that will do more for your sound stage than all other things you could do combined. Getting the front stage speakers properly imaged without processing is incredibly important to proper soundstage. Here is how I did it two installs ago in my car (in your case you would have both speakers in the kick though. Once I had them mounted on plumbers strapping, I spent a few weeks driving around like that, playing with the direction of the drivers in the kickpanel until the image was as good as I could make it:

http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/216257/4


If you decide you are not willing to do this, then processing is your only option. It is preferable to install the speakers in a better location first, but regardless if you reinstall them or not, go through these steps. Turn off the time alignment and EQ. Use this order:

1) Level setting: Get the speakers level as close as you can to each other (buy a radio shack SPL meter, use it for a few hours, and return it).

2) Crossover settings: While sitting in the front seat, play with your crossover points. Try overlapping the mid low and mid high a bit. Try different slopes. Try switching the polarity of your speakers (one at a time) to see if that helps (go to your amp wiring, and swap the positive and negative wires going to your speaker). Hard to see what is happening without an RTA, so just listen to what sounds best to you.

3) Time alignment: as you have found, being in the front left seat, the left front speakers are closer to you, so they need to be delayed coming out relative to the right front speakers. Slowly adjust these until it sounds best to you.

4) EQ settings: if a particular part of the music sounds too soft or too loud, try boosting or lowering that one band to see if it helps. Check here for roughly what frequency range is what:

http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req0400/OctaveEQ.htm


Good luck, and let us know how you make out.