Speaker Upgrade

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misterg - 05 Jul 2005 02:48 GMT

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I'd like to upgrade the stock
speakers in my 2003 Civic to higher wattage, better quality speakers.

Will I hear an improvement in sound quality/volume making this switch by
itself, or will it be necessary to upgrade the amplifier as well? I plan to
do both at some point, but I can only afford to do it in stages.

Also, I plan to use the speaker wires from the stock stereo to act as high
input signals to the amplifier later on. It's obviously the easiest way to
upgrade, but are there any drawbacks to doing it this way?

Thanks
Glenn

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Ron Jeremy - 05 Jul 2005 04:10 GMT

> Not sure if this is the right forum, but I'd like to upgrade the stock
> speakers in my 2003 Civic to higher wattage, better quality speakers.
>
> Will I hear an improvement in sound quality/volume making this switch by
> itself, or will it be necessary to upgrade the amplifier as well? I plan to
> do both at some point, but I can only afford to do it in stages.

I replaced the factory speakers in a 2000 Honda Accord EX Coupe, and the
sound was only a "slight" improvement with the addition of an amplifier
hooked up to the factory radio powering these factory replacements.
Don't get me wrong, it was much louder than the factory setup, but I
didn't care for the speaker level inputs on my amp. Just think of it
like this, any distortion from the head unit, gets amplified, and passed
through your lovely speakers.

> Also, I plan to use the speaker wires from the stock stereo to act as high
> input signals to the amplifier later on. It's obviously the easiest way to
> upgrade, but are there any drawbacks to doing it this way?

Speaker line inputs are, at best, "nasty" when it comes to sound quality
versus running RCA cables from the head unit pre-amp outputs to your
power amp(s). In my 2000 Accord, I really didn't notice in improvement
in sound quality until I replaced the factory radio. It was a major
improvement by adding an Alpine CDA-9827 that did MP3/WMA/CD. The only
thing I lost was the "steering" wheel remote, but, that was already on
the fritz so it was no big loss! The Alpine unit has its own remote
and it helps when listening to CD ROMS containing MP3/WMA files.

> Thanks

You are welcome!

> Glenn

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rjdriver - 05 Jul 2005 13:03 GMT

> Not sure if this is the right forum, but I'd like to upgrade the stock
> speakers in my 2003 Civic to higher wattage, better quality speakers.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Thanks
> Glenn

You will definitely notice an improvement with better speakers. They
are usually the weak point in stock Honda car systems. But doing it in
stages might not be a good idea, as you'll want to match the watt handling
capability (and ohms, of course) of the new speakers with what your current
front end puts out for best efficiency. This could limit you in your
chioces of a new amp/front end, as you will probably want to get more power
in both items.

If there's not going to be a long time gap in between the two upgrades,
it wont' hurt to get higher watt speakers for your current low watt stereo,
you'll just have to crank the volume knob further to get the same amount of
sound, and it won't sound like the improvemnt you hope for until both ends
match properly. I would do them together. And don't skimp on the cables
that connect the amp.

Bob

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