Opinions / Tips on going to a shop to have Audio upgraded..

[Baconstrip]

Hello all,

I recently bought a 2018 Civic Sedan Touring and I have to say, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the "premium" sound system. Seems to be a common opinion that high volume listening is exceedingly harsh. I have all my settings turned down pretty low and I still don't think it sounds very good at all. Plus the sub is pretty weak!

From what I've read here, the tweeters are a big reason as to why. I would love to upgrade them (and the sub, maybe the speakers), but I'm really not the most handy person ever and the last thing I want to do is tear apart my brand new car. I'm planning on doing a little local research for a good car audio shop here in the bay area..

Is there anything I should be careful of? Should I be pretty confident that a reputable shop should know what they're doing when it comes to my specific car? Should I research and pick out the audio gear myself or rely on a shop to direct me? I'm a bit scared to get custom work done considering I just bought the thing, but it really would be nice to upgrade it sooner than later.

Thanks for any advice you all can provide!

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[SCOPESYS]

Hello all,

I recently bought a 2018 Civic Sedan Touring and I have to say, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the "premium" sound system. Seems to be a common opinion that high volume listening is exceedingly harsh. I have all my settings turned down pretty low and I still don't think it sounds very good at all. Plus the sub is pretty weak!

From what I've read here, the tweeters are a big reason as to why. I would love to upgrade them (and the sub, maybe the speakers), but I'm really not the most handy person ever and the last thing I want to do is tear apart my brand new car. I'm planning on doing a little local research for a good car audio shop here in the bay area..

Is there anything I should be careful of? Should I be pretty confident that a reputable shop should know what they're doing when it comes to my specific car? Should I research and pick out the audio gear myself or rely on a shop to direct me? I'm a bit scared to get custom work done considering I just bought the thing, but it really would be nice to upgrade it sooner than later.

Thanks for any advice you all can provide!

I will state what is probably the Obvious.

(1) Do some research & reading 1st to educate yourself about what you want to do.
(2) This will enable you to far better evaluate & decide upon, what an installer tells you.
(3) Talk to at least 3 Installers, and do not commit to anyone until you have had a chance to carefully consider their independent advice.
(4) While it is tempting to want to replace the Honda Unit with something "better", currently there is NOTHING else that is plug-and-play to replace the Honda Unit, that will fulfill the car functions that the Honda Unit has been interfaced into the car to do. (Anyone: If there is PLEASE let us all know !!)
(5) If you just stick to better speakers you should be safe, but many are saying that the main cause of the bad audio with the 2018 Honda Civics , is the Radio Unit itself (because of some Limited audio processing within the unit) -- so you might also be needing to look at a auxiliary Amp, and then things start to get complex -- and EXPENSIVE.

A lot to consider.. so best get educated, so that the first Installer you go to does not take you for a ride !!

 

[charleswrivers]

While @SCOPESYS did post on this thread... I'll send you a link as it's got some age and hundreds of posts.

https://www.civicx.com/threads/9-aftermarket-android-head-unit-feature-overview-installation.17034/

There are many more threads. I don't think that juice is worth the squeeze however, unless your HU is shot.

Is the criticism about your 'harsh' sounds based on listening over Bluetooth or plugged in? Also, I think there was another thread that discussed the codecs at times being off phone-to-phone when paired. I find when I listen to Aerosmith over Bluetooth on my crappy old Moto G4 plus, the highs are awful. With my wife's iPhone 10 plugged in with Apple Car Play... the sound is fine.

I haven't messed around to determine a solution, but I will say this... audio can run relatively inexpensive if you DITY for some easy stuff, or can easily balloon to over a grand to pay a audio place to install all new speakers with their markup and run a power wire through the firewall and a different amp. It's hard to say costs and what you should do.

I would not jump to spending money to replace components to improve audio quality until you know why it's poor. A audio shop is there to sell you things at their profit. I'd look at the audio source and ensure that isn't causing sound issues before I start swapping anything. Try a different phone/media player source... wired vs Bluetooth... see if that makes a difference first. It's It'd be a shame to spend a bunch of money and the audio quality still be poor. Heck, even pop a CD in and see, if you still have some laying around (do we even have a CD player in the Civic...? I know my Odyssey still has one).

Here's a link to one thread I remember... there may be more.

https://www.civicx.com/threads/bluetooth-distortion-on-headunit.21736/#post-373295

 

[SCOPESYS]

While @SCOPESYS did post on this thread... I'll send you a link as it's got some age and hundreds of posts.

https://www.civicx.com/threads/9-aftermarket-android-head-unit-feature-overview-installation.17034/

There are many more threads. I don't think that juice is worth the squeeze however, unless your HU is shot.

I was so excited when I saw this, and was fully prepared to eat-humble-pie, and admit I was totally wrong, UNTIL saw which Radio Unit was being refereed to.

It's the
UN-XY16HCC9
( Initially came out back in (or before) 2017, for the 2017 Civics)

While it may look on the surface be a possible replacement to the Mitsubishi/Honda Head Unit, I would say it is defiantly NOT a viable replacement.

(1) Screen is considerable less bright than the Honda Unit. (especially in sunlight)
(2) No side-mirror camera capability.
(3) No Android Auto or Iphone Car-Play
(4) Only 4 Channel audio ( No Bass Speaker amp)
(5) No Sirius XM
(6) No HD Radio ( Only DAB/DAB+ with USB dongle-- which is no use in the USA)
(7) Does not display all the Car Diagnostic info like the Honda Unit can, especially the ones that have secret Menu access.
(8) Not same manufacturing Build quality as the Mitsubishi units that Honda uses.
(9) More recent Android OS than the Honda Unit -- but that results in inability to be able to use earlier Models Ipod Units (The Good ones like the Gen 6)
(10) Suspect the Audio out power is significantly less than the Honda unit
(could not find that info for the XY unit)
(11) China Unit - here today - gone tomorrow. Virtually non existent Tech Support from manufacturer or distributors, both in China or here in the USA.
(12) Suspect the Touch screen is of a lesser quality than the Honda Unit.
(13) CPU runs significantly Hotter (NOT GOOD) than the Honda Unit (that has a fan). The hotter itgets the slower it runs !! (= audio stutter etc)

I very much doubt if it supports the Double Click on the Steering Wheel Button, to activate Google Assistant ( A total Deal Breaker for me)

What the XY unit has got going for it :-
(1) Far less expensive to buy (and replace when/if it fails)
(2) Not LOCKED Down like the Honda Unit. While not Rooted, it can run most Google play apps, and you can, if you wish, easily run any Launcher App, so you can fully customize the Interface.
(3) Faster .. faster Processor, more memory ---
(4) Can play Video too easily on it's own screen when driving .. get caught with that in the USA, and you are going to regret it !!

Now, if I am still totally wrong, then stand aside, and don't get trampled in the rush, as I leap to the front of the line to get one !!

------------ Added -------
Watched the video -
Correction:
(1) Sees it can use the Lane-watch camera, as it has a 2nd Video input .. That's Good !
(2) Amazed to see the Climate control .. Interesting-- an APP .. I think in the Honda Unit, that is Built into the Hardware Interface, as it can run BEFORE Android has Booted to run Apps. -- That's also good.
(3) Confirmed -- cannot use the Steering Wheel button for Voice Activation - but there may be work around to restore that useful feature.

Found it telling that all the lights were turned off and it was Night, when the Video was shot
(Because it's so difficult to see anything on see the screen in the Daylight ???)

 

[Baconstrip]

Thanks a million for the detailed replies! Really gives me something to think about before jumping into this.

I had indeed read that thread that was linked and basically have noted that the head unit is a big part of why the sound is supposedly bleh. That's definitely going a bit farther than I want to go with this.. really not looking to replace that. I definitely don't want to lose any functionality when it comes to my car setup!

What I'm thinking is simply having the tweeters replaced, and possibly some of the speakers as well, without replacing the HU. I don't need my car to have a bangin' car shaking sub or anything, I just want high volume to sound a little bit better than it currently does. It just feels so harsh, even with the mids and treble set really low. So I was hoping that a couple of speakers and specifically the tweeters could help with that. The sub sounds a lot more involved when it comes to replacing, so I might just start with the easier stuff.

Anyways, thank you SCOPESYS for the things to think about when contacting an installer. I definitely will do my research before jumping in to anything.

 

[amxandy]

The head unit will require an amp also. I have the 2018 Si with the "Premium" system that just wasn't Premium enough for me. I replaced my head unit with the Phoenix Audio system along with an amp and sub-woofer and it is fabulous! The other speakers sound great with the addition of the sub-woofer. I originally used the stock sub-woofer, but I was back in the shop the next morning and had a new sub-woofer box put in and it really made everything come alive.

 

[Baconstrip]

Question for you.. I can install an amp with the existing head unit and get all the benefits of that, right? I really really don't want to switch it out given all of the possible issues associated with that... but I REALLY want better sound D:

Wish I knew something about all this

 

[SCOPESYS]

Question for you.. I can install an amp with the existing head unit and get all the benefits of that, right? I really really don't want to switch it out given all of the possible issues associated with that... but I REALLY want better sound D:

Wish I knew something about all this

I wish I knew more about all this as well

This is my take on Car Audio .. take it or leave it -- it's just my 2 cents.

I listen to "a variety" of Mp3 and Apple M4a music files off a USB drive in the 2018 Si.
Also occasionally listen to Sirius-XM, HD radio and FM and "Bluetooth ! "

Given that I am listening on whats so many are calling a "Not-so-Premium" audio system, I can clearly hear the great difference between audio sources ... some sound pretty good, some not so good, and some terrible.

Even on the same audio source, say MP3, there is a VAST difference between different music, according to the Original recording quality, and then how it was copied/ripped across to mp3, ( and at what level, or over modulated level that mp3 recording was made, bitrate, dynamic range etc etc.)

So, unless I restrict myself to only listening to a limited selection of "High Quality" recorded audio, I really wonder how much difference updating the OEM sound system will make to me.

I can appreciate that better (more expensive) speakers may sound marginally better, but with modern transistorized electronics, most amps are all near "Perfect" .. it is not like in the dark ages, where different Tube Amps gave differing audio tone or distortion levels.

Basically, if you are playing CRAP recorded music, it's going to sound bad on any system, and will almost sound worse on higher fidelity systems, where you might be able to hear "High Fidelity" Crap.

And if you are listening to audio from an older phone, over Bluetooth, then what do you really expect to hear ??

I just finished per-processing, leveling and optimizing (to my ear), Mp3s on a 64G USB drive for the Si, and it sounds pretty good to me, given that it is being played in a car's environment.

I really have to question how much better it would sound if I threw a couple of $1000 at the sound system in the car. -- but each to their own ... if that what "Rocks your Car" (with a extra big sub-woofer) go for it -- better to spend your money on Car Audio than some other habit forming items.

One more thing to consider .. after a few years of Blaring Loud Sub Woofers, and High Volume Ear-Buds, maybe the car audio now sound so bad because you are loosing your hearing ???

 

[integra15]

Getting a modern Honda sound system to sound good requires a lot of funds. The signal is too filtered from the factory HU so you have to end up getting multiple processors to reconvert the signals, amplifiers, and then of course speakers and subwoofer. It's not cheap or easy.

 

[NHCivicGuy]

Getting a modern Honda sound system to sound good requires a lot of funds. The signal is too filtered from the factory HU so you have to end up getting multiple processors to reconvert the signals, amplifiers, and then of course speakers and subwoofer. It's not cheap or easy.

Yupp, exactly. If it was easy enough, I would just swap out the radio itself, but not easy to do without losing some of the factory options (climate control, system settings, etc.). Waiting on iDatalink to come out with a solution for that on our model. For now a FIX86 (and additionally, optionally, a TWK88) really is the option for those looking for aftermarket speakers and amp with the cleanest sound.

 

[daPyr0x]

Question for you.. I can install an amp with the existing head unit and get all the benefits of that, right? I really really don't want to switch it out given all of the possible issues associated with that... but I REALLY want better sound D:

Yes, you can install an amp. And yes, you will get some benefit out of it. How much benefit you get depends. There are lots of variables. Personally, I don't have a touring, so no factory sub. I added a sealed 12" sub (300W iirc), and I'm now a lot happier with how the car sounds. Still shit with the volume above 32 or so, but usable. If I were to upgrade any further, it would be to add an LC2i to correct how the sub sounds (the car turns down the bass above 20, so the sub is either too loud at 20, or too quiet at 30), then to replace the speakers and add a 4ch amp for them all at once.

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