So some people tell me that stock honda speakers are better than most aftermarket ones is that true? I want to get new speakers cause when i turn the volume up high the sound distorts(obviously lol). But i was wondering is this statement true?

 

They are better the some, [more then a few] aftermarket speakers, but it depends on what HU you are using, if it is a stock HU then the problem is not the speakers it is the HU.
Installing aftermarket speakers off a stock HU can make things worse and it's not because the aftermarket speakers are worse then the stock speakers, in fact in most cases it's because they are better speakers, [better frequency response] they will actually reproduce the HUs distortion better, resulting is worse sound.

So the question is what is the MM&Y of the car and is it a stock HU?? 94

 

Efficiency is often traded for better frequency response. So not only do the speakers reproduce the distortion better, they are quieter than stock speakers. People don't realize this, so they turn up the volume more, resulting in even more distortion (due to clipping).

 

It is a 1999 honda civic lx, so far all i got is a aftermarket headunit because the stock one didnt like to play cd's the unit is the Kenwood KDC-MP235. Stock speakers i want to get new ones but from what i heard i dunno what ones to get since the stock ones are somewhat decent.

 

With an aftermarket HU there is an advantage in replacing the stock speakers, as the aftermarket HU has a lot more power then the stock HU, and all around better SQ to begin with.
If you are going the run the speakers off the HU, then find a set of speakers that are as efficient as possible, if you plan on adding an amp, look for speakers that can handle more power. 94

 

My stock speakers in my 1996 integra suck *****

 

I haven't had much luck with my aftermarket JLs either. Second set blown already. Argh

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PhatRoyale &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I haven't had much luck with my aftermarket JLs either. Second set blown already. Argh</TD></TR></TABLE>??????????
What model of JLs??
What's driving them, HU or amp, makes and models please?
Where are they installed and how? 94

 

Im new to the audio scene so what would u recommend i gave you my specs of my car and HU thanks a bunch you help a lot.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by deerman2701 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im new to the audio scene so what would u recommend i gave you my specs of my car and HU thanks a bunch you help a lot.</TD></TR></TABLE>What?
Is there a question? 94

 

If you have an aftermarket headunit stock speakers dont measure up at all. My advice would be to go to best buy and get so alpine type s' to give you more highs and mids.... if you need more bass as well you need to get and amp and sub to get the full over all sound.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">??????????
What model of JLs??
What's driving them, HU or amp, makes and models please?
Where are they installed and how? 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

JL Audio TR400-CXi speakers.
Powered by the V-Drive internal amp on an Alpine CDA-9835 HU
Installed in the front doors, paired with Dynamat extreme door kit.
Direct power connection to the battery.

1st set lasted little over 3 months, last set barely 9 months.

They're both blown and out of warranty period.

Am I SOL? Ugh... I thought JL was known for making good quality stuff.

 

4" speakers, what is the MM&Y of the car they are in?

There are a couple things that could be going wrong, you are over-driving the HUs internal amp into continuous clipping and it is burning the speakers VCs
26W RMS is a little underpowered for that speaker, but it should drive them pretty good.
You say HUs constant, [yellow] is connected directly to the batt.
What gauge wire is run to the batt.?
Did you also add a chassis ground to the HU?
Poor current to the HUs internal amp would cause "premature" clipping.

The other problem is a possible installation issue with the speakers
Not mounted to a flat surface.
No airtight seal around the speaker.
Speaker not mounted to enough mass or solid enough baffle to prevent speaker basket movement.

My guess is VCs are burnt due to clipping, to find out, cut the VCs out of the speakers, [no warranty anyway] if the VCs are burnt, the problem is not the speaker it is an over-driven amp, [constant clipping]. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">4" speakers, what is the MM&Y of the car they are in?

There are a couple things that could be going wrong, you are over-driving the HUs internal amp into continuous clipping and it is burning the speakers VCs
26W RMS is a little underpowered for that speaker, but it should drive them pretty good.
You say HUs constant, [yellow] is connected directly to the batt.
What gauge wire is run to the batt.?
Did you also add a chassis ground to the HU?
Poor current to the HUs internal amp would cause "premature" clipping.

The other problem is a possible installation issue with the speakers
Not mounted to a flat surface.
No airtight seal around the speaker.
Speaker not mounted to enough mass or solid enough baffle to prevent speaker basket movement.

My guess is VCs are burnt due to clipping, to find out, cut the VCs out of the speakers, [no warranty anyway] if the VCs are burnt, the problem is not the speaker it is an over-driven amp, [constant clipping]. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

1997 AE102 Toyota Corolla.

I thought the speakers would be a good match considering they were only rated for 35 watts RMS. I believe it's 10 gauge wiring IIRC. Nope, my car isn't regrounded.

I didn't want to carry the extra weight of an amplifier in the car due to the fact that I do a lot of highway driving and the Corolla unlike a lot of cars here isn't even remotely close to being considered fast.

I just wanted a plug and play setup that sounded a little better than stock (my stockers blew out) for those long trips.

Any tips to remedy or avoid the same problem? This car audio thing is getting a bit expensive...

 

Toywhat?
Anyway, I hear you, I run 4 Eclipse 6.5" 2ways off an Alpine CDA 7892, same internal amp, [4x26W RMS into 4 ohms] no other amps or subs, I have had the Eclipse 2ways for over 6 years now, and I will replace them as they are getting tired.

Have you cut the VC out of the speakers yet, are they burnt?

To get enough current to the HUs internal amp you need that 10ga from the batt. to behind the HU, and connect the HUs yellow to it, however, if you do not run a 10ga ground from the chassis of the HU to the cars chassis, [dash sub frame] you will not get the advantage of the 10ga power lead.
If the above is the case, the HUs internal amp was clipping long before it was making anything close to 4x26W, as I said you can confirm this by cutting the VCs out of the speakers.

The other issue is speaker install, how the speakers are installed is critical to how they will perform.

Even though my LS takes a standard 6.5" speaker, [the Eclipse are standard 6.5"] I replaced the stock plastic speaker housings with custom MDF housings, and bolted the housings to the door, instead of just screwing them down, like the stock ones, I also Dynamated my doors, the custom MDF housings allowed for an air tight seal, [very important] it added mass, this prevents the speaker from moving back and forth, opposite to the cone, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.
A speaker mounted to wood will always sound better then the same speaker mounted to just about anything else.
The other concern I would have is the size of the speaker, especially without a sub, I would be looking to install at least a 5.25" in the doors and as big as you can in the rear, [mid-range/mid-bass] without tweeters. 94

 

Gracias Senor

I will check out the VC like you said, but it'll be a while before I do so or have enough saved up for a new set of speakers. Probably not until spring.

Looks like I'll be sticking around here for a while, this seems like a pretty helpful place to be. I have a cousin who was a former owner of a '99 EK SiR and '00 1.6 EL Premium who let me borrow his cars from time to time so I'm not a total n00b when it comes to Hondas in general.

Now if someone will just remove my freakin' trial user status so I can loot the classifieds like any normal member here. ARgh.

 

fcm, just one more question, when you were referring to making a custom MDF housing, is it something like this?

http://www.elantraxd.com/DIY/csa.php

Or if you can point me in the direction of a custom DIY that would be great.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Toywhat?
Anyway, I hear you, I run 4 Eclipse 6.5" 2ways off an Alpine CDA 7892, same internal amp, [4x26W RMS into 4 ohms] no other amps or subs, I have had the Eclipse 2ways for over 6 years now, and I will replace them as they are getting tired.

Have you cut the VC out of the speakers yet, are they burnt?

To get enough current to the HUs internal amp you need that 10ga from the batt. to behind the HU, and connect the HUs yellow to it, however, if you do not run a 10ga ground from the chassis of the HU to the cars chassis, [dash sub frame] you will not get the advantage of the 10ga power lead.
If the above is the case, the HUs internal amp was clipping long before it was making anything close to 4x26W, as I said you can confirm this by cutting the VCs out of the speakers.

The other issue is speaker install, how the speakers are installed is critical to how they will perform.

Even though my LS takes a standard 6.5" speaker, [the Eclipse are standard 6.5"] I replaced the stock plastic speaker housings with custom MDF housings, and bolted the housings to the door, instead of just screwing them down, like the stock ones, I also Dynamated my doors, the custom MDF housings allowed for an air tight seal, [very important] it added mass, this prevents the speaker from moving back and forth, opposite to the cone, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.
A speaker mounted to wood will always sound better then the same speaker mounted to just about anything else.
The other concern I would have is the size of the speaker, especially without a sub, I would be looking to install at least a 5.25" in the doors and as big as you can in the rear, [mid-range/mid-bass] without tweeters. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Well you have driven a Honda, good enough for me.

Yes that is what I mean by custom speaker housing, [that one would be considered an adapter plate] although for best results you will need to use as much MDF as you can, [mass] so use MDF as thick as possible and as big as possible, if it can be made bigger then the outside dimensions of the speaker do so, it also does not have to be the same shape as the speaker.
You can even make a matching plate that would fit in behind the sheet metal and use bolts to "pinch" the sheet metal in-between the two plates.
EG; if all I could make was an adapter plate out of 1/4" MDF, [like the one in the link] because of height restrictions, [door panel will hit speaker] I would make another plate, [as thick as possible] that would fit inside the door and use 4 nuts and bolts to "pinch" them together, the trick is the have the speaker mounted to a baffle with as much mass as possible. 94