Touring Tweeter Upgrade

[2016TouringSLC]

A good rule of thumb for car audio is go with a name brand and you get what you pay for. The Honda stock tweeters are the equivalent of $10-$15 tweeters (I think they are Pioneer brand) you could buy anywhere. If you spend $50-$100 on a pair of replacement tweeters from a recognized brand, you'll hear a big difference that is worth the investment.

Now if you're really into car audio, then this general statement doesn't always hold true as there are some exotic, niche brands that offer $1,000 tweeters and some people are happy to spend that money to have the best sound.

I went to CES in Vegas once and there was a display with a $10 radio, a $100 boom box, a $1,000 stereo system, and a $10,000 system. The music cycled between the 4 systems. The difference between the $10 and $100 system was huge; difference between the $100 and $1,000 system was also very noticeable; but the $1,000 to $10,000 was noticeable but much more subtle.

There is a sweet spot for audio where spending more gets you a lot more but then you must spend a lot more for smaller improvements. A $50 to $100 tweeter should be the sweet spot for most listeners.

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[superyerison]

I'm planning on buying Focal Integration ISS 165 speakers in a month or 2 and I believe the tweeters it comes with are 1". Would they still fit.

 

[Raymx]

I'm planning on buying Focal Integration ISS 165 speakers in a month or 2 and I believe the tweeters it comes with are 1". Would they still fit.

I'm thinking the same but haven't decided which brand would be better, my car doesn't have tweeters and I think adapting them will be very easy, may I ask why do you choose focal over Rockford, cerwin Vega or kicker?, thanks

 

[superyerison]

I'm thinking the same but haven't decided which brand would be better, my car doesn't have tweeters and I think adapting them will be very easy, may I ask why do you choose focal over Rockford, cerwin Vega or kicker?, thanks

I've read only that focal are high quality speakers and they have good reviews wherever I looked for having clear sound. I've never have heard them before but I want to give them a try.

 

[Raymx]

I've read only that focal are high quality speakers and they have good reviews wherever I looked for having clear sound. I've never have heard them before but I want to give them a try.

I've read the same and i think i will go with focal and add a subwoofer, by the way i see you installed custom DRL and led reflectors, i also bought DRL and led reflector, if i don't bother much could you please guide me to install them?

 

[superyerison]

I've read the same and i think i will go with focal and add a subwoofer, by the way i see you installed custom DRL and led reflectors, i also bought DRL and led reflector, if i don't bother much could you please guide me to install them?

I have a rockford fosgate sub in the car but wanted to add the speakers and tweeters and yes sure I can help you with any questions about the installation just send me a message and the custom drl you mean the led fog lights.

 

[Raymx]

I have a rockford fosgate sub in the car but wanted to add the speakers and tweeters and yes sure I can help you with any questions about the installation just send me a message and the custom drl you mean the led fog lights.

Thanks, PM sent

 

[eberrong]

I've found the Touring "premium" tweeter to sound harsh and unpleasant. Ordered a Hertz Dieci Dt24 that turned out easier to install than I thought. http://amazon.com/Hertz-DT-24-3-Dieci-Dt24/dp/B00DZJ5ICS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Once you get the door sail off and unplug the speaker connector, the old tweeter pops out by pushing in two plastic latches.

The Hertz flush-mount tweeters fit in nicely to the door sail. Used some hot glue to secure in place. I pushed the tinned speaker wires into the Honda connector (couldn't find an adapter to fit the very-small tweeter connectors). They fit tight enough to make a good connection and I put a dab of hot glue to secure wires to connector. Be sure and trim the tinned connector enough so that no bare wire is showing when pushed in.

Of course you don't need to use the Hertz crossovers since that is handled by the Touring amp that has a separate output for each tweeter.

Wiring Color Code:
Front Right Tweeter: + is light green and - is pink
Front Left Tweeter: + is yellow and - is grey.

Took about 20 min. in total.

This is a nice upgrade that smooths out the harshness and creates a much better sense of presence and air compared to the old tweeters. While the photo makes it look off-center, it really isn't. Easy to get it perfectly centered in door sail.

Can't wait to try this upgrade on my brand new 2017 sedan touring. I can hardly listen to the audio system. It is so harsh and no EQ settings can fix it. My 2012 Odyssey sounds like heaven in comparison. In fact, every car I have ever owned has sounded better.

 

[2016TouringSLC]

Can't wait to try this upgrade on my brand new 2017 sedan touring. I can hardly listen to the audio system. It is so harsh and no EQ settings can fix it. My 2012 Odyssey sounds like heaven in comparison. In fact, every car I have ever owned has sounded better.

I love everything about my Civic Touring, but the Infotainment system gets a "D" because they oversold it and so under-delivered. I essentially replaced everything and don't use any part of the Infotainment center for audio.

I had to rent the cheapest version of the Nissan Rogue, and it's sound system beat the pants off the Honda Touring (and it even played my iPod Classic with zero problems) -- Honda should be very embarrassed about this.

 

[eberrong]

I love everything about my Civic Touring, but the Infotainment system gets a "D" because they oversold it and so under-delivered. I essentially replaced everything and don't use any part of the Infotainment center for audio.

I had to rent the cheapest version of the Nissan Rogue, and it's sound system beat the pants off the Honda Touring (and it even played my iPod Classic with zero problems) -- Honda should be very embarrassed about this.

Can you give an overview of all of your audio system upgrades? Everything sounding good now?

 

[2016TouringSLC]

Can you give an overview of all of your audio system upgrades? Everything sounding good now?

I run the speaker wires in the trunk (including the subwoofer wire), through an LC8i (see photo below). This allows me to listen to the radio from the Honda system (which is rare). I also plug my iPod Classic directly into the LC8i and control it from the iPod as I could never get the Honda system to consistently play the iPod (this is a known issue in this forum). Then the stereo RCA outputs are run through a sound processor to perform EQ, and then out to amps for the speakers and subwoofer. I added a 10" sealed sub box, and replaced the stock speakers with Focal Power. It sounds very good but it was a lot of work and money (fortunately, I had most of the equipment from my old car).

What is sad is that the upgraded, stock sound system in my Subaru Outback sounds almost as good, and I haven't done a thing to it. Honda totally blew it on the audio system on what is otherwise a jewel of a car.

 

[2016TouringSLC]

Ignore.

 

[eberrong]

I run the speaker wires in the trunk (including the subwoofer wire), through an LC8i (see photo below). This allows me to listen to the radio from the Honda system (which is rare). I also plug my iPod Classic directly into the LC8i and control it from the iPod as I could never get the Honda system to consistently play the iPod (this is a known issue in this forum). Then the stereo RCA outputs are run through a sound processor to perform EQ, and then out to amps for the speakers and subwoofer. I added a 10" sealed sub box, and replaced the stock speakers with Focal Power. It sounds very good but it was a lot of work and money (fortunately, I had most of the equipment from my old car).

What is sad is that the upgraded, stock sound system in my Subaru Outback sounds almost as good, and I haven't done a thing to it. Honda totally blew it on the audio system on what is otherwise a jewel of a car.

Thanks for the info. So if I understand correctly, you started with replacing only the front tweeters...but ended replacing all of the remaining factory speakers and factory subwoofer and factory amplifiers.

 

[2016TouringSLC]

Thanks for the info. So if I understand correctly, you started with replacing only the front tweeters...but ended replacing all of the remaining factory speakers and factory subwoofer and factory amplifiers.

That's correct. Fortunately I had the amps, sound processor, and sub from my old car, so I only had to buy the LC8i and the speakers. I only recently upgraded the speakers, so for many months I just had the tweeter replacement. I also used a generic Dynamat product to seal the front doors and did some other sound-deadening upgrades, and those have provided a nice improvement.

I'll say that to my ears, the most significant improvement came from adding a sub box in the trunk and the tweeter replacement in the front, as the stock midrange speaker is not bad and is able to put out reasonable bass.

 

[eberrong]

Are the stock tweeters 4 ohms impedance?

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