The Insight is a wonderfully designed car; when people stop me on the streets, I can’t say more great things about it… But their was one thing about the design I couldn’t stand to take any longer, and that was the lack of speakers.
I’ve read all the posts about the drop-in replacements and felt that the rear speaker placement was ok, but not spectacular. I also felt that having tweeters IN the front speakers rather then separated and next to the side view mirrors (like in most cars), was one sacrifice to many.
While these are affective and inexpensive ways of vastly improving your Insight’s entertainment capability, they do not satisfy my inner audiophile. So I thought about placement and eventually decided to have some custom pods made. This allowed me the flexibility to place the speakers in optimal locations where they would produce the best sound quality, while leaving the Insight’s interior design relatively untouched (or at least inexpensively reversible).
After some discussion with Brandon and his team of installers (which included an experienced Honda Insight mechanic), we decided to place the rear speakers in the far back corners. We did this to avoid any unforeseen problems that could arise from having magnets so close to the battery pack and to make securing of the rear pods easier. It was also the best place to keep the speakers as inconspicuous as possible from the outside. And since the only parts of the car that needed major altering was the thin grey material that covers the back, it would be relatively inexpensive for me to restore the car to its original two speaker glory.
The placement of the two front tweeters was a no brainier, but required custom pods none the less.
The result for me is an outstanding acoustic experience that effectively masks the outside noise, even while the stereo volume low.
The custom pods cost $380.00 to build and install. The speakers I choose were around $600.00 and included installation as well. To build and install everything took one and a half days to complete from start to finish. All-and-all, it came out to be just under a thousand dollars and given that I spend at least four hours a day in my car, it was worth every penny!!
We used 6 inch Diamond D3 speakers in the doors and 6.5 inch D6’s in the back. The tweeters were the 1 inch component speakers that came with the 6 inch D3’s for the doors. These speakers were expensive, but they produce awesome sound with the stock head unit. I’m planning to buy a new head unit in the coming months, but I’m waiting for a special iPod hookup.
I live in the Palmdale/Lancaster area, but I travel to LA almost everyday. If you want to see it I wouldn’t mind meeting up sometime to show you. Besides, I would like to see your car, it sounds like you have done some really interesting mods.
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2000 Insight - Silver - 89,856 miles at 62.3 lmpg - Tinted Windows - 6 Speaker System - MIMA Modification
I am in San Luis Obispo frequently, but not further South.
My first stereo mod was an improvement, but was also a 'do no evil' style where I didn't cut or permanently change anything. I am in the mood to do it up right, however. Yours sounds pretty nice, and it makes me wonder if I should go with a shop working on it for the professional look.
I was at the local do-it-yourself car wash today, playing my music loud for all to here. I do this often when I need to wash my Insight, but this time was different. Now that I can compete with the supped-up Mustang’s and Homie Mobiles, I was able to attract a lot of attention. A few people came up to me and asked about the car, but before I tell you what happened let me tell you what I normally do when I get there.
First I wash the car (duh), but when I pull up to the drying station I get the car into Auto Stop so I can listen to my music without spending fuel in the process. When I do this I can spend well over an hour detailing the car without a problem. This time was different.
Literally, while in the middle of telling someone about how great it is to listen to my music without consuming any gas, the fully changed 144V battery ran out of juice and the music stopped. I instantly new what was wrong and realized that I forgot to account for the increased load on the battery pack when doing this.
The car was able to last about twenty minutes before both batteries completely died. Luckily my hybrid is a manual, so I was able to get it started by rolling it down the hill. I will fully charge the battery again and time the exact life of the battery when I get the chance. I haven’t experienced a difference in driving performance since the upgrade but I will keep everyone posted.
I’m going to see if I can make some kind of shut off switch so that I can remove the entire system, including the stereo, from the Insight’s electrical system.
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2000 Insight - Silver - 89,856 miles at 62.3 lmpg - Tinted Windows - 6 Speaker System - MIMA Modification
Ok, the battery must not have been completely charged, but I could swear it was…
I drove my Insight up and down the 14 freeway to get the battery fully charged and Auto Stopped at a “Park and Ride.” I turned the stereo volume to the same level it was set to at the car wash and waited. After about 15 minutes the battery showed only two bars less then when I started.
Strange, but encouraging… I wonder why my battery died so quickly the first time?
Figgy,
I would defiantly take your Insight to a professional and have this done. I was going to figure out how to build the pods myself, but when I found out how long it was going to take for California Soundworks to do it, I said forget it.
I dropped the car off at nine in the morning and was suppose to get it back by six. I ended up getting the car back at one in the afternoon the next day.
It took one guy, who does this kind of thing all day, everyday, 13 hours to setup and build the pods. I’m sure I could have figured out how to build the pods myself, but I probably would have spent just as much money doing it if not more.
If you can't find someone in the Bay Area to help you help you out I'm sure California Soundworks wouldn't mind setting it. Their number is 661-945-0971 and ask for Brandon. He knows what to do as he was the one who worked on my car.
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2000 Insight - Silver - 89,856 miles at 62.3 lmpg - Tinted Windows - 6 Speaker System - MIMA Modification
Have you considered placing it in the spare tire compartment? There is not a lot of room down there but you might be able to get away with several smaller subs.
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2000 Insight - Silver - 89,856 miles at 62.3 lmpg - Tinted Windows - 6 Speaker System - MIMA Modification
The large versions of your images are not viewable by anyone, aside from you Change the SRC of the IMG tag from your local machine to the server path, see where it says src="file:....", that's your home computer. Fairly common mistake, when using a WYSIWYG html editor
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6 Speakers (No Drop-in Replacements Here)
- Tinted Windows - 6 Speaker System - MIMA Modification
Change the SRC of the IMG tag from your local machine to the server path, see where it says src="file:....", that's your home computer. Fairly common mistake, when using a WYSIWYG html editor 
