2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix

udihamudi65

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Hi guys,
Just wanted to share my audio project for my 2021 type R. The installation is still in the process so I'll keep this post updated.
After a lot of debating I finally purchased the following equipment:
Front stage:
Audiofrog 3-way GB series: GB60, GB25, GB10 (100W each) Going to fabricate the A pillars for the mids.
Rear fill:
Hertz MPX165.3 pro (100W)
Subwoofer:
JL 12W6v3-D4 (600W)
Amplification
2 Helix C Four (150Wx4)
Helix C One (525W)
DSP
Helix DSP Ultra + Director (which I will replace with a Conductor because easier to install) + Hec BT (probably wont be in use).
Also the cat will not be in use... ?
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix 2021-06-29-22-48-54-


The equipment waited a couple of months for the car to arrive. even managed to fit a 27won exhaust and take it for the first time to the track:
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-08-24 at 19.27.00 (1)

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-13-at-21-46-04-jpe

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-13-at-21-46-04-1-jpe


The first hurdle was bypassing the notorious OEM amp and DSP to get a clean signal. My installer managed to connect the SPDIF directly to the DSP using a Honda antenna connector and soldered an RCA cable from the other side. He said he couldn't find any compatible Fakra connector.
I'm no tech guy but I think others have done that as well. This means certain information related to the RS485 connector won't come through such as muting audio when call is incoming or adjusting audio volume to speed. But I think it is a small price to pay for a clean signal. Also there is analog audio from connector C that dosen't come from the SPDIF which contains nav voice (not a big deal for me as I use Waze anyhow) and beeps when pressing the audio system but I hope that can be solved by connecting output from C connecter to my DSP since it can manage booth digital and analog signals. Volume, fader balance etc. will not be operable from the HU or steering wheel but for that I will use the conductor. My biggest concern is the echo problem on the other side during BT phone calls which was found using the Axxess AXDSPX-HN3 to bypass the OEM amp but I hope it was because of that specific DSP. Anyway I will able to know for sure only after the speakers are running.


Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-20-at-17-16-03-jpe

So far he managed to fit the tweeter in the OEM enclosure and fabricated the doors using alcantara to allow the midbass to protrude as much as possible to the cabin. Since this is first an foremost a sports car and I need the visibility I'm going to try and minimize the A pillar as much as possible hopefully without sacrificing to much audio quality. So my installer recommended the tweeters stay in the OEM location.
Before:
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-17-at-17-06-57-jpe
After:
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-17-at-16-40-12-jpe

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-17 at 16.40.13

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-17 at 18.00.10

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-15-at-14-41-39-jpe

And this is the ring he fabricated to mount the mid bass on. He crafted it with a phase at the bottom as to allow more efficient sound flow
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-17 at 17.20.48

He set in on a stage as to tilt the speaker as much a possible towards the listener:
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-19 at 22.22.30


Also the amp rack is ready:
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-20 at 17.15.59


That's it for now, will keep this thread updated.
 
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udihamudi65

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Ok another update. The Helix Conductor is ready and looks pretty good IMO.
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-22 at 15.12.05

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-22 at 15.12.05 (1)
 
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carrot_chaser

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Very cool, always thought the audio was kinda lacking on this car. But the engine noises make up for it :D

Excited to see the finished product!
 
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udihamudi65

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Very cool, always thought the audio was kinda lacking on this car. But the engine noises make up for it :D

Excited to see the finished product!
Thanks, will continue updating. And totally agree, the engine and handling is completely the point of this car. The audio is just a bonus, which I admit I got carried away a bit with... :)
 
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udihamudi65

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Amp rack is wired up:

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-22-at-22-33-02-jpe



And A pillars under construction:

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-22-at-22-33-07-jpe
 


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udihamudi65

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A pillars ready. Nice OEM look I think. Can't wait to see them on.

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-23-at-21-55-32-jpe


And some door and A pillar deadening. For now not deadening other areas to save weight.

Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix whatsapp-image-2021-09-23-at-21-55-33-jpe
 

rwlaney

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What kind of coaxial cable did he use from the factory head unit (terminating at oem amplifier) to your dsp. I tried this on my audiocontrol dsp but couldn't get more than a buzz.
 
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udihamudi65

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What kind of coaxial cable did he use from the factory head unit (terminating at oem amplifier) to your dsp. I tried this on my audiocontrol dsp but couldn't get more than a buzz.
I'm no tech guy and wasn't there to see it in my own eyes , but from what I understand he made a connector using a Honda antenna cable on the HU side and an RCA cable on the Helix dsp side (the OEM amp stopped receiving audio but is still connected to the RS485 I think otherwise the HU will shut down). He did not splice the SPDIF cable and everything is revesable. Don't know exactly what type of RCA he used, I can ask him tomorrow. Did I understand your question? Maybe @kostas can chime in as he did the same thing. Anyway tommorow I will be there physically, maybe will be able to explain better or even do a video.
 
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udihamudi65

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Here is another pic of the connector:
Honda Civic 10th gen 2021 Honda Civic Type R high end audio upgrade- Audiofrog, JL, Hertz, Helix WhatsApp Image 2021-09-19 at 23.25.40 (1)
 

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Hi there! It's nice to have contributed in any tiny way in deciphering this audio system.
Well, in my testing I just connected the RCA fron the sound card to the OEM connector with simple jumber cables (zoom in photo). I used one directly on the middle pin. For the connecting the outer (shielding) I just jammed a pin from a resistor (could be a needle) and grabbed with the 2nd jumper.
You see that even without coaxial cable (just 10cm though) i had the digital signal into laptop.
Btw, awsome equipment and work on this installation!!
 
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udihamudi65

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Hi there! It's nice to have contributed in any tiny way in deciphering this audio system.
Well, in my testing I just connected the RCA fron the sound card to the OEM connector with simple jumber cables (zoom in photo). I used one directly on the middle pin. For the connecting the outer (shielding) I just jammed a pin from a resistor (could be a needle) and grabbed with the 2nd jumper.
You see that even without coaxial cable (just 10cm though) i had the digital signal into laptop.
Btw, awsome equipment and work on this installation!!
Thanks!
 

19civicSI

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Hi guys,
Just wanted to share my audio project for my 2021 type R. The installation is still in the process so I'll keep this post updated.
After a lot of debating I finally purchased the following equipment:
Front stage:
Audiofrog 3-way GB series: GB60, GB25, GB10 (100W each) Going to fabricate the A pillars for the mids.
Rear fill:
Hertz MPX165.3 pro (100W)
Subwoofer:
JL 12W6v3-D4 (600W)
Amplification
2 Helix C Four (150Wx4)
Helix C One (525W)
DSP
Helix DSP Ultra + Director (which I will replace with a Conductor because easier to install) + Hec BT (probably wont be in use).
Also the cat will not be in use... ?
2021-06-29-22-48-54-jpg.jpg


The equipment waited a couple of months for the car to arrive. even managed to fit a 27won exhaust and take it for the first time to the track:
WhatsApp Image 2021-08-24 at 19.27.00 (1).jpeg

whatsapp-image-2021-09-13-at-21-46-04-jpeg.jpg

whatsapp-image-2021-09-13-at-21-46-04-1-jpeg.jpg


The first hurdle was bypassing the notorious OEM amp and DSP to get a clean signal. My installer managed to connect the SPDIF directly to the DSP using a Honda antenna connector and soldered an RCA cable from the other side. He said he couldn't find any compatible Fakra connector.
I'm no tech guy but I think others have done that as well. This means certain information related to the RS485 connector won't come through such as muting audio when call is incoming or adjusting audio volume to speed. But I think it is a small price to pay for a clean signal. Also there is analog audio from connector C that dosen't come from the SPDIF which contains nav voice (not a big deal for me as I use Waze anyhow) and beeps when pressing the audio system but I hope that can be solved by connecting output from C connecter to my DSP since it can manage booth digital and analog signals. Volume, fader balance etc. will not be operable from the HU or steering wheel but for that I will use the conductor. My biggest concern is the echo problem on the other side during BT phone calls which was found using the Axxess AXDSPX-HN3 to bypass the OEM amp but I hope it was because of that specific DSP. Anyway I will able to know for sure only after the speakers are running.


whatsapp-image-2021-09-20-at-17-16-03-jpeg.jpg

So far he managed to fit the tweeter in the OEM enclosure and fabricated the doors using alcantara to allow the midbass to protrude as much as possible to the cabin. Since this is first an foremost a sports car and I need the visibility I'm going to try and minimize the A pillar as much as possible hopefully without sacrificing to much audio quality. So my installer recommended the tweeters stay in the OEM location.
Before:
whatsapp-image-2021-09-17-at-17-06-57-jpeg.jpg
After:
whatsapp-image-2021-09-17-at-16-40-12-jpeg.jpg

WhatsApp Image 2021-09-17 at 16.40.13.jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2021-09-17 at 18.00.10.jpeg

whatsapp-image-2021-09-15-at-14-41-39-jpeg.jpg

And this is the ring he fabricated to mount the mid bass on. He crafted it with a phase at the bottom as to allow more efficient sound flow
WhatsApp Image 2021-09-17 at 17.20.48.jpeg

He set in on a stage as to tilt the speaker as much a possible towards the listener:
WhatsApp Image 2021-09-19 at 22.22.30.jpeg


Also the amp rack is ready:
WhatsApp Image 2021-09-20 at 17.15.59.jpeg


That's it for now, will keep this thread updated.
Truly impressed with the quality and attention to detail this shop is putting into your car. A good business is hard to find these days. Looks great
 
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udihamudi65

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Truly impressed with the quality and attention to detail this shop is putting into your car. A good business is hard to find these days. Looks great
Thanks, he does it from passion and says he is just as pleased from the results as the customer. Works like crazy until late at night, even fridays. And it shows on the insistence to find a way to get a clean signal and not just slap on a Fix 86 after the OEM amp. Only that took him a couple of hours. It comes with a cost, he's not cheap. Did a lot of asking about before I went to him so it was an informed decisions.
Sponsored

 
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