DC5 Sound System Minor Upgrade

[Honda_machine1]

Hi There,

Had a DC5S for a few years now and deciding to keep it for much longer. Was thinking about changing the sound gear in it as I drive quite a few kms. I have seen the links to how to do it with the full guide and pictures but it doesn’t say much about the actual gear and how it sounds.
So question is, anyone out there done a minor upgrade and can comment on whether it was worth it, does it sound loads better etc? I was thinking of a small but decent quality 4 channel amp under the passenger seat, replace the front speakers I was originally thinking some good splits but my friend says coxials are nearly as good for much less work, disconnect the stock tweeters, disconnect and remove rear speakers and possibly bridge the other 2 channels on the amp and add a small 8 or 10 inch sub in the future. For the front speakers, everyone says the mounting depth is an issue, has anyone got suggestions of exact models that they used that are pretty good, Focals?
Not looking to spend a fortune either. Is it a lot of work and is it worth it?

[infurNOS]

Moved to Forum -> Technical -> In Car Entertainment (ICE) and Interior

[TbM]

So question is, anyone out there done a minor upgrade and can comment on whether it was worth it, does it sound loads better etc?

depends on what your definition of minor is.

I was thinking of a small but decent quality 4 channel amp under the passenger seat, replace the front speakers I was originally thinking some good splits but my friend says coxials are nearly as good for much less work, disconnect the stock tweeters, disconnect and remove rear speakers and possibly bridge the other 2 channels on the amp and add a small 8 or 10 inch sub in the future.

Id just get a 2 channel that powers your splits then look at a mono block for the sub if you get one, if you get a 4ch then you limit the subs you can use.
Splits(components) are much better than coaxial but they are more work.

For the front speakers, everyone says the mounting depth is an issue, has anyone got suggestions of exact models that they used that are pretty good, Focals?
Not looking to spend a fortune either. Is it a lot of work and is it worth it?

Focal and morel are the 2 brand of splits i recommend most often, i use focal.


Whats your budget? no one ever mentions how much they are looking to spend, thats one of the most important bits lol.

[-JC-]

Friends don't let friends install co-axials in the front.

As far as recommendations for splits . . . you need to listen to them, splits are a very very very personal choice. I have a set that some of my mates love, and some of them hate, but hey, its my money, so I'm the only one that has to like them.

TbM is spot on, anyone who has played around with audio will ask you the same question straight up. Set a budget and build a system accordingly.

[TbM]

Friends don't let friends install co-axials in the front.

hahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahhahah ahahhahah thats awesome, completely agree.

[Honda_machine1]

Well I was original thinking just the one amp as I don’t want to fill the car with equipment. A small amp under the seat you would hardly know its there.
As for $$ I was thinking definitely <$1000 probably around the $500-$700 mark. Anything more and I think I don’t think I will bother and just save for an epic system for the house. I would’ve thought the amp would be about $250 and the 2 speakers would be about $250-$300 for something that was ok. Im not after epic levels of sound with every minute detail, just an improvement in clarity and depth…but I am guessing it is one of those cases unless you spend more then $XX your better off sticking with the stock system….

[TbM]

for that price range i usualy recommend the morel maximo or tempo, with a 2 channel amp, dynamat door kit and wiring ect you should come in around $600 -$700. but this leaves you no budget for a retailer to install so i hope your diy'ing.

[Drifter995]

I would say, since you don't appear to want huge amounts of bass, a small 4 channel amp would suffice. bridging the other two channels would work fine for a 10 or 12" sub. Focal make pretty good subs, and their equipment is usually pretty good off not much power. Depends how you want to go about it really. If you want to add a sub and have loud booms, just get a cheap 2 channel for now, and get a mono and sub later. if you just want some subbass fill, get a 4channel, and leave those last two channels for a sub.

So yeah, morel maximo's for $230~ cheaper 4channel for like $300~ depends what you get really. And either install fees with the last money, or install fees and some dynamat. or just dynamat.
Also agreeing on the splits point. You have stock tweeters dude... Get splits. Will sound better, get more out of the speakers, better staging. you won't regret it. You have stock tweeters, so you don't have to make pods, you'd just have to put the new tweeters in the stock spots. easy as.

[Honda_machine1]

So at this stage, I have narrowed it down to replacing the headunit with a new double DIN (~$200), Installing a small 2 channel amp ($250) and replacing front components ($200) and not worrying about a subwoofer. Maybe getting some new coaxials ($100) for the rear run off the headunit or just use the stocks.
Have any of you actually installed a small amp and re-wired new speakers in the front of DC5? Ive found all the guides on the net of how to do it. Headunit seams doable just get the right harness, Rears seem very easy to replace if your using stock wiring harnesses so I am cool with that, front door speakers seem difficult and potential to stuff your doors up. Also the tweeters look hard to run wires too, where on earth would you put the crossovers?! In the door surely they would rattle around. Also everywhere I have read people suggest they are 6.5” speakers, I don’t think this is the case as I pulled out the rears and they measure approx. 150mm across which would mean there 6”?
Also would you know a rough cost of what a basic installation like this would cost to be done by a decent shop? I wouldn’t want to give it to JB or Autobahn or anything, heard fhrx are the go but they are a long way away and if they do installs on lamboginhis id imagine they are very expensive. I would’ve guessed about $250 for a good install with this gear, far off the mark? (2.5 hrs of people that know exactly what they are doing x $100/hr)
I am also considering forgetting the amp altogether and just running 4 coaxials with a new head unit and the wiring harnesses, probably be much much easier. Would this sound any good?

[Drifter995]

I have no idea what you're getting for $200 double din wise, but that seems far too cheap to be good... Also, I'd probably just stick with the stock headunit for this job, or get a single din headunit and pocket. Generally the single dins have more tech in them for the same price as double dins (ie, a cheaper double din could be like $2-300 and have 2 preouts and no eq settings, whereas a $2-300 single din would have 3 preouts and something like 3 band eq)
Generally, depending on the store, the install costs are around $70-80 an hour (local store is $75) and headunit generally takes an hour or less, if you get splits, they are around $130~ and amp is usually an hours work too. For the splits though, it depends on what work you want done. They can make you custom pods in your a pillars, they can just attach them somewhere, they can just replace factory speakers, etc. I'd say, give them a call (or drop in if you can) have a chat to them, and see what they recommend.
Also, just leave stock rears, put that extra $100 towards install.

Where would you place the crossover? You would screw or stick it down somewhere under the door skin, and make it not budge. Generally under the arm rest is a good spot
As for your last question of dropping the amp and getting coax off headunit, nooop. Unless honda was insane back then, you'll find your fronts are splits anyway, so putting coax' in the front is a bad idea you'll lose staging, and it won't sound as good as splits. plus, the amp will get them louder, make them sound cleaner and give them more punch.

[curtis265]

sorry for the noob question, but TbM, why do you recommend a 2channel amp and a monoblock instead of having a 4channel amp and using 2 for the splits and 2 for the sub?

[Honda_machine1]

Thanks for the advice,
The reason for dropping the amp is mainly due to room, I only want one if it can fit under the seat and it seems that its quite a bit of work with running new wires and stuff. Id rather just have 4 speakers and a headunit. I realise that amps etc significantly help but its just a car stereo, I don’t want to drop too much money into it and I don’t want to be playing ultra loud as well.
I have since found a sweet alpine DVD double DIN headunit that’s more like $600 but says has high powered 18W RMS x 4 output. The reviews on the net give this thing 5 stars it has 3 preouts etc etc. Im thinking maybe just to run with this, see how stock speakers go and if they are no good replace from there. Whilst the amp will sound good I just think its probably too much mucking around for the little amount of space I have. From what I can gather from a range of forums and such…
-You need to replace headunit as stock ones are rubbish and lineout convertors are also pretty ordinary.
-Components are the go but unless you amp them you are pretty much wasting your time as they will be underpowered
-Amping requires new wiring which is time consuming and can be messy.
-Rear speakers don’t do much so better off not to invest too much money there.
Also, yes the stock fronts are split but they aren’t comparable to actual component speakers are they? As in, they wouldn’t have a proper actual crossover etc, so essentially – aren’t they just coaxial’s but the tweeter is mounted on the dash instead of on the main driver? I see you can get alpine type S where the crossover is a tiny little thing, maybe they are the go. Might also go for 5 ¼” speakers if using headunit as theyd probably need less power to run so sound better without amp im guessing.