About to upgrade the audio... but which route should I take?

[mvela]

Thought about it a bit more today and I think I've found the thing about the mystery of the Air conditioning controls: If you have Heated seats on your car, you will get MY Air climate controls (the one with the big CLIMATE button right under the radio). If you do not have Heated seats, you will have the other air climate controls which shows the temperature and has dedicated AC button.

So Unless I go with an Android HU, I will not be able to turn on the AC, (which to be honest I dont really care most of the times cause nothing beats rolled down windows during summer time). AC might be useful from times to times thought.

I'm guessing, considering my situation with the lease / warranty and no AC, it might just be a better compromise to just live with the dung radio and put a fix 86 in it.

I agree. Replacing the stereo in your infotainment system would result in you losing some of the functionality. A fix 86 and a upgraded amp will make a huge difference

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[willcivic]

Hello all,

Quick update to say that I have ordered all the parts and I am now half way through the installation. But now I have two questions and would like to know if any of you had an advice regarding these.

I am greeted by a "Check Airbags" red screen on the screen over my steering wheel. I am not sure if this would be either caused by the radio and temp control unit that are missing (I have unplugged and took them out of the car for now), or caused by me removing the "airbags" trims at the back of rear seats (I had to remove them in order to change the rear speakers). Any of you guys got this message while replacing your speakers?

My other question is that I am looking for a nice place to ground my 45w rms alpine amp and my JL Fix86. I was planning over putting them in the glove box and noticed that there is a nice metal piece with a hole in there (see picture). Do you guys know if this piece if linked to the frame somehow?

Will post the results and I am done!

 

[shoegazer]

I got an airbag warning light with my RSX when tucking a small power wire behind the wx strip along the A-pillar. It went away on its own, though. So far as grounds go; my experience has been trial and error. Good luck.

 

[Rycomm]

That's an acceptable ground location. The purists and tech support guys will say body sheet metal (as in the kick panels or elsewhere) is better, because the sub dash supports are bolted in after painting. The lack of clean metal could cause a resistance /poor ground connection. I have seen many factory ground wires going to very similar under dash structures. I have only had a problem while learning data codes for remote starts a couple of time in 20 years (and I'm not sure that was the real problem).

 

[willcivic]

What's up everybody! I got a massive update for y'alls.

First of all, the build is complete. I have installed the Morels Coax et Morel Components speakers in my Civic. What's nice is that, with minimal modification to the car, I have been able to fit these speakers in the car. With a bit a strength, the tweet perfectly fits in the old tweeter location. No cutting, no nothing. (See picture below).

I have installed the JL Audio FIX 86 and the mini alpine amp in the glove box. I know for some people this is not the ideal location because they actually USE the glove box, but I dont. This thing have been empty since forever so now I have found a use for it. I also picked this location because there is a small entry to fit the cables and make them run directly to the radio. It also turns out that the metal bracket (see above) makes a nice grounding location with a screw and a nut. I used a multimeter and got a nice reading of 12.6v with the car shut down.

To answer my previous concern about the airbag light in the dash (if anyone else gets it), mine was caused by not having the temperature control / fan control module connected to the car. The temperature control module is connected to the SRS system and will bring up warning messages on the Dashboard if it is not connected (it has the light indicator when the passenger's airbag system is activated).

Also, if your radio is locked because the anti-theft system is activated, make sure to properly connect the GPS cable to the radio. If you dont, you will not be able to power up your radio.

The entire system runs off the 20 AMP fuse of the front accessory socket located Under the steering Wheel with a piggy-back fuse holder. I know it would've been a better choice to connect it directly to the battery but it would have required cutting to some places. No holes or grommet were big enough to get the 12 awg power wire from the battery to the Inside of the car. The amp requires a maximum rating of 15 Amp and the JL audio requires a max of 1 AMP for running. There is a headroom of 4 AMP (which, I would assume, is safe for the fuse).

My only concern is that the system may lack airflow in the glovebox. During hot days (25+ degrees Celcius outside), the system gets pretty hot to the touch. I have sent an email to JL audio and alpine to know about the maximum operating temperature of these devices and will get back to you when I get an answer. I might add a computer fan or an additional heatsink to the devices to help them keep their cool.

Overall, nice upgrade. My ears are much more happy. But for an average person that only uses his car to get from point A to point B, I do not think that this modification was Worth the investment. For an audiophile, sure.

 

[varge]

Nice setup. I went on a similar path with a Pioneer 4x45w mini amp and a set of morel components in front. I left the original rear speakers and used a small Kenwood powered underseat subwoofer which is able to hit some deeper notes than the excellent Morel's do. I also used the Viper for Android on a rooted head unit instead of an external DSP.
Incredibly happy with the outcome.
Hope you enjoy your setup!

 

[jrschultz]

This might be my next upgrade. I have a small powered sub, so I was thinking of using the mini Alpine amp crossed over at 80Hz high pass. Are you currently sending full range to your door speakers at the moment?

 

[varge]

At the moment I am sending full range to the front speakers and I am crossing the powered sub at 60Hz which is where the Morel's are getting weaker. I will try also crossing the amp at 80Hz and let the sub get a bit more bandwidth

 

[willcivic]

This might be my next upgrade. I have a small powered sub, so I was thinking of using the mini Alpine amp crossed over at 80Hz high pass. Are you currently sending full range to your door speakers at the moment?

if you were talking to me, here is my answer:

actually, I did not touch the factory settings on the AMP, so yes, the AMP is sending the exact same signal it is receiving to the speakers. However, the JL audio fix 86 has a built in Equalizer that you can tweak using a computer and a USB Cable. I have tweaked the said EQ and I have rolled off the very low end from the front speakers (maybe 63hz ish) and left the rear speakers untouched.

Using this setup, I really dont feel the need to have a sub. Adding a sub would provide better 20-40 hz representation (felt alot during sub drops or whatever), but I really dont feel it is necessary. The morel rear speakers provides enough bass to my liking.

 

[JohnnyL]

I replaced all my speakers and installed two subs and a 1000 watt amp to push it all. Trust me on one thing, if you install any aftermarket speakers they are going to require an amp to sound right. Aftermarket speakers require more power than stock speakers. You could actually hurt the aftermarket speakers by not giving enough power to them. You’ll be lucky to get 10 watts of continuous power to those speakers with the stock head unit. Most aftermarket speakers require a minimum of 35 or up. Look up the power requirements for the speakers you are installing so you can give them adequate power.

How does a lack of power hurt a speaker? I know distortion is a major factor in blown speakers. I've never seen a min requirement for power into a speaker just a max rms.

 

[mvela]

How does a lack of power hurt a speaker? I know distortion is a major factor in blown speakers. I've never seen a min requirement for power into a speaker just a max rms.

Yes it’s because of distortion at high volume. If there is not enough power going to your speakers they will distort at higher volumes which can damage your speakers over time. So you want to give your speakers power that is in the recommended power range. Most performance speakers will have a minimum rms power rating. For example a 6.5” component speaker might have a recommended rms range from 15 - 75 watts. Well most aftermarket stereos can put out at least 15 watts rms but most factory radios will not. So you could experience distortion when you turn it up if you install aftermarket speakers to a factory radio.

 

[shoegazer]

How does a lack of power hurt a speaker? I know distortion is a major factor in blown speakers. I've never seen a min requirement for power into a speaker just a max rms.

How I understand it...

Clipping. When an amp is turned up too high it will begin to rapidly turn off and on as a safety feature. It's kinda' like the way a rev limiter turns the fuel pump off and on really fast. But that produces square waves on the amp's output. And square waves kill speakers.

 

[mvela]

How I understand it...

Clipping. When an amp is turned up too high it will begin to rapidly turn off and on as a safety feature. It's kinda' like the way a rev limiter turns the fuel pump off and on really fast. But that produces square waves on the amp's output. And square waves kill speakers.

You bring up another good point. Clipping is another thing to be careful with. A head unit can start to clip at higher volumes to. Factory radios are bad about this. Most aftermarket head units don’t have this problem so much. Your stereo will only be as good as the weakest link. So if you want good clean powerful sound then you will have to start with giving the speakers and amps a good clean signal from the head unit. There are even clip detectors you can buy if you want to check your head unit or amp for clipping. Some amps even have clip detectors built in so you can see if the signal coming in or going out is starting to clip. My T1000x5ad has this option which made adjusting my gains a breeze.

 

[JohnnyL]

Yes it’s because of distortion at high volume. If there is not enough power going to your speakers they will distort at higher volumes which can damage your speakers over time. So you want to give your speakers power that is in the recommended power range. Most performance speakers will have a minimum rms power rating. For example a 6.5” component speaker might have a recommended rms range from 15 - 75 watts. Well most aftermarket stereos can put out at least 15 watts rms but most factory radios will not. So you could experience distortion when you turn it up if you install aftermarket speakers to a factory radio.

So I guess everyone needs to know or be able to hear how far is to far. From the factory head I think the safe limit is 30 from what I can hear.

 

[JohnnyL]

You bring up another good point. Clipping is another thing to be careful with. A head unit can start to clip at higher volumes to. Factory radios are bad about this. Most aftermarket head units don’t have this problem so much. Your stereo will only be as good as the weakest link. So if you want good clean powerful sound then you will have to start with giving the speakers and amps a good clean signal from the head unit. There are even clip detectors you can buy if you want to check your head unit or amp for clipping. Some amps even have clip detectors built in so you can see if the signal coming in or going out is starting to clip. My T1000x5ad has this option which made adjusting my gains a breeze.

Great point. Makes me think of an old but very well built Sansui amp I have for my house. It's rated at 120 watts rms but has a ton of power in reserve up to 300 watts for short bursts. It is a fantastic and very musical sounding amp. I've heard other amps with 125 watts rms but sound like they are straining.

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