Alright, I've done my HU install (Kenwood KDC-X789) and the sound is much better. Now I'm trying to figure out how to upgrade everything else.

Due to price, and some well respected opinions, I'm planning on going with some Alphasonik front components to upgrade the front stage.

Here are my issues.

1. Do I want rear fill? And if I do, do I do the cheaper option, Lucid, instead of SPODs?

For the people that went the rear fill way, what made you decide it was right for you? Did you need it to hear your music? Why not just get really nice fronts, and get a high power amp? Or you did that, and it still wasn't enough with the top down doing 80 on the highway?

Alpha sells a nice 3 component speaker set and a 2 speaker. There is about an $80 price difference. If I went with the rears, I'd like to keep the same manufacturer. And Alpha does not seem to sell coaxial 5.25".

2. I'm not planning on a sub at the moment, but should I go 4 channel amp just in case? So I do have growth for later just in case I change my mind?

I know we get questions like this all the time, but it's tough using the search, and I didn't find anything that really answered my question. Thanks ahead of time.

 

I did my rears at the same time as I did my fronts. I didn't want to pull the car apart later if I decided I wanted rears. I just wanted to take the car apart once, do all the work, then put it back together forever and never take it apart again.

I also want world piece.

I ended up dissasembling and reassembling everything several times for various reasons. It is not a realistic goal to NEVER take it apart again.

Durring one of my "iterations." I was driving around with JUST the front speakers, amped, and with an aftermarket HU. No rears, no sub. It sounded really, quite good.

I keep the rear speakers dialed down just enough so I can't really pick them out of the mix. They help, but I feel they are not necessiary. I would sooner get a sub, than rears.

That said, I REALLY like the look of the SPods. I was also impressed with the quality of the product and the customer service from Mark.

If I were to do it again, I would still get the Spods. I would not put speakers in the rear panels. I feel any benefit from rears (which I already mentioned was not overwhelming) would be dramatically reduced with the speaker firing directly into the back of the seat.

 

Sorry, I didn't address the rest of your questions.

Get a 4 channel amp. It is extremely flexable for whatever your future needs. For now, you could bridge the channels and get more power to your fronts. In the future the other two channels could be bridged to power a sub, or split to power rears.

I wouldn't worry TOO much about keeping the same speakers in the front and back. (I did, BTW) You just want to make sure the sounds from them compliment each other. Even speakers from the same manufacture might not sound good together so test them out and make sure before you buy.

 

The best guide for installing rear speakers is personal preference. I personally prefer sound from the rear added to that from the front.

 

[QUOTE=erik,Feb 2 2006, 11:35 AM]
And Alpha does not seem to sell coaxial 5.25".

 

I can get you the those speakers for a great price. An I'm an authorized dealer.

 

Thanks, NFR.

I was looking at Sonicelectronix and they didn't sell any Alpha 5.25" coaxials and I couldn't find coaxials on the alpha's site. Now I know why, listed under the 800 to Full which now makes sense.

For the fronts, I'm looking at the 6501 if I'm going to do the 2 speaker, or possibly the 6551 for the 3 speaker if I go the rears route. I honestly don't know why I would want tweeters behind me for fill. Seems a bit of overkill.

I admittedly am trying to stay relatively cheap on all this. My car is a lease, and I just don't expect great sound from a vert. So with that said, NFR, I found a December post where you recommended the HiFonics Titan TX8805. So I was thinking of picking that up also, since I was confident that the Alphas would need some juice to get them sounding really good.

marks, I usually prefer front stage sound. I'm not usually a fill person. BUT, I also want to hear the music clearly with the top down doing 80 mph on the highway. So that's why I think about getting the rears, and wanted to hear some differing opinions.

DarkKnight, you'll be getting a PM before I order anything. I'd like to use an S2Ki vendor if at all possible.

Thanks for the help everyone. Any more opinions on the rear fill, keep them coming, thanks.

 

The hifonics is a very nice amp, and will suit your needs 100%. PM John to see his prices, as sonic is cheap, but service isnt all that.

 

I did the same way as ruexp67, all were installed at the same time, because I used HU power to drive rear speakers, so the extra cost for rear speakers is minimum. My front speakers are powered by Boston Acoustic GT-24 with more than 120Wrms/ch. The rear pseakers are for complementing the fronts.

With fader control set to fronts only, I found that the sound is not as nice as with the rear speakers on and adjusted such that the main sound sources are from the fronts and the rears are for fill only. I could still hear music loud and clear at 90+ mph

If I do it all over again, I would like to have rear fill as I have now.

 

Thanks for the reply TR. I'm leaning on just going with the front stage. More because I don't feel like coming up with the extra $300 for the speakers and SPODs right now. In the end, I'm going to try to the cheaper route, if I don't like it, I'll invest in rear fill.

Thanks for the replys.

Also, NFR and John, the Hitronics amp bridged does 440 x 2 at 4 ohms. Would you bridge the amp and just keep the level turned way down? The 6501s are power hungry being able to handle 200 W RMS.

Also, what kind of material do you use for your amp boards? PAS2K makes a great product, but I might see if I can do it myself. Thanks for all the advice!!! It's very appreciated.