Speakers in the Rear Pillars: Question for those who have added them

Mikeys07FJ · 12-28-2006, 10:28 AM

If your FJ didn't come with rear pillar speakers, and you've added them, my question is this:

Can you tell a difference in the sound/loudness of your stereo system?

Is it necessary to add a small amp to get good sound quality?

Any insight would be great!

Thanks,

trainman0978 · 12-28-2006, 11:06 AM

even with a fairly decent amp, don't expect much. I have 3.5" MB quartz in my rear pillars. I had them hooked up to a kenwood excelon kac-x541 4ch. amp. this amp puts out 88w by 4 channels. Now the speakers I have have a peak power capacity of 125 watts, with a rms rating of I think around 75-80 watts. They did help, but not enough to justify using up two channels of my amp. I took them off the amp, and am now powering them, along with my 4" excelon dash speakers off of my deck, which is , ..... you guessed it, kenwood excelon , model xxv-01D. This deck puts out 45w x 4ch. I bridged the 4channel amp to make it a two channel amp, and now it only powers a pair of alpine type-R 6x9" s . I like this set-up much better, now the 6x9" s are getting 176 watts a piece, and I am surprised to say they handle it very well. As for the 3" inch speakers well, that depends, if you are keeping your factory deck and just replacing speakers, then go for it. the wiring is there, just pop them in. If you are gonna pull everything out and start over, I would think a good amp and some components would suit you better. If you wanna save a bit, get some 6x9" s and new dash speakers and amp them up. We have many options with the way the factory set up speaker locations and sizes.

What I plan to do next is sound deaden everything to the point of over kill, pull out the 6x9" s , the 4" s, and the current amp, and then install JL audio 3 speaker compnents ( 6.5", 4", 1.0" per side ) and possibly install a set of 5.25" ( maybe components, not sure yet ) speakers in the area just behind the suicide doors. I would like to use one amp for the front components, and a second smaller amp to power the 5.25" set and the 3" set.

Mind you this expensive planning/dreaming, but I have found a hobby I enjoy, and I also realize once I do this it will require a bigger alternator and battery, as I get a little dimming of the lights when the 2 12" s hit really hard already.

how far do you wanna go..........

socalboo · 12-28-2006, 12:21 PM

pretty hard to get anything but 3.5s up there, and hard to get a lot of sound from 3.5s. I agree with trainman that if you are just dropping in replacements and using stock wiring, *might* be worth the time, but questionnable. I dropped 3.5 infinity referrence and powered off pretty big 4 channel amp (80 per channel RMS), which is more than the speakers can handle, and you are hard pressed to actually note much sound from the rear speakers unless you totally isolate them by throwing the fader all the way to the rear. Even then, they sound 'small' (duh - they are). I disconnected from amp and am using deck amp to power.

I only spent $25 on ebay for them, and they dropped in in about 15 minutes, so I'm not overly bummed. As well, I viewed music as coming mostly from an upfront soundstage, so I focus my $$$ and time on components for front (and bass). If I had DVD and was looking for surround, I might go for something peppier for the rear, but as it stands, no more wasted money or time on the rears.

Some other ideas...someone threw some 5.25's on top of the tan panelling where the rear pillar speakers seats underneath. You are gonna get more pop with something with roughly twice as much surface area. not sure I am a fan of the look, but it wasn't bad.

Others have dropped speakers in the side panels right behind the rear seats. Others have dropped speakers in the side clam shell doors.

rob_k · 12-29-2006, 07:35 AM

i installed Polk DB400's back there, the only time i have actually heard them is when i was sitting in the cargo area with the stereo on.

bleen-bleen · 12-29-2006, 10:17 AM

i put 4 inch infinitys there with the factory vented covers. they actually overpower the front speakers a little bit. (all fronts dash and doors are upgraded to infinitys). i must admit this is the worst factory i have had since the 80's.

Garsgrl · 12-29-2006, 11:52 AM

I purchased some 3.5 infinity's for the rear pillars. However, when they arrived they had a package of 2 items that looked like batteries (with wires coming out each end) included with no instructions. Im new to the speaker world so I have no idea what these are for. Anyone care to tell me what these are for?

thugasaur · 12-29-2006, 11:56 AM

might be bass blockers the block out the freq that your speakers cant handle

Garsgrl · 12-29-2006, 12:07 PM

Well, i've applied some bass blockers to the speakers already. Im not sure what they are they have 100uF on the side and 5V. I've tried the speakers before actually installing and they work. But figured I would screw something up if I didn't use everything they sent me.

thugasaur · 12-29-2006, 12:11 PM

im no audio expert but sounds like a sound bit of thinking to use everything , when the rest of the guys see this they will help you out more or sent a pm to jt'scruiser hes a forum vendor does great work (in california) might be able to clear it up for you!

Thumper25 · 12-29-2006, 12:56 PM

I would spend the extra $$'s on a different part of the system (front comps, hu, sub, amps, etc). Rear speakers (rear fill) only confuse the soundstage in my opinion. Just pretend you are at a concert. Were does the sound come from? In front of you. So the best place to hear the music is right in the middle of the dash. Just my 2 cents.