Rears sound like maybe 1/3 of front volume to the point of worthlessness.
Is there a crossover killing the rear speakers? Virtually no bass.
Or just bad speakers?
The fronts kick butt for stock stuff.
Wondering if replacing rear speakers would actually do any good.

 

The rears get 1/3rd less power than the front from what I've heard. U really shouldn't be able to notice the rears. They sit so low in the back doors that the front seat blocks a lot of the sound. In my 13' Fit Sport, the front doors also sound like the mid-bass drivers of the system. I promise, rear pax when in the car wont hear the fronts either.

 

Doesn't the LX radio have a fader control you could use to boost the rear speakers?

 

You can fade to 100% rears and they are just soo quiet and lack any bass.
The rears just don't do much of anything.
Just trying to decide if replacements will help or if there is no hope from the head unit.
Point being, if the rears performed like the fronts, the system would sound far, far better.

 

Ok,

Here is what i'm doing eventually. I'm gonna run. 2 sets of Infinity kappa Components, a good LOC (line out converter) from off the stock navi unit, do an amp for the speakers (50x4 or up to 100x4), followed by an Infinity Basslink (in hatch).

Thats MY plan. Now lets say you're on a budget and weren't even planning audio modifications. Swapping speakers will still be louder up front. Why? because its still receiving the same power as b4. So here is what you do. Get an LOC and a small 4chl amp (25wx4 will do) and power the stock speakers. This will allow you to then sit in your seat, have a friend adjust the gains until the music sounds as even in back to the front. And YES the stock honda speakers can be amped about 10 more watts a chl. Under power to a speaker blows the rarely overpower +/- 10 watts. I can see this working in your favor.

 

Looks like I may not find the answers:
A. Does anyone else hear this specific rear speaker problem(1/3 front volume and zero bass)?
B. Could it be a crossover issue(headunit), hence the woefully lacking bass of rears?
C. Does speaker replacement alone actually improve the sound quality And volume of rears to better match the fronts? Anyone done it and can confirm?

Thanks for the replies thus far folks.

 

Could it be the rear speakers out of phase?

edit to add... I don't notice it, but then I listen to classical music where the sound stage would be in front. I do note the EX's tweeters give a much nicer image than speakers buried down in the doors.

 

I doubt this is a phasing issue. It's a very pronounced lacking of anything close to quality sound. You should try listening to rears only for a bit, rolling the fader back and forth and see what you think.
I fully understand the theory of highs, lows, mounting positions and front and rear.
I swear it's almost like the rears are passive woofers doing virtually nothing.
The whole point is whether I can gain a huge improvement in quality, volume and bass out of the rears with the stock head unit simply by changing rear speakers.
Looks like I'll just have to do it and see.

 

Did you not read anything i posted last? This radio gives more power to the front where a person ALWAYS is and the rear 2ndry. So the 160 watts is NOT 40X4 but more than likely channeled 50x2 in front and 30x2 rear. And here is a question i pose to you. Do you really think youre gonna hear much from the rear when the drivers sit at floor level and not to mention the foam in the front seats absorb any sound from coming to the front? See here is the issue. You, i, and most others had sedans/coupes where the speakers were in a rear shelf behind the back seats. The the sound was directed up, the rear window would then deflect the sound towards the front causing a almost equal front/rear sound balance. So if you had just sat and thought this through (im by no means talking down to you) this would all make sense to you.

Swapping speakers again wont change this. The speakers are still firing at floor level and the back of the front seat absorbing the sound. What you do is add a 25x4amp to the stock speakers (yes they can be lightly amped) and adjust more gains to the rear until your ears hear things more evenly.


Now here is what honda engineers were trying to do which may make better clarity for you. In the front, your have tweeters up near the windshield, woofers in front doors, and in the back doors. The set-up is so the rear pax get the same balance of mid/highs as you. The tweeters fire sound up, the windshield then deflects the highs directly at you head level as well as to the rear pax. So the quality of highs/mids/bass are evenly spread out the cabin (sorry for all the aviation terms. I'm a pilot).

Try this everyone. Park in a parking lot. Put in a real CD (NO MP3/WMA disc). Turn up the music to your liking with windows up. Now go sit in the back an tell me what you hear. Should be very close to what you hear up front.

Again im not talking down to anyone. Just opining to help educate. I'm not a car audio professional but when you've own and updated the car audio in my 13 Honda/Acura products since 1998 and worked in car audio department briefly the xmas b4 Circuit City went bankrupt, I've learned a lot from simply listening/watching.

Damn that was a lot. I hope this doesn't come off as rambling. I can understand your issue hearing things sorta out of phase. Even though my little brother and I own a plane (Beech Craft A36 Bonanza), if the travel time is under 8 hours drive, i drive. While on road trips, I love hearing my R&B/Light rock in concert quality. It takes the travel time out of your travels.

Hit me up if I can opine on anything else. There are a LOT more people wiser than me in this department but this is why car owners/enthusiasts have forums. To educate themselves on their car and to see mistakes others have made in their journey to modding so that "YOU" don't do the same thing.

 

I have read and appreciate your efforts.
I'm still trying to get the point across to you that the sound is way too poor to be acceptable. You can sit in back and tell they are simply pitiful. I feel there is an issue to be resolved. Maybe the head unit is too limiting for the rears to perform as I think they should, I don't know. That's why I'm asking anyone that's changed out speakers on this car to enlighten me on their results.
I'll probably try some speakers just to see.

 

I agree that the sound from the rear door speakers is weak and just there to provide some 'fill' for rear seat passengers. Still too cold up here to tinker, but I would start by borrowing a pair of small bookshelf speakers and attaching one to the wires going to one front door speaker and the other one at the rear door. Then you'll easily hear any difference in level and e.q. being supplied to the front and rear. That will help you figure out if the head unit or the door speakers is the most limiting part of the system.

 

Again please read. Buy an AMP before buying any new speakers. What can u possibly think replacing new speakers getting the same power the stock deck will send to them can possibly do? Again take the time to think this through.

Heres another scenario since im not getting through to you.

You drive at night and the stock 55watt headlights (rear speakers) are too dim (bad quality of sound) for you. So you then go to Andvance Auto Parts (Crutchfield.com) and buy a different set of 55watt HID "look" bulbs (aftermarket speakers) to swap to then notice the headlights (new speakers) are NO better. Why would they be? They are receiving the same 55watts (deck power) the stock ones got.

Another example. My car is slow (low speaker quality) so i think im going to change the tires (speakers) and just ignore the fact that only adding new tires (new speakers) to give me more horse power (sound quality) is the only thing that will work when it should be a cold air intake (amp).

Understand now? If me reducing things to this doesnt help, I cant help. But to others I hop this helps.

 

des, I totally understand what you've expressed like 5 times now.
My point/question is whether Honda went cheap at the rear for whatever reason and went with garbage oem speakers that MIGHT do some good to replace. I again wish someone that swapped out all 4 would come in and give an account of firsthand experience with this car.
But again, thanks for your time and effort.

 

Its an economy car. I came from an 08 Acura TL Tech which had ELS DTS 5.1 surround system. I knew not to expect that in a FIT by a MILE. I order to get quality sound in a sub compact, you're gonna need to PAY like ive started doing get the Hi-DEF sound i alway need. Great music coming out of crappy speakers makes it sound awful. What car in this class sounds great? Heard the Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai/Kia, GM? This issue i9s very fixable. If you do though, dont go "half ass" (southern term) about it.

PM bro,

 

Whonose, I bought my 2015 in November and we almost immediately drove it across Tennessee. Tuneage is a necessity, if for no other reason than to drown out the excessive wind and road noise.

One of my first comments to my husband was, "Why is there even a fade adjustment when there are no rear speakers?" The sound (or lack thereof) in my EX is truly horrible, and no, folks, I'm not wiling to put one penny toward improving anything in this car that is not absolutely required. I'm going to stop now before I got on a huge rant.

Bottom line - you are not imagining this. Sorry.

 

I didnt follow any of this....

 

If you are sitting halfway back in a concert hall, the sound that reaches you from the rear travels 3x further and is at best 1/9th (assuming zero absorption/100% reflection) of that you experience directly from the front. The Fit's setup emulates that pretty well.

 

well , i install my alpine ( a different radio with 4x45 watt) + a ktp445a and change the front speaker ( put some focal with tweeter place on corner of the dash ) and when place the fader all to the front it sound mucho better
but if i place the fader in neutral the sound clipping in front ( yes in front )

i try to replace the rear speakers also and found that it is still clipping in front ,( it was the same focal serie speakers but coax ) so i change the head unit , the 4 speakers and put a power pack and the theorie of less power in rear seems no god as my radio have 4 x 45 watt , if isomebody have answers... welcome !

 

The LX and EX have the same amplifier chip inside. Vheck out my stereo install thread. My rears i have the gain on my LOC up a 1/4 turn higher to even out the volume of 4 doors. Its the internal gain settings to that amp chip. You need an aftermarket install to really get decent sound.

 

yes sir , i juste finish to install the rear coax focal and with the front componant all plug to the alpine ida-x305 + ktp-445a , i must say that is way way better

the only thing i miss is the rear camera but i can live with out it ....

i also recheck my oem radio by replug all the wires and on the lx basic radio (dx in canada) and you dont need a code plus if you adjust time on radio the link to the dash clock is made so it is a good news if you have to resell the car with the oem radio , very happy