[Tassem]

Hi all,

I did not find a thread discussing this in particular, hence thought it'd be a good idea to put my thoughts out there.

I have a 2011 Verna with OEM Audio. It’s fairly adequate but misses out on bass and any discernible rear fill.

For the bass, I have a 12" JBL Sub paired to a 2 Channel amp running in bridged mode. I haven't connected this yet since Satya (EVO) and I are unable to find a time when both of us are free. When I'm free he's tied up and vice versa.

I'm happy with the front soundstage but unless the fader is set to >6 in favor of rear, I cannot hear the rear speakers at all. When the fader is set as such, the audio quality from the front seems to suffer as it appears muted so to speak. There is no problem when we sit behind. The music is clear and can be heard from the front as well without adjusting the fader. But being placed in the rear doors, they do not provide fill when listening from the front seat. Moreover, I hardly ever play loud music in my car. It’s almost always at 10-12 volume.

Now comes the question. I know this will sound weird -

I have a Sony Home Theatre system with a Centre Speaker which I do not use for my application. This speaker is rated at 142W RMS @ 3 ohm.

I want to know if I can bridge the rear channels from the OEM HU and power this speaker at the same time retaining the current rear speakers. I know this speaker being designed for use in a home environment may not be optimal for use in a car. But I just want some fill.

Some thoughts:

• I don’t expect this speaker to be loud. I’m going to place it on the rear tray facing forward so that when the music plays, I can hear it from behind as well.
• I’m not looking for audiophile grade quality. I just want some rear fill.
• I don’t want to lose the rear door speakers and install 6x9s in the rear tray.
• I don’t mind adding an amplifier only if it’s absolutely necessary.

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to your replies.

Tassem.

[Tassem]

Alternatively,

Is it a good idea to put the sub on hold and use the 2 channel JBL to power this speaker in bridged mode? But the JBL amp is rated at 4 and 2 ohms. At what power can I drive this speaker at 3 ohm load?

Thanks!

Tassem.

[DerAlte]

The right way to do it is to actually use a 4-ch amp to drive the front and rear speakers - setting rear gain to be more than the front (as long as you are not driving).

The alternative is to drive the rears only with the JBL amp you have (provided you don't use the sub). Call Satya and ask him to tell his guys (there are a couple of competent guys there, so you can go anytime) to do the complete speaker wiring (front, back and sub), mount only the JBL 2ch amp to connect with the rear speakers (the fronts can continue be on HU). Once the amp location is decided and the wiring is in place, you can move connections around at will in future.

Using the centre channel speaker through the amp will make an image like from a loud mono radio.

[Tassem]

Hi DerAlte,

Thanks for your reply. Wouldn't amplifying the rear channels only make things too loud at the back seat? I never travel in the back seat as I'm the only one who drives. And more often than not I drive alone. Read - everyday two hours spent in the car to and from work.

I realise that the center speaker will be running mono. But how badly would that affect the image if its running in conjunction with the other 4 speakers? Assuming that I run it at low gain so that it only fills up the rear soundstage without actually overpowering the other speakers? Can that be done?

The big question is whether it will damage the HU if I run the rear channels bridged to this centre speaker while maintaining the rear speakers? In short 3 speakers from the rear two channels. Possible?

I will eventually be going for a 4 channel amp with upgraded speakers. But I will be using the stock door locations. Hence it will always be this way if I don't add a centre speaker I guess.

Tassem.

[DerAlte]

No, it will be too loud in the back seat only if badly tuned. In a well tuned setup it will neither sound too loud nor will it disturb the front image.

The center speaker at rear will cause a. the rear to be mono, and b. pull the front image backwards, i.e. towards the rear. And, connecting it across the L&R channels you don't have any controllability anywhere to control it's volume.

We are talking of bridging only across the amp channels. If you bridge the HU amp channels, it will damage the HU amp.

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

If you bridge the HU amp channels, it will damage the HU amp.

Thanks DerAlte. I guess I'll get a 4 channel amp as well when I upgrade the speakers and then tune it accordingly while retaining the 2 channel amp for the Woofer.

Thanks again!

Tassem.

[rocksterraghu]

Originally Posted by Tassem

Hi DerAlte,

Thanks for your reply. Wouldn't amplifying the rear channels only make things too loud at the back seat? I never travel in the back seat as I'm the only one who drives. And more often than not I drive alone. Read - everyday two hours spent in the car to and from work.

Help me understand, is it that you have a strong preference for having music from the rear speakers or is it that front-stage feels inadequate?

More often than not, in my opinion, it is better to keep the rear speakers as quiet as possible when you're driving all the time. Two reasons why I have this opinion: (a) I like music in stereo to be fired only from two speakers (in case of components you have 4, but they hardly overlap but blend); just like I don't like using 5-channel stereo in home theatres. (b) Unless you have installed same quality speakers at the rear (which is not mentioned in your post), you're listening to the best speakers in your car. Honestly, I don't believe too much in rear-fill, except for the rear passengers.

I don’t want to lose the rear door speakers and install 6x9s in the rear tray.

I can read from your post that you have installed rear speakers in the doors and there is no problem when you sit at the back - all fine in my opinion. Besides, if you do not want to have rear tray, where do you plan to install the centre speaker? Though my suggestion would be to refrain from it completely.

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by rocksterraghu

Help me understand, is it that you have a strong preference for having music from the rear speakers or is it that front-stage feels inadequate?

Thanks Raghu, the front stage is adequate, the rear is not - When listening from the front. Now that I read that sentence, its slightly confusing. What I'm hinting at is that when I'm driving, I like to have a surround effect. I don't like it that I'm able to feel the rear being quieter than the front. Makes sense?

More often than not, in my opinion, it is better to keep the rear speakers as quiet as possible when you're driving all the time. Two reasons why I have this opinion: (a) I like music in stereo to be fired only from two speakers (in case of components you have 4, but they hardly overlap but blend); just like I don't like using 5-channel stereo in home theatres. (b) Unless you have installed same quality speakers at the rear (which is not mentioned in your post), you're listening to the best speakers in your car. Honestly, I don't believe too much in rear-fill, except for the rear passengers.

I'm quite the opposite. I hate it when the music plays from a single direction or when I'm able to figure out where the speakers are. In my home theatre system, the sound just envelops you. It's beautiful! Its almost the same in my old car. But in the Verna, the rear speakers are dwarfed by the front. But when sitting at the rear, it sounds great. The ICE is currently stock except for the addition of a Sub/Amp.

I can read from your post that you have installed rear speakers in the doors and there is no problem when you sit at the back - all fine in my opinion. Besides, if you do not want to have rear tray, where do you plan to install the centre speaker? Though my suggestion would be to refrain from it completely.

The Centre Speaker can be placed on the rear tray and held securely using double sided tape. I'm referring to the one that comes with a home theatre system. The model number is Sony HZ970W. Its quite heavy for its size.

I Guess I'm going to leave it as it is for now. I will be moving the speakers from my old car to this one by the weekend. Lets see if that makes things better. The Verna has compos in the front as stock. I don't know what the rear speakers are. If they're not the same midbasses, I'll move the front compos there and use my old components for the front.