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Nic0807

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hey everyone, so we all know that the non-Bose sound system in our Civics is disastrous! Ive been doing some research in regards to swapping the 9” Receiver and Factory Bose amp into my Sport and came to the obvious conclusion that it’s nearly impossible. However something needs to change because i drive a lot and I listen to A LOT of music, so i decided to go aftermarket! Also my English isn’t great so please excuse any punctuation or Grammatical errors.

So for those that care and are also planning on improving their Sound System i will document everything here once all the Parts arrive!

Here is a List of all the Parts i ordered:

Dynamat Sound deadening material for the Doors (This in my opinion is very IMPORTANT and will improve how your new Speakers sound drastically)

Fast Rings (also important, to Bridge and Seal Gap between Speaker and Door Panels)

PAC LPHHD04 T-Harness and PAC LPHEXT17 Harness extension (Amplifier integration harness and 17’ extension wires so that factory harness doesn’t need to be Cut hopefully!) THIS HARNESS IS FOR THE 10TH GEN, I HAVE NO IDEA IF IT WILL WORK WITH THE 11TH GEN to be determined i guess.

Optional 30’ Speaker Wire to wire front pillar Tweeters (Depends on whether or not you want to use Bi-Amp mode or regular 4 Channel mode, read on to know what I’m talking about!)

4x Speaker Brackets even though you can reuse the factory Speaker Brackets by cutting the factory Speaker out of it and solder the factory speaker Female end to your aftermarket Speakers.


Now to the Good Stuff!

For the Amps I decided to go with
Kicker Key 200.4 4 Channel and 500.1 Mono Block
I will use the 200.4 in Bi-Amp mode for my front Soundstage (Front Door Speakers and Tweeters) however the amp can also be used as a regular 4 Channel amp to power all 4 Door speakers, I decided to power my tweeters directly from the amp for better sound Quality however since the factory tweeters are passively connected to the Front speakers instead of being powered directly from the Head Unit, I will need to run Speaker wire from the Trunk to the Tweeters.
The beauty about the Kicker key amps is, that they have an Auto tuning DSP meaning the Amp will do all the fine Tuning for you using an included microphone and internal Processing!
Since i also like Bass, I decided to also order the One channel Variant of the Key Amp the 500.1, to power my Subwoofer. This amp also has a self Tuning DSP minus the Microphone.

For the front speakers i ordered
Morel Tempo Ultra 602 Components
Crutchfield is saying that the tweeters wont fit into the front Pillars so im sure some modifications are needed to make them fit!

For the rears I decided to go with
Morel Tempo Ultra Integra 602 Coaxial Speakers
These are basically the same speakers as the ones im using in the front, only difference is the tweeter sits on the speaker instead of being separate. These speakers will remain powered by the factory radio and are really only serving one purpose and thats Rear Fill, most Sound Quality Fanatics actually disable the rear speakers entirely however I don’t want to have a acoustic Void behind me.

I already have a Subwoofer installed with 2 Gauge wire powering it so I won’t go into detail on how to run an Amp power wire. However if you decide to go the 2 Amp route make sure you use a thick gauge wire that will support both Amps. The 4 Channel Key amp only has a Power rating of 200Watts and the 1 Channel has a rating of 500Watts so 2 Gauge wire is plenty!

All this I ordered at Crutchfield and it definitely wasn’t Cheap! 1,799 Bucks people! I’m sure the same setup can be achieved for Cheaper using Cheaper Speakers, probably won’t sound as nice but still 100x better than factory. I was debating on going all out and order a Standalone DSP however those are crazy expensive and require some decent knowledge in Tuning, the key amps are affordable and do most of what a standalone DSP does for you!

Like i said, I will document every Step of the installation right here.
 
CIAO. hai già smontato i pannelli delle porte ed i montanti dove ci sono i tweeter? sai anche dove si trova l'amplificatore di serie? hai delle foto? Ho una Civic e-hev, e qui non ci sono molte Civic. quindi per un'evoluzione del sistema devo chiedere aiuto. Grazie.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
CIAO. hai già smontato i pannelli delle porte ed i montanti dove ci sono i tweeter? sai anche dove si trova l'amplificatore di serie? hai delle foto? Ho una Civic e-hev, e qui non ci sono molte Civic. quindi per un'evoluzione del sistema devo chiedere aiuto. Grazie.
i will post pictures once the parts arrive. The non-bose Civics don’t have a standalone Amplifier, it’s integrated in the Radio.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
The Bose system in my Si was a big letdown to me, I truly expected much more from it, you can surely do better in the aftermarket, much better.
See i used to own a Touring when they first came out and i was pretty happy with how the Bose system sounds, the only downside was that the Speakers kept blowing haha (i listen to my music very loudly). Whenever i got into my Sport after knowing what the Touring sounded like i was disgusted.
 
See i used to own a Touring when they first came out and i was pretty happy with how the Bose system sounds, the only downside was that the Speakers kept blowing haha (i listen to my music very loudly). Whenever i got into my Sport after knowing what the Touring sounded like i was disgusted.
Well it is a good system, I just expected more from it , I didn't find it to be as loud as I expected either, loud enough but I just thought it would be better.
 
i will post pictures once the parts arrive. The non-bose Civics don’t have a standalone Amplifier, it’s integrated in the Radio.
CIAO. per radio intendi il display touch sul cruscotto oppure c'è una centralina separata. perché ho intenzione di mettere in serie alle uscite dei diffusori un DSP amplificato, probabilmente Mosconi 8/10 Pico. quindi avrei bisogno di sapere dove è installato. Grazie
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
CIAO. per radio intendi il display touch sul cruscotto oppure c'è una centralina separata. perché ho intenzione di mettere in serie alle uscite dei diffusori un DSP amplificato, probabilmente Mosconi 8/10 Pico. quindi avrei bisogno di sapere dove è installato. Grazie
The 7” Radio has the screen attached to it, it’s one Unit with Amplifier integrated!
The 9” Bose System has the Control unit separated from the screen, it’s sitting underneath the screen and is just a tad bit difficult to access.
 
Bose or not it’s a ~$30k car, so having realistic expectations is helpful. That being said in the world of audiophiles Bose is viewed as being barely mediocre and selling their systems based on their brand name’s ubiquity rather than actual quality. I’m not an audiophile and with what I listen to and how I have it tuned it sounds good for the most part, I do prefer it with center point off and I do feel like it slowly falls apart once the volume goes past 20 but I rarely have it that high. Also have hatch so maybe the woofer placement and general acoustics of the bigger cabin change how it sounds compared to a sedan.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
Bose or not it’s a ~$30k car, so having realistic expectations is helpful. That being said in the world of audiophiles Bose is viewed as being barely mediocre and selling their systems based on their brand name’s ubiquity rather than actual quality. I’m not an audiophile and with what I listen to and how I have it tuned it sounds good for the most part, I do prefer it with center point off and I do feel like it slowly falls apart once the volume goes past 20 but I rarely have it that high. Also have hatch so maybe the woofer placement and general acoustics of the bigger cabin change how it sounds compared to a sedan.
Back in 21 when i was one of the very first to purchase a touring, I wasn’t as much into Audio as i am now. With that being said i thought the bose was very good! I did come from a 2018 Civic EX though with worse sound system. However the Sport model is just plain disgusting, it has no Bass whatsoever! I have to access the Radios service menu everytime i start the car to turn the equalizer off…honda really messed up with the trims lower than the touring!
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
What do you expect in an economy car, seriously? You should thank your lucky stars it’s not as bad as Hondas of old
For 27k for a “economy” car i sure as heck expect at least a better sound system than what we got! Not to mention Visor mirror lights or being able to see music information in the Gauge Cluster ohh and how about heated mirrors? Btw my ‘20 Corolla LE for 24k had all that! I’ll stand with my statement that honda messed up here! G’day
 
For 27k for a “economy” car i sure as heck expect at least a better sound system than what we got! Not to mention Visor mirror lights or being able to see music information in the Gauge Cluster ohh and how about heated mirrors? Btw my ‘20 Corolla LE for 24k had all that! I’ll stand with my statement that honda messed up here! G’day
$27k I assume. in Italy you now need €42k for e:hev sport. made in Japan but in terms of quality not much better than those made there. the basic audio system is very poor.
 
$27k I assume. in Italy you now need €42k for e:hev sport. made in Japan but in terms of quality not much better than those made there. the basic audio system is very poor.
27k USD yes. It’s very hard to compare cars in the US to those in Europe price wise, not even factoring in currency exchange rates. The civic in Europe is not as entry level of a vehicle as it is in the states, and you guys also only get the hybrid as far as I know which does cost more because it has more tech. I won’t argue for or against the base stereo quality but all of the previously mentioned complaints were (or should have been) obvious prior to buying the vehicle, I wouldn’t order a cheeseburger and then complain about how I don’t like cheese.. People having issues with sticky steering or leaking hatches or dash rattles were probably not aware of these issues prior to purchase especially if they bought early and should be complaining
 
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