Previously I'd posted in another thread that I'd be adding some new stereo components to my LX and now that it's finished just thought I'd share the details of my installation and the outcome for those who are interested. Sorry in advance for the lack of pictures. I get tunnel vision when I'm working on a project and never think to stop and document things. However, I'm happy to take pictures upon request of the finished work, although as you read on, there's not really much to "see"....
Components Installed:
AudioControl LC6i line output converter - $109 on Amazon
Alpine MRV-F300 Class D 4/3/2 Channel Amplifier 50W x 4 or 150W x 2 @ 4Ω - $150 on Amazon
Polk db6501 Component Front Speakers - $115 on Amazon
Polk db651 Coaxial Rear Speakers - $68 on Amazon
JL Audio ACP108LG Microsub+ 8" Powered Subwoofer - $345 from PacificStereo after 20% off coupon
My overall goal for this project was to substantially improve the audio quality while keeping the factory head unit. I consider the factory head unit "nothing special" but the fact that it's integrated with the rear camera, steering wheel audio and bluetooth controls, and USB/line-in underneath makes an aftermarket head unit install potentially troublesome. Especially if I want to retain these functions.
Starting with the dash, the soft trim surrounding the head unit and extending across the passenger side pulls out in one piece fairly easily. I recommend starting under the glove box. Once that's out, the head unit is held in place with three screws. Do not attempt to unscrew these with a phillips driver. Use the appropriate 8mm (I think) socket. The third screw is at the bottom of the unit and chances are you'll need an extension to get to it. DO NOT unscrew this bottom screw all the way. The screw WILL fall down into the dash. You can just loosen it and lift off the head unit. With the head unit removed I used a 9-wire to tap into the speaker outputs and ignition turn on for the LC6i. I ran the 9-wire down the dash and through the center column to the LC6i which is under the driver's seat, secured with velcro.
The the amplifier install was pretty straightforward. Used a T-Spec 4 gauge dual amp kit ($100 on Amazon). Ran my main power through the firewall almost right behind the steering wheel. In this spot there's some factory wiring going through a HUGE grommet, so I just poked a little hole and pushed the 4 gauge through no problem. Ended the main power with a small distribution block which is also located under the driver's seat.
From this distribution block I'm running 8 gauge power to the Alpine amp (also under the driver's seat) and to the JL Powered Sub. The sub fits perfectly in an upward firing position under the rear seat....slid all the way back to the floor bracket that the bottom of the rear seat snaps into when unfolded. And all of the sub's power and signal connections disconnect quickly and easily in case I need to fold down/up the seat. I also used the distribution block to get power for the LC6i. For grounds, I used a seat bolt for the Alpine amp & LC6i and for the sub I used a bolt holding the bracket under the rear seat.
LX models have an empty space on the dash where the tweeters would go if there were any, so I naturally used this dash location to install the component tweeters. The door panels came off fairly easily...same as any other Honda. While I had the doors apart, I went ahead and layed down some Dynamat. I didn't want to bother with removing the weather barrier, so I just cut small pieces and placed them wherever I could on the inner door metal. I surrounded the speaker openings with Dynamat and added some on the outer door metal behind where the speakers are mounted. I also stuck some Dynamat on some of the flat plastic parts of the inside of the door panels just to give the doors an overall more solid feel. I had ordered some Scosche brackets to mount the speakers but ended up not using them. Instead I used the brackets that came with the Polk speakers and drilled a few new holes in the doors to mount them. The Scosche brackets made the speakers stick out further than was necessary. Using the Polk brackets, the speaker magnets cleared the windows when rolled down, so no worries. Plus, the Scosche brackets would have required cutting away some of the inside of the factory door grill. I did not use the factory speaker wiring, so I ran some new 14 gauge wire through the door boots and to the Alpine amp. The crossovers for the front speakers I just secured under the dash on either side of the car (more on this later).
Sound quality / Observations:
Well there's no way it was going to sound worse than the stock setup! The Polk db's have a definite "break-in" period of a few hours. They initially sounded a little hollow, but the frequency response improved dramatically over the next few days. Treble/bass settings on the head unit I've kept at "0". No need to adjust either. The crossovers have three settings (-3db/0/+3db) for the tweeters, and I've kept this at 0 as well. The LC6i is awesome. The 6 output signals it sends to the amps can be adjusted and it has lights to show when it's clipping, so you never really need to turn up the gain on your amplifiers at all. The JL Audio Microsub+ is unreal for a tiny 8". They're doing some crazy stuff over there now with the amplifiers in these subs. This one is putting out 250W RMS @ 0.40Ω! Other models are putting out 500W at 0.2Ω! I ran a remote bass control knob and mounted it on one of the blank panels next to the stability control button...perfect!
Issues:
First issue had to do with some noise I began noticing from the tweeters. The noise would being as soon as I released the parking brake. Strange. I went through typical troubleshooting, checking grounds, signal cables, etc. But in the end the Polk crossovers were the culprit. With the speaker wires disconnected from the amplifier completely, the tweeters would still make noise all by themselves. I was about to call an exorcist, when I decided to check the crossovers. Upon moving them away from whatever electrical components they were near, the noise stopped. Wow. Problem solved.
Second issue is more of a preference than a problem. I paired up the Alpine amp and the Polk db's on the advice of a Crutchfield advisor. The Alpine amp (50W RMS x 4) was fine for the rear speakers (rated at 60W RMS) but it was underpowered for the component fronts (rated at 100W). I knew the sound was suffering. So I decided to bridge the 4 channels into 2 and now the amp is supplying 150W RMS x 2 to the front speakers (good thing I upgraded those speaker wires). And it sounds sooooo much better. As for the rears, I'm just letting the head unit power them...they're really just there for show anyway. But as a lesson, if you buy speakers with a power rating higher than your amp, you won't really hear their full potential.
Overall I spent about $800 for everything, plus a day and a half of labor to install it all. And I'm super pleased with the results. It's by far the best sounding setup I've installed thus far. Amazing clarity, and lots of punch. And it's also the most discreet. Nothing is visible, and virtually no seating or cargo space has been compromised.
Components Installed:
AudioControl LC6i line output converter - $109 on Amazon
Alpine MRV-F300 Class D 4/3/2 Channel Amplifier 50W x 4 or 150W x 2 @ 4Ω - $150 on Amazon
Polk db6501 Component Front Speakers - $115 on Amazon
Polk db651 Coaxial Rear Speakers - $68 on Amazon
JL Audio ACP108LG Microsub+ 8" Powered Subwoofer - $345 from PacificStereo after 20% off coupon
My overall goal for this project was to substantially improve the audio quality while keeping the factory head unit. I consider the factory head unit "nothing special" but the fact that it's integrated with the rear camera, steering wheel audio and bluetooth controls, and USB/line-in underneath makes an aftermarket head unit install potentially troublesome. Especially if I want to retain these functions.
Starting with the dash, the soft trim surrounding the head unit and extending across the passenger side pulls out in one piece fairly easily. I recommend starting under the glove box. Once that's out, the head unit is held in place with three screws. Do not attempt to unscrew these with a phillips driver. Use the appropriate 8mm (I think) socket. The third screw is at the bottom of the unit and chances are you'll need an extension to get to it. DO NOT unscrew this bottom screw all the way. The screw WILL fall down into the dash. You can just loosen it and lift off the head unit. With the head unit removed I used a 9-wire to tap into the speaker outputs and ignition turn on for the LC6i. I ran the 9-wire down the dash and through the center column to the LC6i which is under the driver's seat, secured with velcro.
The the amplifier install was pretty straightforward. Used a T-Spec 4 gauge dual amp kit ($100 on Amazon). Ran my main power through the firewall almost right behind the steering wheel. In this spot there's some factory wiring going through a HUGE grommet, so I just poked a little hole and pushed the 4 gauge through no problem. Ended the main power with a small distribution block which is also located under the driver's seat.
From this distribution block I'm running 8 gauge power to the Alpine amp (also under the driver's seat) and to the JL Powered Sub. The sub fits perfectly in an upward firing position under the rear seat....slid all the way back to the floor bracket that the bottom of the rear seat snaps into when unfolded. And all of the sub's power and signal connections disconnect quickly and easily in case I need to fold down/up the seat. I also used the distribution block to get power for the LC6i. For grounds, I used a seat bolt for the Alpine amp & LC6i and for the sub I used a bolt holding the bracket under the rear seat.
LX models have an empty space on the dash where the tweeters would go if there were any, so I naturally used this dash location to install the component tweeters. The door panels came off fairly easily...same as any other Honda. While I had the doors apart, I went ahead and layed down some Dynamat. I didn't want to bother with removing the weather barrier, so I just cut small pieces and placed them wherever I could on the inner door metal. I surrounded the speaker openings with Dynamat and added some on the outer door metal behind where the speakers are mounted. I also stuck some Dynamat on some of the flat plastic parts of the inside of the door panels just to give the doors an overall more solid feel. I had ordered some Scosche brackets to mount the speakers but ended up not using them. Instead I used the brackets that came with the Polk speakers and drilled a few new holes in the doors to mount them. The Scosche brackets made the speakers stick out further than was necessary. Using the Polk brackets, the speaker magnets cleared the windows when rolled down, so no worries. Plus, the Scosche brackets would have required cutting away some of the inside of the factory door grill. I did not use the factory speaker wiring, so I ran some new 14 gauge wire through the door boots and to the Alpine amp. The crossovers for the front speakers I just secured under the dash on either side of the car (more on this later).
Sound quality / Observations:
Well there's no way it was going to sound worse than the stock setup! The Polk db's have a definite "break-in" period of a few hours. They initially sounded a little hollow, but the frequency response improved dramatically over the next few days. Treble/bass settings on the head unit I've kept at "0". No need to adjust either. The crossovers have three settings (-3db/0/+3db) for the tweeters, and I've kept this at 0 as well. The LC6i is awesome. The 6 output signals it sends to the amps can be adjusted and it has lights to show when it's clipping, so you never really need to turn up the gain on your amplifiers at all. The JL Audio Microsub+ is unreal for a tiny 8". They're doing some crazy stuff over there now with the amplifiers in these subs. This one is putting out 250W RMS @ 0.40Ω! Other models are putting out 500W at 0.2Ω! I ran a remote bass control knob and mounted it on one of the blank panels next to the stability control button...perfect!
Issues:
First issue had to do with some noise I began noticing from the tweeters. The noise would being as soon as I released the parking brake. Strange. I went through typical troubleshooting, checking grounds, signal cables, etc. But in the end the Polk crossovers were the culprit. With the speaker wires disconnected from the amplifier completely, the tweeters would still make noise all by themselves. I was about to call an exorcist, when I decided to check the crossovers. Upon moving them away from whatever electrical components they were near, the noise stopped. Wow. Problem solved.
Second issue is more of a preference than a problem. I paired up the Alpine amp and the Polk db's on the advice of a Crutchfield advisor. The Alpine amp (50W RMS x 4) was fine for the rear speakers (rated at 60W RMS) but it was underpowered for the component fronts (rated at 100W). I knew the sound was suffering. So I decided to bridge the 4 channels into 2 and now the amp is supplying 150W RMS x 2 to the front speakers (good thing I upgraded those speaker wires). And it sounds sooooo much better. As for the rears, I'm just letting the head unit power them...they're really just there for show anyway. But as a lesson, if you buy speakers with a power rating higher than your amp, you won't really hear their full potential.
Overall I spent about $800 for everything, plus a day and a half of labor to install it all. And I'm super pleased with the results. It's by far the best sounding setup I've installed thus far. Amazing clarity, and lots of punch. And it's also the most discreet. Nothing is visible, and virtually no seating or cargo space has been compromised.
