GR86 Rear Speakers

[Diggler]

Hi, I'll get some screen grabs of the curves and settings in a day or two. I didn't export it after the last adjustment, probably best to keep a record, just in case it looses it.
The rear curve was relatively flat, in comparison to the front.
For the front I reduced the EQ where the Focal tweeters are very peaky.
The manufacturer's info on the Pioneers showed them to have a more linear response, hence less adjustment was used.

The biggest issue with the output from the factory headunit is the EQ curves vary massively dependent on the volume setting.
I found at times the bass would actually increase as the volume was turned down! I couldn't believe it at first, some tracks are worse than others, but it definitely happens. The best plan is to set up the Puzu for a compromise, ie, sound good at the volumes you listen to most and OK above or below that, without getting too boomy in the bass.

Regarding your Audison sub, yes it will fill in a lot of the missing bass in the rear. How much depends on the crossover frequency setting.
It should be able to play up up to the 150Hz point where the rear signal is cut.

That’s great - thank you so much Yeah I was kind of hoping the sub would mean I didn’t need to tap into the front speakers

 

[Road_trip]

Here's the screen shots of my current settings on the Puzu. Left and Right channels are set the same.
This is with the headunit Front signal split for Front and Rear inputs into the DSP. The headunit rear signal will be different and may require different tuning.
Front, Focal IS-TOY

Rear, Pioneer

It was set up using a judgement of the speaker responses and info on the headunit output, then a bit of personal tuning. Preferred volume setting 17 or 18.
No microphone analysis of the system.

 

[Diggler]

Here's the screen shots of my current settings on the Puzu. Left and Right channels are set the same.
This is with the headunit Front signal split for Front and Rear inputs into the DSP. The headunit rear signal will be different and may require different tuning.
Front, Focal IS-TOY
View attachment 34287
Rear, Pioneer
View attachment 34288

It was set up using a judgement of the speaker responses and info on the headunit output, then a bit of personal tuning. Preferred volume setting 17 or 18.
No microphone analysis of the system.

Thank you for taking the time to do this - it is super helpful of you! Much appreciated!!

 

[Road_trip]

Thank you for taking the time to do this - it is super helpful of you! Much appreciated!!

You're welcome. I'd be really interested to hear what you've done if you do fit rear speakers and thoughts on the results.
Without this forum I'd probably not have gone with the Focals and hadn't even heard of Puzu, so it's good to hear what others are doing.

 

[Diggler]

You're welcome. I'd be really interested to hear what you've done if you do fit rear speakers and thoughts on the results.
Without this forum I'd probably not have gone with the Focals and hadn't even heard of Puzu, so it's good to hear what others are doing.

I will probably be a month or so before I get round to doing it (need a good few days spare to take a run at it - I’m not great with this sort of thing ). I will report back when done. Thanks again!

 

[Kismet]

Yes, it's really only 4 soldered joints, all in the Puzu adapter harness. So there's no risk to the car harness if you're not confident, or take it out and get someone else to do it.
As said, I wouldn't do this unless the rear speakers have been upgraded, it's not worth it in that case.

I did this the other day based on your write-up and I'm very happy with the results. I upsized a bit on the rears though…

 

[Road_trip]

Wow, 7" Kenwoods, that's a massive size increase!
Excelon KFC-X183C, if I've got that right, normally an upgrade replacement for factory 6x9" speakers.
They'll really rock with full signal and an amp.

Did you just fit them behind the standard trim panels?
Which system did you start with, 6 or 8 speaker, and what else have you done or planned?
Good to hear you're happy with it.

 

[Kismet]

Wow, 7" Kenwoods, that's a massive size increase!
Excelon KFC-X183C, if I've got that right, normally an upgrade replacement for factory 6x9" speakers.
They'll really rock with full signal and an amp.

Did you just fit them behind the standard trim panels?
Which system did you start with, 6 or 8 speaker, and what else have you done or planned?
Good to hear you're happy with it.

Yes, that model exactly. I wanted the extra 6x9 mounting pieces to give me some options on how to get them to fit. They're behind the standard trim pieces - I just cut the fiber material and folded it back for clearance. I have the 8 speaker system and already had the Focal ISTOY165 and Puzu c7 set up for doors and dash.

 

[Road_trip]

Good to hear you did your own thing, not just fit an 'off the shelf' solution like the Beatsonic amp or OEM Audio+ speakers.
I like doing car audio things, it's a chance to personalise the car without getting into suspension and engine mods or body styling.

It's a shame that both factory audio options are short of people's expectations. I was initially disappointed that UK spec cars only got the 6 speaker system, but if the 8 isn't good enough it doesn't matter. It's possibly a little easier to modify the 6 speaker cars without the amp and simpler wiring.
Then again, at the car's price point, we can't really complain and it's relatively easy to improve the audio.

 

[Diggler]

You're welcome. I'd be really interested to hear what you've done if you do fit rear speakers and thoughts on the results.
Without this forum I'd probably not have gone with the Focals and hadn't even heard of Puzu, so it's good to hear what others are doing.

Finally got round to doing this job. I am not that 'creative' and eventually ended up buying some plug and play speakers from a company in Germany. Was a bit of a faff getting them fitted but got there eventually - there's not a great deal of room in the back of that thing! I still need to tweak the Puzu to get the most out of them....but that's a job for tomorrow. <y first impressions are that they do indeed fill a bit of a gap that existed in the back. I do take your point though about the full signal not going to the rear speakers, which is a shame. I'll report back again when I have had a run at tweaking the Puzu

 

[Diggler]

You're welcome. I'd be really interested to hear what you've done if you do fit rear speakers and thoughts on the results.
Without this forum I'd probably not have gone with the Focals and hadn't even heard of Puzu, so it's good to hear what others are doing.

Had a bit of a tweak with the Puzu. Changing out the rear speakers definitely represents another uplift in the overall sound quality of the system, which is now more than acceptable. That said, it has taken me adding a Puzu DSP, a sub in the boot and also swapping out all the speakers and tweeters to get there. If I was doing all this again, I would definitely get creative and do what you did for the rear speakers (making your own brackets etc) as the 'ready made' kit I bought ended up costing me just north of £230 all in . Still, I am happy with the overall system now. In terms of sound quality coming from the back speakers, it is quite 'crisp' and I did have to adjust the treble to compensate a bit. My sub definitely fills the absence of bass though. That said, I'd still be keen to understand how you tapped into the front speakers in order to get the full signal to the rear speakers. I think you said you did this somehow via the Puzu wiring harness..?

 

[Road_trip]

Had a bit of a tweak with the Puzu. Changing out the rear speakers definitely represents another uplift in the overall sound quality of the system, which is now more than acceptable. That said, it has taken me adding a Puzu DSP, a sub in the boot and also swapping out all the speakers and tweeters to get there. If I was doing all this again, I would definitely get creative and do what you did for the rear speakers (making your own brackets etc) as the 'ready made' kit I bought ended up costing me just north of £230 all in . Still, I am happy with the overall system now. In terms of sound quality coming from the back speakers, it is quite 'crisp' and I did have to adjust the treble to compensate a bit. My sub definitely fills the absence of bass though. That said, I'd still be keen to understand how you tapped into the front speakers in order to get the full signal to the rear speakers. I think you said you did this somehow via the Puzu wiring harness..?

As a plug and play option, that is a good kit but yes, rather expensive. I copied it and improved certain aspects for my install, ie, stiffer brkt and an extra fixing. Changing the rear speakers really does help round out the system.

The tap into the front signal really is just cutting the 4 wires from radio rear output and joining the amp input side into the 4 front wires.
Ie, the front radio output is connected to both front and rear amp inputs.
All detailed in this thread,

R

GR86 Thread 'Puzu Amp, harness tap, full range rear signal.'

Oct 3, 2024

I've been planning on doing this for a while, adding an amp and using a full range signal for the rear speakers.
It's not worth doing if you're still using the standard fit rears, there's a reason why the bass was cut to them, they won't handle it.
I have previously upgraded the rear to Pioneer 4" 2-way, as detailed in this thread:

GR86 - Rear Speakers

I've previously fitted the Focal kit to the front and was very happy with the improvement over standard, but that was always going to be a first step upgrade. An amplifier, rear speakers and / or a sub was the longer term plan. With this car an unobtrusive build that could be put back to...

www.gr-zoo.com

I had originally wanted to do it with a Pioneer or Kenwood 4 channel amp. As I discovered more about the factory system, it became apparent that the DSP in the Puzu would be better to help overcome the...

• Road_trip
• Replies: 9
• Forum: Audio & Electronics

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[Road_trip]

Coincidentally, while on holiday I found these Pioneer speakers in Walmart. They're custom fit upgrades for certain GM and Toyota models, not usually available in the UK, but from the same "A Series" range as the 4" ones I fitted in the rear.
These would make an easy upgrade in a GR86. The 2 3/4" in the rear and 3 1/2" in the top of the dashboard.

For the price, £36 and £40, I'm tempted to buy a pair just to see what they're like.

 

[Diggler]

As a plug and play option, that is a good kit but yes, rather expensive. I copied it and improved certain aspects for my install, ie, stiffer brkt and an extra fixing. Changing the rear speakers really does help round out the system.

The tap into the front signal really is just cutting the 4 wires from radio rear output and joining the amp input side into the 4 front wires.
Ie, the front radio output is connected to both front and rear amp inputs.
All detailed in this thread,

https://www.gr-zoo.com/threads/puzu-amp-harness-tap-full-range-rear-signal.7399/

OK - just to test my understanding here...

So we are talking about the plug that goes into the main power connector in the DSP. In terms of the wires that lead into that plug, I need to get 4 small pieces of wire and join/solder each end as follows (i.e. creating a 'bridge' of sorts):

FLIN+ to RLIN+
FLIN- to RLIN-
FRIN+ to RRIN+
FRIN- to RRIN-

Than right?

 

[Road_trip]

It would be possible to modify the Puzu harness as you describe, at the DSP main connector.
That is not the way I did it, due to the risk of picking the wrong wire, both input and output use the same colours.
The rear signal from the 6 pin plug also needs to be cut.

I modified the Puzu harness at the end that plugs into the radio, the 6 and 10 pin plugs.
No extra wire was used, just cut, strip and join as detailed in the forum thread "Puzu Amp, harness tap"
This shows the area of the harness worked on, with the wrap removed.

 

[Diggler]

It would be possible to modify the Puzu harness as you describe, at the DSP main connector.
That is not the way I did it, due to the risk of picking the wrong wire, both input and output use the same colours.
The rear signal from the 6 pin plug also needs to be cut.

I modified the Puzu harness at the end that plugs into the radio, the 6 and 10 pin plugs.
No extra wire was used, just cut, strip and join as detailed in the forum thread "Puzu Amp, harness tap"
This shows the area of the harness worked on, with the wrap removed.
View attachment 35525View attachment 35526

That's really helpful - thanks. I take your point about getting the wires mixed up if I adopt the approach I detailed. I am not sure I want to pull the head unit out again though, which always carries the risk of 'generating' some sort of new rattle each time you do. As much as I want to get the maximum out of my setup, I suspect any gains will be probably be very marginal (due to my having the sub) and so I am not sure I want to risk it. Need to have a think about it. Thanks again!