Rear Speakers

[AxelRipper]

Ok, So I finally have my Sonic, and I love it, but it seems to me that the rear speakers are almost non-existent. If I fade the radio all the way back they're clearly working, but there's no bass at all and its not nearly as loud as the front ones.

Anyone else notice this issue? Is it just my speakers or is it the general speaker package? Anyone know of any replacements yet?

Also, its a 1LT hatch.

 

[BoG233]

Ok, So I finally have my Sonic, and I love it, but it seems to me that the rear speakers are almost non-existent. If I fade the radio all the way back they're clearly working, but there's no bass at all and its not nearly as loud as the front ones.

Anyone else notice this issue? Is it just my speakers or is it the general speaker package? Anyone know of any replacements yet?

Also, its a 1LT hatch.

Yup we had this discussion some where around here the best we came up with was to put a sub in . As soon as I can afford it that is what I'm going to do .

 

[AndrewGS]

I don't usually use the rear speakers for anything but a little rear fill, so I've never even paid attention. I'm satisfied with the stock front speakers, but one day I'd like to use the space between the cargo floor and the spare tire well to add an amp for some aftermarket components in the front and decent coaxials in the rear as well as a sub.

 

[Ferdie]

i've got the same problem!

my first tought damm the are broken but no..

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Thanks for the feedback on the rear speakers. I will definitely pass the information onto the GM Sonic Team.

Vanessa-GM Customer Service

 

[Danny5]

I took a look at them through the door, and they appear to be standard 5 1/4" speakers. Looking for confirmation. Would put some separates in...

 

[Certifried]

A stereo upgrade will probably be one of the first things I do. I have a LT (turbo) hatch and definitely have the same problem. I've got the rear speakers faded almost completely up just to be able to get a little bass going.

As for upgrading, I'm just planning on putting an amp and new speakers (maybe a sub box if room) but keeping the head unit in there. I feel it has too much integration to replace that, but I'm definitely no expert.

 

[wasteoffilm]

Similar here in my hatch, I'm used to sedans with 6x9's. I have a couple of Orion amps and an 8" sub laying around from my past cars, but have no interest in installing them yet. Under the cargo floor seems like an ideal spot.

My other idea was to upgrade the rear door speakers to some high grade woofers, then dynamat the doors, and amp them. I really don't want equipment in my way in this car.

Other ideas I had were to reinforce the little hatch area cover and load it with freeair speakers and amp, and have it be slim and quick disconnect. Idea similar to how a sedan would be set up. Forgetting just how large that panel is, i think four 6.5" woofers would be awesome if they fit, two would do though.

 

[AxelRipper]

I don't think I'm going to go full blown on this one (I have a truck for that) but I just want a nice sound system. If the rear speakers are just standard 5 1/4's then I'll probably just seek out a better set of those.

 

[Danny5]

It's time to get CRAZY!!!

Today I tore out the rear speakers and tried out a couple of replacements.

The first step is taking off the door panel. You need a small screwdriver and a 7mm nutdriver.

First, behind the doorhandle, pry out the cover panel with your small screwdriver. Behind it you'll find a 7mm bolt.

Now, underneath the door pull, you'll find a small circular trim tab. Take your screwdriver and *carefully* pull the flap open to find a 2nd 7mm bolt.

Now, before you pull to door panel off, you have to remove your C-Pillar trim. This is just 3 clips, so it comes off pretty easily.

Reach below the door panel, and you'll find a spot for your fingers at the bottom. PULL hard, and you'll hear a lot of popping as the clips release. Slowly move up both sides and pop all the clips. Then lift the door panel out of the window trim. You'll have to disconnect your power window switch and the door handle cable.

Now, let's get down to business!

The speaker is a nice 6 1/2" model. It's held on by one 7mm bolt. Remove that, and pry from the top and the speaker will pop out of the door.

Here is the back of the speaker. It's not a very hefty unit at all. The fancy plastic mounting bracket is part of the speaker. Probably epoxied in at the factory. In order to mount a different speaker, you'll need a spacer ring. Pretty cheap at any stereo store.

The connection is very tiny spade terminals. They are labeled 1 and 2. The number 1 connection is a striped wire, and the number 2 is solid color. I am betting the striped wire is positive, and that's how I hooked up my speakers.

The door hole is a hefty 6". Perfect for a 6 1/2" speaker. Or maybe something bigger with a spacer??? There is a good inch of room between the sheet metal and the door panel.

Since what I am looking for is more bass, I decided to try some 6 1/2" Rockford Fosgate's I had sitting around.

The stock stereo was seriously inadequate to drive these. They are maybe 1/4 the volume of the stock speaker...

Next I tried some Boss Coaxials. These are cheap speakers that don't require a lot of power. However, once again, they were just underpowered by the stock headunit. They were maybe 2/3 the volume of the stock speaker.

Well, I didn't have a 3rd set even cheaper speakers, so I put the stock ones back in and called it a day.

Good luck on your quest for better sound.

 

[jlslatton]

Excellent write-up and tutorial. Thank you for taking the time to post this with pictures

 

[BoG233]

Kenwood and JBL have a couple of very small amps for just such a problem and they are very inexpensive . Some could even fit in the place at the bottum of the doors all you want for individual speakers is 100watts most 61/2" speakers RMS is about 150 to 200 watts any way . take with a grain of salt I have not shopped for speakers in a couple of years .

 

[oldertech]

Great work and pics!

 

[wasteoffilm]

I appreciate your efforts and pics! I hope to upgrade mine in the near future.

My only concern, you mentioned the striped wire as positive. All of my experiences have been the opposite, striped wire negative. Also, in my last car, upgrading the stock 10 ohm 6x9's in my LeSabre to some 4 ohm Pioneer's gave much more output with the stock radio.

If you had the wires reversed, you would lose most of your bass response, and an apparent drop in volume level.

 

[Danny5]

I appreciate your efforts and pics! I hope to upgrade mine in the near future.

My only concern, you mentioned the striped wire as positive. All of my experiences have been the opposite, striped wire negative. Also, in my last car, upgrading the stock 10 ohm 6x9's in my LeSabre to some 4 ohm Pioneer's gave much more output with the stock radio.

If you had the wires reversed, you would lose most of your bass response, and an apparent drop in volume level.

Except I was fading out to just a single speaker. I would fade all back, then all to one side and compare stock vs. upgraded in volume level.

Polarity issues only arise when you run 2 speakers out of phase, resulting in a perceived drop in volume as the waves cancel out. In this case, I was only comparing 1 speaker at a time.

 

[Danny5]

btw - I checked and you're absolutely right! Black stripe would probably be the negative connection. I was mixing up my stripes with computer case LEDs (where stripe is always positive)

 

[wasteoffilm]

Except I was fading out to just a single speaker. I would fade all back, then all to one side and compare stock vs. upgraded in volume level.

Darn, I was hoping for better news. I still would like to put a nice set of woofers in the back doors, and run my 2x60w amp to them. No money for that until February. The stereo has enough bass with XM at about +4, but with AUX/BT, i have it cranked up to +12 and it's weak.

There also seems to be some auto-leveling with the aux input, when I lower the volume on my phone, it drops for a split second, and then gets louder. It does this on all but the lowest settings...

 

[Danny5]

These adapters look like they would exactly fit the rear speaker openings without needing to drill any holes!

2006 - up GM 6.5" Speaker Adapter

 

[Sonic Boomer]

Next I tried some Boss Coaxials. These are cheap speakers that don't require a lot of power. However, once again, they were just underpowered by the stock headunit. They were maybe 2/3 the volume of the stock speaker.

Thanks for the great info.
Can you provide the specific model number for your Boss Coaxials?

I am hoping to find the sensitivity rating and use it as a reference point for selecting speakers.
I don't think your premise that cheaper = more efficient is completely correct.

These have a sensitivity rating of 95db, which is very high. However, I wouldn't want to buy them unless I knew they were more efficient than the stock speakers.
Infinity Kappa 63.9i 6-3/4" 3-way car speakers — for 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" openings at Crutchfield.com

Thanks!

 

[Brandon80]

just ordered Component Kickers and a set of coax kickers for the rear speakers. No sub or amp yet but its on the list.