OEM Fit Sport HU - Better Speakers?

[nodrogkam]

Hello, I've been reading a few threads in here and got a pretty good idea of what I could do if I overhaul my sound system, but I want to keep the OEM head unit. Now it says on the sticker its a 200W system. Would it be worth my while to upgrade the stock speakers to something else?

If so, I would just replace the 4 6.5" speakers and leave the two original tweeters. So i'm not really looking for a component system, and no subwoofer.
I am pretty satisfied with the OEM speakers, but I feel they are definately missing something.

Opinions, suggestions...anything is really appreciated!
Thanks in advanced!

[jedimindtricks]

yes, look into boston speakers.

[nodrogkam]

Originally Posted by jedimindtricks

yes, look into boston speakers.

Thanks, i will.

[trancedsailor]

I am partial to JL Audio or Alpine for speakers/amps. Can't go wrong with those 2 companies!

[Rod2Rice]

The stock speakers are junk, you will be very happy replacing them. The stock tweeters also can't reproduce crisp clear highs, so I would certainly replace them. I ran my stock tweets for a week or so with all the other speakers replaced with Infinity Kappas, and it was a night and day difference when I finally put the new tweets in.

[Injundon]

The factory head unit is a major weakpoint as well. If you change the speakers I would suggest getiing a component set for the front. The OEM tweeters are really sub-par. If you don't plan to ever change the factory head unit, than look into getting speakers with a high efficiency rating (at least 92 DB 1 watt/1 meter or 94 db at2.83V(cheater spec)

[nodrogkam]

Thanks everyone!

I just had some Alpine Type S components installed into the front. There is certainly a difference, but not huge. I left the rears as is. I may change them later, although they seem to reproducing the full range of sound pretty decently (better than the oem front components).

If i do decide to change the rears i may just go with the same Alpine type S's...otherwise do any of you have suggestions for the rears? Brand/ # of ways etc.

If i wanted high efficiency i was told Infinity would probably be best.
Are the rear speakers 2 way or 3 way?

[trancedsailor]

I was thinking Alpine Type X components front and coaxials in the rear. Dunno about 2 or 3way

[nodrogkam]

Originally Posted by trancedsailor

I was thinking Alpine Type X components front and coaxials in the rear. Dunno about 2 or 3way

Wow i had no idea alpine's had Type X's.
Unfortunately my budget doesnt allow for those.

I didn't even go for the type R's because I didnt feel that they were worth it hooked up to the OEM system. But i guess if anyone has experience and believes otherwise (type R working better than type S w/oem HU), then i still have time to go back to the shop to do an upgrade...haha.

[Injundon]

Type- R's are not efficient at all and need a good bit power to shine. The rears are full range cones.. same exact woofers as were in the front doors. Just put some Type-S's in the rear, just 2 ways they are pretty good overall speakers for the price.

[Rod2Rice]

I have Infinity Kappas in all 4 doors, if I were buying new speakers I would get the Reference line, same sound IMO, and cheaper than the Kappas. Not very expensive either. This is my 2nd set of Infinity speakers and I am very happy with the sound produced by them. Pioneer used to be my favorites, but not anymore.

[nodrogkam]

I'll wait for some $ to come in and perhaps i'll get the Type S's installed in the rear doors.

I was going to get infinity since the guy at the shop recommended them as one of the best for keeping the OE HU and just replacing the speakers.
But they were a bit more than the Alpines. I should have just gone with them since previous experience told me I liked the way the Infinities sounded over the Alpines (in the same car). But I don't regret my purchase at all.

Thanks again for all the info and input! I'm loving this forum so far!

[CHIECARAIG]

I Love My Focal Speakers... No Regrets Getting It...a Lil Pricey But It Sure Is Worth It...

[tubegeek]

(No pics, sorry.)

The Infinity Kappa 62i's were purchased used on Craig's List for $30/pr. These are two-way 6.5" speakers and I installed them in my 08 Fit Sport yesterday.


First I removed the door panels and removed the speakers from the doors. BE CAREFUL HERE: I needed to re-use part of the factory speakers/mounts, but in removing them I messed one of them up and had to reinstall it with silicone goop instead of snapping it in factory-style. You want to remove the factory speakers by suavely popping out the top clip with a screwdriver, not by snapping off the hooks at the bottom like a dumbass.

If anyone has a factory speaker they'd like to get rid of so I can try it again I'd appreciate a PM. Thanks!

Once the speakers were removed I hacked them up as follows:

I sliced through the rubber surround to free the cone at its edge. Then I cut apart each leg of the basket which is plastic. This allows you to remove the cone and magnet, with just a ring with the snap mounts left. Finally, I cut the speaker connector free from the basket/mount assembly, and cut the wires to it.

I soldered a short wire pair from the Infinity's terminals to the connector, preserving the polarity (Infinity + to Honda Green/White, Infinity - to Honda Green/Black. That's the Left speaker's color code, I forget what it was on the other side.)

I also replaced the crappy electrolytic 3.3 uF crossover cap with a polypropylene film 3uF I had in my parts bin. I did the same thing to the tweeter, in the door panel. Those electro caps are easy things to change with a big effect on the sound IMHO. I hot-glued the caps to a surface nearby when I had them soldered in.

I sliced the factory basket/mount at its edge so that it was flush with the surface that originally held the edge of the cone, scraping off all the remnants of the original cone surround as I did so. I drilled four holes around the edge to accept cable ties and I cable-tied the Infinity speakers into the factory mounts.

Snapped everything back together (except I had to glue in the one I messed up) and it's all sounding great. I backed off on the treble to -4: this setup now has TWO tweeters where the stock setup had ONE, and there is too much treble now. I'll be checking out the sound with the factory tweeters disconnected, too, I'll report in on that at some point. Much more detail thanks to all the tweeters, but also an improvement in bass articulation and clarity.

[nodrogkam]

Cool cool =)

[Rod2Rice]

I MIGHT have some stockers in a few days. I am thinking about reusing the stock mounts, but since clips are broken on 2 of them I may just forget it and use the 1" spacers I bought. I'll let you know next week sometime.

[tubegeek]

Thanks, I'd want ones with intact clips, though.

-j

[Mattocaster71]

Originally Posted by nodrogkam

Hello, I've been reading a few threads in here and got a pretty good idea of what I could do if I overhaul my sound system, but I want to keep the OEM head unit. Now it says on the sticker its a 200W system. Would it be worth my while to upgrade the stock speakers to something else?

If so, I would just replace the 4 6.5" speakers and leave the two original tweeters. So i'm not really looking for a component system, and no subwoofer.
I am pretty satisfied with the OEM speakers, but I feel they are definately missing something.

Opinions, suggestions...anything is really appreciated!
Thanks in advanced!

I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I just want to "beef" up the speakers a little. And I want to keep the tweeters as is. I haven't bought car speakers since I was 18 yrs/ old. I'm 36 now and I think technology has changed since then. LOL

[nodrogkam]

Originally Posted by Mattocaster71

I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I just want to "beef" up the speakers a little. And I want to keep the tweeters as is. I haven't bought car speakers since I was 18 yrs/ old. I'm 36 now and I think technology has changed since then. LOL

The OE front speakers are component speakers. If you did just get regular speakers, the sound would be pretty far off - because the treble would be pretty overwhelming. You almost have to just get components for the front.
The rears are full range speakers.
I still have yet to touch the rear speakers - money problems.
I'm enjoying my system, but overall the OE headunit doesnt put out quite enough rms power to make the sound come out of the aftermarket speakers much better than the OE speakers.
If my car wasnt under warranty i'd really just drop in my old alpine HU with higher rms and go ahead and swap the rear speakers out too so the system can be complete and correctly powered.

[Rod2Rice]

No reason to not swap out the head unit because of warranty. It wont affect anything, and worst case just hold onto the stock unit in case you need to swap it back in. I replaced my head unit before the speakers, and the sound was better, but only marginal. New speaker really brought out the better sound. And in my opinion, the stock tweeters are very muddy sounding, some aftermarkets will really make the highs shine.

the front setup really isnt a true component setup in my mind. There are no crossovers, just a resistor wired into the tweeter to block the lows. The 4 other speakers outside of the tweeters are all the same, no difference. If you wanted to put full range speakers up front it would sound OK, but I would leave the stock tweeter disconnected.