[Mobile]

Hi Guys,

As requested, I have posted pictures of my audio install in progress. Right now, I have the amp rack, subs, and rear speakers installed.

The amp rack is not quite completed as I will need to add another pair of x-overs when I put my front speakers in.

I am taking the car in this afternoon to get fiberglass enclosers made for my rear speakers so they have their own box.

The dash piece up front will also be finished this afternoon. I will update this thread with more pictures as I get 'em.

http://www.cardomain.com/id/mobile_mazda3

 

[LeeLee]

Why did you put speakers in the rear cover? That thing is flimsy. And why a component speaker set? Rear speakers, if you have any at all, should be band-limited and in mono.

Do you have a cover that goes over your amps and subs so you can carry stuff back there?

 

[vaBooM]

Thats some nasty rear fill.... Its not so much flimsy, but I woulda stuck them in the door instead. Besides, that piece can be removed.

Otherwise, looks good. How does it sound?

 

[odie]

Interesting set-up. I've never seen anything quite like that set-up. I retro fitted 6x9's in my 240sx Hatch, but they weren't components. Good luck on your install and carrying luggage :lol:

 

[Mobile]

The stock speaker location in the rear doors is pretty bad for a component set. This is why the rear fill is mounted on the back deck. Also, I was thinking I might add some mid-bass drivers to the rear doors - dont know how that would sound though.

The rear deck has not been left stock though, it has been strengthened, and a fiberglass enclosure has also been mounted – I will post some pics of this tonight or tomorrow. The sound from the rear speakers is quite good, although it sounds a bit far away (obviously) – nothing a little time-alignment can’t take care of though.

LeeLee – There is no rule which states rear speakers can’t be component’s, and must be mono. However, you are correct that it is a bit of a waste to mount a decent set of components for rear-fill, but I had these speakers as my front stage in my previous car; and now I have 6 ½ for my fronts, and I decided to move the 5 ¼ to the rear.

And yes, I do have a cover which can be used to cover the amps and crossovers. The sub box can be removed with about 10 minutes of work – if you know how to do it, and need the cargo space.

Also, the amp rack is designed so you can still get at the spare tire without too much work – again, if you know how to do it. (the sub box goes to exactly the seam line for the main stock rack - so you don't have to take out the sub box to get to the tire)

 

[vaBooM]

Its not a rule or anything.. its un-necessary for a decent install. You never really want sound coming from the back (although putting subs in is kinda worthless but..). I have the stock speakers in the back with gains on my amp totally down. The fronts play so loud that it fills the whole car with music.

There is nothing wrong with putting components sets in the rear doors either. If placed properly, it wont play so hard where the fronts are drowned out, yet the people in the rear can still hear a good amount.

 

[Mobile]

Its not a rule or anything.. its un-necessary for a decent install. You never really want sound coming from the back (although putting subs in is kinda worthless but..). I have the stock speakers in the back with gains on my amp totally down. The fronts play so loud that it fills the whole car with music.

There is nothing wrong with putting components sets in the rear doors either. If placed properly, it wont play so hard where the fronts are drowned out, yet the people in the rear can still hear a good amount.

Yah, when I get my front speakers installed, the gains will be on the lowest setting for the rears - and deck will be faded to the front 70%.

I agree the rears are basically for people sitting in the back, and it is un-neccessary for a good install - but I had them already, so I figured "why not?".

It is true that there is nothing wrong with placing componants in the rear doors - but I liked the placement on the rear deck better as the stock rear speakers location is directly behind the front seats...It's just something different I wanted to do - and I like it, which I guess is the important thing.

What do you mean by this "(although putting subs in is kinda worthless but..). "?

 

[LeeLee]

I'll state that for all of my installs, the enjoyment of the driver/passenger is of paramount importance. Back seat sound quality is secondary. After all, if you sat in the back seat of my first serious install, you had 2 10" RF subs mounted in aperiodic enclosures firing into your back. It was over powering both in terms of sound and in terms of vibrations. I simply do not see how any install can seriously cater to the listening pleasures of all passengers.

When you do have rear speakers (none of my serious installs ever did), they are typically there for creating a surround-like "ambience". While no violin would ever play from behind the listener, a slight reflection might be just audible enough to be noticed. However, what we have is a stereo source and not a true multi-channel source such as Dolby Digital or DTS. We are not even talking about Dolby Pro Logic. So if we have any rear speakers at all, we have what is called matrix surround, whereby the rear speakers play a mono signal that is the sum of the left and right channels, band limited to between 300Hz and 3kHz. Therefore my recommendation.

If you deviate from that for whatever reason, then you are taking away from the sound quality delivered to the front seat listeners. If absolute sound quality of front seat listeners is not your primary concern, then by all means put component speakers anywhere you want.

 

[Mobile]

I'll state that for all of my installs, the enjoyment of the driver/passenger is of paramount importance. Back seat sound quality is secondary. After all, if you sat in the back seat of my first serious install, you had 2 10" RF subs mounted in aperiodic enclosures firing into your back. It was over powering both in terms of sound and in terms of vibrations. I simply do not see how any install can seriously cater to the listening pleasures of all passengers.

When you do have rear speakers (none of my serious installs ever did), they are typically there for creating a surround-like "ambience". While no violin would ever play from behind the listener, a slight reflection might be just audible enough to be noticed. However, what we have is a stereo source and not a true multi-channel source such as Dolby Digital or DTS. We are not even talking about Dolby Pro Logic. So if we have any rear speakers at all, we have what is called matrix surround, whereby the rear speakers play a mono signal that is the sum of the left and right channels, band limited to between 300Hz and 3kHz. Therefore my recommendation.

If you deviate from that for whatever reason, then you are taking away from the sound quality delivered to the front seat listeners. If absolute sound quality of front seat listeners is not your primary concern, then by all means put component speakers anywhere you want.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your input, and don't doubt your expertise as you obvoiously have some experience with this stuff.

I don't have my rear speakers in there "only" for anyone sitting in the back, they are there because I like a little rear fill in my audio setups - otherwise I would not have any at all. What I will do though, is play around with my x-overs once the front speakers are in, and see what I like best - I will try a 300Hz 24db slope on my rear speakers and see how it sounds compared to a 100Hz cut-off (where i have it set now). I will also try the rear speakers on mono vs stereo setup; but I doubt I will hear much difference.

If I was listening to the stereo with the car off, with no other noises, in a perfect listening conditions, maybe I would hear a difference...but driving around the city, playing my stereo, I don't think I will hear any difference - but I will try a bunch of different setups and see how it goes.

 

[vaBooM]

What do you mean by this "(although putting subs in is kinda worthless but..). "?

You always want as much front stage as possible. So putting in subs would deter that statement. Thats why I put "but".. because low frequencies are unidirectional. So it really dont matter if it was installed in the back or front.. it would theoretically sound the same.

 

[mazdaspeed3]

What do you mean by this "(although putting subs in is kinda worthless but..). "?

You always want as much front stage as possible. So putting in subs would deter that statement. Thats why I put "but".. because low frequencies are unidirectional. So it really dont matter if it was installed in the back or front.. it would theoretically sound the same.

wouldn't you mean omnidirectional?

 

[operator]

A Bump for all those looking for a rear deck install.