I have had my 2010 Fit Sport for 6 months now, and have grown tired of the poor iPod integration and mediocre sound of the stock radio. I listen to my iPod quite a bit,and also listen to alot of audiobooks and podcasts.I have been looking at radios on Crutchfield and have narrowed the choices down. In the interest of saving money I am looking at a single DIN head unit. I am not someone who listens very loudly,and don't care for the type of music that yields earth shattering bass. I do think that a small powered subwoofer would deliver the added punch that I want. I am not planning on replacing the stock speakers at this point in time,but will see how they sound after replacing the radio. This is what I'm looking to buy right now:
Pioneer DEH 7300 BT
Sound Ordnance B-8PT 120 watt compact powered subwoofer.
I'm thinking the sub can under the passenger seat,possibly attached to the metal bracket on the floor under the seat.
With Crutchfield including the wiring harness,dash kit,antenna adaptor,and installation instructions I hope to do the entire install myself. The radio should be a breeze,but I'm not so confident on the sub and wiring. I figure I can have a shop finish it if I can't.
The total cost from Crutchfield,including crimp caps and amp wiring is $448. I forgot to add RCA's for the sub,so I have to go back and find those on the site.Seems like something should have popped up with the amp wiring kit.
So what do you folks think? Do I need a sub? I had 2 compact powered subs under the front seats of my X3 (stock)and they seemed to help things out.
I would like to get my order in soon so I can install this and end my frustration with the iPod control (or lack thereof) of the factory radio.
Thanks for any input.
EDIT: I see that the RCA cable ARE included in the amp wiring kit.

 

i'm pretty sure there's no way you'll get that sub under the passenger seat. my sound guy and i were looking at trying to put an alpine PDX-5 under there and decided there wasn't even enough room for that (and that amp is only 10-3/16"W x 2-1/2"H x 8-3/8"D!)

your best bet is to throw it in the cargo where you can just unplug it and pull it out if you need the space. i know a guy who does this with an infinity basslink and he seems pretty happy with it.

on a sidenote, as poor as the stock audio system sound quality seems to be, i think the stock speakers should really take a LOT of the credit for that. when you do get around to replacing them, you'll see what i mean. paper mache.

 

Just looked at dimensions of sub,and it will never fit under the seat.So if I put it in the cargo area,where would be a good place for it?Would it have to be bolted down, or is there is a less permanent way to place it?

 

effective cabin gain is the farthest rear corners facing to the side or in the center facing the rear.

You MUST anchor it down in some way. If you don't, it can become a deadly object if your involved in a wreck and kill you. This is a must in all hatchback type vehicles, boxes and subs can be heavy enough to rip apart out of small screws, rip off the wires and fly through the vehicle damaging amps or whatever it hits during an accident.

I recommend you get this instead
Amazon.com: Infinity Basslink 200-Watt Powered Subwoofer System (Black): Electronics

IF you really want something under your seat and save space. Take a look into "Tactile Transducers".
Rockford Fosgate iBeam (IB200) Transducer - Other Reviews - Car Audio and Electronics
Read more here: Rockford Fosgate® - IB-200
You can get Aurora bassshakers cheap on ebay, i use them myself in conjunction with a sub.

 

Not sure how to break up your post.
1. Why do you recommend a different sub? The infinity looks like it might have a larger footprint,but I don't know what the differences are.
2. Tactile transducer that you suggest is way to pricey for me.
3. Can I get decent bass if I simply replace my stock speakers and skip the sub? I'm not looking for anything extreme,just full rich sound. Replacing the speakers combined with a new H/U would certainly be a significant increase in sound quality.
4. To replace the speakers do the door panels have to come off?
5. I am really liking the Pioneer AVH-P3300BT. If I skip the sub,I could probably stand the price increase for the H/U.
TIA!

 

The H/U is the true culprit when it comes to the crap quality of the sound. You really need to upgrade that before you go to better speakers. The door speakers aren't the best but they aren't really given enough credit. For extra bass, if you don't want to get a new head unit, I think a powered subwoofer would fit your needs best. Be it the inifinity bass link or a bazooka tube since you don't really want BOOMING bass like what I went for with my install. To replace the door speakers the door panels do have to come off. It's really not that hard to do compared to most of the other cars I've worked on.

Sorry for the jumbledness but I'd be glad to help you if you require more assistance or a general push in the right direction.

 

I've been thinking of doing a similar thing, starting with h/u, and small sub and amp. On another thread I saw one guy made an enclosure for an 8" sub that fit on top of the right-rear wheel, so it was out of the way. Apparently that route ended with really good sound and wasn't too expensive. Sorry, I would make a link to it but I don't have it right now (I'll try to find it tomorrow if I get a chance).

 

Would anyone care to recommend some replacement speakers that aren't too expensive?

 

I think I have decided on what to get now.
Pioneer AVH-P3300BT
Polk Audio db651s (2 pair).
I have decided against the sub, as placement is too much of problem.
What do you guys think?

 

that could work too. but i'd go with one pair of 651s' and one pair of 6501's. the components up front will at least give you a tad more bass and overall better sound quality than two pairs of the 651's because the woofer is dedicated and the tweeter goes in the stock location. i think if you buy from crutchfield they have a second pair half off for polk speakers, so you'd at least save some money. if you go with the 6501/651, you'd spend like 250 as opposed to spending 150, but i think the sound quality difference is worth it. a little more low end, especially since you won't be running a sub.

i'm pretty sure you'll also have to come up with a new speaker grille for the back doors because the tweeter on the 651 will be touching the stock grille i believe. (anyone have any idea why honda made the speaker grilles concave? why not just flat?)

this is actually a much better way to build a system. you can continue to add down the road if you like without having to go back and replace anything that's not up to par, whether it be an amp to take full advantage of the speakers or a sub or whatever.

if i had to guess, i'd say you'll probably rethink getting a sub within a month or two, because the upper range sound quality will be so nice you'll be begging for some hitting low end. haha.

anyway, good luck!

 

i also forgot to mention that the AVH-P3300BT is pretty exceptional in that price range. the screen is a bit small, and it's a bit underpowered for running speakers off deck power (i think only like 14 or so RMS watts), but the feature set is unmatched. don't forget the CD-IU50V.

 

Thanks but the Polk component speakers look like too involved of an installation for me. You are correct that Crutchfield is offering buy 1 pair,get the second pair half price. I'm looking at a total cost of $646. I will order the plastic pry tools set,wire connectors,wire worm,radio and 4 speakers. The primary reason for the Double Din unit over the single DIN is for iPod display. I'm so sick and tired of trying to guess what's on the screen,and not being able to see much information on the screen. I was all set with the Pioneer single DIN unit with BT, and then saw this one. A big jump in price,but it looks like you get alot more. The only real drawback for me,front USB connector. If I decide to get the Pioneer iPod A/V cable it gets even worse. At 18 inches long, where is the iPod supposed to go? Oh yeah,the USB connector is on the LEFT side of the H/U and even further from the storage compartment.

 

Saw this after I posted a reply. Do I have to have the Pioneer A/V cable to display album art? I asked a Crtuchfield rep this question via chat, and was told that album art WILL display without the need for the A/V cable.

 

i'm sure if the crutchfield rep says it displays album art/info without the a/v cable, then it will. i know you lose some functionality like high speed scrolling and touch swiping, which really isn't that big a deal. i'm not positive, but you might also lose the ability to control the ipod through the hu's touchscreen without the cable, which would suck. might wanna hit up the chat again to see for sure.

 

I will have to check with Crutchfield,but it sounds like the cable is a must have item. iPod CONTROL and a more complete display are very important to me. I have been turning the jog wheel on my OEM radio through the alphabet and it takes forever!
EDIT: Looking at the manual it says "You can control an iPod with this unit by using a cable such as the CD-IU50 (sold separately)." Looks like a $50 1.5 foot cable is a must have for proper iPod control. The Single DIN unit is starting to look like a better choice now. I don't really want to spend $500 on a radio.

 

That cable is a must have, I was actually looking at that head unit for a while and never really could justify it after a while. When I do get a touchscreen it will probably be a JVC KW-AVX840. Even though I do think that's a little more than you want to spend. If you do end up going with a Single Din then I would look at the Alpines. They make some fantastic head units.

 

Just letting you know, if you do decide to replace the door speaker and new tweeters, it will become much more involved than you think. First off the speaker adapters crutchfield sells for our car do not work for our cars mounting spots so you will need to fabricate your own out of mdf most likely like i did. then if you want a clean install job and solid sound connection i recommended running new wiring to the doors and tweeters which takes a lot of time with a coat hanger feeding wire through the wire conduits in the door jams. I literally just replaced my stock speakers and I am glad I did BUT if you plan on ever making any changes to your sound system in the future, trust me and just do it all in one shot, it will be worth it and not drive you insane that you need to redo it later on. This project of just the speakers took about 10-11 hours total working time for me. that doesn't include the 3ish hours it took for my to install my jvc navi a couple months back.

basically what i am trying to say is, if you even think about changing door speakers in the future, just do it now. as far as speakers, I am very happy with the ones I chose(Blaupunkt Mystic series) and they are even smaller than the stock ones at 5.25" both in the front(component) and the rear(coax). This size is actually perfect when you make your own adapters and it does NOT require bending any of the door metal to allow the speaker magnet to fit in the door, there is also plenty of clearance between the speaker and window when rolled all the way down. FYI i used 1/2" mdf and was able to install my speakers with the grills they came with and the door fit back on with no issue.


If you have any questions about my install let me know.

 

Try sonicelectronix.com...i think you can find what you are look'n for for a lot less than $650.00-$700 for the total system.

 

Crutchfield is saying,and some reviewers as well,that they provide speaker adaptors that require some drilling but it is not difficult. I would replace ONLY the speakers,and not do tweeters or component speakers. I specifically do not want to deal with running new wiring and fabricating new speakers locations in the doors. I don't want to get the Alpine units because I want to get BT without having to buy and install a costly add-on adaptor. Now looking at the Pioneer FH-P8000BT.This one has rear USB and AUX inputs. A big plus as I can run the iPod cable to the existing location in the upper compartment.

 

It's up to you in the end I was just giving you my .02 since i just went through it. good luck with what you choose!