Let me preface this by saying that with the stock head unit, rear speakers may help, i dont' know. I just finished my install. I decided i was going to install just the fronts, listen to it, and then put the rears in if i felt they were necessary. What i found is that they are in no way necessary and in fact would only serve to mess things up. Yesterday was pretty windy and i was driving around with the top down at 80mph and the music was perfectly clear and sounded very good. I think all the rears would do is mess with the staging. I really think mids and highs are the least of our worries in this car. The one thing i'm slightly disapointed in is how hard it is to actually get bass into the cabin. I'm running 1200 watts to a super high power sub and have less bass than i thought i would. Don't get me wrong, it's still loud and has a great balance, but i expected heart stopping bass if i turned the sub level up all the way. So, my advice to anyone lookin for a really nice system is to save money on rear speakers and put your money into a high powered amp and really good sub. I'll post some pics as soon as i either fix my digital camera or get ahold of someone else's.

-Steve

 

I'm right there with you offroad. Excellent choice of speakers, BTW. My Pro's are running with 120 watts each and I see NO need for rear speakers with that kind of power. Even at highway speeds with the top down, its loud enough to completely drown out all wind noise.

I'm planning a sub in the not-too-distant-future, but have a few other priorities right now.

Jeff

 

But this begs the question, have you tried Rears previously?

When the notion of rears came out, everyone said what a stupid idea it was..audiophiles i thought, were actually going ot start a full out war!!!

But then a few people tried it out, and everything changed.

Common concensus is that rear speakers have a HUGE improvement in any system.

 

I'm not so sure he even tried them "this" time. From his wording, it appears that he was only going to try the rears if his new front setup was inadequate and since they were, he only "assumed" the rears were not necessary. With all that power and a sub, he most likely don't need the rears. I don't think he quite understands why some of us put rears in. I put them in because I didn't want to add an amp or a sub. I wanted to use the untapped wattage of the unused rear channel. For those with no addtional amp or only a low power amp, the rears is still the best mod for the stock HU. Not many of us want or need to add hundreds, let alone thousands of watts. Rears gives me just what I'm lacking to make the stock setup quite enjoyable and more than adequate.
With 1200 watts, (or even 240) the statement, "No need for rear speakers" may indeed be correct. However, I don't think this can be made as a blanket statement.

 

Sorry offroadr, but I disagree. I think it comes down to taste and preference. Some people think the sound should only come from in front of you, but I like the "home theatre" effect where sound comes from all around you. I am running 100 watts RMS per channel up front and 25 watts RMS per channel in the rear. Whenever I demo my system for someone, I crank the fader all the way to the fronts. Then I fade in the rears, and every single time the passenger says "that sounds way better". As I said it's all about preference and I understand that some audiophiles may have an issue with staging, but I'm not an audiophile, I just know what I like.

As for your sub, there has to be a problem somewhere. I am running 250 watts into a 10" JL Audio Stealthbox and it pounds HARD; on certain tracks I have to turn the sub down.

P.S. with a "budget" system, I think we all know rears are a MUST.

 

"Budget system"? I had to pay over 50 grand just to get that budget system!

 

Xviper, if you read the first line of my post i concede that many are in your exact situation and rears are probably a great solution. However my post was geared to people with high powered systems. Woodson, there's nothing wrong with the sub/amp it gets LOUD, it just doesn't get LOUD!!! like the same combination i have heard in other people's non-convertible cars. Also my sub is brand new, it should get noticably louder once it breaks in. Also i don't doubt that it would still sound good with rear speakers, i still may install some at some point just because i like projects. However it will require more tuning, more money (not a problem for me because i already have a few sets of speakers), and more effort. I was simply making the post to let people know that they can have as good or better (depending on preference) sound without the rear speakers and use that money elsewhere. Since i already have the 4 channel amp and a set of Boston Pro 4.5s, i may give them a shot and then i can really give a comprehensive write-up and say which is BETTER, for now i can just say that the rears are definitely unnecessary.

-Steve

 

Just to let you guys know, shortly after I hooked up my amp I took out my rear speakers and sold them for sub money. I am still very happy I did.

 

Just curious, is sub money worth less than real money?


I know, I know - nobody likes a smartass . . .

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by offroadr35
[B] . . .What i found is that they are in no way necessary and in fact would only serve to mess things up. . .