I just bought a 2010 Tidewater Blue Sport a few days ago with less than 12,000 kms on it. So far so great! I sold my 2009 Subaru WRX STi to get back into a Honda. I know what you're thinking...why would anybody sell their STi to get a Fit? Easy! WAAAYYY better gas mileage, more cargo room and of course that great Honda reliability.

I also used the difference in money (about $15K) to finance my wedding this summer and pay for our honeymoon. I also have a 2003 350Z that is pretty done up as well so I still have a 'toy' for the summer. Woot!

I am a custom car stereo installer by trade and for the past 22 years I have made many, many award winning competition vehicles (mostly IASCA competitions for those who would like to know). That said, this car should be one of the finest sounding Fits around by the time I am done with it.

Glad to be a part of this board!

 

welcome! there is a local meet brewing for early March, will be nice to meet new faces

 

Welcome and congrats on the wedding

As an audio pro I'm sure lots of people on here would enjoy seeing what you do with sound insulation and dynamat when you do get around to that stuff, so please do log the work if/when you do it.

 

Welcome. Not sure I would've sold an STi for a Fit though.

 

Will do! I JUST got all my audio equipment in so the sound deadening will commence very soon. I have already done most of the hatch area.

At first it was a tough choice to get rid of my STi but I don't regret it one bit. The amount of money I save in gas makes it all worth it! Besides, I already have a very nice 2003 350Z project that I am heavy in to...and its fun to drive too!

 

Instead of blasting past people its now the other way :-).
I guess once you dealt with it and you are happy with the fun Fit and good gas mileage it's all good.

 

Congrats on the new Fit to your household. 370Z on the side??? Now you have the best of both worlds!!!

Advance best wished on the upcoming wedding too!!!

Now for my question. How do I get the Fit to have a stereo to sound as good a my wife's Lexus RX??? She has the Mark Levinson system in it and its the one thing I will miss. Want to keep the head unit therefore do I change the speakers??? and add some amps??? Note that I'd rather have "clean" music rather than the loud "boom-boom" sounds.

Also make use of the cargo space, therefore, no sub-woofer box preferred. Is there a place in your Fit that you think a decent sub can be installed??? Your advise will be appreciated.

 

oh man. if you are gonna make some custom panels make a mold and we would love to buy some from u.

 

Wow! A lot has happened since my original post!
I got married last year...in fact, our one year anniversary was yesterday. We also got busy and had a baby boy in late March. Yeah, we don't waste any time. Hehe...

Also, I sold my 350Z about two weeks ago. I wanted a car that was cool, fun and one my wife and kid can enjoy as well. So I went back to my roots and got a 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger. It has a 383 in it and rumbles like a small earthquake. Such a cool ride!

Anyways, I have taken a different route for the Fit. This summer I will be installing a set of Focal Flax PS 165F speakers, a Digital Designs SS4 4-channel amplifier running active (no crossovers), a Digital Designs M1C to run my 13TW5 flat subwoofer in a custom, sealed enclosure. The sub takes up very little space and absolutely hammers hard!

In answer to your question, yes, you can make a sound system sound much better than the Lexus stuff. There are two things you need to do to accomplish this though:

1) Ditch the stock deck. As much as I would love to say that it can sound awesome with an OEM deck, it would be a lie. A brand new deck with some good sound control ability (Like a Pioneer PRS-80 or Kenwood 997 or equivelent) will make a massive difference in your sound. Yes, a Mosconi, PS-8 or whatever other high end DSP can be used with the stock deck and give reasonable results, they still can't touch a basic, good old quality source.

2) Sound deadening. One reason higher end cars sound great is because they are extremely well insulated from the outide as well as panel resonance. You need poly-butyl and you need a lot of it!

 

First, up-dated congrats on the new addition to your household. You and the wife certainly work swiftly!!!

Great find on that Dodge!!!

Am leaning towards keeping the stock deck cause don't wanna lose the reverse camera. Therefore will explore the high end DSP route. Also will invest in tons of poly-butyl.

What advise can you give to the speakers? The LX comes with 4 OEM speakers. Can I keep those and just add a sub??? What is a good place to install the sub (without a separate box enclosure)?

BTW, appreciate the time taken to give your suggestions.

 

Congrats!

Also congrats on the Dart, I have been looking at them for months but ended up going another route when a car fell into my lap. I was debating import/classic since January of this year.

 

There are so many speakers out there its hard to even touch on the subject without sounding preachy. I would say a good start would be JL Audio C3 components. Excellent bang for the buck and they sound quite good. You can run them off of deck power but you may be a little dissatisfied with their output unless you get an amplifier for them. You will also need to cut the door metal to fit anything of reasonable size in the opening. Then of course a plastic or ABS spacer will be needed as well.

Other brands/models to look for:

Focal Flax series components
Polk Audio MM components
Morel Hybrid components
Hybrid Audio Clarus components
Digital Designs BC6.5 components

Go to your local independent car audio retailer and have a listen to their speakers and YOUR music. Please don't take my word for it!

For the sub, you can consider using one of the side trunk pockets or spare tire well if you don't mind using the spare. You will also probably need to do it up in fiberglass to save on space as well.

Thanks!