Sound System Upgrade for non-bose Civics

[StoNicElznerLas]

Hey everyone, so we all know that the non-Bose sound system in our Civics is disastrous! Ive been doing some research in regards to swapping the 9” Receiver and Factory Bose amp into my Sport and came to the obvious conclusion that it’s nearly impossible. However something needs to change because i drive a lot and I listen to A LOT of music, so i decided to go aftermarket! Also my English isn’t great so please excuse any punctuation or Grammatical errors.

So for those that care and are also planning on improving their Sound System i will document everything here once all the Parts arrive!

Here is a List of all the Parts i ordered:

Dynamat Sound deadening material for the Doors (This in my opinion is very IMPORTANT and will improve how your new Speakers sound drastically)

Fast Rings (also important, to Bridge and Seal Gap between Speaker and Door Panels)

PAC LPHHD04 T-Harness and PAC LPHEXT17 Harness extension (Amplifier integration harness and 17’ extension wires so that factory harness doesn’t need to be Cut hopefully!) THIS HARNESS IS FOR THE 10TH GEN, I HAVE NO IDEA IF IT WILL WORK WITH THE 11TH GEN to be determined i guess.

Optional 30’ Speaker Wire to wire front pillar Tweeters (Depends on whether or not you want to use Bi-Amp mode or regular 4 Channel mode, read on to know what I’m talking about!)

4x Speaker Brackets even though you can reuse the factory Speaker Brackets by cutting the factory Speaker out of it and solder the factory speaker Female end to your aftermarket Speakers.


Now to the Good Stuff!

For the Amps I decided to go with
Kicker Key 200.4 4 Channel and 500.1 Mono Block
I will use the 200.4 in Bi-Amp mode for my front Soundstage (Front Door Speakers and Tweeters) however the amp can also be used as a regular 4 Channel amp to power all 4 Door speakers, I decided to power my tweeters directly from the amp for better sound Quality however since the factory tweeters are passively connected to the Front speakers instead of being powered directly from the Head Unit, I will need to run Speaker wire from the Trunk to the Tweeters.
The beauty about the Kicker key amps is, that they have an Auto tuning DSP meaning the Amp will do all the fine Tuning for you using an included microphone and internal Processing!
Since i also like Bass, I decided to also order the One channel Variant of the Key Amp the 500.1, to power my Subwoofer. This amp also has a self Tuning DSP minus the Microphone.

For the front speakers i ordered
Morel Tempo Ultra 602 Components
Crutchfield is saying that the tweeters wont fit into the front Pillars so im sure some modifications are needed to make them fit!

For the rears I decided to go with
Morel Tempo Ultra Integra 602 Coaxial Speakers
These are basically the same speakers as the ones im using in the front, only difference is the tweeter sits on the speaker instead of being separate. These speakers will remain powered by the factory radio and are really only serving one purpose and thats Rear Fill, most Sound Quality Fanatics actually disable the rear speakers entirely however I don’t want to have a acoustic Void behind me.

I already have a Subwoofer installed with 2 Gauge wire powering it so I won’t go into detail on how to run an Amp power wire. However if you decide to go the 2 Amp route make sure you use a thick gauge wire that will support both Amps. The 4 Channel Key amp only has a Power rating of 200Watts and the 1 Channel has a rating of 500Watts so 2 Gauge wire is plenty!

All this I ordered at Crutchfield and it definitely wasn’t Cheap! 1,799 Bucks people! I’m sure the same setup can be achieved for Cheaper using Cheaper Speakers, probably won’t sound as nice but still 100x better than factory. I was debating on going all out and order a Standalone DSP however those are crazy expensive and require some decent knowledge in Tuning, the key amps are affordable and do most of what a standalone DSP does for you!

This is also cross posted in the Civic 11 Forum, i will keep both updated!

Sponsored

 

[latole]

Did you do your mods ? I wish to replace the speakers. How do you remove tweeter front pillar ?

 

[latole]

I've just received some speakers from Crutchfield.
JL Audio C2-650X Evolution.
I'm waiting for the installation kit, which should arrive tomorrow.
I expect to install them in 2 weeks.

 

[StoNicElznerLas]

Did you do your mods ? I wish to replace the speakers. How do you remove tweeter front pillar ?

I sure did and it sounds soooo much better now! The front tweeter’s are a little tricky! As nothing really fits in there, i had to plastic weld my tweeters to make them stay in there. Also make sure you don’t block or damage your airbag!

 

[latole]

I sure did and it sounds soooo much better now! The front tweeter’s are a little tricky! As nothing really fits in there, i had to plastic weld my tweeters to make them stay in there. Also make sure you don’t block or damage your airbag!

Thanks for your reply,
With the purchase of speaker and some accessories, Crutchfield sent me the installation instructions. It should be fine.

I'm thinking of disconnecting the front tweeter in the pillars. They're too aggressive, and the tweeters integrated into the door speakers should be fine.

 

[StoNicElznerLas]

Thanks for your reply,
With the purchase of speaker and some accessories, Crutchfield sent me the installation instructions. It should be fine.

I'm thinking of disconnecting the front tweeter in the pillars. They're too aggressive, and the tweeters integrated into the door speakers should be fine.

That should work! Are you going to use an Amp?

 

[latole]

That should work! Are you going to use an Amp?

No.

 

[StoNicElznerLas]

No.

You do you, but those speakers won’t sound good without one. The stock headunit by itself is so bad even new speakers won’t change that

 

[latole]

You do you, but those speakers won’t sound good without one. The stock headunit by itself is so bad even new speakers won’t change that

The speaker I bought have tweeters on each ; answer #3
Tweeter on pillars may not be necessary IMO.

Stock unit with better speaker will not sound better ?
I think there can be a noticeable improvement that will satisfy me.

My criticism of the current sound is that it's too aggressive in the highs, and in my opinion this comes from the speakers, not the unit.
All the factory-installed units have always satisfied me in all my cars ( 5-6 ) . Some required new speakers, but that's all. I've never felt the need to add an amp or subwoofer.

I'm going to come back here once I've installed everything, and if the sound isn't better, I won't be shy about saying so.

 

[StoNicElznerLas]

The speaker I bought have tweeters on each ; answer #3
Tweeter on pillars may not be necessary IMO.

Stock unit with better speaker will not sound better ?
I think there can be a noticeable improvement that will satisfy me.

My criticism of the current sound is that it's too aggressive in the highs, and in my opinion this comes from the speakers, not the unit.
All the factory-installed units have always satisfied me in all my cars ( 5-6 ) . Some required new speakers, but that's all. I've never felt the need to add an amp or subwoofer.

I'm going to come back here once I've installed everything, and if the sound isn't better, I won't be shy about saying so.

You may be satisfied with just new speakers. Everyone has different demands, i just think that the stock unit doesn’t have the range for a full sound. Deep bass is basically non existent however it can be improved if you deactivate the Equalizer and ANC in the Service Menu on the head unit, you can do that by holding the “CONNECT” and “Phone” buttons at the same time while pressing the Volume Knob 5 times!

 

[latole]

You may be satisfied with just new speakers. Everyone has different demands, i just think that the stock unit doesn’t have the range for a full sound. Deep bass is basically non existent however it can be improved if you deactivate the Equalizer and ANC in the Service Menu on the head unit, you can do that by holding the “CONNECT” and “Phone” buttons at the same time while pressing the Volume Knob 5 times!

I'm very happy that the stock unit don' have the deep bass. I hate that.
This is not the real life sound of voice or music.

I don't like to hear "boom boom " coming from another car when I'm at a red light

You are right , every one have different demands

 

[latole]

I installed the two speakers mentioned above. I did some sound tests. The sound quality is now very acceptable. It's not wow! But compared to the sound of the original speakers, there's no longer that nasal sound. I'm satisfied, it was worth the expense. C$344 with tools and accessories to fit in the door

Sponsored