Upgrading my Civic Audio...

sud98

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I am looking at upgrading my car (Honda Civic) audio in the medium term (once I am done with my home system upgrade).

What should be the budgets I should be looking for to get a better sounding system? I am not too keen in changing the HU as it may have warranties and other implications.

Currently, I feel the sound quality is significantly lower than the sound I got from Pioneer+Kenwood combi in my WagonR although it sounds crazy esp. with Civic's purportedly Alpine HU. So I guess the issue is with the speakers. I read Dinyaar's post on moving to the Focal speakers and seeing improvements so I think that may be a path for me to tread.

Presuming, I need to go for a amp, 4 speakers, sub plus install what should the budget be?
 
The Civic HU is a weak link in the chain. You have to upgrade it. I've changed the stock HU and have faced no problems. You need to get the dash kit when you change the HU. That will cost about 5k.

The budget depends on how much you want to spend. Do factor in the damping cost in to your budget though.
 
Thanks Shuvc.

I thought the damping materials are useful for cars that have a lot of rattle, I dont seem to get any, so do you think it still makes sense?

I didnt specify a budget as I wanted to know would there be an improvement in SQ if say the budget is 20k/30k/40k.

If it would be in the 40k range, I may live with the existing ICE.
 
Hey! SUD98.

Most honda's have a very thin sheet metal & do require damping.
If you are not looking to add a sub & a head unit for 40k you can certainley get good sound. A good unit would be nice but i guess you would've to add atleast another 10k.

I think you would require arnd 10k of damping, 15k for the amp & arnd another 15k for the speakers, you'll also require to get new cables which could be any thing form 5-10k. You should first find a good installer which imo is the most imp.

For damping nosie kill is the cheapest option available but the dynamet is better.

For the amp you can look at kenwood 8404( arnd 10k),dls( arnd 16K) etc

For the speakers you can have components in the front & coaxial in the rear.
The brands that you should consider are DLS, bull audio, rainbow, Illusion audio etc.

I hope that helps.
Cheers
 
First you need to find out how many pre outs you have in the factory HU in your civic
Maybe other civic owners can help there

if there are 2 pre outs you can go for a 4 channle amp
change your front speakers and get a sub
thats the cheapest option out
sound SQ should be more or less as good as the Wagon R or slightly better

if you go all the way
changing the HU facelplate etc you will easily cross 40k
sound will be much better but then do you want to spend 40?
 
I wonder if the Civic HU has any pre-outs.

Whats DVD screen size does the dash-kit accomodate? 7"?

What 7" HU options are available here (at least 2 pre-outs) and at what price?
 
@ Sud98 - I'm just shuv, not ShuvC:)

Stock HU has ZERO preouts. Damping the front doors and the rear parcel tray should suffice. Later on, you could do the boot lid if required. Damping the Civic is necessary.

A 4 channel amplifier like the JBL 1004 should be around 10k. You could use 2 channels to power the fronts and bridge the other two and power the sub. From what I've heard, you don't need to buy a Mono for a single sub setup.

I have the following setup in my car: Alpine HU, JBL 4 channel and Pioneer 2 channel amplifiers, 6.5" components in the front doors and 6" coaxials in the rear shelf and a 12" sub (sealed enclosure) in the boot. The front doors, rear shelf and the boot lid is damped with Scosche. Full Scosche wiring.

@ ShuvC - Welcome to the Civic club:D. The HUs you are talking about start from around 24k (JVC).
 
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If the stock HU does not have preouts and you might want to keep it for the stock look etc. Alternative ways would be using a jl audio cleensweep but expensive option.

Or you could use a high to line level converter and tap into the front speaker wires but obviously a seperate hu will give better sq.

PAC SNI-45T (sni45t) Line-Out Converters Car Amplifier Installation & Accessories Car Audio/Video Installation & Accessories Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix

Now magma could you list actual disadvantages using this converter since i have a laura and i plan to install a subwoofer in it with a mono amp but keeping everything else including the HU, all speakers stock.
 
I am looking at upgrading my car (Honda Civic) audio in the medium term (once I am done with my home system upgrade).

What should be the budgets I should be looking for to get a better sounding system? I am not too keen in changing the HU as it may have warranties and other implications.

Currently, I feel the sound quality is significantly lower than the sound I got from Pioneer+Kenwood combi in my WagonR although it sounds crazy esp. with Civic's purportedly Alpine HU. So I guess the issue is with the speakers. I read Dinyaar's post on moving to the Focal speakers and seeing improvements so I think that may be a path for me to tread.

Presuming, I need to go for a amp, 4 speakers, sub plus install what should the budget be?

In a tight budget just replacing the speakers is an option. I expect very little from car audio and hence this was the only upgrade I made. Yes I did swap to some focals & its better but even so my 10 year old set up in my old city sounds way better. That is a Pioneer HU, a pioneer cd changer and blaupunkt speakers that I had got down from UK.
Neo/Magma are the car audio people & am sure they will point u towards the best amp/speaker deal. I would not change the stock HU but i would do a bit of damping.
Most important is to find a decent guy to do it. U want a neat job.
Rgds
 
Club? I'm just enquiring for GK purposes ! :D

Starting from 24K?? :( Amazon has such nice prices. $543 for the JVC AVX-820

Civic dash kits are also available for just $25 !! That's 1/4th or 1/5th the price here, but alas these kits are for LHD cars :(

GK eh? We'll see:p

Prices I've quoted are from mid 2008.
 
Thanks for the inputs.

Please PM a good installer that I can talk to.

If the HU doesn't have preouts then how does one connect 4 channel or 2 channel amps? Assuming I can, then the project would involve
1. Get installer (Cost?)
2. Do damping (10k?)
3. Change front speakers (7-10k)
4. Amp 15k
5. Sub
6. Rear speakers(7-10k)

Have I got it right?
 
Thanks for the inputs.

Please PM a good installer that I can talk to.

If the HU doesn't have preouts then how does one connect 4 channel or 2 channel amps? Assuming I can, then the project would involve
1. Get installer (Cost?)
2. Do damping (10k?)
3. Change front speakers (7-10k)
4. Amp 15k
5. Sub
6. Rear speakers(7-10k)

Have I got it right?

AFAIK the civic head unit does not have pre out, hence you'll have use line level in on the amp which is alright. On team bhp i had read about some one making a preout by opening up the head unit in the civic.

Contact ROC he is also active on the Team BHP ICE forum, he might know a good installer in banglore.
The sub box will eat in to your boot space.If you are going for a sub you can leave the rear spk & see if you are alright with the sound or else add the rear fill & run it through your head unit.

All the best.
Cheers
 
Hi,

Having talked so much about replacing stock HUs, how may we ensure the steering controls to work after replacing to some other make of HU?

regards,

Nitin.
 
I am sure it would be, because a number of car/SUV owners who change their stock HU and have steering controls might need this functionality to continue working. Unfortunately, i dont know the exact place where you might be able to source it. Try JC Road, i am sure you wont go dissappointed.
 
PAC SNI-45T (sni45t) Line-Out Converters Car Amplifier Installation & Accessories Car Audio/Video Installation & Accessories Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix

Now magma could you list actual disadvantages using this converter since i have a laura and i plan to install a subwoofer in it with a mono amp but keeping everything else including the HU, all speakers stock.

There are no disadvantages. No advantage either. You are just reducing the signal level with one of these so you can feed to an amplifier. Something like the RF 360.1 or the Alpine H650 on the other hand, will cancel the equalization and the irregularities in the head unit's output and then provide pre-outs for amplification.
 
After doing some research on t-bhp, it appears there wont be significant improvement unless I change the HU, do the damping and add a sub as well as changing atleast the front speakers. All these will cost around 50k plus the cost of a good installer. I think I will use these funds in my home theater upgrade for now. Thanks guys for all your inputs.
 
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