Only Fronts Sound Better?

[Astyl 10+ year member]

Ive heard around here that your better off getting rid of your rear speakers and just running subs and some good front speakers

how so? I experimented today and turned my fader all the way to the front.. and it sounded weird.. there was this weird void of sound from the back and i didnt like it whatsoever.. hows it sound better with only fronts and a sub?

Is it something that grows on you with time? theres just a void there without rear speakers and it just throws everything off..

i wish i could like it.. if i did ide throw some tangband mini subs in the rear deck and have a huge bass soundstage and only have the highs off the fronts

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[TreyE 10+ year member]

i keep my rear in just dont power em so its not like an absense of music its still there just not as loud and it sounds fine

 

[jacka 10+ year member]

some people prefer it, some people don't

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

i hated the sound with rear speakers. my preference.

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

Some people say that they cant run rear speakers cause the pressure from the subs would rip the cones off the surrounds on there rear deck

would those dynamat little cup enclosure things help prevent that

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

maybe it has something to do with u only running coaxil's, when u do just the front stage usually it's component set that is place right so u get good imaging from the speakers (midrange and tweeter, or sometimes 3 way with midrange woofer and tweeter). Than the subs in the back. Mine sounds way better with only the front stage. U need to have a decent component set with a good install before u can really see what everyone means.

 

[lincolnls 10+ year member]

this question will answer your question

when was the last time you went to a concert and listened to your back to the band?

you wouldnt so for SQ people dont use rear fill as it would defeat the purpose of a sound stage, get it sound stage

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

this question will answer your question
when was the last time you went to a concert and listened to your back to the band?

you wouldnt so for SQ people dont use rear fill as it would defeat the purpose of a sound stage, get it sound stage

like i said, he's not gonna understand with just coaxil's anyways

 

[Suomi 10+ year member]

My biggest gripe with the concert analogy is that not all music is mixed to sound like a concert hall. I have a lot of CDs which are produced to encompass the listener, and many sound best through headphones, and not sitting with a pair of speakers in front of you. My preference is some rear fill, but it can't be louder than the sound coming from the front as is the case with many OEM system featuring 6x9s in back and smaller speakers up front.

 

[lincolnls 10+ year member]

My biggest gripe with the concert analogy is that not all music is mixed to sound like a concert hall. I have a lot of CDs which are produced to encompass the listener, and many sound best through headphones, and not sitting with a pair of speakers in front of you. My preference is some rear fill, but it can't be louder than the sound coming from the front as is the case with many OEM system featuring 6x9s in back and smaller speakers up front.

you also do realize in a properly set up system you should be able to difinitvely say that the subs are in the rear right? the bass should surround you, like at a concert.

the problem with running rear fill is it doesnt sound as good, i would venture to say that if you got a TA and do some time alignment it would sound good, i dont doubt that. but who is going to really go thru all that to get a surround sound feel in there car, when you can do the front and it will sound great when properly done

most music out there sounds a tin better with just a front stage, as if you were in a concert, the object is to get that feeling like you are in a concert in your car.

 

[Suomi 10+ year member]

you also do realize in a properly set up system you should be able to difinitvely say that the subs are in the rear right? the bass should surround you, like at a concert.
the problem with running rear fill is it doesnt sound as good, i would venture to say that if you got a TA and do some time alignment it would sound good, i dont doubt that. but who is going to really go thru all that to get a surround sound feel in there car, when you can do the front and it will sound great when properly done

most music out there sounds a tin better with just a front stage, as if you were in a concert, the object is to get that feeling like you are in a concert in your car.

To whom? I would agree for most classical music, but not all music. Then again, I like the feeling of being surrounded by the music. As a musician, that is the setting that feels most natural to me; like I'm on the stage rather than facing it.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

Wow, lots of misinformation going around in this thread, I guess I'll step in before squeek does. He likes these threads too. The biggest problem with rear fill is that music is recorded in stereo. By definition, only left and right channels. When you put other speakers behind you, in the middle, etc, your no longer hearing the sound as it was intended to be heard. Music is set up so that you get a "soundstage". Essentially an invisible group of musicians in front of you playing the music. With speakers in their proper positions, you'll hear the music like your supposed to. Drums panning across the soundstage, definite space between instruments, not only left and right, but depth as well. (none of this is as easy to get as it sounds.) When you put speakers behind you, you get sound behind you, not where it was supposed to be. To have 1 get's rid of the other. So the vocalist that should be in the center of your sounstage is now coming from all around you. Sure that's envoloping, and it's great, until you actually hear how it's supposed to sound. Try listening to well recorded music on headphones sometime. Now, while headphones do encompass you in sound, in terms that it seems to come from everywhere, it's nothing like rear fill. Close your eyes and listen to headphones, the sounstage is basically inside your head. The center is in the center of your forehead, with the instruments panning at least to edge of your ears, sometimes further out! This is essentailly what your getting in car, just a foot or 2 in front of your face, instead of inside it. Imaging is part of what allows you to listen to your music, instead of just hearing it.

Secondly, adding rear fill presents phasing+cancellation issues. You have multiple speakers playing the same tones, at radically different distances from your head. Some of the tones will add together, some destory each other, creating gaps in your frequency responce, again, it sounds great until you realize what it's supposed to sound like.

Third, not sure who brough it up, but bass should not sound like it's behind you. The idea isnt' necessarily to mimic a concert, which does have speakers all around you. If anything, your trying to get a truly live performance, no speakers anywhere, just real instuments playing in front of you, that's what a stereo is shooting for in terms of staging. The reason a sub is behind you is because the frequencies that subs play are so low you can always tell where they are coming from, the wavelengths are too long. If you cross a sub low and don't have any major rattles, you can usually cross a sub around 60-80hz at a high slope and have the sub not localize at all. It will simply seem like the bass is coming out of nowhere, the same as your front speakers should sound.

In summation, SQ goes a LONG way, I've alluded to that a bit in my post, stage height, depth, etc. While few people will fully appreciate that level of quality, or spend enough time to get their car there, you can get the basics of a good stereo sound by just removing rear speakers and not running your sub too high.

 

[dirthog 10+ year member]

One thing you could try is turning your rear speaker level down and adjusting the EQ cut off at a higher frequency. Taking away the mid allowing for a dreamy sound effect but still having a strong front stage.

 

[AVSTANG02]

At first I thought fronts only sounded weird but I got used to it and now its the only way that sounds good.

think about it.

Aside from Home theatre surround sound.

NO AUDIO SYSTEM HAS SPEAKERS BEHIND YOU!!

people are just morons.. "Well it has room for speakers in the rear it must need them!"

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

NO AUDIO SYSTEM HAS SPEAKERS BEHIND YOU!!

Guess you've never been out to a club then with speakers on ALL the walls.

And ALL the concerts I've been to back in the day and sitting in the first 5 rows it definitely sounds like the sound is coming from EVERY direction. Not sure about other seats though.

I'm PRO rear fill, actually amped loud rear fill. In MY car it moves the proverbial "soundstage" to the middle of the car and as I've stated before, sounds VERY good to me since that's where my ears are pointed //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I still get stereo separation, but NO it doesn't sound like someone is sitting in the middle of my dash playing, but personally I could car less.

I wonder how many of the PRO "no rear fill" group actually listen to classical or other music on a daily basis that actually offers the so called benefits of a front stage only???? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/up2something.gif.dd110ecf3ae4b76050d87598f2f8de7c.gif

My choice of music may dictate why I like rear fill: old school rap & hip hop, 80's metal, and 80's club dance stuff.