2009 Base with Mini Boost radio with Aux, no USB or phone. Six speakers.

I've read about the front rear channel swap which folks say delivers better base to the rears.

In my case, I installed Alpine tweeters in the front in place of the small speakers. I installed old, but great, MB Quart 6 1/2" in the front in place of the standard fronts.

Sound pretty good. Given that I suspect that my big fronts have better bass than my stock rears, my guess is that the front rear channel swap with not be an improvement. Am I right?

Also, given my current setup, what would you recommend for an improved but reasonably priced rear set of speakers?

Lastly, if I install good rear speakers, should I channel swap?

Thanks!

 

Many quality set ups use the rears only as fill. Therefore great speakers up front - possibly with more power and turn the back ones down.

 

Installing 6x9 aftermarket rear speakers may improve bass a bit (depending on how much better they are than the MB Quarts). However, it will only be possible to drive either the MB Quarts or the rear speakers with a full frequency signal.

Instead, a better effect can be obtained by (in this order):
1. properly (!) sound proofing the door panels (doors need to be stripped for this) and
2. installing a small amplifier to drive your front speakers.

If the amplifier's dimensions are very small and it does not draw more than 15 or 20 Amps (e.g. D-class amplifiers), it can be installed behind the dashboard and powered from the interior fuse panel (i.e. no cables from the battery required). This is less work than removing all of the interior and boot trim in order to access the rear speaker cavities. it will also allow much higher volumes than stock.

Driving speakers in the rear speaker cavities with an amplifier makes absolutely no sense at all: the rear panels of the car cannot be sound proofed and vibrate/boom at even moderate volumes of low bass frequencies. The maximum volume without distortions is barely above the volume the factory radio can reach by itself.

 

The two posts above provide very good advise, especially about the sound treatment. I don't think the channel swap is worth it if you are replacing the fronts. If you want bass, then you need a subwoofer. I drove around with the channel swap for almost a year and while it does give a little more bass than stock it doesn't sound like a proper system. Adding aftermarket speakers to a stock headunit will result in lower volume output than you want at driving speeds.

What are your goals for this sound system (loud or sound quality)? What is your budget?

 

Thanks Giorgos and Allen!

Allen, my goal is definitely sound quality. I do also think that I need a subwoofer. Limited budget at this time.

Giorgos, Im assume that my 6 speaker boost system does not have an external amp, right? So would I be taking speaker level outputs from the head unit?

 

As far as I know, only the HiFi & HK systems (both of which came with separate tweeters in the a-pillar) came with an external amp (placed behind the left hand side boot trim). So yes, you would need a high-level input capable amplifier to avoid using adapters.

If your chosen amp is not small enough to be hidden behind the dashboard, it can also be installed under the passenger seat. This is still less work than reaching the rear cavities and/or installing the amp in the rear. OTOH, installing the amp at the stock location has the advantage that depending on the amp and its exact placement there, adjustments are as easy as removing the trim's lid (for reach the rear lights' bulbs). It is also better ventilated in the rear. If you are interested, there are pictures in this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ont-seats.html

Assuming that the Alpine tweeters work nicely with your MB Quarts, you should "sound deaden" the doors (the more sheets you apply, the better). This by itself will improve bass and you would have to do it anyway if you install an amp. If you still want more bass, get an amp and see if that is enough (it will extract more bass from the MB Quarts than the radio). Get a four channel amp which can work in a 2+1 configuration so that if you want to add a subwoofer later, you will not have to replace the amplifier.

FWIW: I chose the ECX Speaker Series by Hertz due to their high sensitivity (e.g. 95dB for the rears) so that I wouldn't need an amplifier. Indeed, they reached the same volume as the stock speakers with better sound quality. However, I wanted a bit more bass and more volume so I installed a decent amplifier, only to find out about the booming and vibrating rear panels (despite applying more than 3 layers of damping sheets all over the cavities). Had I known this earlier, I would have spent my money on better yet speakers for the front (the ECX are much better than the stock speakers, but very high-pitched at high volumes).

Edit: I just noticed that I had already written about amp placement in an earlier thread of yours. Apologies for any unnecessary text.

 

Thanks so very much. Giorgos!

I have dynamat here already. I'll pull the door panels and deaden!