hugo1669

I took my Z on a long trip this weekend and my friend was playing around with the stereo. He used the fader to put all of the sound in the rear speakers and it sounds terrible. The song had alot of bass but there wasn't really any coming out of the rear speakers. As soon as he brought the sound back to the frount the sound got better. Is this how it is suppose to be or should these rear speakers sound good on their own. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but I am very far from a stereo expert. BTW I have the single cd not the 6 cd player system.

GradZ

I had a "popping" sound from the driver-side rear speaker when playing songs with a lot of bass. It sounded as if the speaker was blown. I noticed this the day I took delivery and notified my salesperson immediately. I brought the car in 2 weeks later to have it looked at, the tech played around with the fade and said that it seemed like it was the amp. He called some office in Cali to ask what to do about it and they told him "there was nothing they could do" cause he had tested the same stuff on other Zs and they all did the same thing. I was like, "oh yeah?" and took my cd of Warren G's "Regulator" and played it on 5 other Zs on the lot and none had this ugly popping sound with volume at 20 + full bass/treble. So then the Service Manager got an earful and after we tested it together on some other cars he decided it was the rear speaker and put in an order for a new one.

Now to this weekend after my speaker finally arrived. They replace the speaker, symptoms persist. They replace the main amp, symptoms persist. They replace the headunit, symptoms persist. Finally the Tech realized there's a smaller amp behind the speaker for the sub and replaced that, and voila, magically fixed. The Service Manager apologizes for giving me a hassle about something that wasn't my fault and details my car for free. Basically they thought it was a blown speaker and I was guilty for doing it.

And worst of all, the new amps and headunit came out of another brand new 350z hahahaha. I hope they replace the faulty amp before selling that car.

So guys, put your car to the test. Play Warren G's "Regulator" at Volume level 20 with Bass +5 and Treble +5. See if you get that ugly popping sound about 30-45 secs into the song when the bass kicks up

hugo1669

Thanks Gradz, If anyone else has any input on this subject can you let me know. I'm taking the car in to have the problem looked at this Friday and I would like to have a little info to get this fixed.
Thanks

POWERZ

The rear speakers are awful. By themselves they will sound blown even when they are brand new. I wouldn't bother taking it to the dealership. Just keep the fader in the center or with some front bias and you will be fine.

hugo1669

Thanks Powerz for the info. Anyone else have any input?

Zsilverstone13

I just put the fader to +2 to the front. Sounds a lot nicer(for me). I think Z's cabin is so small, the rear speakers are not really useful, especially for stereo music. If you have the DVD surround system, rear speakers are more important.

hugo1669

You guys have to know I come from the days that cars only had rear speakers and the fronts were optional, LOL. My last car was an eclipse and the rear spaekers were better than these. I just thought it was weird that when you put the fader all he way to the back the sound is horrible. I mean you have to at least turn it up to 8 before you really start hearing anything. Then the sound is muffled and tinny.

vfr350

in the process of upgrading my speaks and adding a self powered sub, anyway I've only replaced the rear speaks so far with a set of infinity 6 1/2" reference speaks, let me tell you much better. yeah it requires a little messing with the fader control, but the new speaks make a huge difference. Not a lot of boomin bass but the stereo imagining is so much better! now in the next few days i'll get the sub in and i'll be set!. Have same set of speakers for the front, i replace those when i get more time.

icepop456

Rear speakers add a lot to the over all sound quality. My last car was a 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder. That car does not have rear speakers. When I added them, the sound quality increased enormusly.

I noticed how crappy the rear speakers were the first day I had the car. I picked the car up this past thursday and was convince by saturday I had to replace the entire system. I cannot believe how poor sounding this system is. I'm glad I did not go for the bose.


By the way, I think one of the previous posts about smaller amps around the speakers is for the Bose system. Bose typically amps the speaker individually. This will not apply to our base model stereos.

Tim

hugo1669

I guess I should cancel my appointment to have them checked out. Thanks for the info guys.

zdriver1

Besides your "popping noise" you heard, the rear speakers are basically for show and slight fill-in for the rear. I noticed the poor output of the rear speakers the day I got my Z, and I remember reading somewhere that the amp in the stock head unit is only 2-channels and the rear speakers are 1-ohm, pulling just enough power for some "fill-in" sound, not sound with any dynamic range. It seems as though Nissan cut a corner on this one, figuring there's no one riding in the back to complain about the poor sound quality. On Nissan's behalf though, you really wouldn't want rear speakers with the identical output of the front right behind your ears, but they could have done a better job than they did.

Don't quote me exactly on the stock amp/speaker set-up, I read that a while ago. The Z's cabin is small enough for the front speakers to fill it. If that doesn't satisfy your sound quality expectations, then you know what you need to do - replace all 4 speakers, add a 4-channel amp and throw in a sub. I'm in the process of that right now!

vfr350

finished with the rear of my car today, so far the rear speakers are changed and my tube is in the factory sub location, Let me tell ya HUGE difference. It might not be super loud, but it rocks now! Next will be the door speaks.