Re: Rear Speakers or None?
 

I'm noticing the back speakers in my car may not have sound coming from them. When I adjust the fade to 100% rear, there is nothing. If I am correct and there is no defect in my car, I ask if the rear speaker holes are pre-wired to accommodate new speakers? Would two speakers in the back improve the "surround characteristic" of the sound in the car? The quality, itself, is already acceptable. I see the two front speakers on the doors and two in the corners of the dash. I'm not an audio person. Can someone clarify?

I'm assuming from your profile that you do not have the Touring model. The Base and Nismo Zs do not have rear speakers.

It is advised, due to the size and placement of the speakers that would fit back there, that you would be better off putting a quality set of components in the front (powered by an amp, ideally) if you wish to improve the quality of sound in your Z.

Thanks for the explanation, Matt. I read and re-read the audio portion of my owner's manual and didn't see any reference to that. It strikes me as being so odd though that my car doesn't have rear speakers. I can live without them and/or do as you suggest but I still find it strange---especially on the very expensive Nismo. Is there an obvious reason for this that I'm not getting?

The obvious reason is like Matt already said, they aren't needed. Stick with front speakers only, unless you want a f'ed up sound stage.

Rear speakers are typically pointless, even in a sedan. I've removed them or attenuated them a lot in almost all of my cars.

rear speakers are usually used for tuning the mid frequencies (350-2K range). The base speakers is missing a lot of 350-650Hz range (if i remember correctly) which i used my aftermarket HU to boost. get a HU, it does wonders even on the base speakers.

you can use rear speakers if you want, (easy to wire up) but not necessary. i have no plans to wire anything up back there.

I have always liked rear speakers myself. I put a pair in the rear when I did my stereo setup and they suck because they are so small. I now run the fader at full front speakers only.

:owned: by yourself of all people! lol

Pardon my ignorance but what is an HU? Is this another term for amplifier? What brand and model to you recommend. I'm going to take your advice. Many Thanks.
OldGuy

HU = Head Unit

HU = Head Unit

many good ones out there

Double Dins with Navigation---EclipseAVN726-Kenwood9140-Pioneer AvicZ110

Single Din---Alpine is great


I have the Eclipse AVN 726 and the 3dNavigation is awesome
Many guys own the Kenwoods and seem to like them too.
The Pioneer Z110 is loaded with goodies as well and was my 2nd choice.

I agree Matt, no rear speakers.

Base has no rear speakers for price reasons.

Nismo has no rear speakers for weight/performance reasons.

My car runs 9's with no rear speakers :ugh2:

yah, as noted earlier check out the 2din size ones. the more eq control you have, the better off you will be unless you're going to add amps and redo your speakers, etc. :)

personally running a pioneer AVH-P3100DVD with rearview camera and steering wheel controller adapter. i just wanted something that can play MP3's, usb, and have the rear camera. :p

Actually single din units have more control, such as the alpine 9887 which you can go active with. As far as I know no double din right now can go active. But yes the more power and control you have the better.

yah, unless you have a pull-out screen it's going to be tuff looking at your rearview camera's video in those 1din 2.5" screens. :D

HAHAHA...I had the same problem after I came home with my Z! I went to the dealership a week later and told them to take a look at my rear speakers cuz they weren't working. They came back 10 minutes later and said" Your speakers aren't working becuz you dont have any!" Yea..I felt pretty stupid!

LOL ya I am actually glad they never had any to begin with.

Alpine 9887 Active (control)?
 

Please explain what you mean that the alpine 9887 "active control".

Not to make anyone sound stupid but active is for advanced users. Instead of letting a crossover or the amp set your crossover points. You set and control everything including the crossover hrz and all from the head unit. It allows for a lot more control over a system with a lot higher end components and amps. I personally was going to go active but never got to that point. But after about 2 days of running you can make a system sound amazing if it is installed and tuned right.

Alos the cool thing about alpines are if you do not want to do all that they have something called "imprint" which is a device which will setup your system almost as good as you could do by hand with a laptop and a mic.

In normal terms active means the most control over a car audio system.

This might help as well
http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146726

Alpine Active Control for Dummies
 

I did one in a Lexus suv a few months ago turned out well. I would say that the program the imprint uses is pretty simple and helps the acoustics quite a bit.

So does anyone know the size of the rear speakers for the people that "do" want to put speakers in the rear???? 3" maybe 4"

3.5 inches not nearly worth installing there.

I don't want to be the bad guy here but I have,IMHO, high end unit setup. However I do miss the fill of the rear speakers.

I bought 3" coAx and I should have them installed by the end of the month. Hopefully the addition of the rears will not ruin my current setup.

Btw if I am not mistaken I almost bought the alpine unit mentioned but if it is the same unit, you will need to buy "another" expensive unit to tweak the heAd unit.

I dont see what the big deal is if you have the money??? Why are people so quick to be negitive around these parts here partner : )
I would think it would be nice to have some surround sound in place...Guess thats a no-no for some reason other than money.

5.25"

I had rear speakers (JL) installed in base - 8 total in cockpit. I think it sounds great, and surround sound with DVDs is amazing. I'm tempted to sit in my car to watch movies but the wife wouldn't like that much (then again, maybe she would....)

Edit: My receipt said 5.25" but I checked the box - 3.5's were installed.

Focal does not make 3.5's so I wondering if 4" will fit! Has anyone done this?

I put Infinity 4" ones and they suck.

I never liked the kappas they are yucky!

I agree

the reference series was much better

I still do not much care for infinity speakers now their amps I do like.

i actually came to like MTX speakers when we were distributing them a few years back. if set up correctly they could thump or SQ

Rear fill is all a matter of personal preference, A good front stage is more than enough in a 2 door car but if you want sound behind you go fir it. A true SQ install may sound boring to most people. The goal is to achieve a flat curve on a RTA ( basically the speaker produces the same level of sound output at all frequencies it is tuned to)
Do whats pleasing to your ears because for every day installs geared toward SQ its very subjective. What sounds good to you may not sound good to someone else. Another way to use a rear speaker is to fit a 6.5 and use it as a dedicated midbass. The human ear has a harder time locating a speaker producing low frequencies.

Nothing beats MTX imho, at least for woofers.

I'd have to agree with not really needing rear speaks -- I mean it's a two-seater after all and you can't notice at all unless you turn your head. If anything I'd add a bit more low range back there but 3.5" is not going to cut it for anything lower than a mid-bass (and who wants midrange frequencies coming from behind them??).

Along this topic, I think the sound quality from my base model is very good for a stock (base model) setup, but I have a question... the dealer told me the sound system is still made by Bose, it just isn't branded. Any truth to that you think?

I've got rear speakers in mine. There are lots of people here that don't like rear speakers. I think speedfreak28 said it very well, "Rear fill is all a matter of personal preference."

All of my cars that could fit 6x9/6.5s in the back had them and sounded great. My 72 bug only has 6x9s in the rear and sounds great (Boston). I just don't see the need to add a set of 3" or 4" speakers in the Z.

:iagree:

Now I use to have 6x9's in my honda's but after finding out how good it sounded with just fronts and no more echoing effects coming from the back. I was hooked. Now for those who went to their dealers when they figured out that their was no sound coming form the back. They are use to having rears.