Hey guys, I've been reading all morning about these s-pod rear speak housing units. I'm in calgary canada and have a 2000 model.

What I want to do it get the housing installed with some decent components and leave everything else stock. Has anyone had any experience with any shops in my area getting these installed and set up. For the housing alone sounds like about 300 USD and I'm curios how much more I'll be spending or if these are even worth getting on a 2000 with a stock HU.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

 

In my humble opinion the Spods shouldn't be a "first" mod.

I think you would be FAR better served by new componet speakers for the doors. The MY 00 speakers are practiacly made of paper. They are the lamest factory speaker I have ever seen.

If you have trouble feeding those speakers enough power (and you may with the factory HU) then I would replace the HU second.

If it's STILL not good enough for you (then you might be a future electroics junkie ) Then I would amplify the front speakers.

Then I would probably go for a Sub

Then I would do S-pods.

Now, I have one of the very first S-pods ever, and I LOVE them. I don't want to take away any business from Mark. He makes a GREAT product, it is WELL crafted and very clever. It is just that in terms of Bang for the Buck I don't think it will offer what you are looking for.

I did my Spods along with new fronts, and an amp, and a HU. So you might be thinking: "How does he know." The answer is, I was having a noise problem with my rear channel (had nothing to do with the Spods, it was all about my amp.) however, I drove around for a couple of weeks with my rear channel unplugged. I had fronts, sub, hu and amp and it sounded REALLY good. When I sorted out the rear again, the speakers in the Spods added to that sound and it did sound better.

Bottom line: the factory stuff is SOOOO crappy start by replacing that.

 

I'm certain I'll replace my speakers eventually but I do have a question.

I've always wondered about how having that one speaker right behind your head, or behind the seats like the Lucid products, effects the stereo separation and overall sound of the system. It seems like having that one speaker behind your head would tend to override the rest of the system.

Any comments or clarification that anyone cares to make on this with either product, S-pod or Lucid rear speakers, please do so!

Thanks & Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

One word: Fader.

It works wonders.

 

ruexp67,
Thanks for the advice. Sounds like the absolute best first mod then is to get components to replace the factory speaks in my case. Will this make a huge difference or just marginal if I leave the factory HU?

 

Personally, I've noticed a substancial improvement with just replacing the stock head unit. Plus, the HU is an easy swap.

Replacing the door speakers as a first mod can also be a good start, however, if you decide that this isn't enough for you, then you'll have to replace the HU and maybe even get an amp. However, if you find out that even after that, it's not enough for you, then you may have to replace the door speakers again, which would sort of be a waste.

Just my $.02, but the start of better sound in the S IMHO starts with the headunit. At least plan out far you really want to go with your sound. I imagine after catching the "bug" you won't want to stop with just door speakers

 

Maybe, but it seems to me that adjusting this enough to compensate for a single speaker that's three inches behind your head would throw everything else off.

I'm not trying to knock the product. I know there are a lot of folks around here that seem to like their's. I'm just trying to get a handle on what it's really doing for me as I've not actually heard one of these installations first hand.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

i've got the spods and have had a few people (EJs) listen to my system. All have agreed that it has a good sound.

Your imaging, the stereo effect from the left channel to the right, will not be effected to the point that it will bother you; if you use the fader correctly. I have massively over powered my Focal K2's up front with a PG 600Ti amp, and my rears are powered by the head unit only, but i still have my fader control @ +6 front on an Alpine 9833. You can barely hear the rears but the music sounds more "full" when they are on. THE REARS ARE FOR FILL ONLY. If you want a surround sound effect and balance the fronts with the rears, you will have imaging issues for certain, not to mention sound quality issues as well. But for a stereo effect, the s-pods work very well.

However, imo they are not integral to building a good system, you can get away with only good quality fronts. I enjoy the fullness that they give me though.

 

Chadwick: You have an '04 and the OP has a '00. There was a MASSIVE difference between the '00 and '04 speakers. The '04 speakers actually qualify as speakers where as the '00 speakers don't even qualify as coffee cups. They are complete garbage.

Intrepid: I understand the concern, it has been brought up many times. People without s-pods wonder about imaging. People with s-pods suggest adjusting the fader. The person doesn't believe it, buys them anyway and then plays with the fader and says: "Huh, I guess all those guys with actual experience were right. "

If it concerns you, you can bridge the rears together. This will cancel out the stereo concept of the rear speakers so your right to left imaging will become irrelevant. Then adjusting the front/rear fader or the gains on the rear will balance the sound. I actually did this once, but had numerous problems with my system at the time that had nothing to do with bridging the rears, but I put it back as part of my troubleshooting. I never felt the need to try it again.

 

BTW: you cannot bridge the amp of your head unit without some serious issues.

And yes, the fronts of my00 are awful, far worse than the 04+... but the headunit, without question, needs to be replaced regardless of the model year.