New CTR owner, audio settings?

Pdpawlak09

Senior Member
First Name
Pete
Joined
May 24, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
54
Reaction score
21
Location
Virgina
Vehicle(s)
2020 Type-R
Country flag
hello all, just pulled the trigger on a 2020 ctr and absolutely love it. Only disappointment for me is the audio. I’m no audiophile, but coming from an Acura with the ELS system, this is pretty awful sounding. I know most folks that care end up replacing the system with something else, but I’m hoping in the meantime there are some that have played with the settings enough to get something passable?
Sponsored

 

tinyman392

Senior Member
First Name
Marcus
Joined
May 21, 2018
Threads
14
Messages
3,265
Reaction score
2,082
Location
Illinois
Vehicle(s)
'18 Civic Type R (RR)
Country flag
There's a built-in EQ, but it's kind of limited. You can jailbreak the head unit to maybe get a more extensive EQ in there. Others have been able to do speakers and other stuff to upgrade.
 


remc86007

Senior Member
First Name
Ryan
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Threads
2
Messages
550
Reaction score
409
Location
Jacksonville, FL
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Type R
Country flag
I'd recommend replacing the tweeters. Then mess with equilizers as mentioned above. I hate to say it, but I think people who say the CTR system is good have never heard good audio.

As for bass: Without aftermarket amps (which I refuse to do because I want less weight, not more) and an aftermarket sub, you cannot get "good" bass response out of the system. The hatchback design is just not great for good bass response. The standing waves are awful and the sub is soooooo far from the driver's seat.

After replacing the tweeters and using an equalizer, I think the system is barely adequate. But I'll live with it because I bought this car for it's driving experience and performance, not it's sound.
 
OP
OP

Pdpawlak09

Senior Member
First Name
Pete
Joined
May 24, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
54
Reaction score
21
Location
Virgina
Vehicle(s)
2020 Type-R
Country flag
I'd recommend replacing the tweeters. Then mess with equilizers as mentioned above. I hate to say it, but I think people who say the CTR system is good have never heard good audio.

As for bass: Without aftermarket amps (which I refuse to do because I want less weight, not more) and an aftermarket sub, you cannot get "good" bass response out of the system. The hatchback design is just not great for good bass response. The standing waves are awful and the sub is soooooo far from the driver's seat.

After replacing the tweeters and using an equalizer, I think the system is barely adequate. But I'll live with it because I bought this car for it's driving experience and performance, not it's sound.
Any recommendations for the tweeters? The current ones are a bit harsh. I’ll have to play with the head unit settings a bit
 

diakonia

Senior Member
First Name
Alan
Joined
Dec 18, 2017
Threads
12
Messages
245
Reaction score
213
Location
Richmond, VA
Vehicle(s)
Civic Type-R, Accord, CRV
Country flag
hello all, just pulled the trigger on a 2020 ctr and absolutely love it. Only disappointment for me is the audio. I’m no audiophile, but coming from an Acura with the ELS system, this is pretty awful sounding. I know most folks that care end up replacing the system with something else, but I’m hoping in the meantime there are some that have played with the settings enough to get something passable?
before you replace anything, load high quality MP3 songs to a usb drive and you will notice a big difference if you haven’t done that already. I’m in Virginia too (Richmond) what part are you in?
 

ez12a

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2018
Threads
21
Messages
1,205
Reaction score
730
Location
CA
Vehicle(s)
18 CW Type R
Country flag
The CTR system doesnt hold a candle to even my old lexus' GS350's Mark Levinson system. I'm not enough of an audio person to go in and rip out anything on the CTR though so I've learned to live with it.
 
OP
OP

Pdpawlak09

Senior Member
First Name
Pete
Joined
May 24, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
54
Reaction score
21
Location
Virgina
Vehicle(s)
2020 Type-R
Country flag
before you replace anything, load high quality MP3 songs to a usb drive and you will notice a big difference if you haven’t done that already. I’m in Virginia too (Richmond) what part are you in?
Best I’ve done is Spotify via Apple car play. I’ll try loading some lossless files on a thumb drive. I’m in Gainesville, about 45 min outside dc
 


tinyman392

Senior Member
First Name
Marcus
Joined
May 21, 2018
Threads
14
Messages
3,265
Reaction score
2,082
Location
Illinois
Vehicle(s)
'18 Civic Type R (RR)
Country flag
Best I’ve done is Spotify via Apple car play. I’ll try loading some lossless files on a thumb drive. I’m in Gainesville, about 45 min outside dc
Spotify is 320kbps MP3, it's pretty difficult to hear the difference between that and lossless. Might be even harder through the car's audio system.
 

SamualSS

Member
First Name
Samual
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Threads
0
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
Asia
Vehicle(s)
Benz
Country flag
Best I’ve done is Spotify via Apple car play. I’ll try loading some lossless files on a thumb drive. I’m in Gainesville, about 45 min outside dc
It is easy to stream Spotify via Apple Carplay. The Spotify Music Converter from AudFree is great enough to download the Spotify songs on the phone or other devices, Then you can play them offline anytime.
 

movovr

Senior Member
First Name
Luke
Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Threads
0
Messages
52
Reaction score
32
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Type R
Country flag
Hate to say it, the premium Honda audio system is pretty crappy and I believe that you will be disappointed until you spend some money on it.
 

islander670

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2017
Threads
1
Messages
150
Reaction score
77
Location
SoCal
Vehicle(s)
2017 Civic Hatchback Sport Touring (Sold), 2019 Clarity, 2020 CTR
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
Music sounded decent on my old Sport Touring, in the CTR it's terrible. I tried different sources for music and it's all flat, not even a slight vibration from bass. I even upped all the sound settings. The sad thing is the Sport Touring and CTR have the same spec for audio.
 

tinyman392

Senior Member
First Name
Marcus
Joined
May 21, 2018
Threads
14
Messages
3,265
Reaction score
2,082
Location
Illinois
Vehicle(s)
'18 Civic Type R (RR)
Country flag
Music sounded decent on my old Sport Touring, in the CTR it's terrible. I tried different sources for music and it's all flat, not even a slight vibration from bass. I even upped all the sound settings. The sad thing is the Sport Touring and CTR have the same spec for audio.
Try to do some of the sound insulation in the doors and stuff. CTR doesn't come with it from factory, so you'd have to pay for it though. Also note that NVH from the car itself will also affect sound quality.
Sponsored

 


 


Top