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Comments
- Kyle
As for the amp ground - you should be able to find a bolt in the trunk area. If not, one of the rear seat belt bolts will work.
f1monkey - when you installed the 6" X 9" speakers in the back deck, how did you get the mounting screws out of the original speakers? Also, when you said that your speakers "bled" into the tweeters, does this mean that I should only get 6" X 9"'s with an RMS rating of lower than 50 watts RMS? How did you get the amp installed and the wire run back to the trunk? Was that hard and how long did it take?
Also, this is a general question. Has anyone ever heard of or tried the 5 Star Shine wax and paint protection kit? I know the entire kits costs about $100, but is it worth it to protect the paint of my new Accord?
1. My first impression was that the front speakers sounded, frankly, terrible. Nothing like they sounded in the showroom. Very tinny, like the tweeters were turned up way too high (my radio controls were set to neutral). Part of this was due to the fact that the installer set the adjustable crossover to neutral. Given the location of the tweeter on the dashboard (I would argue a very accoustically bright location), they should have been set to minus 4 db (the lowest they could be set). I adjusted them down minus 4 db, and they now sound better, but still a bit on the bright side.
2. I forgot to mention the installation -- it looks completely stock. The installer able to install the Infinity speakers into the doors with a replacement bracket (about $12) and use the Honda cover. You would never know that the speakers were changed, whcih is exactly what I was looking for. There's been a lot of discussion on how to swap out the door speakers on 2003-2004 models, and it looks like the installer had to crack some plastic clips on the original door speakers to remove them, but otherwise everything went back in just fine.
3. The rear speakers sound great -- very full and rich, with adequate bass.
4. The front door component woofers, IMO, arent getting enough power -- they sound thin and flat. My sales representative warned me about this ahead of time. The solution is to add a two channel amp just to the front speakers, which I will probably do. Another solution is to add a four channel amp, but my sales rep through that this would be unnecesarily expensive as the rear speakers are intended primarily for fill. If that still doesn't do it, maybe a subwoofer, but that's unlikely.
Hope this helps someone.
>when you installed the 6" X 9" speakers in the >back deck, how did you get the mounting screws >out of the original speakers?
A rachet worked fine for me.
>Also, when you said that your speakers "bled" >into the tweeters, does this mean that I should >only get 6" X 9"'s with an RMS rating of lower >than 50 watts RMS?
I think what he meant was that since he has a lot of power going to them (since he has a good external amp), the crossover was not doing it's job and was letting frequencies get to the tweeter when they shouldn't have been. Any good crossover should not allow this to happen, but on $100 speakers you can't expect miracles.
Get the best sounding 6x9s you can get. The RMS rating really does not matter much.
In my system I have the balance to the front of the car by about 3dB. This way I have a good soundstage in front of me and the 6x9s add some low end bass.
To answer a question that will come up: with 'good' component speakers you can lower the level of the tweeter on the crossover. This allows you to 'dial-in' the sound that best works for your car. Most cheaper components will have a fixed level that you cannot adjust.
f1monkey - when you installed the 6" X 9" speakers in the back deck, how did you get the mounting screws out of the original speakers? Also, when you said that your speakers "bled" into the tweeters, does this mean that I should only get 6" X 9"'s with an RMS rating of lower than 50 watts RMS? How did you get the amp installed and the wire run back to the trunk? Was that hard and how long did it take?
Also, this is a general question. Has anyone ever heard of or tried the 5 Star Shine wax and paint protection kit? I know the entire kits costs about $100, but is it worth it to protect the paint of my new Accord?
actually put on the car to accomodate the installation. Get it done right or not at all is what I say. The people selling on ebay may have figured that out the hard way.
As for the Power wire to the amp, it was a 4 gauge wire ran through a pre drilled hole in the firewall and then run underneath the doorstep panels on the drivers side to the backseat and then underneath the backseat and into the trunk.
I have one question for Kendrid. How did they install the tweeters? Are they in the original stock spots in the dash underneath? or are theycut through? Have you seen if they altered the stock grille if it was mounted underneath?
I did mine through the grille, cutting a circle in the middle. They look and sound fine. I just remember that you had said they installed everything to look stock. When I listend to my tweets underneath the grille, strapped by wire tires, they sounded very bad so I knew this wasn't for me or the particular tweeters that I have.
- Kyle
I plan on trying them on top of the factory grill. It is just too cold out right now. If they sound better on top of the grill I was thinking about drilling a small hole through the factory grill to run the wire through.
I have purchased 100 sq ft of Fatmat, which is a generic Dynamat. It supposedly will reduce road noise by quite a bit. I plan on doing all 4 doors and the trunk if I have any left. It was $80 + shipping off of ebay.
The coupe's bumper is designed to accomodate the lights, having a place for them to mount from the get-go.
The sedan's bumper requires the use of a saw to CUT a hole for the lights. You can see what I mean by looking at a picture of the bumper of each at hondacars.com.
Whitecloud--why exactly was your bumper replaced?
Thanks in advance
The instruments are LED lit, and are nothing at all like conventional incandescent bulb-backlit gauges. You would likely have to replace lots of led's and would require some serious work. It might even be more work than it's worth.
Thanks
Rich
I might upgrade in the future and I'm leaning towards brands like MB Quart, Boston Acoustics, JL Audio, and Infinity. Any others I should consider?
Thanks
I just ordered one from H&A simplly because it looks durable and a likable protection for the trunk carpet.
hdjcpa: The fog lights are more for appearance than anything. They do provide slightly better vision at night and in foggy conditions but don't go into it expecting a drastic improvement.
I don't have the day/night mirror in my sedan but I did have it installed on my 03 Coupe. Since my windows were tinted fairly dark in the back there wasn't a huge difference. It was neat to have the compass though.
Virtually ANY product used by the Navy (or any federal, state or local governmental agency), has to go through the bidding process (by law). That means that procured materials or services, including waxes or polishes that you are questioning, are most often from the lowest bidder, not necessarily the best product.
I know all about the bidding process. I WORK for the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy. I just asked whether or not the 5 Star Shine products were good, and if anyone has used them before.
I live in VT, and so far this winter it's either -15, or snowing. The streets can't be plowed often or quickly enough, and so there is that constant snow/slush/ice that gets stuck between the wheel well and the tires. I try to remember to clean it whenever I park, and before pulling into the garage. So far, there's only been one time that I had to get out of the car mid trip to clean them, because I could tell the tires weren't turning properly.
My neighbor said to get mud flaps - that they keep the snow from sticking to the wheel well. (He doesn't have them on any of his cars because of the "cost".) It seems to me that there would be even less room for the snow then, and it would still get stuck.
Is he right - will mud flaps help?
Thanks!
I bought them from HandA for about $66 to protect the paint from pebbles.
I have to kick the stuff out on a daily basis.
I recommend it. Keep in mind, however, that the temp gauge and the foglights do not co-exist unless they both come from the factory that way. (EX-L)
Can you cycle between the odometer & temperature, or does it always show the temperature? Do you get 4 combinations [(1) total mileage - trip A, (2) total mileage - trip B, (3) temp - trip A, (4) temp - trip B], or is there a different way it is displayed? Thanks.
1. Total Mileage - Trip A
2. Outside Temp - Trip A
3. Outside Temp - Trip B
You can not see total mileage and Trip B at the same time.