Rear speakers pointless?

[97chameleonbird 10+ year member]

I have a 97 pontiac firebird with the monsoon system. This comes with 6 1/2 components up front, 6 1/2 inch coaxials next to the rear seats and some sort of 4" component in the rear hatch area. I replaced the rear hatch speakers with 4x6's along with upgrading all the other speakers. Someone I know keeps telling me and other people that the rear hatch are doing nothing to the sound and should just be taken out. I was just wondering what some thoughts are about this. I dont have a huge high end audio system and to me it sound better with the rear hatch speakers on. I understand that if I had an amazing system that was tuned really nice with a subwoofer then they would most likely not be needed. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks.

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[TIeclipseMOJO 10+ year member]

its all preference, most perfer their music to sound like its coming from infront of them. i only have rears because i have a 4 door with passengers, but i have it faded so i cant hear them

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

Ideally, all your sound should be focused up front. After all, your car is for your listening pleasure. The only reason I use rear speakers is so passengers can hear the music. When I have no passengers, I turn the rears off. Having front speakers only results in better imaging and staging //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[mike11202 10+ year member]

i like my sound coming from all around me so i have the rear speakers running off the HU and the fronts powered by an amp

in my car it just doesn't sound right with-out rear fill

 

[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

If it sounds better to you with the rear speakers playing, then they have a purpose. It's your car, not anyone else's. Your opinion is the only one that matters.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

x2 if you like them then leave em in. I've done set ups both ways....

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I like my rear speakers personally.

 

[FurbiesAndBeans 10+ year member]

Before i used to run rear fill only, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

That was before i got my front stage though....

 

[WrenchGuy 10+ year member]

I haven't used any lately but may put some in the D just to add some of the ambience that was missing.

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

I like it but I drive a crew cab truck. I feel rear fill smooths out the transition from my sub to my front comps. When I do without it, no matter how I play with crossovers I get this 'gap' in sound right behind my head that makes it feel like there's the audible pounding of the sub from way back there fighting with the mids and highs from my front 2 ways. Rear fill gives me a better sense of space in the soundstage and seems to bring it somewhat closer to me. It also helps makes it harder to tell were the front comps end and the sub begins without me having to cut the sub frequencies, which I like. Keep in mind I didn't go crazy with it, just cheap Infinity Ref. Coaxials with the gain on the rear channels turned down some. I also want to get the rear pax SOME sound. Maybe i'd think different if I had 600 dollar high end front 3 ways getting 200 watts but I don't.

If I had a two seater where everything is a bit more intimate I might not bother with it. And for my next setup Ill probably try a high-end, high powered 3 way setup first and only add rear fill is needed. Things I don't get is people who buy back speakers first, or those who get 110 watt comps and then a 50 watt 4 channel and send only 50 watts each to the fronts and 50 watts each to the rears, or who invest lots of money in high end, expensive rear speakers and on power for them. My rule of thumb for rear fill is if it costs more than 100 bucks or consumes any power that would better be used for the front stage its a waste.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

x2 if you like them then leave em in. I've done set ups both ways....

This guy has a switch to turn his off and on. I felt I needed rear fill when he and I did mine, but after getting used to just the front stage, I don't really notice my rears at all.

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

Yeah my rears really do nothing for my stage....other than pulling the focus towards the rear. I turn them on for jam sessions with people in the back though.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

hmmmmmmmm where have I seen this topic before.... I know I read about this before. I just can't put my finger on it.

oh well

 

[97chameleonbird 10+ year member]

Well I'm not sure if everyone understands I'm talking about the very rear hatch speakers. I have two sets of rear speakers. One set is by the seats and the other set is in the hatch area.

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

I have a 97 pontiac firebird with the monsoon system. This comes with 6 1/2 components up front, 6 1/2 inch coaxials next to the rear seats and some sort of 4" component in the rear hatch area. I replaced the rear hatch speakers with 4x6's along with upgrading all the other speakers. Someone I know keeps telling me and other people that the rear hatch are doing nothing to the sound and should just be taken out. I was just wondering what some thoughts are about this. I dont have a huge high end audio system and to me it sound better with the rear hatch speakers on. I understand that if I had an amazing system that was tuned really nice with a subwoofer then they would most likely not be needed. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks.

Rear hatch or deck speakers is different id never spend a dime on them. I just don't see how speakers mounted in that type of location or aimed the way they likely wound be would be of any use to me. Rear door speakers give the rear fill Im looking for and give rear passengers enough sound.

Manufacturers with higher end systems cram speakers everywhere in the car that they can because it makes for good marketing hype. People buy into the hype for the 10-18 speaker 'audiophile' type system and think it won't sound good unless there are speakers everywhere you can fit them, or unless you go aftermarket with every speaker in the car. I can see uses for rear door speakers but I would never upgrade anything in a rear hatch or deck and might even rip it out completely.