Removing rear speakers to allow more bass in car.

pspbrewster · 2 Weeks Ago

Hi everyone, I am currently in the process of upgrading my entire system. I have replaced my deck, got a JL Audio 500/1 amp running a 10" W6 sub. For high's I am running Alpine type R components off of a Alphasonik 100 watt rms 2 channel amp. I am not going to run rear speakers. My question is has anyone removed their rear speakers to gain more bass? My goal is strictly sound quality. **The install is not yet complete so I have no clue how it will sound with the rear speakers still in place**

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gearbox · 2 Weeks Ago

chances are you will just get more road noise coming thru the rear speakers. i had mine off for a while and it was much louder, you hear everything coming thru the trunk. and i doubt sub bass will travel thru those holes and sound any better, its not directional sound.

02civicRR · 2 Weeks Ago

wouldnt the the deck just send all the lpf's to the sub if the rears were taken out? therefore, more base?

pspbrewster · 2 Weeks Ago

One of my main concerns is road noise. I have enough road noise I don't need to be adding to the madness. Thank you for the response you just saved me the headache of removing the back speakers.

gearbox · 2 Weeks Ago

in fact i would remove the rear speakers and cover those holes with a couple sheets of dynamat and foam. that will work even better to seal up the rear. and it may even improve bass response since its more of a closed space in the trunk.

pspbrewster · 2 Weeks Ago

Thanks Gearbox, I will keep that in mind if I'm not happy with the sound. I used to run 2 12" w3 subs in a ported box. This setup was way too sloppy. The subs didn't sound like they were hitting specific notes that I knew were in the songs I was playing. I originally thought that I just tuned them improperly but I took my car to a professional shop and had a technician re tune the system with a meter and I still had the same outcome. After plenty of research I decided to sell the w3's and start fresh.

For the deck I chose Kenwood's KDC x693 it has time alignment that will allow me to set a better front sound stage. The stock tweeter location is too far from the woofers so I custom mounted the Alpine Type R tweeters in the kick-panels. If the weather permits this Sunday I should have the install complete.

vsTerminus · 2 Weeks Ago

I run all four of my speakers on a 2-ch 760Watt amp that's connected to the Front pre-out on my deck. As far as the deck is concerned, I don't have rear speakers, and with the hpf and lpf filters on, none of my speakers receive anything below 100Hz. That is left entirely to the subs.

The only thing you're going to accomplish by removing the rear speakers is cutting your volume potential in half (Actually, less than half due to the horn effect of the up-firing rears) and the illusion that you have more bass than you do.

Acem2ex · 2 Weeks Ago

Sounds good, kenwood has some nice adjustments on their HU's with their DTA. I just wish there was something like onkyo (a reciever company for home audio) for cars, they have decible and time tuning based on a microphone placed in 3 user determined positions, auto tunes the whole system in about 5 minutes.

Post above killed the rest of mine -.-

pspbrewster · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsTerminus

The only thing you're going to accomplish by removing the rear speakers is cutting your volume potential in half (Actually, less than half due to the horn effect of the up-firing rears) and the illusion that you have more bass than you do.

Rear fill will just pull your soundstage backwards and I like to hear music and even "see" it coming from out in front of me. If you have a system with a good front stage and decent dynamics, you'll never miss rear speakers at all.

mejn2002 · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acem2ex

I just wish there was something like onkyo (a reciever company for home audio) for cars, they have decible and time tuning based on a microphone placed in 3 user determined positions, auto tunes the whole system in about 5 minutes.

If I'm understanding you right Alpine makes something similar. How ever I don't know how well it works. I think you also have to have a Alpine head unit for it to work.

Alpine PXA-H100

pspbrewster · 1 Week Ago

Ok well the weather was nice today, however after taking the door panel off I realized that I have to make an adapter plate for my new speakers to fit. I also had to order baffles to protect the new woofers from water damage. If you would have seen the old ones you would understand why. I will keep you guys posted as I slowly make progress.

I am thinking about taking my capacitor out for a cleaner install. Does anyone know if the capacitor is needed? I am running a total of 600 watts. I originally bought the capacitor so it would relieve stain on the battery and to make sure I didnt get any headlight dimming. The battery is a normal battery that you would buy from any parts dealer. (No Optima) I'm curious if the stock alternator is strong enough?

gearbox · 1 Week Ago

yeah those doors are pretty shoddy lol. i get water in there all the time. cap is not needed, all it does is steal battery power that could be used elsewhere. optima sucks anyway. the only way to really fix those problems of dimming is a new alternator with higher output, but stock is pretty okay for most systems. 70 amps, but not terrible.

pspbrewster · 1 Week Ago

Well with my previous setup having the cap installed I never got headlight dim. Just curious if I were to remove it would there be an issue?

gearbox · 1 Week Ago

well you would get some dimming sure, but its not like the cap is "fixing" the issue of low power. it just covers it up. and the cap has to charge itself from the battery. its not like dimming headlights is a problem, unless it bothers you.

pspbrewster · 1 Week Ago

It would bother the hell out of me. I had allot of dim in a previous car running 1000 watts. I have cut the wattage in half with this install so I guess I will give it a shot and see what happens. I would love to get my alternator rewound but money is tight from buying a new house and I would rather spend the money on things that are absolutely needed. I appreciate your input Gearbox. Keep on post-in.