Help with rear speakers in my subaru STI system build

[BboyTaktix]

Hey guys,

Just got a subaru STI a few months ago, stock speakers are quite decent, head unit is crap so that was the first thing I changed and made a big difference. Speakers sound decent but still nowhere near where my old system was at in my last car. I have pretty much all my equipment left over from my last car, however my rear speakers were 6x9 (P963's) and the STI rear speakers are 6.5's.

SO this leads to my question. I have JBL P660C components which I will be putting up front (LOVE these speakers, sounded great in my last car). I also have a 4-channel JBL sub (150RMS x 4) that is pretty much ready to go in as well. All I am missing is rear speakers. Now I know many people say that the rear speakers are more just 'filler' speakers, but I think it's still important to have decent ones back there. I don't want to spend a ton of money either on speakers for the rear. I would like to stick with JBL. I don't think components are necessary back there, so I was thinking of buying some JBL P662 2-way speakers to put there, as they are quite a bit cheaper than the P660C's. They are a bit less powerful (75w RMS vs the P660C's 90wRMS), will they be suitable to put back there?

Also, what size power wire should I run from the battery to the trunk? I will be running the JBL 4-channel amp (150w RMS x 4) as well as my Clarion amp which puts out 1550w RMS (I'll be running a single powerful 10'' with this eventually hopefully around 1000W), I have lots of 4-gauge wire but no 0/1-gauge. Should I buy 0/1-gauge to go from battery to terminal block in trunk, then 4-gauge to each amp from terminal block? (I don't think a second battery is necessary and would rather not have to put one)

thanks for your help guys, just want to get the most out of what equipment I currently have without spending a ton.

[BboyTaktix]

seriously, nobody? I Think I will go with the JBL P662 2-way (non-component) speakers for the rear doors, they should sound good and be sufficient.

[notorious97200]

I would not buy rear speakers at all, but if you really want them, try to use the same ones as in front, to "keep" the same sound. No need to buy cheaper ones.

You won't need tweeters in the back, but round 6.5" would be better much better than any oval speakers.

[FosgateLife]

Have you done the big 3? Are you planning on adding batteries? Whats the soze of your stock alt? If the amp is a true 1550 watt amp it wouldnt have 4 gauge inputs. You need some good quality 0 gauge.

My suggestion is that you is to put sond mid bass's back there. Look into something besides JBL... Like crescendo ir sound qubed,

[BboyTaktix]

I'm not looking for a competition system, just want to know if the JBL P662's will work well back there...they are essentially the same speaker as the components but 2-way (same construction style, same cone material, etc.) with a little less power. and to answer the question, yes I would like speakers in the back because I feel they do make a difference and my fronts are not ridiculously loud either to be enough for highs.

I've kind of went off the whole 'sound system' thing but still want decent quality sound. I turn it up every once in a while but not excessively. Often I like to hear the sound of the engine/exhaust so I turn the system down lol

An important question though is how to go about wiring everything the simplest and cheapest way. I would like to do the build in two stages: stage 1 is hook up my 4 speakers to my 4-channel amp and run that for a while. Then eventually in another month or two, I will be buying a single FI SSD 10'' (dual 1-ohm) to wire to my amp for a 2-ohm load. If I can avoid a second battery I would like to, as I don't see myself running the system at full tilt very often. I want to set it up so I don't have to change the wiring much when I add the second amp and the sub.

now I have a fused distribution block but wondering if it will be useful to me, as the battery is under the hood and I'd want to only run 1 power wire from the front of the car to the trunk. So would I have to get a second battery to put in the trunk, then run one wire from front battery to trunk battery, then dist. block with appropriate fuses for each amp, or is there an easier solution? I'd say for daily listening at less than half volume I'd pull under 1000 RMS. When I crank it I'd like maybe 300ish to all 4 speakers and about 1000 to the sub, but again, rare that I will go full tilt and if I do it will be for short time.

[BboyTaktix]

Have you done the big 3? Are you planning on adding batteries? Whats the soze of your stock alt? If the amp is a true 1550 watt amp it wouldnt have 4 gauge inputs. You need some good quality 0 gauge.

My suggestion is that you is to put sond mid bass's back there. Look into something besides JBL... Like crescendo ir sound qubed,

the amp is known to put out its rated power, it's a clarion dpx11551, I believe the inputs are 0-gauge, however I wouldn't want to use all 1550 watts as I don't need that much bass for daily driving and it isn't a competition level system. Trying to keep the cost and added weight down, use the equipment I already have available, and just have a good sounding everyday system.

[BboyTaktix]

went with the P662 for rear doors, they sound amazing in there with the fronts. Put the gain for them lower than for the fronts since front stage is important. They give a great sound, I am happy with them. Build thread is here;

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/173212-bboytaktixs-2011-subaru-sti-modest-sq-build/

[Swordlordboy1234]

JBL is bad with midbass thats why they dont recommend them for "SQ" They are really sensitive and get loud on lower power (stock deck power) but they lose the ability to reproduce warm mid bass more then a higher end component set. Second, Big 3 is still needed, even a secondary battery. The key to a really good sounding SQ system is to keep the amps happy. Third, speakers in the rear is not good for SQ. Double your budget and get really nice front end speakers instead of halving the budget and getting 4 decent speakers. Also, with SQ its important to have headroom. As in, get an amp that does more power then you need and keep the gains down. Instead of setting gains at -5db set them at -0db as an example.

Most people that come on here say either how they wanna have SQ and keep the budget down or other guys say how they wanna do 150 db but have great SQ.

In a perfect world NEITHER of these things are possible if you follow the definitions perfectly.

[BboyTaktix]

JBL is bad with midbass thats why they dont recommend them for "SQ" They are really sensitive and get loud on lower power (stock deck power) but they lose the ability to reproduce warm mid bass more then a higher end component set. Second, Big 3 is still needed, even a secondary battery. The key to a really good sounding SQ system is to keep the amps happy. Third, speakers in the rear is not good for SQ. Double your budget and get really nice front end speakers instead of halving the budget and getting 4 decent speakers. Also, with SQ its important to have headroom. As in, get an amp that does more power then you need and keep the gains down. Instead of setting gains at -5db set them at -0db as an example.

Most people that come on here say either how they wanna have SQ and keep the budget down or other guys say how they wanna do 150 db but have great SQ.

In a perfect world NEITHER of these things are possible if you follow the definitions perfectly.

The whole rear speaker thing is a hugely debated topic. I find rear speakers to be useful, and will keep them there. Also, since I am reusing the front speakers from the last build, I will be keeping it JBL, and why I matched the P662's to the front speakers (same cone material, etc). I knew already that the JBL's sounded good, I have them on a JBL GTO1004 which puts out 150wx4 at 2 ohms, tons of headroom. They sound great. They are great quality speakers, if you read the reviews they are all really great. Only thing I have heard is to keep them crossed over at above 80hz to prevent damage to the surrounds (which are apparently the Achilles heel of this line of speakers and their only real downfall). I will have a good range of bass with my W10GTI in a sealed enclosure.

I was planning on doing the big three either way, as well as replacing my stock battery with a kinetik KHC1400.

And as for SQ, I should rephrase and say that I am going for a 'modest SQ' build. No active crossover (at least for now), no $500+ component speakers in front. IF I feel the need one day, I can upgrade my front components to some better quality ones, run tweeter and woofer off of the 4 channels on the GTO1004 and just leave the rear speakers as is, and go active. But for now, I hooked up my 4-ch amp to these speakers and it sounds incredible. Set the high pass filters for the speakers so not much bass right now because still waiting on my W10GTI sub (gotta pick it up from UPS tonight).

For the car as is, I am happy. It isn't a competition system or anything, just a daily driver system. I realize that people come on here saying that they wanna do 150+ and have it sound real good, or go full out competition SQ, but without the funds to do it. I am simply reusing the equipment I have from my last car and adding what is missing as well as strengthening what I can in the system (I ran 0-gauge from battery to trunk this time for example and will be doing big 3 upgrade and a better battery).

check my build thread for more details (link is two posts up) and thanks for the comments!

[Swordlordboy1234]

I feel your pain on the JBL's man. The polk MM's (mine) and your JBL's are very similar. Mine sound awesome on 150+ watts passive cross over. I got the tweeters mounted as high in the door panel as i could cut while still looking good. Tons of deadener in my doors. Playing with EQ a lot. and lots of cross over points on my amps.

I got it judged professionally for SQ, and with the subwoofers off they said my stage height was awesome and the tonal reproduction was awesome for what it was. I was slightly bright but i like it that way personally. They said my only downfall was the mid bass. My polk mid woofers cant play shit below 100 and if i push them too hard THEY LET ME KNOW QUICK. So i cant wait to replace these with something a bit better.

I actually attempted the SPL SQ system that every noob says they want. I did a 145, aiming for a 148, and got judged for SQ with very pleasing results for being a noob myself atleast as far as competing. More refinements to come.

The JBL's are great, i was just trying to steer someone away from my mistake of getting the polks. They have treated me awesome but unless you have the woofers on and the LC1 set low for "SQ" not overpowering bass.... you really are dragged down by their lack of mid bass.

ALSO. Im much much much happier with no rear speakers. Had the matching Polk MM's in the rear deck. Took them out and did a forward firing sealed sub stage and such a huge difference.