korAsian

iTrader: (3)

Read this on 350ztech.com


Do I need to change the rear speakers?It's all about imaging. You can't hear speakers behind your head clearly. The best sound staging is accomplished when the rear speakers are turned off altogether. Speakers in the back can sometime present interfering sound signals. Most professional sound comp. cars only do front stage systems (meaning they don't use back speakers). Some people feel the need to have them, so the choice is yours. I recommend spending the extra money on a set of good front components speakers and disconnecting the rears completely.
Think of it this way, speakers are supposed to mimic a live recording. Would you want to go to a concert and have your back turned to the speakers?

KingBaby

iTrader: (3)

Hmmm....

From real world I actually change my balance to have more coming from the back. To somewhat cancel some of the noise from my stripped trunk area.

I've done a before/after and you can tell the difference...

I'm in no way a audio guy. I have 4 x 6.5 1 x 10" sub. With a little configuration it sounds great in my noisy car.

korAsian

iTrader: (3)

Ok thanx Im installing Polk db 6.5 components up front. But after reading this Im wondering if I should even do anything to the rears ( I have set of JL TR650 laying around).

Voboy

iTrader: (58)

that has been said here as well... most audiophiles will agree... don't waste your time with rear speakers unless you like having that rear fill. stock rears have a crazy high impedance anyway... they're practically trash, if anything i'd just remove them to save some weight.

Spork

iTrader: (6)

Get a nice component set for the front. Then, mat the rear spaces and put in some midbass drivers to handle some higher freq bass.

KPierson_

On my last car with an upgraded audio system I had 5 1/4", 1" and 8" speakers in front of the listener (component set in the kick panels and two 8" mid basses in the center console on each side). It sounded great - the imaging was great and all the sound came from the center of the dash.

The only complaint (which isn't applicable to the Z) is that the people in the back seat had a terrible listening position.

As long as your front stage is powerful enough to provide adequate volume without distortion then rear fill is optional. As mentioned above, crossing over the rears so they only play the low end is an option as well.

350zspl

iTrader: (3)

in a car with 2 seats front stage is best with no rear stage

in a car with front & rear seats then go with front stage and rear fill

Kwame

iTrader: (78)

I'll echo in accordance with the already mentioned statements. I personally wouldn't do a rear speaker unless I also utilized a digital processor. However, if you're a bigger guy and sit like me it's a waste since the rear speaker will be literally firing directly into the back of the seat.

korAsian

iTrader: (3)

Thank you for all the input guys, Ive decided to do without the rears and focus and setting up good components upfront.

lgear080

iTrader: (21)

can you lay out what your thinking of installing?

i am about to do a full audio gut and want more ideas...

thanks kor

bmccann101

iTrader: (16)

I'm big on working knowledge of car audio and about its applications in the 350z too...

if anyone has questions feel free to PM me.. i dont do it much anymore, but i ran a shop for a long time in Alaska and was MECP certified etc.
.. and the system in my current Z is sick-made.
SOunds great.

Just an offer.

Rubidium

iTrader: (6)

I bought a nice amp, and components for the front. Bridged the amp, for the fronts, get decent set of coxials or mid-bass driver for the rear and run it off the head unit (considering you get an aftermarket head unit).

power2rice

iTrader: (8)

thought i would chime in here to save korasian some time. truth is, you want rear aftermarket speakers. you want components up front, but there are things you must do additional. you should place the tweeter on the outside of the inner mirror housing, or at least partially out so it provides the 180 degree sound staging. if possible, hot glue and angle it towards you a few degrees. this will increase the liveliness you seek. as for the door panel 6.5 mid bass speaker, half of the grill is covered!!! so you have two options, get a drill, and drill out all the cover holes.. theres over 1000 of them. or, look up the other diy and cut it out and recreate a different cover. this has subtle increase but is noticeable. because of how awful the z placed the front speakers angles (literally straight parallel cancelling out each other), you want the rears. as for the rears, it's true, it fires into the back seats and because of that theres debate of why it's even there. however, swapping out the rear with a 2 way or 3 way speaker actually does make a difference. also note that adding foam inside the steel housing beam does improve the bass driving.

some might question my credibility but like a few others here, i've done car audio for quite awhile too, but i replaced the headunit first... then replaced rear speakers, then foamed the rears speakers chamber inside so it would be clearer, then replaced the fronts with components, then had to drill the front grill... then replaced bose factory sub with custom sealed 12" tucked inside there, then ended up running 4 channel amp and mono block amp with 12" sealed hidden and 10" ported. i am one of the few that have a very hidden system minus the removable ported 10" tube i put in the back.

fact is, we have stereo, not 7.1 digital audio. you want rear speakers.

cerami50

power2rice, did you use an aerosol spray foam or one of the various audio damping mats available?

It seems from the arguments posed that spending an extra $100 for a nice pair of rear speaks will be worth it, so long as upgrading the fronts takes precedence. My main concern, however, lies with my sub enclosure. I've always been a sealed-box guy, but now that I am downsizing from a 3 cf box to a 2 or possibly 1 cf box, I am debating between sealed and ported. It was almost loud enough for me in my Mazda3, obviously a much larger volume (hatchback). I imagine it will be louder in the smaller volume of the Z, and I love the tighter response for listening to rock/metal, but I also really strive to hit the deep notes in hip-hop and drum n' bass. Being that I've never had both, any thoughts or impressions would be very welcome. Because I am downsizing significantly, will response time stay static, or possibly improve, even if I port?

Thanks guys.

16psibrick

iTrader: (10)

I think maybe the key here is have a full understanding the definition of "imaging" and "staging" from a strict sound quality standpoint...

if we are referring to the accepted definition, then the dash board of your car is the "stage", and you can pretend it is a miniature live stage where miniature musicians are performing in real life.

imaging usually refers to where individual instruments and vocals are placed on this stage, and it should be placed exactly how it was recorded. you get into a properly tuned SQ car, close your eyes, and can tell for example, in a song, the vocal is in the middle, the guitar is to his left, the drunks are to his right in the back, and the bass is to his right upfront...etc in these kinds of systems, any kind of REAR stereo speakers is detrimental to the overall sound by messing with the imaging and pulling it all backwards to the rear...rear surround system with proper processing such as Logic 7 works well, but not just putting in a set of rear speakers and connecting them up.

however, this "imaging" is not achievable just by putting front speakers and calling it a day....infact, most people, when they do systems, aren't going to experience any kind of true imaging, they just want good tonality, crisp and clear. Here, adding rears wont really mess with imaging, as there was hardly any to speak of anyway, and it would just add volume.

for me, if rear speakers are in rear doors or rear side panels, i will usually leave the stockers hooked up so the customers can fade front and back to give the back a lil sound, for cars with rear deck speakers, i usually remove them to get more bass into the cabin not to mention if there is a big enough sub, it will usually push on the cone of that speaker and cause farty sounds...in a car like the Z...the location right behind your head is pretty bad, you turn it up enough and it can dominate the overall sound...so i usually keep it out.

if you want to hear waht imaging is...either listen to a decent home theater set up, sit in the middle and imagine you are in the car, but better yet, go find a good SQ car and take a listen, a few songs and you will instantly understand the whole concept

cerami50

Makes great sense, and I never considered that the pressure waves from the sub would cause interference and distortion with close-by component speakers.

Do you have any thoughts on DSPs? All I could find in the audio forums was dated information from 2009-ish, and the general opinion was that the technology wasn't far enough along to warrant a DSP rather than a new head unit. Now that it is 2011.5, has that technology improved, in your opinion?

16psibrick

iTrader: (10)

DSPs have been around since the early 90s and IMO have been perfected to the point of being more than good enough since the late 90s...here you can check out these two articles i wrote:

http://caraudiomag.com/articles/top-...cessors-part-1

http://caraudiomag.com/articles/top-...cessors-part-2


currently, the processors that are available brand new right now are:

JBL MS8
Audison Bitone
Zapco DC reference/ DSP6


thats pretty much it, the alpine h800, the mosconi 6to8 dsp and the arc unit arent out yet, and i dont think the RF 360.3 is out yet either...so...

but remember dsp and a headunit arent mutually exclusive by any means, infact, its best to do an aftermarket headunit AND a DSP...

b