mike:

Car: 1994 Honda Civic coupe
Headunit: JVC around 6 years old, CD skips and scratches
Speakers: Mismatched Powerbass, Kenwood, Sony Xplodes etc

I'm looking to upgrade my entire sound system, starting with the head unit. I have been using Crutchfield as a reference but I'm lost on some of the more technical terms. 20 watts RMS, 50 watt peak seem to be average numbers, but are those numbers low. At highway speeds, with the windows/sunroof partially open the radio gets drowned out.


So what I would like:
Ipod/ usb hook-up
No touchscreen,tv's anything with video
Loud and clear enough at highway speeds +75mph


Questions:
HD radio, is it worth it?
Hands free blue-tooth?


Price Range:
$250 for head-unit
$400 for all speakers?

What are you guys using?

bb4ninja

You can usually get a decent head unit at walmart with hd radio, aux ports and about 50-75 watts from jvc or sony. The ones ive seen are around 150

mike:

Thanks I'll look into that

98civdx

Are you going to run a amp or a sub?


I was going to say Alpine HU's.

It seems they don't sell the ones that you flip the face plate to put a cd in.
I need a new cd player too.

mike:

I have a nice amp and 2 subwoofers that I've had in previous cars but I'm more for sound quality than super bass right now, sort of outgrew the trunk rattling lol. But I do want the option to hook-up my amp and subs so ya I might run something.

mike:

I've been using crutchfield, bestbuy and now walmart as references, and I'll most likely be going to the swapshop this weekend

98civdx

I don't like the trunk rattling either, I was asking becuase adding a sub can really help with SQ.

Do you have a 4 channel amp? Are you able to buy one?


This is what my brother has currently.
Alpine CDA 105, and infinty Kapa 6x8 in front/6x9 rear. Sounds great! But it could really use a sub and a 4 channel.

I have a Alpine CDA 9884, Infinity ref 6.5's in front, and cliff designs 6x9's in rear, with a 4 channle amp. They're getting abour a 100 each RMS. I also have 2 sony 12's w/ a 1000 watt amp, that do overpower the car, but when the bass is turned down it sounds great.

Infinty speakers really are great for the price, and even better if you can give them a amp.

94 LS build

i like pioneer i got a hu a walmart for 160 and i think keepin the hu and the speakers matching help with the sq and as for an amp you want a 4 channel for the door speakers and a 2 channel for subs

fcm

Alpine HU or Panasonic HU, stay far away from Sony, use Infinity speakers, for best SQ off the HUs internal amp do not use the stock 12V constant, [yellow lead on HU] instead run a fused 12ga from the batt. [just like you would for an amp] and add a 12ga chassis to chassis ground, [still use the stock radio ground].

The above will get the most out of the HU, [no matter what the brand] the rest is in the speaker install, it makes no diff. what speakers you get, if they are not installed properly SQ and SPL will suck, start by replacing the stock plastic speaker housings with custom made, [for the speaker] MDF housings.

For speaker install you need

1- Absolutely flat surface to mount speaker to.
2- Airtight seal between the front and back of speaker.
3- Mass, the more mass the better, even better if the mass is wood.

A flat surface insures speaker basket is not "warped" when mounted, preventing VC misalignment.

An airtight seal prevents the speakers front wave from interfering with the speakers back wave, [or vice versa] this prevents "cancellation" and in turn will result in lower F3 point, [better bass] and higher SPL, [louder].

Mass prevents movement, "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" when the speaker cone moves forwards the whole speaker wants to move backwards, when the cone moves backwards the whole speaker wants to move forwards, this will result in "cancellation" a loss of SPL and bass response
It takes relatively little power to move the speakers cone to it's full excursion, [say 1/4"] but it takes, [wasts] lots of power to move the whole speaker even a tiny bit, mass will prevent speaker "movement"
Wood just happens to get the best possible sound from a speaker and MDF is very dense "wood" and very easy to work with. 94

mike:

Thanks for the advice and detailed responses. Would it help if I had the power to the speakers ran through an amp.

Do you have any DIY links for the custom MDF speaker housings

joeshmo

If you have a 4 channel amp, it will likely be much better than the one built in to your headunit. Also will help you on the highway. Infinity reference speakers are pretty nice for the money, and respond pretty well to more power (or even small amounts of power from the headunit, if you decide to keep that route.)

Personally I have had good luck with the sony xplod headunits. My kenwood HU was pretty awful and my pioneer head wasn't much to brag about. My dual headunit was complete rubish and I'll never touch a piece of dual equipment again.

fcm

I run an Alpine HU and 4 Eclipse 6.5" 2way speakers, no amps, no subs.

The front speakers are installed on custom MDF housings, the rear speakers are in custom MDF and fiberglass "cabinets", both sets are behind stock grills.

Stock speaker wire is used on both except for the foot or so inside the rear cabinets, [16ga Monster] doors a fully Dynamated and some Dynamat was use in the rear, car is a 94 Integra hatch.

The system was put together as a demo of what can be archived in SQ and SPL without the use of off-board amps, I have often been accused of having an amp and subs hidden in the car someplace when I demo it with Billy Idols White Wedding, [system "tuned" with that song].


The SQ an SPL was all archived with proper installation techniques of the speakers, the Alpine CDA-7892 doesn't hurt either.

In short you do not need an off-board amp, but it sure can't hurt, because you have a sub and amp you should fallow the 3-1 rule, 3 times the wattage for the low-pass, [sub bass] as the total of high-pass, [rest of system].

EG; if your running just the HU power, [say 4x18W RMS] you would run a 60-70 watt sub amp, because you already have the amp you would work backwards, [say amp makes 300W RMS] you would use a 4x25W RMS amp.

So the question is what is the RMS wattage of the amp when driving the two subs, [make and model of amp, make and model of subs]? 94

TSX2010

onlinecarstereo.com will be your best bet on getting car audio at the best price. Crutchfield sucks, im sorry to say(they are no different than your large retail store, they only sell brand name). First off, i'll tell you the best speakers are gonna be the brands you never heard of and are really cheap compared to crappy pioneer/kicker/alpine (alpine is good but there are way better speaker out there), if your looking for quality crisp sound, sound stream speakers are the best speakers for your money, and they will blow all the name brands out of the water. If you know your audio, then you've heard of soundstream and know how good they are and how bad the name brands are, Your essentially buying the name. Most people get sucked into the best buy brands but go on any car audio forum and the best are the brands that are cheap and not sold by your major audio stores. you can get 6.5" component system for 59$ and they are 80 watt RMS and get some 6.5 regular speakers for the back, i think those are the sizes of 94 civics speakers.(for all your speakers you'll be spending about $120)

As for headunit, technology is so far ahead that any unit won't be noticabley different, only difference will be the interface and how user friendly it is, just get one thats easy for you to use, the only big difference you can notice is the single din vs the double din. Double dins will usually put out more watts, and bluetooth is nice but the quality wont be as good as if your phone/ipod where connected to the head unit via aux

TSX2010

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...604_2b_1K.aspx

this is the best multi channel amp to get for the money if your gonna run a sub, the 4 channel part is your regular a/b amp for your speakers and the 5th channel is a mono class D amp for your sub, and yes a 4 channel amp will make the speakers much better sounding and louder

if your not running an amp then get this
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...cs_HFi554.aspx

if you have the money get the soundstream amps, but hifonics amps are just as good but soundstream amps i would say are a little better but cost more

TSX2010

onlinecarstereo.com will be your best bet on getting car audio at the best price. Crutchfield sucks, im sorry to say(they are no different than your large retail store, they only sell brand name). First off, i'll tell you the best speakers are gonna be the brands you never heard of and are really cheap compared to crappy pioneer/kicker/alpine (alpine is good but there are way better speaker out there), if your looking for quality crisp sound, sound stream speakers are the best speakers for your money, and they will blow all the name brands out of the water. If you know your audio, then you've heard of soundstream and know how good they are and how bad the name brands are, Your essentially buying the name. Most people get sucked into the best buy brands but go on any car audio forum and the best are the brands that are cheap and not sold by your major audio stores. you can get 6.5" component system for 59$ and they are 80 watt RMS and get some 6.5 regular speakers for the back, i think those are the sizes of 94 civics speakers.

As for headunit, technology is so far ahead that any unit won't be noticabley different, only difference will be the interface and how user friendly, just get one thats easy for you to use, the only big difference you can notice is the single din vs the double din. Double dins will usually put out more watts, and bluetooth is nice but the quality wont be as good as if your phone/ipod where connected to the head unit via aux

98civdx

Whats with all the basing name brands?


Although, sound stream does make good speakers.

fcm

ROFL, TSX2010 you have absolutely no clue about what you are talking about, starting with onlinecarstereo.com, just read the warranty... http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/Help/...iveMerchandise good luck with that.

Next is your statement that the best speakers are the ones you do not hear about and then you mention Soundstream, a "brand name" product.

This one is good, "As for headunit, technology is so far ahead that any unit won't be noticabley different, only difference will be the interface and how user friendly, just get one thats easy for you to use, the only big difference you can notice is the single din vs the double din. Double dins will usually put out more watts, and bluetooth is nice but the quality wont be as good as if your phone/ipod where connected to the head unit via aux.

The above is wrong in so many ways, no noticeable difference, are you kidding, Double dins will usually put out more watts, who told you that, bluetooth is nice but the quality wont be as good as if your phone/ipod where connected to the head unit via aux., say what?

Last but not least...
if your not running an amp then get this
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...cs_HFi554.aspx
If it looks like an amp, smells like an amp, acts like an amp, it probably is an amp.

You need to stop before you hurt yourself. 94

rallypoint_1

After you pick what gear you want to run try checking on Amazon. Price is usually better with free shipping an easy return policy.

fcm

What, no ***** TSX2010, you had to PM me with your rant...

"first of all...if you think soundtream is a major brand your very wrong(at least in america, maybe in crappy canada, but not america lol).....crutchfield, bestbuy, and even the local audio shops do not sell this brand.....You really think single din has more ampage than a double din?? average single din is 14-17 watts rms and doublE din is 17-22 rms(more space equals more amp space)..do the math...and your pathetic for thinking wireless sounds better than wired..i was taught not to feed the trolls lol, oh and onlinecarstereo is the number 1 recommended site for cheapest deals on caraudio in america..your the angriest canadian i've ever met LOL, you hurt yourself badly and the fact honda-tech deleted the post after your troll post proves it lol, do you know anything at all about car audio?? i bet you think kove armageddon and sun down audio are major brands too, LOL thanks for the laugh"


So lets start with Soundstream, my bet is I was working at a Soundstream dealer before you where born, and it is a good bet I was doing car audio long before you were even your daddies wet dream.

As for size of HU, DD or SD, are you serious, you thing just because a HU is DD it has a more powerfull amp built into it, just because there is more room, maybe you should look up Alpine CDA-7892, or maybe you already know what the RMS wattage of that SD HU is.

As for your comment, "and your pathetic for thinking wireless sounds better than wired" where exactly did I say wireless was better, or are you just making stuff up so you can rant some more?

Deleted??? What this... https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3019948


I think you need to give your head a shake. 94

joeshmo

Actually, he is correct on one point. A direct connection will sound better than bluetooth, bluetooth has such a poor bitrate that the 3.5mm cable will transfer better audio.

fcm

Again, I have never said Bluetooth was a better connection.

All I said was, "say what" to his remark, "bluetooth is nice but the quality wont be as good as if your phone/ipod where connected to the head unit via aux., the "say what" was in regards to what that statment had to do with anything.

This guy has no clue what he is talking about when it comes to car audio, so he should not be giving advice, he also has no ***** because instead of posting here he IMed me with the above rant.

Other then being correct about the Bluetooth, [which I agree with and never disagreed with] what else has he said that is in any way correct.

onlinecarstereo.com as the best place for price, maybe if you do not include shipping or any warranty problems you may have.

Soundstream is not a brand name car audio product.

DD HUs have more power then SD HUs just because they are bigger.

A $59 set of 6.5" no-name or not brand name component speakers will sound better then any brand name set.

My post was deleted.


He is a rude dipwad also, I know if I had made the same comment about the USA, "crappy canada" the flaming would never end. I would probably get hate mail, not that I would be rude enough to disparage another county anyway.nuff said. 94

kecknj

iTrader: (1)

Go brand name or go home. That goes with all electronics. You just get a higher chance of the product sucking chocolate covered starfish if you go with crappy brands. Not saying its impossible to be happy with cut-rate electronics, but you may end up discontent. Just my opinion though.

joeshmo

Or just do research. I recently bought a pair of headphones that outstrip anything even close to their price range that aren't a "name brand", but I researched for several days before choosing this pair.

Axatax

I'm not an expert with the audio side of things, so I'll leave that to others.

I installed a Clarion DD w/nav unit eariler this year along with iPod cable, BT mic, and Metra aftermarket steering wheel controls, and the features by themselves are a huge upgrade to day-to-day operation of the vehicle.

iPod integration, Bluetooth for phone, and NAV are so worth it, any SQ upgrades aside. I also did a "conservative" upgrade of the fronts, removed the 6x9's, and installed a relatively tame 8" Bazooka tube sub. Won't win any SPL competition, but that's not what I was aiming for.

What I would recommend:

In a 6G civic, the stock radio is powered by a 10AMP line switched by acc., and the station memory/clock is powered by the 7.5A line from the engine fuse box (shared with the ECU). Aftermarket units (at least my Clarion) are somewhat different, and use the 10AMP line for power sense, and use the 7.5A line for operation of the HU.

What this means is, the deck's fused (yellow, usually 15A) line should be home-runned directly to the battery or the 40A constant option terminal on the fuse box.

Current draw aside, I don't like the idea of anything connecting to antenna or containing a switching power supply touching the ECU directly - unless it was designed by someone smarter than myself to do so.

The DD decks with video have ALOT of cables coming out of the back, and the space behind the radio in this vehicle is absolutely cavernous. I wrapped the the harness and extra wires with foam rubber to prevent rattle.


What I would have done differently:

I originally tried to find ABS baffles to fit the front door speakers, and couldn't find any that would fit what seems to be a peculiar diameter of the JL C2-600Xs. I used foam baffles, and cut a hole in the bottom of the baffles the same size as the original door cups. My thought process was a speaker designed for a car door would be IB, and the foam would be to keep any water out of the speaker.

Well, the speakers aren't really an upgrade like this. They also clip at moderately high volume and generally don't sound good, despite the high input sensitivity (92-95db, IIRC).

I don't know if they are inappropriate for the HU (power wise), warping from the foam, or require sealed baffles. I'm sure these speakers could sound better given the right conditions and I'll probably look into fixing this time permitting.

The Clarion deck (VX-400) is also somewhat buggy and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who has a lesser tolerance for such things. *I* like the deck alot, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone unless they could spend some time with it first.

The deck also lacks a volume **** (uses up/down buttons). I went this route so I could use a blank DD cover to conceal the deck when needed (held into place with small magnets in the dash kit trim ring and blank face). Double-edged sword.

Just some things to think about.

Axatax

Oh, and I think the appearance of the DDs are really nice. The install came out really good. Used a Metra dash kit to install: