Do I Need Rears?

[Cpyder 10+ year member]

I personally like rear fill too. Shit, if you're a a REAL SQ guy I would think you would want your "front stage" all the way around.

A properly tuned soundstage sounds like it's coming from in front of the windshield and you should be able to picture the band's instruments spread out in front of you. It's a pretty satisfying accomplishment if you can get it just right. If you have your rear speakers too loud it will pull the soundstage to the rear and you'll lose the imaging.

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

By the way it also depends on the vehicle. I drive a crew cab pickup. I probably wouldn 't bother in a 2 seater or small coup where there wasn't so much space behind my head.

 

[Pioneer~Saturn 5,000+ posts]

Havent had rears for a couple years and havent missed them at all

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

By the way it also depends on the vehicle. I drive a crew cab pickup. I probably wouldn 't bother in a 2 seater or small coup where there wasn't so much space behind my head.

I drive a 4 door truck and don't use rear speakers. The stock location for my rear speakers is right behind my shoulder, maybe a foot back...it just interferes too much with what's going on in front of me, regardless of how low the volume is.

I've heard/done setups where having a pair of 5.25 or 6.5 midranges(just mids, no tweets) lightly playing the 80-2.5k range works well, adding "fullness" to the music(more specifically vocals). It's just all about the placement, frequency range, and volume at which you play them that makes a big difference.

 

[Adnan 10+ year member]

i use rearfill and always will... i would would balance the sound more towards the front like

F70% R30% so that it doesnt interfere with the front stage...however as you make your way in the back of the vehicle you can still hear the music coming from the front.

Also make sure your rear fill is either lesser or as efficient as your fronts...otherwise it will interfere and eventually annoy you

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

i use rearfill and always will... i would would balance the sound more towards the front like F70% R30% so that it doesnt interfere with the front stage...however as you make your way in the back of the vehicle you can still hear the music coming from the front.

Also make sure your rear fill is either lesser or as efficient as your fronts...otherwise it will interfere and eventually annoy you

If you're using the fade feature to put more of the sound up front, then the efficiency of your rear speakers really doesn't matter...you can just adjust the fader to where you like it.

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

I drive a 4 door truck and don't use rear speakers. The stock location for my rear speakers is right behind my shoulder, maybe a foot back...it just interferes too much with what's going on in front of me, regardless of how low the volume is.
I've heard/done setups where having a pair of 5.25 or 6.5 midranges(just mids, no tweets) lightly playing the 80-2.5k range works well, adding "fullness" to the music(more specifically vocals). It's just all about the placement, frequency range, and volume at which you play them that makes a big difference.

What kind of truck? Im in a crew cab Dakota. Rear speakers are in the stock lockation in the lower rear door panels so they're not anywhere near my head and it's a full sized back seat. As long as I fade it a bit and send them less power they add a bit of depth and loudness to the experience for me but I really can't tell they're there from the driver's seat. Sounds from your description of where the rear speakers are as if maybe you're in some sort of 4 door extended cab.

 

[dewey79 10+ year member]

If you get you get some good components and a great amp pushing them, you will not need any rear speaker because they will fill your car up with sound. I can't tell that I don't have speakers behind me because there is such a large sound field. When your speaker are broken in well, to me it seems like the speaker disappears and sound is everywhere.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

A properly tuned soundstage sounds like it's coming from in front of the windshield and you should be able to picture the band's instruments spread out in front of you. It's a pretty satisfying accomplishment if you can get it just right. If you have your rear speakers too loud it will pull the soundstage to the rear and you'll lose the imaging.

Have you ever been to a rock concert? The sound comes from EVERY where //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I have a nice front stage and only use that 90% of the time, but I have loud rear fill with an amp wired off a toggle switch for days I just wanna punish my ears //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[Cpyder 10+ year member]

Have you ever been to a rock concert? The sound comes from EVERY where //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
I have a nice front stage and only use that 90% of the time, but I have loud rear fill with an amp wired off a toggle switch for days I just wanna punish my ears //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

I think a lot of audiophiles would argue that you want the stage in front of you. Rock concerts definitely don't sound like it's coming from behind you. And when it is you lose all imaging.

See wiki soundstage :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_stage

 

[thorshammer1 10+ year member]

If you're using the fade feature to put more of the sound up front, then the efficiency of your rear speakers really doesn't matter...you can just adjust the fader to where you like it.

I have rears and this is close to how I adjust them. Polk MOMO6x9 with a PG Xenon crossover in place of original inline that Polk sends with them.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif