[The Citrus Smoothie]

Following my posts on the "Insight GPS Nav / TV System Pics" topic, I finally upgraded my audio speakers last weekend for a much improved sound. I thought it might be useful to share my experience - I hope the links work.

For the record, the OEM speakers are 4 ohm, 15 watt, 16cm in diameter (about 6 and a quarter inches) and have a maximum mounting depth of no more than 5 cm (about 2 inches). The OEM speakers use triangular screwholes, therefore to do a easy straight swop, you need to find a speaker that meets the size requirements above and has 'universal' screwholes. Beware that a more common speaker size is 17cm or 6 and a half inches; 16cm takes a bit more shopping around (at least in the UK). No doubt the more handy of you out there will be able to work around this size problem.

One of the best straight swop speaker I could find was the Pioneer TSG-1630; however I went for more power and a deeper basket and chose the Pioneer TS-E1675 (at least 50W each). This photo shows both the old and the new speakers above the rear right speaker fitting.

http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/bc/christian ... ft.jpg&.sr

You will note that there is a black plastic OEM back to the rear speaker fitting and will have seen the very close proximity of pipework. Anyone intending to install their own rear speakers in this area should keep high and to the side of of the car to avoid this pipework.

The same can be said of the rear left hand side (American drivers side) where there appears to be orange fittings quite close as well. Please see second photo.

http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/bc/christian ... pg&.src=ph

The third picture shows the start of cutting away part of the fitting in the front right door; this will be necessary for nearly all speakers except those specially designed with a 'shallow basket'. There is at least another inch or 2cm behind the OEM fitting before you hit the side impact bar(?) or window storage.

http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/bc/christian ... pg&.src=ph

Depending on the protusion of your new speakers, you may also find it necessary to 'shave' some of the inside of the speaker grill. The speaker wiring table which is on InsightCentral under Knowledge base, I found very useful; I hope others find my post useful too.

 

[Rick]

Glad to see ya got better sound per my picture recently comparing the stock with a much better speaker. So you have all 4 speakers then in the car? You did replace the door speakers too right?

 

[puck]

:arrow: I'de like to hear from people who have installed amps and subs :?: Does anything rattle when it thumps :?: How does the cabin deal with the Noise :?: Is it enough to conceal the road noise :?:

 

[Rick]

Puck,
1. Under the seat(s) is the best place. I think Wayland sold all his amp racks, but some pieces of velcro holds them in quite nicely to the fuzzy cardboard they call carpet.

2. The car rattles like mad, the thing is all plastic in the rear and nothing else. The carpet padding I installed in the whole car to dampen the noise helped greatly though.

3. Again, lots of plastic rattle (with enough power of course), it can get pretty loud as the cab is small. If you put a sealed box inside the rear well it acts like a band pass also.

4. Yes it can drown out the road noise, but you have to turn it up a lot. At the sound levels necessary to drown out the road noise your looking at deffinite long term hearing damage more than likely. Again, the reason I installed some noise deadening material. Less road noise means lower volume necessary on the stereo and less decibles that reach my ears.

 

[Thorian]

Hmm thanks for the info Im thinking of installing a set of Infinity refrence component speakers for the front and mounting a infinity perfect 10 in the back as I have already Yanked the storage box to get more storage space. I think I am going to end up with a small 50X2 under the Driver seat to run the front and a 150 X 1 watt amp under the
passenger side to drive the sub. I havent accuired the amps all I know is that I will not use Rockford fosgate amps as they are not fuse protected and if a strand shorts out the amp then you are SOL as opposed to replacing a blade fuse.

 

[Rick]

Thorian, I have almost that exact setup. I have a set of Infinity Reference 6.5 two ways up front being powered off of my deck. An amp is in their future, but it works for now. You'll have to cut away some plastic behind the speaker mounts to make room for the magnets, and they use the 4 ponit holes so you'll also have to drill some holes for the speakers. But it's all in the name of better audio. The on thing I like about the Infinities if the tweeter rotates so you can point it at you to create a sweet spot.

As far as a sub I have an Infinity Kappa Perfect 10 in the rear well in a sealed box. One of these days I'm going to rebuild it as it sticks up just a little bit too high and I can't close the lid all the way. It's powered off of a 180 watt JBL amp that I had sitting around, which makes the speaker move pretty impressively considering it's rated for 1200 watts peak.

As far as fusing, just make sure there is a fuse withing a couple inches of your battery on the main power lead run. That way if anything shorts the fuse will blow and not the wire. I learned this after my friends vehicle cought fire when there was no fuse and the firewall ate through some 10 gague wire.

 

[Bill]

Regarding additional speakers: I have installed an inexpensive "subwoofer" from J.C. Whitney in my car:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml? ... 48&BQ=jcw2

It works well, sounds decent, fits in the rear cubby hole, and was quite reasonably priced. Since the speaker wants two separate signals, I tie into the rear speaker wires (no rear speakers installed on this car).

A word of caution: make sure that you hook the speaker power either through a switch or on a ignition-switched fuse. This speaker can drain the stock battery over the weekend. Trust me, I know. :wink:

 

[LondonToLA]

Insight Speakers

Ok. So, we all know that the stock speakers are pretty horrible. As is the stock radio/tape player (does anyone even use tapes anymore? That's the 8-track of the 90s!) Anyway, the first thing that I did when I got my insight was replace the stock speakers with new and better ones, along with a sweeeeet JVC CD/MP3 player that fits nicely into the dash. I also added the rear speakers which do make the sound of the music playing a little more "full" sounding. I don't know what Honda was thinking putting such a cra**y stereo in such a kewl and high-tech vehicle. Honda says that any modifications to the vehicle will void the warranty, but my dealer doesn't seem to care - I still get all warranty work covered. :wink:

 

[Rick]

Re: Insight Speakers

Honda says that any modifications to the vehicle will void the warranty, but my dealer doesn't seem to care - I still get all warranty work covered. :wink:

It would only void the warranty on any part of the car that you effected by doing so. Like if you melted the wires going to the speakers or blew something on the same circuit and could prove your modifications caused it then it would void the warranty on that. However, if say something like your transmission went out they can't exactly blame that on your aftermarket stereo. One thing though, if say something like the DC/DC went, I'd deffinitely put the stock deck back in before I took it to the dealership. Unless they can prove it was there they'd have to do the warranty work.

 

[Atheos]

Re: Insight Speakers

Honda says that any modifications to the vehicle will void the warranty, but my dealer doesn't seem to care - I still get all warranty work covered. :wink:

If a dealership gives you any trouble with a warranty in reference
to an aftermarket item, you should arm yourself with information about
the Magnuson-Moss Warranty act.
Basically what it says for auto dealerships, is that if a dealer claims a
warranty is voided by the installation of aftermarket equipment, they must
install that equipment at no charge.
I've had to butt heads with a few service managers over this very issue,
and they usually back down real quick.
Here's a pdf sent out by DEI (makers of Viper) regarding this issue.
This pdf is dealing with automotive security, but it applies to all aftermarket
equipment.
www.installerassist.com/media/mag-moss.pdf
Also, if you google magnuson-moss, you will find quite a bit of information about your warranty rights.

 

[Mr. Salty]

I just posted to another modifiers querie, so please excuse the repeat.
All I can say is check out a product called "Quiet Coat." It dampends sound better than blankets and is less difficult to apply cause its a paint. Brush or spray. "Deadens" base, reduces road noise and makes those rattles go away.
Great stuff.