Finally I upgraded the Civic audio in my 1.5 Sport Plus.

[leaat23]

After having my Civic for nearly two years I finally found time over the Easter weekend to upgrade the OEM audio in the car. I have not gone for the huge install I had in previous car that was a complete overkill with nearly 3kw on tap but a more refined and sensible option. I wanted to keep the Honda touchscreen because of all the vehicle features that are built in so went with an Audison Bit Nove DSP and MP DRM, I also had a rather nice pair of CDT 6.5" speakers and tweeters from my previous install that I had fitted a few month ago to try and improve the OEM sound. I also added a B2 Quattro amplifier under the passenger seat, this is a compact but very powerful 4 channel amp that is running front mid speakers and active front tweeters from the DSP. The biggest surprise for me was buying a nice space saving Audison Prima APBX 10 AS Active 10" Subwoofer, considering I was running 2kw into a 12" monster Sundown sub before I thought I would be dissapointed.

I started the work on Good Friday with getting power cables through the firewall, I had to get a 4 awg and 8 awg through and whilst this was not that easy using a cable mouse really help and some silicon lubricant also help no end, I fitted a fused distribution box (mini anl) next to the battery and a very short piece of 2awg cable was used with a eyelet to connect to the battery. I have posted some photos to show progress.

I wired into the OEM amplifier which is located in the passenger kick panel on UK models, I connected the DSP to front left / right speaker and front left/right tweeter, I have not connected to rear speaker or centre speaker(yet), I have used new speaker cable into the doors, a larger cable for mids and smaller for tweets again using the cable mouse to get the speaker cables through the OEM grommets between door and body. I have soundproofed the front doors (inner skin) with Silent Coat matting but left the OEM moisture guard in place.

Then onto wiring the amp, this amp requires 4 awg cable and needs upto 80 amp in current, I found getting the cables under the carpet to the amp difficult but in the end worth it, I used a bolt point on the seat belt behind the centre trim for earth , the amp only just fits under the seat length ways and was a tight fit. Speaker cables attached and all set, I also set the HPF for the tweeters even though the DSP will do this too, better to be safe than sorry!!

I've fitted the DSP inside the glove box, this was critical so took my time labelling and making a harness before fitting marking up channel 1,2,3,4 for the DSP and +/- for the inputs, I also used the wiring diagram for the OEM amplifier that can be found on these helpful forums for wiring this is correct for UK models with the separate amplifier.

The Audison sub has the amp built in so needs an 8 awg cable and good earth point in the boot, I used a bolt making sure I got down to metal before attaching. The amp on the sub does not need a remote and turn on with input from the RCA leads.

Once everything was wired and double checked I fitted the fuses under the bonnet one 100 amps for B2 amp the other 30 amps for sub, again I checked things over before commencing set-up of the Bit Nove DSP, this requires some special set-up procedures and a CD player, so I'd already ripped the supplied CD to a USB drive in WAV format, you have to play a tones for setting clip limits but found a problem, somehow the right tweeter output was not working so back tracked and found a short on the harness I had made up, a sharp piece of solder had gone through the heatshrink tube I had used and shorted together, once fixed I started setup again. Clip limits set and inputs and outputs arranged I switched off and attached the RCA cables to the amp and sub, I was taken aback straight away, this flat sounding OEM unit suddenly has life and sounds very good indeed, its clear as a bell. The tiny little Audsion sub sounds great, it has some power and manages to hit the lows very well, I'm now enjoying some quality sounds in this car as the biggest disappointment to me was the audio or lack of it.

Wiring into glove box for DSP.

Assorted cables pulled thorugh/in.

B2 amp going under seat.

Audison Bit Nove in glove box.

Audison MP DRC on dash, you can change the colour now changed to red.

Audison Prima APBX 10 AS Active 10" Subwoofer , the surprise package for me.

In all this install took me around 25 hours of my own time to fit but it was well worth the time, effort and sunburn, yes SUNBURN in the UK on a bank holiday!!

 

[Rycomm]

Looks nice, I'm sure it sounds great. I considered the Audison/Hertz products, before I got a great deal on my Alpine /Audio Control parts. In think I'm going to go see if my EQ/DSP will fit in the glove box. An accessible, yet out of the way spot has kept me from finishing the project.

 

[Rycomm]

So I took my components out to the car to see what would fit where. The DSP will fit in the glove box, but it would have to be mounted upside down without modifying the back of the glovebox. I also tried under the passenger seat. It would fit fine there, but the best mounting orientation would have everything backwards. I know this isn't that big of deal, since once it's set, it doesn't get adjusted often (in theory). But my OCD tendencies would be bothered knowing that it like that. I tried along the spare tire area in the hatch, which is where the sub amp has already been mounted. I lined them up in various order, but I only liked the amps in opposite corners. This left corner under the hatch as an option. It mounts properly and has semi easy access. Still not sure which option I'll go with when the time comes. I also considered using one of the small DSP that mount behind the radio and are adjusted visit a Bluetooth. I think I'm too old for that. I like the analog dials. I'm sure the newer digital controls are much better. I even talked to an AudioControl engineer who showed me all the parameters of adjustment on their higher end models.

 

[leaat23]

That looks good Ryan. I've come across a little problem with my install, when the car starts up from idle stop the DSP goes off for a second so I've purchased a little board from Audison that stops this happening, it looks like a bank of capacitors with a voltage regulator onboard too, this cost me £50 but I'm sure I could have made something similar for a few quid, I'm yet to install it.

I know what you mean by having dials to play with, much easier and probably quicker as once you disconnect the laptop from the Bit Nove then you cannot play around with settings 'on the fly' apart from volume level, balance, fader and sub level.

 

[kostas]

A bit off topic but... I also bought the Sport plus but it came with a repair kit!
Did you buy the spare wheel or it was given with the car???

 

[leaat23]

A bit off topic but... I also bought the Sport plus but it came with a repair kit!
Did you buy the spare wheel or it was given with the car???

The car came with a repair kit but the car is no more as it was written off in a nasty accident last July. Now have a prestige civic CVT with no audio yet but I'm sure it will follow soon.

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