Just bought a 2012 Fit Sport a/t w/o nav. I like the ipod interface on the stock stereo but find the low end to be a little lacking. Being somewhat of an audiophile first though would be to upgrade from paper cones. Anybody out there upgrade just the speakers and run the stock deck? I'm to hold off for a least a year before i start making serious upgrades...

 

Stock deck and speakers are both subpar compared to what you can get aftermarket. I would replace them both at the same time.

 

I never realized how bad stock speakers were untill i got this car... and i just replaced the deck and added a sub thinking the new head unit would make up for it.... i was wrong... i don't think anything replaces speakers that are amped up...

iam not planning to upgrade down the road.. but man... the quality of new speakers that are amped is something else compared to stock.

i sorta wish i had an alpine head unit so i could do the upgrade alot easyer with their specialized amp upgrade.

 

Ok, so if I were to upgrade the speakers alone right now, does anyone have any suggestions? I’ve never had a hatchback with door speakers or tweeters. I’ve had real good luck with JBL GTO 6x9’s for a rear deck in my old accord. Those pushed a lot of bass and I only ran them off of a pioneer deck. I don’t need a lot, I just hate the muddy nasal tone of paper cone speakers. Also, as a side note, the music I listen to isn’t bass heavy hip hop or anything. The most I need it for is the occasional hardcore song but I do appreciate a full sound.

 

As far as I could tell when I did mine, the stock headunit had an EQ built in that you couldn't turn off, it sucked out all the midrange and hyped up the trebel and bass. Changeing the head unit fixed that. The stock speakers were ok, but not great after that. Theybare thin polycones by the way. Had they been paper cones they would probably sound reasonably good.

 

Can you guys recommend some good headunits that have ipod connections?

I don't care if it's double or single din--don't need navigation, or satellite radio.

The only things I want are ipod connection (with charge) and great sound.

Ideas?

I'm thinking this may be something I do in the long run.

 

I'm an audiophiliac myself... I have 2010 fit sport and for what it is, I'm pretty much impressed with the stock speakers... granting that it's only stock. For a quick direct replacement... 10 years ago, I used to only recommend Infinity Kappas which are rated at 2ohms. I know 2ohms and the stock headunit is only at 4ohm... no blown HU as much as I could recall.

btw... I love paper cones.

 

And what about the stock headunit?

 

If you're going to replace anything, then the most noticeable difference will come from changing the head unit. From there, you want to upgrade the speakers using a separate amplifier. You're more likely to blow a speaker from it being under-powered than you are from running too much power to them. You'll spend a bit more to do this, obviously, but the sound quality will increase in leaps and bounds. Add some vibration and sound absorbing material, a good subwoofer (with an amp of its own, 5-channel amps tend to be large) and you'll have a stereo that will make you smile every time you run it. Mount the amps under the seats if you can, run all the wires under the carpet (takes time, but is well worth it) and it will look OEM.

Edit: I've had many head units including Sony, JVC, Alpine, and Eclipse. The Eclipse and the Alpine had similar specs save one: The Eclipse had 5-volt pre-amp outputs (only matters if you run an amp, but worth it). That spec alone changed the quality of sound more than I could have imagined. Other manufacturers produce head units with a 5-volt pre-amp out, but the Eclipse left a real impression on me.

 

I love Alpine. if you can find anything from their IDA line... get it

 

The stock headunit is junk IMHO. As far as replacement goes, find one with features you want. They generally seem to be devent now. I put in an Alpine CDA-105, my boss put in a sony with bluetooth. If I remeber right, mine was arround $150, his closer to $200. They booth sound good and perform well.

That said, I will not reccomend the alpine I got for a Fit. The angle it is mounted at in our cars makes the screen hard to read.

Also, we both ordered from crutchfield, they include everything you need to do an install for no extra charge (well, sort of, they are usually a little more expensive than other places, but the extras they send more than make up for the differnce.)

And for anyone with a 2012 fit, honda has stopped painting the radio bezel and upper glove box that ugly silver color, so a lot of the aftermarket instal kits won't match for color. You will need to check into it.

 

The audio manufacturers have changed drastically in the past 10 years, with over 24 years experience in the car audio industry I kinda watch trends etc. A lot of the "well known" brands have shipped their production overseas to low quality fast build houses resulting in lower quality less reliable products.

As for head unit replacement, I recommend Alpine. I have used all sorts of brands from Pioneer, Eclipse, Sony, Kenwood and Alpine. And bar none Alpine has been the best to me, the quality is there, the features are there and they last. My last unit before this current one, I bought new in 2004 and it is still in use to this day with the only replacement part being a new faceplate which after that many years they get worn down (buttons etc).

As for speakers I use a set of older JBL components that are very nice, C608 GTIMKII's. However they are no longer made, but you can sometimes find them on ebay. A friend of mine started his own high end speaker company a while back and his components are freaking amazing, of course these are not your $100 set of components either. Hybrid Audio Technologies

Of course you may want to spend less, so I would look at brands like Focal, their entry level is fairly affordable. If you are on a budget, the Alpine Type S and Type R components are pretty nice sounding. However if you want to test out components at a shop be sure to do this, create a CD with songs you like to listen to be sure the encoding is HIGH and CLEAN. Then listen to the components at the store, keep in mind they won't sound exactly the same, a sound board is NOTHING like a car, but it will give you a general idea.

Overall, the Fit's radio is FAIR at best imo, and the speakers are very bad. After removing them I examined the motor structure a neo magnet style and the composition of the speakers themselves, very cheaply made and it shows.

 

Sorry but this defies physic's you are not more likely to blow a speaker from under powering it. Overpowering may not blow a speaker initially but over time it will destroy it, if you don't flat out blow it right off the bat.

 

H.A.T. baby!!!

 

You know it, I have known Scott for many many years great guy!

 

(Sorry about not deleeting, it takes ages on my phone).

I bought a set of Alpine Type-S (SPS 600C, discontinued now) and while the sound is cleaner, I was very dissapointed with them. They were far far far too bright (I measued a 6 to 8db peak between 8khz and 10khz) and they have no midrange to speak of.

What is good now that can be had for $200-300? There use to be a car audio shop arrou d here, will have to see if it is still there, all the others closed down.

This is trueish with multy way speakers. What happens is, people run too little power for how loud they want and just run the system into clipping, which destroys the tweeters rather quickly. Though if you keep the amp out of clipping, yes, near imposible to destroy them with a low powered amp.

 

This discussion has officially gone over my head. Officially.

 

I should clarify, but I assure you, it does not defy physics. Say your speakers are rated at 120w and your head unit can push 50w. The speaker can handle all the power of the head unit, but when you crank the output to the head unit's maximum you run into clipping. The head unit will try and accommodate and send the increased power to the speaker, but it be sending distortion. This, I promise you, will ruin your speakers.

Edit: haha, beat me to it:

 

I still have my Clarus in it's box waiting patiently

 

If the person installing the speakers and amp knows their product and theory the amp should be set properly with either a portable o-scope, DMM or a new product I picked up by Steve Meade, the DD-1. In this fashion the amp can be set along with the head unit to it's maximum potential without clipping. Example, I use the DD-1 to measure the head unit completely flat eq and Xover settings. I get the result of 25 out of 30 volume for max undistorted (clipped) signal from the head unit. I then test the amp in the same fashion, eq flat and xovers wide open. After adjusting the gain right below the clipping point, this will allow the user to play his system at 25 (max undistorted/clipped signal) and get the most out of his/her amp.

However most audio shops, mass stores (best buy etc) do not employ this type of philosophy which is sad because it takes 10mins to complete after you learn this method with the DD-1. So most people who get something installed at a shop or mass store will have no clue where anything is set and most of them will at some point end up sending distorted/clipped signal to their speakers. However even a clipped signal at low power will not destroy a speaker quickly it will depend on how much the user does it, and how often.

So while what you are saying is technically correct, if we go by pure physics which does not account for a distorted signal, a under powered speaker will not blow. A uneducated user with a itchy volume finger who likes to crank his system beyond it's limits with badly set gains on amps could possibly do it, however it would take time.