[CU2] Accord Euro - Focal speaker upgrade

[JustRight]

Hi All,

I thought you might be interested in a project I have recently completed on my CU2 Luxury 6MT.

After taking delivery of the car back at the end of May I was very impressed by the car in general, but I thought that the sound system seemed to be a bit of a let down.

Now, to be fair, it's not actually that bad as far as stock systems go, but the shallow all plastic door and parcel shelf speakers leave a LOT to be desired. The factory head unit is pretty good and is supported by a small Panasonic amplifier mounted in the boot. This makes access to the unit really easy as you do not have to get into the dash. Also, the Panasonic system does not output in 4 channels from the head unit. Instead you get a simple L & R preamp out plus a pair of data lines that Panasonic call their ELS system?? Basically this instructs the amplifier how much Bass, Treble, Subwoofer, Center, Fade and Balance you have selected on the head unit. So its a case of leave the head unit alone and take the high level outputs from the amp in order to keep the full functionality of the head unit.

My upgrade consists of:

2 pairs of Focal 165VR component splits
1 pair of Focal 165CVX coaxials
1 Focal Solid-4 Amplifier
1 PAC SOEM-4 premium LOC

I chose to leave the Front Centre and Subwoofer speakers being powered by the factory Panasonic amp whilst replacing all the other speakers.

I run the front splits from two channels of the Solid-4 whilst running the rear splits and the parcel shelf coaxials in parallel from the other two channels. This works really well. The Solid-4 is built to handle 2 ohm loads and can also handle differential loads.

Needless to say that this has transformed the quality of sound from this system. It's very impressive now! Great tonal quality, adequate bass, without buzzes and rattles. All in all, very much better than standard. Although, I have to say that the system still sounds very 'bright' and rather harsh. Perhaps the Focal's will settle down over time?

Anyway, here are a few pics for you if you are interested.

First, mounting the Focal 165VR Crossover in the rear door trim:
15690

Mounting the Focal 165VR Crossover in the front door trim:
15691

The 165VR woofer in the front door. 1x16mm + 1x12mm MDF spacers.
15693

The 165VR woofer in the rear door. 1x16mm MDF spacer.
15694

Splicing into the speaker output loom from the Panasonic amp. Speaker level inputs to the PAC SOEM-4 transformer based, DC coupled LOC and RCA outputs to the Focal amplifier.
15696

Finally the Focal Solid-4 Amplifier. I made a cradle which I mounted to the rear parcel shelf. The Amplifier is then mounted in the cradle which can be swung down for access to the controls and wiring. I've shown the amp in it's lowered position here.
15701

Cheers :thumbsup:

PS: The Focal Polyglass range of speakers provide an oustanding value for money basis for the upgrade of our Honda based systems. I can't speak highly enough of their quality and performance, or of the standard of support provided by the people at Focal Australia!

After much listening and research I added a Digital Signal Processor to enable me to fix the dreadful factory EQ of the standard Head Unit/Amplifier. Check out the details on this thread: http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?139260-CU2-Accord-Euro-Digital-Signal-Processor-upgrade


A new update :)

I finally gave up on the factory sub-woofer in the parcel shelf. I have now installed a Focal Polyglass BombA 27V1 11" powered subwoofer. I have been able to take the RCA sub output from the Rockford Fosgate 360.2 as the input for the amplifier on the BombA 27V1. Apart from running some additional power and earth cabling and tying down the sub box, the installation was relatively straightforward, and the sub fits very nicely behind the rear seats leaving a good amount of boot space. I use special anderson plugs on the power and earth so the whole thing can be easily removed.

Also, on the strong advice of the guys at Focal Australia, I went to the trouble of removing the factory sub-woofer, leaving the resulting hole in the parcel shelf empty. This was not a simple job as it means removing the rear plastic parcel shelf completely, but the result has been well worth the effort.

I was also able to make use of the remote volume control provided with the RF 360.2 to control the output to the new Focal subwoofer, giving me effective volume control over the sub.

This additional installation has really rounded out the system and given me an enormous amount of bottom end that the component splits are just not designed to produce. By driving the sub from the 360.2 signal processor I have also been able to tune the sub along with the rest of the system, fantastic!


A new update :)

After some questions on other aspects of the install I have added some additional photos of the door trims etc:

Extra trimming required for clearance of the Focal speaker at maximum extension.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=sdgo7&f=1' (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=sdgo7)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=sdgo7)

Location of Crossover in front door trim.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=gw6vz&f=1' (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=gw6vz)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=gw6vz)

Location of Crossover in rear door trim.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=qabbk&f=1' (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=qabbk)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=qabbk)

Assembled front door.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=wuzpu&f=1' (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=wuzpu)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=wuzpu)

Assembled rear door.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=3gh0k&f=1' (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=3gh0k)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=3gh0k)
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=pavvw&f=1' (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=pavvw)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=pavvw)

[JustRight]

Having done all of this work myself I know how valuable wiring diagram information can be. I used these diagrams to correctly identify the input and output wiring colour codes for the Panasonic Amplifier in the boot of my CU2.

So, if anyone was thinking of doing a job like this, these may help.

Premium Audio, without NAV:
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=j2uj6&f=1%27
Click to view full size! (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=j2uj6)

Premium Audio, with NAV:
http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=oprx5&f=1%27 (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=oprx5)
Click to view full size!
(http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=oprx5)

Note: If you have trouble displaying these with Internet Explorer, use Firefox instead :thumbsup:

Cheers :thumbsup:

[MikesVtec]

Looks pretty pro good work. I m just gonna be a noob and say the stock sound system sounds pretty good to me and ask how much better is the upgrade?

[JustRight]

Looks pretty pro good work. I m just gonna be a noob and say the stock sound system sounds pretty good to me and ask how much better is the upgrade?

Significant improvement!

I found the standard setup to to be too bright. Too much treble and no depth to the mid-range with only ordinary bass. To my ears the equalisation was just all wrong. If I backed the treble off via the Head Unit then it just lacked depth. I think the culprit is the all plastic factory speakers. And when I say all plastic, I mean even the speaker cones are plastic, not a good recipie for true Hi-Fidelity.

Don't get me wrong though, the factory system is OK as far as it goes. Way better than in some cars I have owned, but it lacks power, and as I said I think the equalisation seems all wrong.

The Focal PolyGlass speakers address the lack of mid-range and bass and dramatically improve the quality of the sound. The Focal TNB tweeters have a reputation for being rather bright, but the guys at Focal Australia tell me that they do smooth out after about 40 hours of use. All in all the system has incredible clarity, and with the Focal Solid-4 amplifier power is no longer an issue. I don't listen at outrageously high volumes, I want my systems to have power and depth at low to moderate volumes and the Focal hardware certainly delivers that in spades.

Cheers.

[Type R Positive]

awesome work!!! I've been wanting to do that to mine, but just upgrade the speakers first.

[praja6]

awesome work!!! I've been wanting to do that to mine, but just upgrade the speakers first.

Type R, does our base model Euro CU2 comes with built in Amplifier or only 9 x speaekrs and 1 x subwoofer only.

Thanks

[JustRight]

Type R, does our base model Euro CU2 comes with built in Amplifier or only 9 x speaekrs and 1 x subwoofer only.

Thanks

Hi there mate,

Yes, all australian cars that come with the 'Premium' sound system, which includes the base model Euro, get the boot mounted Panasonic Amplifier. It needs it to drive all those speakers. So the pictures you see in my original post apply to both the Lux and Base models.

Cheers.

[JustRight]

awesome work!!! I've been wanting to do that to mine, but just upgrade the speakers first.

Type 'R'. If you do the speakers only you will find that the factory amp will drive them, but not that well. In fact I experimented with mine and setup the system at first without the Focal amplifier. The Panasonic amp can drive the Focals as they are quite efficient, BUT, the standard plastic speakers offer only a 2 ohm load to the amplifier, whereas the Focals are all 4 ohm. This means that the effective output of the Panasonic amp is cut to about 2/3 of its normal output (whatever that is) and I found that as soon as I stepped the volume up a bit the amplifier started clipping, and could not deliver the bass I was looking for.

You could probably get away with it, but the reality is that any quality replacement speaker, Focal or otherwise, really needs to be driven with plenty of power to get the most out of them.

Just a note on the fitting of alternative speakers. There is heaps of mounting depth in the rear doors, but in the front the maximum depth, based on the modifications I made is no more than 70mm. The Focal 165VR woofers in fact have a mounting depth of exactly 70mm, and I found that I had to mount them using the plastic mounting ring that Focal provide for fitting a speaker grille. This gave me about 1mm clearance to the bottom edge of the window glass, just enough :cool:

Cheers.

[Type R Positive]

Good info about the mounting depths mate! Will save a bit of heart ache later on.
Would you use something like the rockford fosgate 360?

[JustRight]

Good info about the mounting depths mate! Will save a bit of heart ache later on.
Would you use something like the rockford fosgate 360?

Yep, I have been giving a lot of thought to using a signal processor. The 3SIXTY.2 would certainly be my choice.

The first thing I wanted to do was upgrade the speakers and amplification, and then see just how the system sounded, and whether or not the dodgy equalisation was due to the OEM plastic speakers, or whether in fact the Head Unit was responsible for the poor mid-range and bass.

At the moment the jury is out deliberating. Something like the 3SIXTY.2 adds quite a bit of expense to the whole project, but then based on what I've spent so far it could be worth it. In that case I would simply replace my PAC SOEM-4 Line Level converter with the 3SIXTY.2 and pass the RCA outputs to the Focal Amplifier.

Hmmm, where is that Credit Card ;)

[yungquan]

JustRight! +1 with your mods. Had a peep in the door cards last weekend and agree with you about the limited space. Did you bolt the spacers into the metal?

[JustRight]

JustRight! +1 with your mods. Had a peep in the door cards last weekend and agree with you about the limited space. Did you bolt the spacers into the metal?

Hi mate,

Yes indeed. I first screwed the MDF spacers to the doors and used black silastic to seal them. I then used long broad threaded screws to go right through the MDF and just take up on the metal door panel underneath. This made it much easier to fit and I could do up the screws really tight. The whole thing is very solid. No buzzes or rattles from the doors at all.

Honda have actually done a pretty good job of sealing and insulating the doors.

Cheers.

[yungquan]

Hi mate,

Yes indeed. I first screwed the MDF spacers to the doors and used black silastic to seal them. I then used long broad threaded screws to go right through the MDF and just take up on the metal door panel underneath. This made it much easier to fit and I could do up the screws really tight. The whole thing is very solid. No buzzes or rattles from the doors at all.

Honda have actually done a pretty good job of sealing and insulating the doors.

Cheers.

Ya found the insulation to be pretty neat job from Honda. Only complain is that window rail sitting in the way of the speaker opening at the door. :(

Pretty surprised with the amount of screws (5 in total) used to secure the door card.

[sa1d8u]

hey guys im looking for a fascia for a after market dvd player sick of the standard head unit any ideas were i can find it tryed all the car audio shops cant find them no were

[Type R Positive]

hey guys im looking for a fascia for a after market dvd player sick of the standard head unit any ideas were i can find it tryed all the car audio shops cant find them no were
They don't make them. DIY only.....

[sa1d8u]

Not sure if it was your pic of not of the pioneer dvd player? how'd did you do that?? looks crazy i have had the dvd player siting at home for two months waiting for the fascia to come out

[eurogo]

Said8u pm me your email I'll send u some info on my fascia kit. Replaces standard stacker etc

[oh_lol]

Hey mate, neat install.

Just after your thoughts on the SOEM4.

Also, why did you use one anyway? I thought the Focal had speaker level inputs, therefore, a LOC isn't needed?

[JustRight]

Hey mate, neat install.

Just after your thoughts on the SOEM4.

Also, why did you use one anyway? I thought the Focal had speaker level inputs, therefore, a LOC isn't needed?

True enough, the Focal amp does indeed have speaker level inputs. However like most LOC's they use big resistors to attenuate the signal. After doing a lot of reading on this subject, and learning that Honda's can be notorious for introducing noise into the audio system, I decided to go with the SOEM4. These units, like the "Peripheral SVEN4" that was it's predecessor, use transformers and therefore do not present a huge resistive load to the factory amplifier. Also, using transformers and DC coupling effectively eliminates all noise from the system, providing a very clean RCA level input for the amp.

No doubt if I had tried the high level inputs on the Focal amp it would probably have worked just fine. But I am very pleased with the performance of the SOEM4, it does a great job.

Cheers.

[oh_lol]

Thanks for the reply. Very fair answer.

I've never installed a LOC before. Did you need to tap into both the front and rear speaker wires, so you have '4 channels'? Or do you only need to splice into a pair of speaker wires?

Reason I ask is because you tapped into the signals right at the stock amp location, instead of just doing the simple route and taking them from the rear 6x9s.

Thanks :)

[JustRight]

Thanks for the reply. Very fair answer.

I've never installed a LOC before. Did you need to tap into both the front and rear speaker wires, so you have '4 channels'? Or do you only need to splice into a pair of speaker wires?

Reason I ask is because you tapped into the signals right at the stock amp location, instead of just doing the simple route and taking them from the rear 6x9s.

Thanks :)

Yep, I spliced in to the factory amp output and used 4 channels, both front and rear. This allowed me to retain the full functionality of the headunit, including being able to fade Front to Rear as necessary. However, it is certainly technically possible to use only a two channel input with four channel output from the amp. I just chose to keep all four channels separate.

Cheers.

[oh_lol]

Again thanks for the reply.

What are the other features that you retain if you do splice into all 4 channels? Besides fading?
I am planning to run just front splits and a sub, so if it's just being able to fade front and rear, I believe I won't need to do this? :)

[JustRight]

Again thanks for the reply.

What are the other features that you retain if you do splice into all 4 channels? Besides fading?
I am planning to run just front splits and a sub, so if it's just being able to fade front and rear, I believe I won't need to do this? :)

If all you need are Front Splits and a Sub, then you would gain nothing using all four channels. I kept all four only so that I could use the fading control from the head unit if I wanted to. Other than that, no real advantage one way or the other.

Cheers.

[oh_lol]

Hi again mate,

When you installed your SOEM, is the remote wire (blue) connected to the remote input on your amplifier?

Does this bypass the need to run a wire from a 12v that turns on/off with the car?


Simply put, the SOEM takes care of pretty much everything? If so, it looks like it's worth that lil extra compared to other LOCs.

[vorace]

GDay JustRight,

yep, nice install.

Where do you buy the PAC SOEM4? and roughly how much?

I have a CL9 I want to put it in, can you confirm it does not add any noise or hiss into the system when adding a Focal amp.

Thanks.

[JustRight]

Hi again mate,

When you installed your SOEM, is the remote wire (blue) connected to the remote input on your amplifier?

Does this bypass the need to run a wire from a 12v that turns on/off with the car?

Simply put, the SOEM takes care of pretty much everything? If so, it looks like it's worth that lil extra compared to other LOCs.

Correct! The SOEM4 uses 'signal sense' to determine when the factory system goes active and then provides 12v on the blue wire to use as the 'switch on' signal for the Focal amp.
It works very well. No pops or clicks when turning the head uint on or off.

The SOEM4 is the best LOC I have ever used. They are a bit more expensive than your average resistor based LOC's, but well worth the extra in my opinion.

Cheers.

[JustRight]

GDay JustRight,

yep, nice install.

Where do you buy the PAC SOEM4? and roughly how much?

I have a CL9 I want to put it in, can you confirm it does not add any noise or hiss into the system when adding a Focal amp.

Thanks.

Hi mate,

I can absolutely confirm that the SOEM4 introduces no noise whatsoever into the system. In fact it isolates the input to the Focal amplifier so that the signal to noise ratio is very high. As with all external amplifiers however it is possible to get a bit of hiss if you don't have your input gains set correctly. With the SOEM4 you can set the gains on the LOC itself and then also use the gains on the amplifier to ensure you get a perfect input signal.

I could not find this product at all in Australia. So I simply ordered on-line from one of the many American audio stores. If you Google "PAC SOEM-4" you will get plenty of hits. They are generally priced at around US$25. I actually got mine from these guys http://www.autosoundcentral.com/PAC_SOEM_4_p/soem4.htm They were well priced and shipped quickly. Be prepared to pay as much for US Postage as for the unit itself though!

Cheers.

[eurogo]

wow almost identical to my setup lol.
*clarion in-dash dvd player- removed stacker, used aftermarket fascia kit.
*Focal 165V30 6.5 inch splits
*Focal 690CVX 6x9's
*Focal solid 4 amp
*Kicker L7 square 12inch 750WRMS sub
*Kicker 750.1 amp
*Dynamat all 4 doors, parcel tray, dash in parts, and most of the boot also.

Focal kicks ass, i had Boston Acoustics before i got Focal, similar pricing but Focals better in my opinion

[oh_lol]

eurogo, how did you go with your parcel shelf?

I've found my parcel shelf vibrates like a bitch

[vorace]

Hi mate,

I can absolutely confirm that the SOEM4 introduces no noise whatsoever into the system. In fact it isolates the input to the Focal amplifier so that the signal to noise ratio is very high. As with all external amplifiers however it is possible to get a bit of hiss if you don't have your input gains set correctly. With the SOEM4 you can set the gains on the LOC itself and then also use the gains on the amplifier to ensure you get a perfect input signal.

I could not find this product at all in Australia. So I simply ordered on-line from one of the many American audio stores. If you Google "PAC SOEM-4" you will get plenty of hits. They are generally priced at around US$25. I actually got mine from these guys http://www.autosoundcentral.com/PAC_SOEM_4_p/soem4.htm They were well priced and shipped quickly. Be prepared to pay as much for US Postage as for the unit itself though!

Cheers.

Gday JustRight, thanks for that useful information and the website info.
Do you have any experience with the PAC AOEM-HON20 on that website? Is it similar to the SOEM4 and can it be used to add an amp to an existing factory headunit? Would it be of similar sound quality to the SOEM4?
Sorry for the questions...thanks in advance.

[eurogo]

oh_lol my parcel tray is sweet man, vibrates only when flogging the shit outta the system, with it up moderatly loud theres no rattles, but my parcel tray is fully sound deadened with dynamat. its easy enough to install yourself, just have to find the time and have patience haha

[oh_lol]

Parcel shelf is already deadened with a layer on top and bottom.
I think I may need to move onto bracing it.

[eurogo]

hmmm not sure to be honest, what sub are u running lol

[JustRight]

Gday JustRight, thanks for that useful information and the website info.
Do you have any experience with the PAC AOEM-HON20 on that website? Is it similar to the SOEM4 and can it be used to add an amp to an existing factory headunit? Would it be of similar sound quality to the SOEM4?
Sorry for the questions...thanks in advance.

No problem!

From what I understand the PAC AOEM-HON20 is an interface that connects directly to the rear of the Head Unit itself. I have never seen one of these and I was not game to try something like that. The system in my CU2 is effectively a 6 channel system (5.1) and I did not know just how well the Acura TSX actually matches our version of the Euro. With your CL9 you may find that the four channel AOEM-HON20 might do a better job if it will fit the connectors on the rear of your Head Unit.

In the end, using the SOEM4 was simpler for me and gave me more control over where I tapped into the wiring loom, specifically in the boot.

Cheers.

[JustRight]

wow almost identical to my setup lol.
*clarion in-dash dvd player- removed stacker, used aftermarket fascia kit.
*Focal 165V30 6.5 inch splits
*Focal 690CVX 6x9's
*Focal solid 4 amp
*Kicker L7 square 12inch 750WRMS sub
*Kicker 750.1 amp
*Dynamat all 4 doors, parcel tray, dash in parts, and most of the boot also.

Focal kicks ass, i had Boston Acoustics before i got Focal, similar pricing but Focals better in my opinion

Absolutely agree with you there!

Great choice of gear mate :)

[JustRight]

Hi again everyone,

Well after a lot of listening to lots of different types of music I came to the conclusion that despite spending a lot of $$$ on my Focal upgrade, the quality of the sound from the system just was not any where near as good as I was looking for. It was way better than original, with lots more power, but as I have explained in some other posts the EQ of the factory system seemed to leave a LOT to be desired.

To my ears there just was not enough bass, and the mid-range was just way too loud and harsh relative to the rest of the music. This was particularly a problem once the volume got up a bit and the factory system would roll off a fair bit of the bass, probably to save the crappy plastic factory speakers.

Anyway, I have now added a Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.2 Digital Signal Processor to the system (Even more $$$) . This has been an absolute revalation! This has completely changed the factory system so that the the Equalisation is now under my control. Even after only a brief play with the installed unit it has completely transformed my system. Now the Focal drivers and Amplifier can really show their capabilities.

I will be posting details and some new pics in the coming days.

Cheers :thumbsup:

[oh_lol]

What wire did you splice into for the 12+ volt wire on the LOC? I think it's the yellow one...

[JustRight]

What wire did you splice into for the 12+ volt wire on the LOC? I think it's the yellow one...

Hi mate,

I can't remember, and my trim is all in place at the moment so I can't look. But the wiring diagram for the CU2 with Premium Audio says that it is indeed a Yellow wire going into the Amp in the boot. I spliced into this wire to power both the SOEM4 and the Rockford Fosgate 360.2. There is plenty of headroom on the amplifier power supply to run a couple of extra low wattage items.

To be certain though I always check the factory wires using a Multi Meter before actually cutting into anything.

Cheers.

[tuppelo]

Has anyone done it to Euro with SatNav as it has an Amp in a boot area? If so what have you used? Any issues?

[JustRight]

Has anyone done it to Euro with SatNav as it has an Amp in a boot area? If so what have you used? Any issues?

I believe that the 'Premium' audio system is the same in all three versions of the CU2, Base, Lux and Lux Nav. Only the head unit is a little different in the Navigation version. But for this overhaul I never touched anything in the dash. All output was derived from the Amplifier mounted in the boot, which as far as I can tell is the same in all three versions.

Cheers.

[tonymulia]

Hi JustRight,
Thank you for Sharing :-) I am thinking to upgrade mine too but I got few questions:
- where did you place the front tweeter? Does the tweeter for 165vr fits nicely without having to drill a hole on the door trim?
- where did you place the tweeter on the rear door?
- how to remove the parcel rack (the one close to the rear windscreen) in order to replace the speaker?
Thank you for your help:-)

[JustRight]

Hi JustRight,
Thank you for Sharing :-) I am thinking to upgrade mine too but I got few questions:
- where did you place the front tweeter? Does the tweeter for 165vr fits nicely without having to drill a hole on the door trim?
- where did you place the tweeter on the rear door?
- how to remove the parcel rack (the one close to the rear windscreen) in order to replace the speaker?
Thank you for your help:-)

Hi there mate,

The Focal tweeter fits exactly within the standard location on the front door trim where the factory tweeter sits. You need to run additional wiring as the Focal tweeter is powered from the Focal crossover. I found that it was possible to remove the plastic fitting for the factory tweeter from the trim. Once that was done the plastic mount that Focal provide is an exact fit in the hole left behind. Very convenient !!!

However the rear tweeters are a different story. To fit them I had to actually cut a hole in my rear door trim !!! With very careful use of a Dremel the pictures below show the result.

http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=pavvw&f=1'
Click to view full size! (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=pavvw)

http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=3gh0k&f=1'
Click to view full size! (http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=3gh0k)

To get to the rear speakers it isn't necessary to remove the entire parcel shelf. The plastic grilles over the speakers will pop out. Use a thin broad bladed tool under the front edge of the speaker grille and lever upwards firmly. The front clips should release allowing you to remove the entire grille. You can kind of see what I mean in this picture taken through the rear window.

http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.php?id=tgqt4&f=1'
Click to view full size! ('http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/index.php?page=image&id=tgqt4')

Removing the Sub-Woofer however is a much bigger problem. To do that you do need to remove the parcel shelf. That involves removing the 'C' pillar trims and the special air-bag retaining pins in the 'C' pillars. The best thing is to seach the Web for a copy of the CU2 Service Manual which contains detailed instructions and pictures. (That's what I did)

Cheers, and good luck.

[tonymulia]

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation JustRight.

[JackLandsford]

Hi All

Just got the MY12 Lux Sat Nav, great car but as you know bad sound system, Im thinking of having all this done but does anyone know of a place in Sydney where I can get it done Professionaly?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

[Paulius18]

Hello,
As i see you have changed your audio system.
DO you know where exactly is original amplifier of Premium Audio System?

[marquee]

In the headunit

[Paulius18]

In the headunit

really? :eek:

so it means that there is no external amplifier in premium audio system?

As i know that in accord USA model they have external amplifier next to the glovebox...

Euro model doesnt have external amplifier?

[alexkid]

i have a 2008 cu2 luxury navi and just wondering if you know what kind of sound system the accord euro cu2's run eg bosch or is it all panasonic cause i read futher back the amp is a panasonic
i am trying to find out so i can get an bluetooth car kit installed and all the installers want to know is the system a bosch because it will need a cable that costs $150 alone and then i have to buy the bluetooth kit itself
any help would be great

[Paulius18]

i found amplifier, in the drunk, at the right under carpet

[Neilz]

Just gotta say nice setup - but to the OP Q:

- Was it not possible to do a replacement with the tweeter in the car rather then create a hole in the door for the Focal Tweeter? - Reason i ask is that i do not want to cut or alter the door in any way bust just do a direct replacement of parts...

Cheers and thanks for the continous updates on this...

EDIT: all good found it:-

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?137735-CU2-Accord-Euro-Focal-speaker-upgrade&p=2903547&viewfull=1#post2903547

[Shuuyuki]

Hi guys, i would like instructions on how to remove the front door panels to get to the speakers.
if anyone can guide me or link me a video it would be great! thanks

[steeler]

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?175375-DIY-(CU2)-Remove-passenger-door-interior-panel

[steeler]

Having done all of this work myself I know how valuable wiring diagram information can be. I used these diagrams to correctly identify the input and output wiring colour codes for the Panasonic Amplifier in the boot of my CU2.


Can you please explain what the A1, B16, C7, D18 etc. means?

[Vapochilled]

Hello guys!

Sorry I need to bring this thread back to life and wait that ... hopefully... one of you masters can hint me with something.
I'm from Europe, I have the Honda Accord Cu2 == similar == to Acura TSX I believe. The car is the 2008 version onwards.

1. I've upgraded all my speakers to Focal (all the 6 speakers: front, rear doors and rear shelter)
2. The front doors are the ones with tweeters / crossovers - The most entry focal level but still nice
3. I've upgraded my SUB shelter to JL Audio 8W3v3
4. I've applied Dynamat all over the shelter + some sound foam - still a lot of rattles :(
5. Since the Head Unit only sends 1Pre-Amp (Left / Right) + Data (?!?!) to the OEM Amp, there is no way to get the signal before amplified.
6. Additional AMP added: FD 4.350
7. The above AMP support high signal inputs. Thefore, I've connected the OEM AMP OUTs of Front speakers + SUB out to the FD4.350 IN's
8. The FD 4.350 is know for low voltage usage. No battery power cable was added. Instead I've re-used the OEM AMp Power and split to the Focal AMp
9. System worked flawless for 1 year. Suddenly died / sound is fuzzy / poor quality when raised


Debug:
10. Removed the Focal AMP. Other speakers seem to work (the ones not connected to Focal AMP)
11. FOcal AMP is working. Tested in other vehicle
12. Without doing anything even the speakers connected to OEM AMP started to make noise.
13. Even with low volume, if I increase the SUB from -6 to +6 (even without any SUB connected - because remember that only rear speakers + shelter are on) the sound goes like fully scratched
14. So, Focal is not there, therefore, SUB and front speakers are not connected at all. But.. messing in the head unit with Bass and SUB levels scratch the sound of the normal speakers?
15. I left the car in this state - my grandmother is in the hospital - heart issues - Suddenly this week, the sound seems ok again on those speakers! I can mess with levels of bass and SUB sound looks ok on rear speakers.
16. Note that Focal AMP is still of. I left the car only with rear door speakers connected. Something its ok... sometimes its not - :humf:\

Questions:
15. Is it the Head Unit damaged ?
16. I already got a spare OEM AMP from a friend. I will try to swap it. What do you think?
17. I don't think its a fuse problem or so, because I ALWAYS had sound. Just, either its ok, or sounds bad. So, I don't think its a fuse topic. I needs to be 15. or 16. topic.
18. I got a Audison 8.9 Prima Sound (8 channels) + DSP . This will work as amp and DSP. Its pretty small and it was an awesome price: 399. That's also why I haven't touched the car. Waiting to have time to do it.
19. Audison Bit 8.9 supports high input levels. Should I use again the outputs of the OEM amp and then use the DSP also of the Bit 8.9 to clean as much as possible the poor OEM quality ? This audison doesn't even have RCAs.... ! Its really for these cases.
20. Should I pass a cable from battery + Firewall to the rear for the amp?
21. Where do you connect the negative (earth) ? Do you scratch the metal in the trunk and place it there?
22. What should I do with the JL Sub? The shelter rattles even in dry bass house music or jazz. I already applied the dynamat. This sub was also a mistake. I believe this is not a Airfree Sub for our trunk metal shelter.
23. I was trying to avoid place a SUB in the trunk because I like to have space for the bike or IKEA furniture :) What if I change the shelter speakers by 2x 16cm woofers and sell the JL ?
24. Or, what if I try to apply some foam box around the JL to try to create a small box?
25. Or what if I just quit the JL, sell it, keep the speakers and place under seat Subwoofers like the new Alpine V80 ?


Thank you all!
Waiting for you inputs

[iv-78]

Hello.....
sorry for my English, I write from Italy.

I wanted to ask a question:
PAC-SOEM4 you have connected to cables coming from the radio or to those leaving the PANASONIC amplifier.?

thanks for your invaluable help
bye

[Fredoops]

I don't know much about car audio myself but I would've thought some sort of DSP is needed if you're using amped signal as input no?

The PAC Soem4 goes before the amp.

[iv-78]

Thanks Fredoops.!
:)
you know what the cables before the amplifier.? to connect the PAC-SOEM 4.......
(I can not find the specific service manual for HONDA ACCORD CU).
Thanks for your help.!!

[Fredoops]

No unfortally I don't.

Maybe try Crutchfield website? And look for the late model acura tsx wiring?

[iv-78]

OK thanks
I try on the site.
on ebay I found just the service manual Honda Accord USA, is similar ......... but the audio system is different.

[Fredoops]

OK thanks
I try on the site.
on ebay I found just the service manual Honda Accord USA, is similar ......... but the audio system is different.

Have you tried type accord forums?

They are uk based and should have a more local view of what's what