opinions: 1 set or 2?

Song0330 · 04-06-2005, 05:53 AM

This forum has been a great help to me. I'm currently in the planning/purchasing phase of my first carputer, and I need a definite answer for my car audio setup. From searching, I've learned that I want to get component speakers for my front. I've also learned that I should rather have 6.5s for my rears, instead of the 6x9s that should go in there.

However, I have not been able to determine whether or not I should have rears in the first place. In a thread somewhere, someone stated that rear speakers would impact audio quality in a negative way and that people would be better off with front components only. However, no one backed up this theory, I ask it here now.

I'm definitely getting Focal components for my fronts, but have not yet decided on my rears. My 3 choices: 6.5" coaxials, 6.5" components, or none at all. Opinions?

Nic · 04-06-2005, 06:01 AM

its mostly personal preference. some people like rear fill, i know i do. its also nice to have rear speakers if you have passengers in the back. i would get 6.5" components for the back

bertybassett · 04-06-2005, 06:02 AM

get 6.5 coaxials as they are cheaper and plus they are only needed for fillin.

hope that helps.

koolaidkitten · 04-06-2005, 06:09 AM

you can find a LOT more info on the sound stage / rear fill theory over at the caraudioforum.com boards.

Me? I personaly prefer rear fill , but i always fade the volume to about 1/4 of whatever the front speakers are.

Song0330 · 04-06-2005, 11:07 PM

Whoops, guess I was only thinking about listening to music. I totally forgot to figure in that I'll be playing video games and watching movies (surround sound!) every once in a while. I"ll probably end up getting 2 sets of components for the front and rear.

Nic · 04-07-2005, 02:44 AM

i'd still get coaxials, a good set of coaxials is the same as getting a good set of splits

sansoo24 · 04-07-2005, 04:21 PM

I have a small truck so maybe its a little different. But i have a nice set of 6.5 components up front and just a set of mid bass drivers in the rear. Basically its the same 6.5 driver that the components use. This setup kicks *** in my truck but i dont really have to worry about too much rear fill anyways. But id try to get the opinoin of someone that competes in SQ. Red GTi VR6 competes and really seems to her ****. Id ask them.

Personally id go with a nice set of coaxils as well. I dont think there is really a need for brillian highs in the rear of a vehicle. But without any rear fill id think your sound would be kinda hollow. And that is freaking anoying

k_oss_mrld · 04-07-2005, 04:39 PM

is there any particular reason people told you not to get 6x9s in the back? I've been driving ****ty GMs all my life (an el camino and 3 grand ams) and the 6x9s in the back have been the only thing that I couldn't criticize. Just for clarification though, that '77 el camino had no rear speakers. it also had no rear view mirror

Song0330 · 04-08-2005, 06:04 AM

k oss mrld: I've read that I shouldn't go with 6x9s because oval speakers produce sound less accurately than round speakers. I'm very picky about my sound.

Thanks for the advice guys. Unfortunately, there's not many higher-end Focal component speakers (anything above their Access line) for cheap online, and according to a forum thread here the Infinity Perfects sound better than Focal Access (and are a lot cheaper!), and as such I've modified my planned setup to this:

Infinity Perfect 6.1 components (front) 100w RMS
Polk Momo MMC 650 (rear) 80w RMS
Phoenix Gold Xenon X100.4 amp 100w RMS
2x Audiobahn AW1206T subs 50-1100w RMS
Infinity Reference 610a sub amp 456w RMS

sansoo24 · 04-09-2005, 01:09 AM

How much are you paying for the Audiobahn subs? Cuz if youre not getting a good price there are much better things out there. I would look are Resonant Engineering subs on ebay. There SE line is only 600 watts RMS but i think it would sound much better than the Audiobahns. I used to be a huge Audiobahn fan until they started putting flames on ******* everything and sacraficing performance and durability for cosmetics. Plus with one nice RE or Adire sub in the right box tuned properly it will blow those 2 audiobahns away.

Thats just my opinoin but lets see if i get flamed for saying that.

JaxPt · 04-09-2005, 01:30 AM

if you are picky about sound you really do want rear speakers for rear fill and proper sound stage. what you're aiming for is a front stage, and rear fill, just as if you were at a concert, hence "stage". optimal imaging will sound as if the music is comming from a few feet ahead of the car and filling in around you.

as far as Audiobahn, I've never personally used them but I dont hear too many good things about em. I would have to go with sansoo on this one, JL audio, RF, Xtant, Adaire, even my kicker comp VR's (not as high quality but they hit hard)

WhiteRabbit · 04-12-2005, 11:40 AM

rear fill is a bandaid used to help raise the soundstage, but its usually at a cost of pulling the stage back. I've never been a good enough installer personally to be able to have rear speakers without completley destroying my stage whatsoever.

that being said, those who like rear fill generally prefer to be surrounded by music. Maybe have a ton of other reasons, I dont think I could come up with all of them. And good for them, having rearfill is totally cool!

the fact is, good or bad soundstage, noone should have a lack of midbass. Which, chances are better than not, if you dont put a ton of work into your audio system, pulling the rears will generate a midbass gap between the fronts and subwoofer. Ever hear a car where the kickdrum went "FUMP" instead of "THUMP"? a midbass gap sucks.

Realistically, no rearfill should be saved for those who pick speakers that have the midbass support needed to allow their absence. focal access for example just arent gonna cut it. But if you have polykevs or utops, you might consider what you want, as they are able to play sufficiently low in the proper install to allow the rearfill to be removed.

Hopefully this post is useful, the conclusion is identical to those above. But I wanted to outline some thoughts that might help make a decision about how you want everything to run.

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