Do You Really Need Rear Speakers in a Double Cab

exactly my thinking! it will be louder so why not????

 

Rear speakers make my penis feel bigger. Haha j/k no im not running rear fill. In fact it will just mess with the active 3 way Im working on.

 

I agree, rear speakers are fill. You still have your front stage setup with the tweeters up front, but to me you just don't get a good sound out of a 'two channel' system, for lack of better terms.

 

I think you've already received an answer but,

• run front RCAs from the HU to the amp, also the sub RCAs if you have that
• run new speaker wire from the amp to the front door speakers (could re-use the existing, but then need to run speaker wire from amp to the HU area in order to wire amp speaker wires to factory wires)
• connect rear HU speaker wires to factory rear speaker wires in HU area
• don't connect front HU speaker wires

Proper imaging is difficult to do with speakers that are behind the listening position. To keep the sound stage up front, minimal, to no, rear speaker output is needed. If rear speakers are used and proper sound staging is wanted, need to keep rear speakers off, or minimize the amount of mid-high output that comes from them.

But, as you can tell from this thread, some people prefer the full all-around sound in their VEE-hicles, some people don't know the difference and just want more SPLs. Try closing your eyes and pinpoint where the instruments are coming from. If it's behind you, or you can't place them, chances are good your imaging is not good.

For mine, I put the rear speakers back in due to the rear seat sound quality,,, too bass-y back there and the front tweets seem to get eatten up with the people, seats, etc., so no imaging anyway, so when I have rear seat passengers, I turn up the rear speakers, when I want a better quality sound stage, turn the rears off.

 

This ^^^ I was told this exact same thing by a car audio guy when I was about 18 trying to setup my system in my car at the time.

 

Kinda OT....but I'd like to see pics of this unit installed when done.

 

The factory sound system is to week for me cas I drive with the windows down I am planing on adding a box and upgrading pr-existing speakers and run them on different ampsand tune em to eachother

 

Do you think it's best to have the rear speakers being powered by the HU? It seems like a waste to NOT have the rear speakers being amped. Is amping all 4 channels and fading to the front the best option?

 

build 8" midbass pods into the door on 400 watts each, they buy focal utopia's for the front doors

 

And lots of dynamat for that application!

 

What advantages does applying a dynamate like product? I understand in a car but I wouldn't think much difference in a truck

 

why not a truck???? do musical properties not apply the same as in a car to in a truck?? lmao

 

IDK thats what my friend said who was going to help me put my speakers in. idk much about audio but I'm trying to learn- sorry

 

Without the back speakers on in my DC, it sounds "hollow" and full of just, I dunno dead space. Bugs the crap out of me too. Just MHO.

 

thats why you need a good comp set on a 2 or 3 hundred watts each, the argument is that at concerts there are no speakers behind you, sound is to come from the front, and bass is nondirectional.

 

Stereo sound is two speakers which is exactly how music is intended to be played back. Surround sound is ideal for movies and multimedia . that being said, I'm sticking with two speakers in my regular cab!

 

PLEASE NOTE: The following is my opinion based on my actual experience and not something I read on the internet or am repeating from someone else. Also, I cannot hear what you can hear and you cannot hear what I can hear so your results may vary!

There is no "one size fits all" in mobile audio as everybody listens differently and has different objectives/goals/budgets for their sound systems. As mentioned rear speakers are a personal choice and there are several ways to use them depending on your objectives/goals. If you are not concerned with soundstage/imaging and prefer music/vocals coming from all around you I'd say go ahead and put the rears in since you are the one listening to the system and paying for it. If you watch movies in surround sound and want the full effect again I'd say use them if that's what you want. Those that prefer the musical "presence" up front typically do not use rear speakers as they can cause havoc in the front stage especially when using a tweeter behind you.
I have found that there is a way of using rear speakers to actually enhance the front stage using a left minus right/right minus left, bandpassed and delayed signal (you'll need a fairly expensive processor for this). You can also experiment with what I call "pseudo ambient rear fill" by using just a high passed mid in back with the top end rolled off naturally (no tweeter) and experimenting with the polarity/level. Although not quite as detailed as "true" rear fill I have found many people not willing to go the extra expense get very good results using this method. Since learning/experimenting with rear fill set up in this manner I find that my system is not "complete" without it however in my old regular cab trucks I found that reflections from the rear window so close to my head created enough "ambient fill" for me so no rear speakers were needed.

In any case to get the "most" out of rear fill when using it to enhance the front stage you must have the front stage already set up properly which includes eliminating resonance, sealing front wave from back wave, taming and/or utilizing reflections, minimizing PLD (hard to do with stock speaker locations using passive crossovers and no processor), proper gain structure, proper level setting between drivers, proper acoustic phase and proper left/right equalization.

No matter which way you go I always suggest properly installing the "best" speakers your budget will allow for up front as they are most important IMO and personally I would rather have one "really good" set of speakers in the front as opposed to 2 sets of "so-so" speakers front and rear.

Last but not least, enjoy the music and do what sounds "best" TO YOU!

 

For me the sound is more dead without the rears just like everyonen who upgraded them has noted. Also the rears absoloutely suck for Dolby 5.1 because the tweets are blocked by the seat backs. That is also why it does not harm imaging for music This is a Tacoma double cab specific thing... rear speakers do not image.

 

I finally got the stereo installed (had to wait for all the parts to arrive). This was my first build so I have some opinions. Here goes:
- The HU is awesome, for the price I got everything I needed.
- What a PAIN IN THE ASS it is to get the speaker wires in the door rubbers.
- The Axxess steering wheel control adapter is awesome. It seems to have more function over the steering wheel buttons even though I still have the same amount (weird I know - maybe its because the new HU has more features).
- The shark fin XM antennae adapter is a must if you want to maintain your factory XM antennae. http://www.myradiostore.com/p/sfa12m.html (It says for a Lexus but fits the Tacoma) I thought it was expensive but worth it.
-I wish the HU had a rear USB port for the Ipod adapter cable. Just looks ugly plugging into the front (but it does work GREAT). If I ever get another HU, it will have rear USB port.
- Speaker adapters are a must! (after realizing the aftermarket speaker wouldn't fit in the factory holes) I went to car-speaker-adapters.com I order them on a Saturday and they arrived Monday afternoon (how great is that) Adapters are made of pvc not MDF. Would recommend to anyone!
- I did the relay parking brake bypass so I can watch DVD's going down the road. I doubt I ever will but didn't want to splice into the parking brake wires.
- The Bazooka subwoofer doesn't fit in the rear storage area without doing some serious cutting or removing it all together. For now I just have it sitting in the right rear floor board. I likely go with something else in the future but for now it works.


Now for the rear speaker dilemma:


Since I was upgrading everything I went ahead and replaced my factory rear speaker with a set of Alpine two ways with no amp, just straight wired from the HU. After installing everything and playing with the fader/balance/volume it is my opinion (WITH MY STEREO SETUP) that it sounds better with just the front component speakers. When I fade to balance the front and rear the rear sounds muffled a little.Maybe if I bought a 4 channel amp and connected the rears it may sound different (idk).


With that said, here's some pics (for all you hatters out there, I am not a professional so don't beat me up too hard on the amp install).