junkyard racer

I am waiting on my 2014 Si to come in and curious how the sound system is.

My local dealership hasn't been able to keep one in stock long enough for me to check out an actual 2014 so I really don't know.

How is it? 350watt with a subwoofer....it can't be that bad. -I have a VW with a Fender factory stereo system and its pretty dam good for a factory system. Is it comparable?

DaveSi677

Do you have the Premium sound package?

If so it's ok... it's a small 8" sub don't expect to be vibrating people's windows but it's at most decent.

I have it in my Si and it's fine for what I need now but probably 5 years ago I would of been saying I need a 12" lol

97emsedan

It is good quality sound, but like Dave says, the panties won't be flying off as you drive past.

I have the premium in my FA5, it is adequate for me.

junkyard racer

Sounds exactly like what I need.

junkyard racer

I picked up my car (which has the premium sound) and I will say it leaves quite a bit to be desired. If this really has a sub, it's very weak. I went through all of my settings, and the difference between turning the sub on and off (raising/lowering the output levels) makes little difference in the overall output.

97emsedan

The mids and tweeters are closer to your ears. The sub does work, but yes, it is subtle.

MessGSR

just got my 14 navi..and its not bad..bass is weak tho..

DaveSi677

If you swap that radio out you will notice a huge difference. The radio is also lacking in terms of being able to change the frequency. I lowered my frequency a little and it made a nice difference.

I don't really care of having a huge sound system these days as I track the car more so the 8" sub does just fine for my needs... but I will admit I wish I would have a 10" in a ported box lol

Bwill9886

What Honda calls a sub is really just a mid-bass driver.

There's no enclosure behind it, and it's not powered well so you can't expect it to really do anything you can feel.

Speakers are Foster though, so that's a plus at least. Hook up some more juice to them, add crossovers in the front, add a real sub, and ditch the factory amp (and it's safe, but "flat" EQ) and it's much better.

If you are used to an aftermarket system or a decent factory system (I haven't heard the Fender, but the Dynaudio in my dad's 06 Passat is pretty nice) it won't sound pretty, but it fits with the car's price.

GoldieWang

I just bought a 14 Si with the 350watt and subwoofer. like stated above it wont vibrate other peoples cars and stuff but it is pretty damn loud and thumps pretty good for a stock system.

DaveSi677

It won't vibrate other ppl's car but I was able to get a little more bass just switching the radio and having control of the frequency.

Still like the user above you stated it really is a mid-bass driver but to me it's more then enough as I have no need for a full sound system like I did when I was 20 lol

97emsedan

Adding a whole bunch of aftermarket sound system products will detract from the go-fast that these cars were built for....do you want tunes? Buy a minivan and pimp that out, you want to attack the corners and listen to the sound of a K20 at full song, ditch the aftermarket and live with what Honda put in the car...

Just my two cents...

DaveSi677

Agreed that is why I have the best of both worlds... keep the premium sound package and call it a day

Also I can bump my tunes up and listen to the full sounds of music from my K20 thanks to that oversized Skunk2 CAI lol

junkyard racer

The GTi and the Focus ST both offer great sound and great performance. This Honda 'premium sound' sucks. The sad part is, I feel they put effort into it.

I plan to do quite a bit of track driving with my car also but it's daily driver too. I want a nice stereo. Nothing that vibrates the car next to me, but something decent would be great. There is no reason this couldn't have a decent stereo from the factory.

Anyways, carry on. Don't expect the premium sound to be premium.

97emsedan

The GTi and the Focus ST are different beasts from the Si. They are both forced induction.

The short cuts they took to get their performance enabled them to spend more on the creature comforts.

I, like Dave have kept my stock sound stystem, and prefer to enjoy the music my engine makes.

I will not deride the choices if others, I just prefer to keep my choice in vehicle as is. I don't need to blow my eardrums or those around me to pieces.

Bwill9886

They're also a few grand (at least) more expensive if you want the nicer sound.

skinnadoor

Just a thought, if you download your MP3's, try and get the highest quality bitrate "Variable bit rate (huge file size but whatever) or at least 320KB/Sec. 128kbs music is garbage and sounds low.

Also, load them on a thumb drive and plug them in, I've tested this out and USB is louder then streaming via bluetooth.

Lastly, leave the trebble in mid range, and move the bass just a few clicks up.

I tested the above out on my 2012 Civic EX and had good results, doing the same should sound great in the 2014-15 Si.

DaveSi677

The issue is that it's not enough as what you mentioned is something that is known and has been done.

The overall sounds quality is average at best. With a new headunit it's a little better but honestly Premium sounds package is really lacking the "Premium" of it. I mean it's not terrible and it's fine for me but I've been listening to different genres of music lately and this is where I started really getting annoyed with the quality.

junkyard racer

I agree.

I *think* the premium Fender system for my wife's VW Jetta is listed at $600 on the window sticker. I would have gladly ponied up an extra $600 for a comparable stereo in the Si.

DaveSi677

Agreed... I know at some point Alpine was making the systems for them but I'm not sure about that anymore.

Honestly, I can deal with it because I track but sometimes on those long drives to the track that sound quality is missed!