EX 3rd Row Speakers Question/Advice Needed

[ajb224]

I have a 2020 EX and little kids. The third row has no speakers, and I'd love to put something back there. I'm generally handy but have no experience with car audio, so I've been reading forum posts and trying to get clear on what I need to do.

It looks like I can buy two speakers to put in the 3rd row cutouts, pull sound off the 2nd row speakers, and need to add an amplifier to power them. Has anyone here done this (without adding a sub or changing out the OEM speakers)? If so, can you make some suggestions on what to buy and exactly how to do it? I'm not going for thumping bass or high fidelity -- just something to play music that everyone in the car can hear, without killing the DriverTalk and other dashboard functionality.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can share!

 

[PittPa]

Headphones? Having traveled with 4 kids of my own from infants to adults, the programming that kids are interested in doesn't always coincide with what you want to hear, and vice versa. My days of listening to Kidzbop are thankfully over. Rather than reorganize your cars entire sound system, a few tablets with kid sized Bluetooth headphones at a fraction the price may worth a look.

 

[TONYK11]

Headphones? Having traveled with 4 kids of my own from infants to adults, the programming that kids are interested in doesn't always coincide with what you want to hear, and vice versa. My days of listening to Kidzbop are thankfully over. Rather than reorganize your cars entire sound system, a few tablets with kid sized Bluetooth headphones at a fraction the price may worth a look.

^^ THIS! Best to start them early on tablets/Kindles with headphones. Kidsbop may be tolerable, but their preferred material will get louder as they grow.
How many times can kids < 12 watch a fave movie = unlimited. I have several burned into my brain before taking the tablet & headphone route.

 

[ajb224]

Ha. Well, yes, the kids do have headphones and tablets, and 80% of the time we are very grateful for that. But 20% of the time — and especially when my sister-in-law and her two kids are in the car with us for weekend adventures — we play music for everyone. The kids all recite Hamilton lyrics together, but the ones in the 3rd row can't hear the music very well. If two 4"speakers ($60?) and a 4-channel amp ($200?) improve the family bonding audio experience and give me an interesting weekend project, I would make the investment. But if everyone here feels this isn't worth it, we can live with the current setup. Thanks again.

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[TONYK11]

At a scout bike camping trip earlier this year, after dinner when each parol had their fires burning nicely. Our girl patrol [Amazons, of course] broke into the opening section of Hamilton a capella. A bunch of other scouts joined in, and they sang the entire libretto. I'd totally encourage you to fit the speakers for group singing. DO IT!

 

[MG535]

disagree with the above two posters. Not everyone wants their kids to have tablets in the car.

 

[MG535]

but the ones in the 3rd row can't hear the music very well.

Can you change the front/rear balance to turn it up more in the second row without being too loud for the driver?

 

[ajb224]

Can you change the front/rear balance to turn it up more in the second row without being too loud for the driver?

I can make the 2nd row speakers louder relative to the front row and turn it up, but it's not the same as having 3rd row speakers. The third row is left out. Since the cutouts exist for the 3rd row (this is what the SX has), I was hoping someone could guide me on how to add two more speakers.

I went to a car audio shop and he told me he could put an amp under the driver's seat and two speakers in the 3rd row cutouts for $400, just splicing off the 2nd row (so raising the 2nd row balance would raise the 3rd row too, which seems fine), but I wanted to hear what DIYers on the forum had to say first.

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[PittPa]

disagree with the above two posters. Not everyone wants their kids to have tablets in the car.

Understood. Not everyone wants to hear their kids sing either. Kids never had that talent. I guess I'm partly to blame.

 

[Willz]

Haven't looked into the head unit and any outputs it might have, but the most straight forward way to go about it would be buying a Line Output Converter (LOC) for RCA outputs, tapping into the 2nd row speakers, running a power and ground (don't forget an inline fuse) to an amp wherever you decide to place it, tying the LOC into the amp and feeding the two 3rd row speakers you install from the amp.

A few roadblocks you could run into, tapping the speakers you'd need to do both L&R if you want the balance correct. Otherwise you could lap into 1 and run both speakers off it just keep in mind you'd have two Left or two Right speakers.
3rd row off the amp you'll need to tune accordingly from the amp so they are the same volume as the second row speakers, you don't want row 3rd being louder than the others lol. (Multimeter is the easiest and cheapest way to tune accurately)

Quick list, probably missing some things:
-A way to tap the speakers, whether with inline taps or splicing yourself.
-LOC with extra line length to reach both speakers and or the amp
-RCA cable
-Power & Ground, check a gauge to watts chart for proper gauges
-Speaker cable
-Inline fuse if not included
-2 or more channel Amp preferably, doesn't need to be anything crazy, 50 watts RMS per channel is probably more than the headunit does to door speakers anyway
-2 speakers that fit the cutouts
-Possible mounting brackets for speakers

Edit: I would personally only tap into the 2nd row, so the fader controls both back rows and the front is separate

 

[Dwally]

I have a 2020 EX and little kids. The third row has no speakers, and I'd love to put something back there. I'm generally handy but have no experience with car audio, so I've been reading forum posts and trying to get clear on what I need to do.

It looks like I can buy two speakers to put in the 3rd row cutouts, pull sound off the 2nd row speakers, and need to add an amplifier to power them. Has anyone here done this (without adding a sub or changing out the OEM speakers)? If so, can you make some suggestions on what to buy and exactly how to do it? I'm not going for thumping bass or high fidelity -- just something to play music that everyone in the car can hear, without killing the DriverTalk and other dashboard functionality.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can share!

I am trying to find out the exact same thing! I’m hoping someone knows! It’s my biggest complaint about the ex is no rear speakers. And how to add some and what to add? And how much will this cost?!

 

[ajb224]

Hey Dwally! I'm the original poster and will share here what I learned.

In order to add speakers to the back row, you need to buy:

• 2 speakers
• speaker wire
• a small amp
• a power wiring kit for the amp
• something to tap the 2nd row speaker wires in order to get the signal coming from the head unit

This was straightforward enough. I called Crutchfield and spoke with someone about what I was trying to do. She helped me get two Kicker 46CSC44 speakers, 16-ga speaker wire, the Infinity Primus 6002A amp, the Crutchfield CK10 power wiring kit, and Posi-Products wire connectors. The whole thing came to $246, and Crutchfield was an A+ to deal with.

Then I started taking apart the trim to do the install. For that you need trim removal tools, which are available anywhere and not expensive. Removing the trim between the front and second rows to tap the speaker wire wasn't hard. And I could remove enough of the rear trim to see behind the plastic cutout where the speaker would go. The good news is it does have a bracket to mount a speaker. But then I hit a snag.

I couldn't separate the plastic cutout from the mounting bracket easily. It may be a lack of experience or technique, but removing that rear trim piece to properly access the speaker cutouts seems to require removing screws covered by the third row seats. So I would have to take the seats out to pull the panels off and install the speakers. And if I really wanted to keep things neat with the cables going to the second amp under the driver's seat, I would want to remove the other seats too in order to fish the cables under the carpeting.

So there was some significant project scope creep! And then my wife reminded me that I would never be in the third row, and that our kids didn't notice or care about the sound.

I could pay someone at a car audio shop a couple hundred bucks to do all this for me, but I decided to just abandon ship and returned everything to Crutchfield. They were great again.

If someone does go through with this, though, or if I made a mistake and it's much simpler than I thought, let me know. And post pix!

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[Amati5]

In my college days, I just connected a new speaker in parallel with the existing speaker to get the sound. No amp needed but you will lose some volume to those speakers. Not sure if today’s systems let you do that.

If your music source is coming from a wireless device, how about Bluetooth speakers?

 

[Neverdie38]

If anybody is still wondering, I tackled this job finally. Installed harman kardon 3rd row speakers from a totaled Telly, ran wire to B pillars then to under driver’s seat to amp. Only tapping 2nd row speakers pulled too much away and sounded odd so I would not recommend. Best option is to tap 2nd row speakers then to line output convertor into amp. Moderate difficulty rating. If you have questions, ask. I didnt take many pictures

 

[Loki_Telly]

If anybody is still wondering, I tackled this job finally. Installed harman kardon 3rd row speakers from a totaled Telly, ran wire to B pillars then to under driver’s seat to amp. Only tapping 2nd row speakers pulled too much away and sounded odd so I would not recommend. Best option is to tap 2nd row speakers then to line output convertor into amp. Moderate difficulty rating. If you have questions, ask. I didnt take many pictures

Thanks for sharing this! Planning on doing the same for mine. Did they directly bolt in and were you able to get the grilles for them? Can’t find a totaled one near me with the speakers so looking at eBay but unable to find the grilles. May have to see if I can get them through part numbers.

What amp did you end up going with?

 

[Neverdie38]

Thanks for sharing this! Planning on doing the same for mine. Did they directly bolt in and were you able to get the grilles for them? Can’t find a totaled one near me with the speakers so looking at eBay but unable to find the grilles. May have to see if I can get them through part numbers.

What amp did you end up going with?

Yes they did bolt directly up. I cut the adapter off and soldered new wire on. I just went with cheap grilles from amazon snd they look alright to me. Only issue I ran I ran into is that the amp APPEARED to stay on all the time. But this is due to the vehicle holding power for a few minutes after shut off. Even if your key fab is near, it will wake up the system and send power to the amp. This is due to the signal sensing feature of the amp. I monitored battery voltage for 9hrs and it did not drop a single bit. Links for materials below

4” speaker covers from amazon $10

14ga wire from amazon $17 (could go with 16ga and be fine)

Pioneer amp GMA3702 from crutchfield $90

Wiring kit from Crutchfield $30

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[Loki_Telly]

Yes they did bolt directly up. I cut the adapter off and soldered new wire on. I just went with cheap grilles from amazon snd they look alright to me. Only issue I ran I ran into is that the amp APPEARED to stay on all the time. But this is due to the vehicle holding power for a few minutes after shut off. Even if your key fab is near, it will wake up the system and send power to the amp. This is due to the signal sensing feature of the amp. I monitored battery voltage for 9hrs and it did not drop a single bit. Links for materials below

4” speaker covers from amazon $10

14ga wire from amazon $17 (could go with 16ga and be fine)

Pioneer amp GMA3702 from crutchfield $90

Wiring kit from Crutchfield $30

Awesome! Thank you so much for the info!

 

[Neverdie38]

Yes they did bolt directly up. I cut the adapter off and soldered new wire on. I just went with cheap grilles from amazon snd they look alright to me. Only issue I ran I ran into is that the amp APPEARED to stay on all the time. But this is due to the vehicle holding power for a few minutes after shut off. Even if your key fab is near, it will wake up the system and send power to the amp. This is due to the signal sensing feature of the amp. I monitored battery voltage for 9hrs and it did not drop a single bit. Links for materials below

4” speaker covers from amazon $10

14ga wire from amazon $17 (could go with 16ga and be fine)

Pioneer amp from crutchfield $90

Wiring kit from Crutchfield $30

Awesome! Thank you so much for the info!

No problem, just leme know if you have questions