Question about rear speakers

Maisum

Everytime I read peoples post on here they say you don't need rear speakers...why is that?
Would rear speakers make the car sound better? How does it sound in the back?

I dunno just makes more sense to have surround sound over mono...

exalted512

Why have surround sound when music is recorded in stereo? You have a speaker on each side in the front, so it is stereo, not mono.

The reason most advise against rear fill is that having too many speakers degrade your sound quality. You have sound coming at you from 4 different locations at 4 different distances. So it tends to 'blur' the sound, for lack of a better term as youre hearing the same music, but at 4 different times. Even though its literally milliseconds apart, it blurs the detail you can get from only having 2 different locations that sound is coming from (the front left and front right).

Also take into account, when you go to a concert, the band is always in front of you and no sound comes from the rear.

BUT...if you like to have sound coming from the front and the back, screw what we say and do what you like. Its your car and your ears!
-Cody

MacLeod

Yup. You want the fewest amount of speakers possible. For sheer volume and output more speakers would be a better way to go I suppose but for proper or even decent sound quality, it doesnt work.

Benefit to this is you can put the money you wouldve spent on rear speakers towards a better quality set of speakers for the front.

For the average Joe just looking for some decent tunes to listen to while driving back and forth to work, go for some rears, cant hurt. But if your goal is the best SQ you can get, its gotta be a single set of quality speakers up front.

Maisum

Never thought of it like that, thanks guys!
Got alot to learn...

punk-roc

continuing on this thought.. perhaps I could use my HU to send everything through the front speakers to see what I think about not having any sound from the rear?

Would this cause any issues?

Jason

mdaudioguy

punk-roc wrote: »

continuing on this thought.. perhaps I could use my HU to send everything through the front speakers to see what I think about not having any sound from the rear?

Of course!

punk-roc wrote: »

Would this cause any issues?

It would only reveal the limitations of your front speakers, depending on the quality of them. The better they are, the less you'll miss the rears.

Maisum

Right now my car is stock with no amp. Is it better if I just send the audio to the front using the HU or disconnecting the back speakers for now?

MacLeod

It'll also depend on what speakers you have. If you have 3.5's up front and no sub, it'll sound like ****.

And no matter what speakers you have up front, you'll lose overall volume by switching off the rears. So this won't necessarily be an accurate representation of tonallity differences. Instead pay attention to the change in detail, imaging and soundstage.

punk-roc

Thats what I'm going to try Maisum.. My stuff isn't stock, but I'm going to send my sound solely to the front starting this AM..

This was an incrediblely useful thread.. I never thought about my rears degrading my sound.. I have some pretty decent Focal's up front, it'll probably sound much better

Jason

arun1963

Jason, what are you using as a hu?

punk-roc

I've spaced out the number.. its a Pioneer.. Had it a couple years.. full, flip-down face.. cost around $300 i think (thats all i can remember off the top of my head, lol)

Why? I don't know if it has the Time Alignment feature... I don't remember see that any where..

arun1963

punk-roc wrote: »

I've spaced out the number.. its a Pioneer.. Had it a couple years.. full, flip-down face.. cost around $300 i think (thats all i can remember off the top of my head, lol)

Why? I don't know if it has the Time Alignment feature... I don't remember see that any where..

lol . No prob. Tell us how it sounds with only fronts.

punk-roc

I'll post what Focal's and HU I have... have the boxes at home.. just don't remember (and I'm at work!)

Jason

punk-roc

Well, I only had a 5min drive home from work.. but only utilizing my fronts was quite a bit more pleasing to my ears. Seemed far more natural and was more enjoyable.

Granted only 5min, so i'm curious what i'll think as i log more miles this way.. but was positive enough that I felt the need to post now

P.S. My HU is a Pioneer DEH-P700BT and my Front are Focal 165v2's

mdaudioguy

I've tried the same thing, and actually I like the sound mostly toward the front, with just a tad bit coming from the rear speakers. Perhaps it's psychological, but without some rear fill, I can't get past the feeling that I have a gap between my front soundstage and my sub... So basically, I've just set the fade closer to the front.

MacLeod

mdaudioguy wrote: »

I've tried the same thing, and actually I like the sound mostly toward the front, with just a tad bit coming from the rear speakers. Perhaps it's psychological, but without some rear fill, I can't get past the feeling that I have a gap between my front soundstage and my sub... So basically, I've just set the fade closer to the front.

First off, there is no "wrong" way to set it up really unless youre competing or something. Youre the one shelling out your hard earned bucks for this gear, set it up with the sub up front and the speakers in the rear if thats what you like.

Its not so much a gap between the front stage and the sub as it is the sub is hitting your ears way later than the rest of the music which makes it very easy for you to locate it in the rear. If you had time alignment, youd add delay (usually in the 3 ms range) to all your speakers except for the sub so that the sub is the first thing you hear. Your ears will queue on the thing they hear last and your sub will image up front.

Also, the higher you go over 63 Hz on the sub, the easier it is to locate. You can try turning the subwoofer crossover down (if you have one) and youll notice it pulling to the rear less.