Kombi Rear Speaker Locations/Options

[t6blo]

My T6 is a Kombi and I want rear speakers (well I have rear speakers but not happy with where they are fitted).

What are the options for rear speaker placement?

I currently have Alpine 6x9s mounted on a homemade board that clamps round the base of the 3 seater bench. This has a rear board too to make a rudimentary speaker ‘enclosure’.

I get decent all round sound from the 6x9s and have the Alpine T6 front door speakers - I grew up with cars in the 90s and I had 6x9s in the rear parcel shelf of nearly every car I had, but I learnt that you needed a decent volume of air behind them to make them have decent bass hence the current arrangement.




But this is a real pain when I want to move the bench seat or to fold it forward etc. - effectively have to remove the boards, disconnect the speakers and remove leaving me with no rear speakers when the bench is folded/removed.

So I would like some alternative rear speaker placement that doesn’t interfere with the seat.

Q. I don’t understand how these rear pods allows the speakers to have any volume of air behind them to produce decent mid-bass - how do these work/sound?



Q. What do these sound like as they technically have abit more air behind them but the carpeted panels in my van are only very thin plywood so would probably resonate a fair bit?




Which leads me to these - yes, they are subwoofer enclosures (you can get an L and an R) but I have seen some 25cm Pioneer speakers that would fit in the holes and there should be a decent amount of air volume inside. They also leave the load area and underside of the bench seat free of obstruction. Anyone fitted these enclosures? How do they fix in place?



Any other suggestions please?

 

[Dav-Tec]

So yes your correct the rear pods don't allow for fantastic mid/bass response but the rears are more backfill that main sound stage. Secondly with the exception to a sub as bass is omnidirectional I'd strongly advise with no putting speakers low down. Your ankles will appreciate it but not your ears.

You could mount on the sides and aim them forwards so you don't get phase cancellations and if secured and insulated well you shouldn't get any problems.

What is it you're trying to achieve?

Personally out of all the systems we've done including DSP systems never had any complaints about speakers mounted in pods as like I said the rear is more fill than main sound stage.

Just my 2p worth.

Cheers

 

[t6blo]

I’m still rocking the homemade 6x9 speaker board thing.

Am in the process of an audio upgrade but have been waiting 2 weeks now for the Wheelarch sub enclosures with no sign of any delivery date - but these will be to house 2x 10” subwoofers rather than mid/full range speakers.

So I still don’t know what to do about the rear speakers

 

[Samro]

I’m still rocking the homemade 6x9 speaker board thing.

Am in the process of an audio upgrade but have been waiting 2 weeks now for the Wheelarch sub enclosures with no sign of any delivery date - but these will be to house 2x 10” subwoofers rather than mid/full range speakers.

So I still don’t know what to do about the rear speakers

Hmm. I have opening cupboard doors in the front of my rear bench seat, so I'm even more limited than you with options. There is no air gap behind my tailgate speakers and as I say they fire the sound straight into the boot.
I guess that I just have got put up with it!

 

[BognorMotors]

My T6 is a Kombi and I want rear speakers (well I have rear speakers but not happy with where they are fitted).

What are the options for rear speaker placement?

I currently have Alpine 6x9s mounted on a homemade board that clamps round the base of the 3 seater bench. This has a rear board too to make a rudimentary speaker ‘enclosure’.

I get decent all round sound from the 6x9s and have the Alpine T6 front door speakers - I grew up with cars in the 90s and I had 6x9s in the rear parcel shelf of nearly every car I had, but I learnt that you needed a decent volume of air behind them to make them have decent bass hence the current arrangement.


View attachment 197033View attachment 197034

But this is a real pain when I want to move the bench seat or to fold it forward etc. - effectively have to remove the boards, disconnect the speakers and remove leaving me with no rear speakers when the bench is folded/removed.

So I would like some alternative rear speaker placement that doesn’t interfere with the seat.

Q. I don’t understand how these rear pods allows the speakers to have any volume of air behind them to produce decent mid-bass - how do these work/sound?

View attachment 197035

Q. What do these sound like as they technically have abit more air behind them but the carpeted panels in my van are only very thin plywood so would probably resonate a fair bit?

View attachment 197036


Which leads me to these - yes, they are subwoofer enclosures (you can get an L and an R) but I have seen some 25cm Pioneer speakers that would fit in the holes and there should be a decent amount of air volume inside. They also leave the load area and underside of the bench seat free of obstruction. Anyone fitted these enclosures? How do they fix in place?

View attachment 197037

Any other suggestions please?

Some Nice pics there ;-)

So when we mount the speakers up high in the panels, we insulate and sound deaden behind them, which really helps withy he sound. We 3d print our mounts so we can actually angle them where ever we want (forward obvs) - this set up works very well.
Subwoofer wise, these boxes are great - but we have something new on the horizon, and a 12” sub option too. If you don’t want a read box we have a 10” under seat option too.

And as always we have demo vans so come and have a listen. Our latest Sportline+ has twin 10’s and a multichannel JL amp and the sound is the best we’ve achieved. We like our base

 

[Samro]

Some Nice pics there ;-)

So when we mount the speakers up high in the panels, we insulate and sound deaden behind them, which really helps withy he sound. We 3d print our mounts so we can actually angle them where ever we want (forward obvs) - this set up works very well.
Subwoofer wise, these boxes are great - but we have something new on the horizon, and a 12” sub option too. If you don’t want a read box we have a 10” under seat option too.

And as always we have demo vans so come and have a listen. Our latest Sportline+ has twin 10’s and a multichannel JL amp and the sound is the best we’ve achieved. We like our base

I knew you would have a solution to extract some wonga from me Oli!

Do you have a solution when cabinets are installed down the drivers side of the vehicle, as per most camper conversions?

 

[Dav-Tec]

We've currently got new pods in design with production starting immediately they'll face forward more to give better response from the rear.

Sub box to follow and we have in house designed and manufactured SQ grade speaker collars for the T6 they're much thicker and stiffer than the standard off the shelf 2mm thick injection moulded items, these further increase mid-bass response by helping the speaker to stay on a solid mount so energy isn't wasted and turned into movement or resonance and the energy is turned into sound.

The off the shelf variants are ok for budget builds, if you want the best out of your audio equipment our new collars and pods will help. We can also make high grade custom enclosure to suit people's requirements.

 

[Samro]

We've currently got new pods in design with production starting immediately they'll face forward more to give better response from the rear.

Sub box to follow and we have in house designed and manufactured SQ grade speaker collars for the T6 they're much thicker and stiffer than the standard off the shelf 2mm thick injection moulded items, these further increase mid-bass response by helping the speaker to stay on a solid mount so energy isn't wasted and turned into movement or resonance and the energy is turned into sound.

The off the shelf variants are ok for budget builds, if you want the best out of your audio equipment our new collars and pods will help. We can also make high grade custom enclosure to suit people's requirements.

Shame you're miles away from me.
Are these pods something that could be bought off the shelf for a third party to fit? Got any photos of them?

 

[Dav-Tec]

Yes we can ship them too you. Rear pods aren't ready yet so not releasing photos of them just yet. We've also got some carbon surprises coming but that's as much as I'm saying on that

 

[BognorMotors]

I knew you would have a solution to extract some wonga from me Oli!

Do you have a solution when cabinets are installed down the drivers side of the vehicle, as per most camper conversions?

You know we have a solution for everything

 

[evy]

I have the THQ sub under passenger seat connected to standard head unit on T6, can I add rear 6x9s to existing head unit ?

 

[t6blo]

Just to update this thread.

I now have 2x 10” subs in the rear Wheelarch boxes. I am still pondering rear speaker options

 

[Chrishall888]

I’ve mounted ours (combi) in the rear panels, just above the arch.
A decent 5” speaker fits there and is supported well.
I followed the factory wiring route around the top of the van.