QuestionQUESTION: Hey Brian, just had a question about adding extra car speakers. I already have 2 sets running off of my aftermarket head unit. Will I need an amp to power these speakers, or can I just put them to the head unit? Where would be a good place to mount the new speakers? I own a 1998 subaru impreza 2 door sedan. Thanks Brian and happy holidays.
ANSWER: Hi Bryce,
Unfortunately, there's no good way to add two more speakers to the head unit outputs. You'd have to choose between wiring them in parallel, which would lower the load impedance and could possibly damage the deck, or wiring them in series, which would reduce the deck's power output and then divide the reduced power between all the speakers.
The exception to this would be separate tweeters. These can be wired in parallel with the front or rear speaker outputs, provided that you use an in-line crossover on the tweeter wire (or choose tweeters with built-in crossovers).
If you need to add two more full-range speakers, the best option is to use a separate amplifier.
As for mounting locations, it really depends on what you're trying to accomplish with additional speakers. When it comes to speakers, usually the rule is "the fewer, the better". When you have multiple speaker playing the same output, the result is often poorer imaging and muddier sound. The only real advantage to adding more speakers is increased volume. If that's what you're looking for, then you might be able to cut new mounting locations in the rear deck area.
On the other hand, if you just happen to have a pair of extra speakers available and you're just trying to make use of them, then I'd advise against it. Your investment in time and money isn't likely to pay off in terms of an improvement in sound quality.
Hope this helps!
Brian
P.S. Sorry for the late response.
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QUESTION: If I decided on putting in tweeters, where would you suggest to put them at and how would you wire them into my current setup?
ANSWER: Bryce,
You should be able to just connect the tweeters to the front speaker outputs from your head unit, together with the door speaker wires. It's very important that you use an in-line crossover on the speaker wiring, or use tweeters with built-in crossovers. If you connect the tweeters to the speaker wires without a crossover, you're likely to run into impedance problems with the deck (since the tweeters will be running in parallel with the door speakers). Your tweeters won't last long if they're getting lots of bass signals, either.
As for tweeter placement, the best thing to do is try a few places out before you mount them permanently. Get some masking tape or double-sided adhesive (something that won't leave a residue on your interior panels). Wire the tweeters into the system, then try them out in different mounting locations. Listen to music and see how they sound. Ideally, the sound from the tweeters should blend with the rest of the speakers. You shouldn't be able to easily pick out the tweeter location from listening; instead, it should sound like the music is coming from somewhere in front of you. In addition to placement, the direction the tweeters are aimed might make a difference too. You may get better results if the tweeter nearest you isn't aimed directly at your head. Try aiming the passenger-side tweeter at the driver's seat, and the driver's-side tweeter at the passenger seat.
Some mounting locations to try out:
-on the doors, near the factory speaker location
-at the top of the door panel, near the side-mirror location
-at the top of the dash.
Hope this helps!
Brian
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QUESTION: Last question on this topic, i promise. I have been looking at different types of tweeters, and I am not sure what to get, or how many to get. What would you recommend?
AnswerI wouldn't advise adding more than one set of tweeters, somewhere where they'll help your front sound stage. Tweeters set in the rear are just distractions from the sound stage (unless you're trying to improve the sound for rear seat passengers), and using more than one set of tweeters in the front is likely to do more harm than good.
I haven't used many component tweeter sets, so I can't really recommend one. You'll definitely want to make sure the tweeter set includes a crossover.
