Rear speaker replacement - don't bother!

[timhNorCal]

2025 Hybrid XLT that I *mostly* like. What I couldn't stand though was the stock sound system, brutal. I first swapped out the front door speakers and noticed a huge difference.

Today I finally decided to tackle the rears, and after two hours, a couple busted panel clips (not the little white plastic pieces, the actual panel protrusions, unfortunately), and a lot of bloody knuckles, I got everything back in and working. And let me tell ya...they suck lol. Definitely more clear than the OE ones, but zero bass or midrange. To be expected I suppose as it's only a 4" speaker, and it's the stock head unit with no amplifier...but I guess I was still hoping for a little more.

Moral of the story, if you're not doing an amp (and maybe that wouldn't even matter), just skip the rears.

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[Platinum2]

What did you put in the fronts?

 

[Hansolo]

I squeezed in some 4X6 coaxial speakers and they aren’t that great either. It’s just fill in for the upgraded front component speakers with a PUZU plug and play amp and a dedicated 10” subwoofer with its own dedicated amp .

 

[BK007]

 

[mspmms]

... just skip the rears.

That is the conclusion I made after reading multiple threads here at MTC.

Here is what I did:

Installed a Puzu DSP Amp PZ-C7 which I placed under the front passenger seat - I Velcro-ed it to the floor.

I installed the Infinity REF-6532IX's with sound deadener in both doors.

Because I have a XL Hybrid Maverick the Rockville RW68CA subwoofer installation was pretty simple with the under-seat battery. I placed it in the driver's left side rear seat storage compartment that I lined with sound deadener including removal of the entire lower plastic shell of the passenger seat compartment with additional foam sound deadener throughout the underside of its frame.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

I squeezed in some 4X6 coaxial speakers and they aren’t that great either. It’s just fill in for the upgraded front component speakers with a PUZU plug and play amp and a dedicated 10” subwoofer with its own dedicated amp .

No B&O?

 

[Maverick123]

That is the conclusion I made after reading multiple threads here at MTC.

Here is what I did:

Installed a Puzu DSP Amp PZ-C7 which I placed under the front passenger seat - I Velcro-ed it to the floor

That Puzu amp looks like a great value with built-in DSP and crossover, but how hard is it to tune? Do you have to use an RTA, or can you do it easily with a PC and an affordable mic?

Kicker Key is more expensive, but the auto-DSP seems so much easier. I had a Pioneer deck with auto DSP and it worked really well to set the baseline

 

[ejouie]

I found out that I couldn't stand the ~3.5khz frequencies bouncing off the windshield from the front. It brought on listening fatigue quickly. I stomped on those in the PUZU (-20db) for the front channels.

Those frequencies from rear speakers didn't bother me so I now have those filling in that hole. 4" with a tweeter is very capable for that task.

I have a sub to install for the lows. The 6.5's in the door don't have enough power to do that end of the EQ justice. If they did, I'd probably just have a bunch of rattle noise too.

 

[Maverick123]

I found out that I couldn't stand the ~3.5khz frequencies bouncing off the windshield from the front. It brought on listening fatigue quickly. I stomped on those in the PUZU (-20db) for the front channels.

Those frequencies from rear speakers didn't bother me so I now have those filling in that hole. 4" with a tweeter is very capable for that task.

I have a sub to install for the lows. The 6.5's in the door don't have enough power to do that end of the EQ justice. If they did, I'd probably just have a bunch of rattle noise too.

If you ever have passengers in the rear seat, turn the rear channel WAY down! When I rode in the back of mine I noticed real quick that the tinny rear speakers are screaming straight into your ear and it ain't pleasant

 

[Msradke]

I learned a lot when I replaced those speakers. The majority of the sound does not come out thru the grill. I covered the panel with self stick foam sound proofing , cut the hole for the speaker and mounted it. Put a foam speaker protector in the piller and put the panel back. It made a huge difference in the amount of sound output and quality.
For others wanting to pull those panels. Pull the bottom out and get a long pry bar and push up on the tabs to remove them from body thru the larger hole.

 

[rick52]

If you ever have passengers in the rear seat, turn the rear channel WAY down! When I rode in the back of mine I noticed real quick that the tinny rear speakers are screaming straight into your ear and it ain't pleasant

Clearly no thought was given to the rear seat passengers in the placement of those speakers.

 

[Steve R]

I replaced mine with Kicker 4-inch speakers. I found a YouTube video on adjusting the ACM to flatten the equalizer and give the rear speakers enough power to run both tweeter and woofer. Now they sound great, try it.

 

[Steve R]

You need to use Forescan to make the adjustments in as-built, but it's very easy to do if you know how to use Forescan

 

[ZABSMAV]

No B&O?

If he had just bought a Lariat he wouldn't have needed to replace anything. The B&O is a great sounding audio system.

 

[Steve R]

I agree, my wife has a '21 Escape that has the B&O and it sounds great. But if you replace all four speakers with some quality product and use FORScan for the ACM, you can make it sound almost as good as the B&O.

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