Rear Speakers?

[AZFox]

Not 100% sure if it will work but I am hoping I can link two/three JBL speakers together via Bluetooth and then place them where I want them. I already have one of the speakers so I think I just need to buy a second matching one to pair it up. Don’t know what it will sound like but at least give me some front back feeling. Keeping power to them is something I plan to look into.

I have this same idea.

True Wireless Stereo (TWS) works really well. I have multiple pairs (various sizes) of speakers paired up and they all sound great when played that way. Much better than mono.

One advantage to doing it this way is you could remove the Bluetooth speakers and set them on top of the cab for tailgating, which is something I plan to do a lot of.

 

[mikehell]

Not 100% sure if it will work but I am hoping I can link two/three JBL speakers together via Bluetooth and then place them where I want them. I already have one of the speakers so I think I just need to buy a second matching one to pair it up. Don’t know what it will sound like but at least give me some front back feeling. Keeping power to them is something I plan to look into.

I want to go old school and just run wires to the speakers.

 

[Slatester89]

I want to go old school and just run wires to the speakers.

You still can with BT. They won't be operational and you can use black tape to secure them to the speaker then everyone will think you are so "old school".



b.

 

[AZFox]

In my golf cart a pair of TWS-paired speakers in the tray behind the bench seat sound better than I would have expected.

I mention this because setting a TWS pair of speakers behind the seats in a Slate pickup may work "well enough", if not pretty darn well, depending on which speaker model you set back there.

And they wouldn't be visible to Opportunist Speaker Snatchers when you park somewhere.

 

[mikehell]

You still can with BT. They won't be operational and you can use black tape to secure them to the speaker then everyone will think you are so "old school".



b.

Wired speakers will almost always sound better than Bluetooth speakers.

 

[AZFox]

Wired speakers will almost always sound better than Bluetooth speakers.

That's an accurate general statement.

That said, in a vehicle BT audio via advanced codecs and a decent DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that's as good as, or better than, the one in your phone would be indistinguishable, and cold even sound better than wired.

 

[mikehell]

That's an accurate general statement.

That said, in a vehicle BT audio via advanced codecs and a decent DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that's as good as, or better than, the one in your phone) wold be indistinguishable, and cold even sound better than wired.

Yeah, it's possible, but that's not typical. I'm sure the speakers from Slate aren't super high quality. Regardless, I'm planning on putting in an Android Auto head unit. As far as I know, all in-dash units are setup for wired speakers. We ran speaker wire in cars back in the old days, so I'm sure it's still possible

 

[Luxrage]

I'm looking forward to when people first get their hands on Slates, popping the door cards off and we can finally see what's inside those doors and other compartments. There's gotta be some cavities behind the seats and other places where we can stuff at least some 6''s in!

 

[kvermeer]

I think the best solution for mounting rear speakers is a pair of these bolted in above the wheel wells:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_419SB6X9BL/SPL-Boxes-SB6X9-BL.html?tp=75847

Run some wires forward to your head unit and screw some nice 3-ways into the boxes!

 

[9TADAZE]

The car audio consideration makes this a difficult question to answer, but simply...

SUV configurations are very similar to old school Hondas (Civic, CRX, Integra) and speakers were installed into the side panels. This is already an enclosure. The panels are replaceable. Somewhere in the middle behind the black cupholder, upper gray or lower pink area. Sound could be obscured by actual passengers though. It would be the most integrated and there's probably room in those fenders. However, these are rear speakers to the front passengers. And the rear passengers would have these, and the actual front speakers, as front speakers. Staging nightmare!

Placement into the rear cargo area would make them true rear speakers to both rows of passengers. Prefab boxes as someone suggested would be the easy choice.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

That's an accurate general statement.

That said, in a vehicle BT audio via advanced codecs and a decent DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that's as good as, or better than, the one in your phone would be indistinguishable, and cold even sound better than wired.

Agree. You have to be a musician or engineer to discriminate for most content. My hearing is relatively poor so I wouldn’t notice BT vs wired speakers in a truck, and only notice fidelity difference in different over-the-ear headphones with little ambient noise pollution.

 

[Slatester89]

I have this same idea.

True Wireless Stereo (TWS) works really well. I have multiple pairs (various sizes) of speakers paired up and they all sound great when played that way. Much better than mono.

One advantage to doing it this way is you could remove the Bluetooth speakers and set them on top of the cab for tailgating, which is something I plan to do a lot of.

I think you get your Slate before I get mine, so I'll copy your solution. Just don't break the bank...it goes against our Slate ethos.

 

[AZFox]

Agree. You have to be a musician or engineer to discriminate for most content. My hearing is relatively poor so I wouldn’t notice BT vs wired speakers in a truck, and only notice fidelity difference in different over-the-ear headphones with little ambient noise pollution.

In my experience high-end audio "comes across differently" even if you don't have Golden Ears.

In particular, subtle parts of the music come through that you otherwise wouldn't notice.

Another oft-ignored audio feature is Listening Fatigue. A good sound system is one you want to keep listening to after it has played for a while.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

In my experience high-end audio "comes across differently" even if you don't have Golden Ears.

In particular, subtle parts of the music come through that you otherwise wouldn't notice.

Another oft-ignored audio feature is Listening Fatigue. A good sound system is one you want to keep listening to after it has played for a while.

No arguments there.

On my last trips over the past week, I listened to news/podcasts, audiobooks and Spotify. I was tired of the content but not really the sound quality. (The BMW has an excellent system to be fair).

Not sure if I would fatigue from a JBL pill speaker?

I might start with this crudest setup and expand accordingly.

 

[Harley Earl]

Today's SLATE Alameda event VIN# 000002 unit has the Center and L/R speaker options installed now, head over to that posting for pics care of @motorolas (Thank You!). Looking forward to eyeballing the rear areas on the SUV unit/s up in Portland next week. Will ask questions, take pics and report back.

A decent sound system does make a difference with fairly profound hearing loss (IMHO). Add in the relative quiet of an EV and it is a tall order for the engineers designing any OEM sound system options from my understanding.