Jtizzl3

iTrader: (2)

I am tired of the crappy bose system that came with the car so I am about to completely replace everything in my car. I already have all the pieces needed. This is everything i have

Headunit- Alpine 9887 (upgrading to w900 later)
Front Speakers- JL Audio VR650-CSi
Rear Speakers- JL Audio VR650-CXi
Subwoofer- JL Audio 10w6v2
Amps- Alpine MRA-D550, Alpine MRP-M1000

Now from what i understand is that the rear speakers do not make that much of a difference in the 350zs. In fact i heard it sounds better if i leave it out all together. I do plan on using the imprint software on the head unit to tune. Since i am doing that should i go ahead and have the rear speakers installed or should i just not mess with it? Any help would be appreciated.

Spike100

People advise removing/disconnecting the rear speakers because the OEM rears (Clarion or Bose) are so cheap they actually pollute the sound. The Z’s interior is small, so many members don’t bother with replacing the rears to save some $$ and spend those dollars on better fronts.

However, if you have decent rears to do the replacement, I would go ahead and install the new rear speakers. You might even find you like the additional fill from a good rear speaker.

Here’s the deal: You do not want significant high frequency output from your rears (i.e., rear tweeters) traveling to the front since that will mess-up the high frequency sound from your front component speakers. The midrange in your rears won’t cause any problems here since they are not as directional and won’t interfere with the front tweeters or midrange speakers.

Your rear replacements are decent speakers. Since they are coaxials (your new JL Audio VR650-CXi speakers have the tweeter built-in to the speaker), your tweeter will fire out towards the back of the front seats where it won’t reflect much. That keeps the high frequency from interfering with your front component speakers and their separate tweeters. The end result is just a little more fill that sounds to the listener as though it’s coming from the side. I describe that as more rich sound.

The mistake some people make when mounting better rears is going with component speakers having separate tweeters and midrange speakers. They mount the midrange in the stock rear position, and drill out spots near the center of the rear compartment to mount the tweeters. The idea being the tweeters will fire to the front without hitting the seatbacks. This results in poor sound separation since the high frequency sound coming from the rear is difficult to control and messes up the staging from your fronts. You won’t experience that problem with your JL Audio VR650-CXi coaxial speakers in the rear slots.

I realize this is a long reply, but condensing it would leave out some detail. Hope this information is helpful for making your cession.

--Spike

hellsoldiers08

iTrader: (3)

^+1 i agree with spike. I use to have apline type-r speakers only in the front and well never could really hear the rear. This past nov. i got bostons for the front and installed the alpine in the back and did some fine tuning in the volume i was going to be using it for and now(aka spikes example of rich sound) good sound from all around. I never though about putting speakers in the back with the tweeter built in, hmm i may do that in the next year.

revvenue

I agree. Most people say don't bother with the rears, which is true if you're putting a build together from scratch. You might as well use the money for fronts. But since you have the equipment, as long as the tweeters aren't blowing your ears out from behind you, it will probably be better than nothing with the front components you're using.

If you have a very nice pair of front components it is true the rears don't even matter because once you stage the fronts the rears won't even make a difference...

(This is from my experience... I'm no pro but I know what I like as far as the sound in my Z goes...)

Jtizzl3

iTrader: (2)

i appreciate all the information you guys are giving me. While i have been thinking about this, a few other questions came up. Should i replace all the speaker wiring? Another thing is someone asked me about getting door pods for the front components. Do they really make that much of a difference?

revvenue

I would recommend kick panels for the fronts. The stock install location, once fitted (which requires some modification usually... hopefully the least of just cutting out your stock speakers and using your stock speaker rings for a spacer to fix this, as the window, when coming down, knocks into the magnets of most aftermarket component speakers...) the stock location with any kind of decent driver rattles like crazy... I have aftermarket components installed with Dynamat in the door and it still sucks. I will be doing kickpanels on my next upgrade... If you can afford it now, go ahead and get them put in there first of all.

As for speaker wiring, it's not necessary to replace the wiring. The only time you MIGHT hear a difference is in your subwoofer speaker wiring, which you can buy a short run of nicely twisted thick AWG cabling for that specifically.

You will need some speaker wire to run your crossovers with, and obviously the runs from your amp... so you might as well pick up a spool before you start, but don't trouble yourself going all through the stock wiring trying to replace it.

Spike100

^^ Good points that you state well… This issue has been discussed many times on my350z.com. Here are some other thoughts.

There are three positions to mount your front speakers: The stock door mount, door pods, and kicks.
____________
Stock door mount
Sound Quality: Good when using good speakers

Advantages:

• Lowest cost for mounting front speakers
• Easy installation

Disadvantages:

• You are limited to a speaker that is <2.5” depth-to-wall.
• A better speaker will result in vibration of the door panel, even with careful mounting and sound deadening.
• The stock grille blocks sound.

___________
Door Pods
Sound Quality: Better (because you can mount better speakers with a better grille)

Advantages:

• Wider range of speaker selection (larger and deeper)
• Better sound since you can use a better speaker grille than the stock door grille

Disadvantages:

• Added cost of the door pod
• More work (i.e., expense) to install the pod plus the speaker
• Closing (slamming?) the door places more stress on the mount, and can eventually loosen the mount (although better mounting methods mitigate this problem)
• Driver and passenger might scrape their feet against the door pod when entering and exiting the car

___________
Kicks
Sound Quality: Best (because sound staging is superior and you can mount better speakers with a better grille)

Advantages:

• Wider range of speaker selection (larger and deeper)
• Better sound since you can use a better speaker grille than the stock door grille
• Better staging since the speaker is farther away and in front of the driver and passenger

Disadvantages:

• Added cost of the kick enclosure
• More work (i.e., expense) to install the lick enclosure plus the speaker
• You lose the dead pedal on the driver side and some foot space on the passenger side
• Possible physical damage to the speaker grille from driver or passenger feet impacting the kick
• The potential of introducing moisture and debris from soles of driver or passenger shoes

__________________________________
I also agree with your comments concerning the need to rewire. Replacing wiring has little advantage since the runs are short and do not require heavier wire in most circumstances.

If you do need to add a run, then replacing an existing wire that you consider minimal might make sense.

--Spike