'19 Si Coupe Speaker Upgrade (worth the money?)

[omar0123]

I know mine is a bit big but when i traded in my gen coupe for the type r i installed the amplified base box and it sounds great with stock head and speakers except the oem sub i used the positive and neg from the sub to hook up the base 2/12 1000w , sorry for the bad pic iwas vinyl wrapping the roof was a pita

 

[shoegazer]

There's a bunch of analysis of the stock HU's signal processing in the electronics section.

My recollection of it all is that you kinda' have to go all out or just do a powered sub. It seemed like most folks went with a powered sub that was tapped off of the rear speakers.

 

[Dharmaboy]

Would tapping off the wires going to the sub be as good?

 

[omar0123]

Works fine on mine its just signal

 

[86salmon]

I had replaced the doors and tweeters with a component set and did sound dampening before my sub box was finished. If I hadn't already had that process paid for and started, I would have been fine. Center channel replacement added more than I expected.

 

[SirVicksDeep]

It really depends on what sound you are looking for. Yes these guys are always thinking audiophile level because they want to give the best sound possible to make sure you’re happy and then maybe your friends and family will go to them to. They don’t want to take your money and you get a mediocre system and you leave not impressed. That would only make you unhappy and make them look like they failed you. Besides that they are 100% right about the head unit. It is the weak link in that system. The sound processor in that factory unit is never gonna give you the sound that a quality aftermarket unit will. It is like night and day. A system can get expensive. Just depends and how important music is to you and how clear and powerful you want your sound. I tried to keep my head unit stock but just couldn’t get that sound I was looking for. So I upgraded to a kenwood excelon and it brought my system to life. Yes it was expensive but it was worth it. Mine cost over $4000. But It sounds amazing! I got Audio Frog components in the doors and coaxials in the back dash, and two JL tw1 10’s in the trunk and a Rockford fosgate t1000x5ad amp pushing everything from the kenwood excellent head unit. I also had sound dampening put in the door and back dash. Not everybody cares to have their car sound like a concert, but I do lol. But I’ve always been that way with my music

I'm curious to know what year is yours? Was it the 6 speaker base or "Premium" 8 or10 speaker and if so was the head unit you swapped out was pre or post refresh? Was it the new one with the knob?

I analysed the sound curve coming from my neighbors about a year ago on his 2017 when I did his system and compared his data with my 19s new unit. Its completely different. The 19s are actually crossed over correctly at the factory amplifier. And the signal is mostly flat going in to the amp now. Roll off starts at volume 32 and goes down about 1.5٪ every click above that. About 12% total @40. Also the unit plays clean (.97٪ THD) to 39 now. (2.4٪THD@40.)

17s "Premium" 10 speaker
Tweeters about 750hz and ~0 about 620hz
Woofer starts about 600hz and ~0 about 120hz
Sub starts about 180hz and ~0 about 24hz (although the sub doesn't go below 45hz)

19s "premium" 10 speaker
Tweeters about 550hz and ~0 about 440hz
Woofer starts about 500hz and ~0 about 90hz
Sub starts about 110hz and ~0 about 20hz.(Sub still doesn't play anything below 45hz)

I'm not saying an after market head unit and a Audio Control DM 810 (sedan or coupe) or DM 608 (hatchback or non "premium") and $1400 worth of high end speakers wouldn't sound better but the new head unit and amp are actually not bad for "Factory Premium." The sub channel is weak at 85w RMS @2oms but its actually perfect for tapping into to add an aftermarket sub amp. Anything over 100 will blow capacitors. Even an lc2i is only rated at 100w input.

 

[SirVicksDeep]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am really looking to improve the sound than to go Audiophile. I was thinking of doing the upgrade via the LC2i as I have an old Alpine Mono block amp from my Mazda 07 Mazda 3 and I have done amp and deck installs myself.

So would you guys suggest a upgrading the front speakers (tweeter and door speakers) with a good 2 way set low rms (keeping in mind i have the deck powering them) and bumping up the bass with the Crutchfield unit? The main reason for going to the LC2i was to save trunk space ( for hockey gear lol) and utilizing the space of the stock 8inch sub woofer placement.

On my Mazda 3 I had an AVH 4000NEX (astounding unit for its time) with upgraded Pioneer Rear speakers (nothing High End) with some Decent Alpine speakers in the front doors. That with an old junky Alpine mono amp with a Rockford 12 inch sub. All low end but it sounded amazing to me.

The woofers are fine but they need insulation. The tweeters suck. Even a low end tweeter would sound better. You won't get good lows from an 8" without a box but they do make small boxes. Go 10" .75cf sealed if you are worried about space but keep it mind a sealed sub requires more power for volume. And finally a lc2i is basically a hi-low converter with "AccuBASS." There is only about a 12٪ roll off at max volume so turning up the sub channel one or two click should compensate at higher volume. Set your gains to allow at least 2 clicks without distortion and you should be fine.

 

[SCOPESYS]

I had replaced the doors and tweeters with a component set and did sound dampening before my sub box was finished. If I hadn't already had that process paid for and started, I would have been fine. Center channel replacement added more than I expected.

100%

#1 is to replace the Center Speaker
(a) For a better speaker (more mellow - better response & tone)
(b) To add sound dampening behind it
(c) To get a speaker that is less sensitive in the center, so more BALANCED volume comes from the front side speakers. Added Bonus -- stereo effect are more enhanced to what they should be.

With the OEM setup, the Center speaker is always too loud, and thus the front side speaker are drowned out by the smaller, less bass response center speaker.

Swapping out the Center speaker will give the overall perception of a lot more Bass in the front of the car, without the harsh, thin overpowering sound from the OEM center speaker.

#2 is to add sound damping behind the from side speakers

#3 is to upgrade the front side speakers (if you are really feeling the need)

Then, evaluate the system, and determine if you really want more BOOMING Bass from the back, and if so, maybe consider the LSI2 + Amp + Enclose Sub (expensive -- STUPID EXPENSIVE if you don't do it yourself and allow an Car Audio shop to rep you off!!) Without the high costing Car Audio Shop LABOR charges, you can spend more of your budget on the actual amp & SUb etc.

 

[mvela]

I'm curious to know what year is yours? Was it the 6 speaker base or "Premium" 8 or10 speaker and if so was the head unit you swapped out was pre or post refresh? Was it the new one with the knob?

I analysed the sound curve coming from my neighbors about a year ago on his 2017 when I did his system and compared his data with my 19s new unit. Its completely different. The 19s are actually crossed over correctly at the factory amplifier. And the signal is mostly flat going in to the amp now. Roll off starts at volume 32 and goes down about 1.5٪ every click above that. About 12% total @40. Also the unit plays clean (.97٪ THD) to 39 now. (2.4٪THD@40.)

17s "Premium" 10 speaker
Tweeters about 750hz and ~0 about 620hz
Woofer starts about 600hz and ~0 about 120hz
Sub starts about 180hz and ~0 about 24hz (although the sub doesn't go below 45hz)

19s "premium" 10 speaker
Tweeters about 550hz and ~0 about 440hz
Woofer starts about 500hz and ~0 about 90hz
Sub starts about 110hz and ~0 about 20hz.(Sub still doesn't play anything below 45hz)

I'm not saying an after market head unit and a Audio Control DM 810 (sedan or coupe) or DM 608 (hatchback or non "premium") and $1400 worth of high end speakers wouldn't sound better but the new head unit and amp are actually not bad for "Factory Premium." The sub channel is weak at 85w RMS @2oms but its actually perfect for tapping into to add an aftermarket sub amp. Anything over 100 will blow capacitors. Even an lc2i is only rated at 100w input.

My car is an lx sedan. It only had 4 speakers. I got this system because I knew I was going to strip it all out anyways. I also didn’t like how everything was integrated into the screen especially the a/c. So upgrading was easy.

 

[Dharmaboy]

100%

#1 is to replace the Center Speaker
(a) For a better speaker (more mellow - better response & tone)
(b) To add sound dampening behind it
(c) To get a speaker that is less sensitive in the center, so more BALANCED volume comes from the front side speakers. Added Bonus -- stereo effect are more enhanced to what they should be.

With the OEM setup, the Center speaker is always too loud, and thus the front side speaker are drowned out by the smaller, less bass response center speaker.

Swapping out the Center speaker will give the overall perception of a lot more Bass in the front of the car, without the harsh, thin overpowering sound from the OEM center speaker.

#2 is to add sound damping behind the from side speakers

#3 is to upgrade the front side speakers (if you are really feeling the need)

Then, evaluate the system, and determine if you really want more BOOMING Bass from the back, and if so, maybe consider the LSI2 + Amp + Enclose Sub (expensive -- STUPID EXPENSIVE if you don't do it yourself and allow an Car Audio shop to rep you off!!) Without the high costing Car Audio Shop LABOR charges, you can spend more of your budget on the actual amp & SUb etc.

thanks I have a plan now. I know how to do this all myself ie the amp wiring and speaker swaps. The center channel will be interesting. will have to YouTube this to figure out how to disassemble that dash. Trying to find the right size tweeters for the doors so that I dont have to muck around too much.

 

[phornea]

In case you haven't seen this thread, have a look through it:
https://www.civicx.com/threads/full...s-amp-center-channel-and-door-speakers.27310/

All the questions you asked and feedback you were looking for have been covered in that thread.

As you will see in the final pages of the thread, hooking up to the original sub's wires works, but not the best method. You can wire an AMP with High Level input directly but it will suffer from the roll off (this is the worst method). And even if you run an LC2i from the stock sub, it's still better than just an amp with High Level input, but the head unit/stock amp limits the frequency range going to the stock sub, and hence you loose a lot of mid bass. I've personally experienced this myself. The best method, while preserving stock HU, is to tap into the front speakers' wires to get the full frequency range sent to the sub amp. You're sub amp can then be adjusted to play whatever frequency range you like (most prefer it at 80hz).

 

[Dharmaboy]

100%

#1 is to replace the Center Speaker
(a) For a better speaker (more mellow - better response & tone)
(b) To add sound dampening behind it
(c) To get a speaker that is less sensitive in the center, so more BALANCED volume comes from the front side speakers. Added Bonus -- stereo effect are more enhanced to what they should be.

With the OEM setup, the Center speaker is always too loud, and thus the front side speaker are drowned out by the smaller, less bass response center speaker.

Swapping out the Center speaker will give the overall perception of a lot more Bass in the front of the car, without the harsh, thin overpowering sound from the OEM center speaker.

#2 is to add sound damping behind the from side speakers

#3 is to upgrade the front side speakers (if you are really feeling the need)

Then, evaluate the system, and determine if you really want more BOOMING Bass from the back, and if so, maybe consider the LSI2 + Amp + Enclose Sub (expensive -- STUPID EXPENSIVE if you don't do it yourself and allow an Car Audio shop to rep you off!!) Without the high costing Car Audio Shop LABOR charges, you can spend more of your budget on the actual amp & SUb etc.

Question Scopesys, sorry to sound stupid but can you confirm the center speaker is 3.5 inch dual? Do I need the Honda connectors for it as well? I am not one to cut wires and solder stuff unless I am adapting a harness to a Aftermarket stereo for a car which I did recently for a Camry.

 

[86salmon]

Question Scopesys, sorry to sound stupid but can you confirm the center speaker is 3.5 inch dual? Do I need the Honda connectors for it as well? I am not one to cut wires and solder stuff unless I am adapting a harness to a Aftermarket stereo for a car which I did recently for a Camry.

It is a 3.5" speaker and a Honda adapter works. A common practice is to buy a pair of speakers, adapters, and foam baffles. Then, split the cost with another person wanting to upgrade

 

[Dharmaboy]

It is a 3.5" speaker and a Honda adapter works. A common practice is to buy a pair of speakers, adapters, and foam baffles. Then, split the cost with another person wanting to upgrade

I can just pop the front speaker grill and pop this in?

 

[willowcairns]

I would be willing to go on a set of speakers with someone to replace the center speaker

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