Question from a new Z owner.
 

I did a search, but couldnt really find anything on this. I own a base 2014 (sport pack, cant see why that would matter for this). In non-bose Z's, im correct in saying there are no back speakers, right? And if that is correct, is it pre wired to the back? Sorry if these are obvious questions, I havent found much on this, and I put the fade all the way in the rear with no results, so assumed the only speakers were the 4 in front, door and dash.

you are correct.

Do you happen to know if the wires are just chillin back there in the appropriate spots? Or are they somewhere odd?

Cant say for sure, I havent dug in that deep. Matt (bigaudiofan) would know the answer to that one.

From what I've read there is NO wiring to the rear. I haven't visually confirmed that though.


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Mine is set up as you describe. No back speakers.

mine is a 2013, no speakers or wire

My installer removed the back panels and found no speaker wires. Because I had 4 JL component speakers from my trade-in, he replaced the factory set in the doors and used the tweeters in the second set to replace those on the dash. I also installed a downward fire 10 inch sub behind the stabilizer in the hatch, and the setup really sounds good.

Well thats rather depressing. Looks like I have my work cut out for me then.

Thanks for the information, everyone.

What did you upgrade to, if I can ask?

Agreed.. Totally unnecessary. I've heard all the arguments over the years about rear fill, and the music "surrounding" you, ect, ect.
It really is a personal preference, but I am totally against it. 5 minutes in my car, and you'll never run rear speakers again.:tiphat:

Ok, I'll chime in. It is correct that most audiophiles don't recommend rear speakers for applications such as ours, but I did rear speakers in both 370s I have owned and am extremely happy for it. Having said that, I'm a bit of an unrefined pig; no Grey Poupon served in my car. Not an audiophile, I just love music.

I find the limit for me is the way the music was originally recorded. XM does not always sound as good as a CD, and anything bluetooth from a phone usually sucks bad.

Maybe going too far south on the spectrum there! Lol. Like I said, it IS a personal preference.
My main argument for those who Must have rear speakers is this.....To hear the music the way it was intended / to hear the music the way it was recorded / to hear the music as if you were sitting in a concert hall, or your favorite artist at a concert..... No rear fill. When was the last time you were at a concert with speakers in Front of AND Behind you?
That being said, many of my customers past and present request rear speakers, and I gladly install them. Whatever makes them happy.

I agree about the importance of preference; you're right that staging is a choice based on what we like.

Regarding concerts, do you suppose that front staged music is a matter of "intent" or practicality? I genuinely don't know, but it seems like it is the most practical way to serve up music and perhaps it isn't too much about what the artist's intent was. I wonder if the distances between front and rear speakers in a concert setting would be so great that the timing between front and back would noticeably off unless you were in the center?

I love live music, but that is a matter of an entire experience (audio, visual, cultural, social, etc.). Live music (focusing solely on sound quality) is almost always grossly inferior to even a modest sound system (a few symphony halls being a notable exception). If my stereo sounded as bad as most concerts, I light it on fire and put it out by peeing on it (I considered doing the same with the stock system that came with the Z, but that might actually make it sound better).

You make a good point. Definitely easier to correct timing when a single listener is involved (and stationary)

Now, for the sake of argument, lets dumb it down a little bit. Lets say this..... H20Doc's favorite band of all time (hansen) Lol is coming to his house to play For his birthday.
Take away the electronics, the amplifiers and the speakers, ect.
You sit on your couch, as they begin to play, and the sound is perfect, crystal clear, as You start to slip away into a music induced euphoria are there 3 brothers in front of you, or 2, with one (gasp) behind you?
Who wants one of the Hansen brothers behind them when they have lost all motor functions? Certainly not me.

Disclaimer: This post was in no way intentionally insulting to H20Doc or the Hansen brothers, and is the sole property of its poster. No persons or animals were harmed in the making of this post.Reproduction is a crime, and will result in prosecution of the offender.

I only like Hansen because I was boning the hot chick for a while.

@jsmith7861
Take a look at this post, could lend you some really good information. H2O and BigAudio are great references to look at on the posts here to get an handle on how you wanna proceed with audio. I like many don't feel the rears are worth the time, or the effort to wire in. I have just updated my build to be shipped as follows:

In Dash - Pioneer AVIC X930BT
Doors - Infinity Kappa 6 1/2" Component System with 1" Tweeters to go in the Door Sail Triangles.
Dash Tweeter Delete
Kicker SoloBaric L5 or L7 in the back
Not sure on AMP at this time, but something digital - Monoblock to power the Subwoofer, and probably a Xtant or PPI or Soundstream ( 3 major contenders for 4 Channel I'm looking at) for the Components.

Here's the link and Good Luck! Welcome to the forums! (PS Scroll to the 4th post which i think is mine)

Mooshu's Post and Osirus's Summation

^for the price, the Kappas are some of the best speakers I have heard. Tuning is important as they can be quite bright, but in that brightness is where you get a lot of the details and subtleness of music; you get comments like "I am hearing things I never heard before..." from many first time users.

Caveat: I have never owned super high end speakers before, so my knowledge is limited.

@H20_Doc, I have had MB Quart, Kicker, Boston Acoustics, and many OEM Factory builds as well, and for the money and proper tuning and amp powering, Kappa's to me have been my bread and butter go to everytime. Seems like with all those things tied in, you get an amazing reproduction of mid and slight low end, however the Highs and that sound is just impeccable. There just comes a fullness that you can't get with many other components IMO. I was in my earlier years a Mobile Installer at a prominent Yellow Box store, in which we featured Magnolia Hi-End as well. This allowed me to finally audibly sample the differences in equipment, which then allowed me to tailor my opinions of what the acoustic footprint in many vehicles could best benefit from which types and brands.
Hope this helps.. To the OP Feel free to reach out to all these great guys in Audiophile reference.

There is not, you will have to run your own and install the pins into the factory harness to allow the signal to be sent from the head unit. Or you can install a new head unit and it will be pre wired for rears. My recommendation though it to install new front speakers (components) and possibly a new head unit before installing rear speakers.

Ron I am completely with you to listen to music HOW IT WAS RECORDED with no rear fill.

Car audio is different from all other forms in terms of listening environment and ultimately it is a preference BUT there are merits to rear fill addition to a system although I prefer NOT to have it in my own system and have never designed one with it. That said there are legitimate reasons for it, namely psychoacoustics, time delays and phrasing issues caused by the car interior and the many differing acoustic properties of materials found in a car.

Since we are dealing with recorded materials, unless you drive the MClaren F1, there is no way to address the off center set up in a typical car so you end up not being in the sweet spot and also dealing with timing issues. Add that to placement of a component set up and it's progressively more problematic. Now figure in all the differing materials and you have even more problems causing all sorts of phrasing issues. So why more of it by adding rears? It is to compensate for these particular issues. Is it 'sonically or musically' more accurate? No in theory but psycoacoustically, it is can be more pleasing and can be more 'accurate' - IF DONE RIGHT. Which is why OEM especially high end system have it. It works because they have the tools and the research to tailor the setup to address these issues using built in processing/drivers while tailoring to specific cars and trims. Something that is really impractical for the aftermarket to do. All that said, is it likely better to NOT do it. Yes a good set up and better install will not need rears but if it sound good to you, go ahead.

It always bugs me that people are so adamant about what to use and what not to when making recommendations in particularly speakers but don't take into consideration of people's own preferences and musical taste. I remembered listening to a set of Wilson Audio Alexia at booth and a guy came by and said "my cerwin vegas D-9 sounds better than that ****"... He was right if you were listening to AC/DC and certainly to him, it did.

Add a Processor.

to address the driver's or the passenger's placement?

I just drive around leaning forward and to the right a bit.

Processor in the P99 has a setting for L/R or Both, and works rather well.
There are many cars in meca and iasca that run 2 seat SQ.

:icon18:

When its just me, its set L, when I have a passenger, its set Both. All in the press of a button.

Blasphemy!!! Vinyl>>tube RIAA Pre Amp>>Class A Amplification>Cocentric speakers only ;)

Yeah, thats the ticket!!!!

Lol, you guys are awesome. Thanks for all the replies and info!