I understand the audiophile logic in a simple two-speaker set-up. However, in my experience in car audio, you'd have to have a VERY good set of front speakers (a component set-up that is properly placed) with a VERY good amp powering them in order to obtain a satisfying sound.

My personal preference in car audio has always been to be surrounded by the sound, and thus in a sense being incapable of determining exactly where the sound is coming from.

It's all about personal preference really...some others would say it's a matter of pure audio listening (the two speaker experience) but to each his own...

EDIT: I'd like to add that I really am shying away from installing an amp in my '09 fit due to the lack of install space. I don't want to sacrifice rear cargo space and mounting under a seat does not seem feasible. Plus, I doubt my wife wants to see an amp mounted some place. I drive the car, but there's always the wife factor in making decisions on this stuff. She would probably look at an exposed amp and say "well that was a waste of money".

 

If you don't want to add an amp, that's fine. You can get a good sound setup from a HU upgrade and new speakers without an amp. Just match up the RMS numbers. I don't think the system sucks but it's not that great either. I can still consistently crank mine to about 25-30 with the SVC OFF. I wouldn't trust running it at above 30 though. It starts to sound like crap from there.

 

This. I put my front Infinitys in last night, and was honestly blown away by the difference in quality of sound. It's quite remarkable. My last car, a Civic, had a pretty decent system in it before it got totaled. I went nearly a year without a car, borrowing my mom's for a while and doing that thing. I was very happy to get into my OWN car. But I totally forgot what it's like to have a non-stock system in there. It's incredible. Now I want to just go DRIVE even more than before!

And yes, you don't need to do an amp. But if you feel like you'd like to, look at some of the smaller Alpine 4 channel amps. These are pretty small and pretty powerful (75 watts RMS @ 2 ohms) and fit right under the passenger or driver seat without being kicked by the people in the rear.

 

So your now running a Pioneer DEH-P6100BT headunit and infitiy kappa 62.9's all around? I figured with that setup you wouldn't need an amp. I probably won't use one either.

How the hell does an aftermarket HU look in the stock spot? I looked around an it only looked like you could take that whole front cover off. Pics of you HU installed?

 

Yeah, the volume is great and it certainly sounds better than with any of the stock stuff. But the advantage (at least the way I see it) of running a good HU with good speakers, 4 channel amp and a sub is the control. Since my Pioneer has 4 volt pre outs, and a reasonably advanced EQ, I'll be able to feed all the bass to the sub (probably from about 80hz or so down) and everything else up to the 6.5 inch speakers. Right now my speakers are trying to handle everything for 45hz to 20khz. This causes noticeable distortion at higher volumes. So with amps, I'll have more control which results in higher volume with MUCH greater clarity. Not everyone needs it that way, it's just how I like my music.

No pictures of the HU yet. I'll take some tomorrow after work. I used the Schosche kit to do it. The color is right on, but the fitment of the kit isn't the best. It actually looked like it had been slightly modified at some point, probably by Schosche as the learned how they were fitting. Theres a DIY in here somewhere of how to make the Schosche one work, and it looks like the exact same spots were shaved down. Also, at night, with the dash lights on, the AC control knobs don't look as good as the stock. You actually are replacing all of that, and putting the AC controls, hazard light and passenger airbag modules into the new kit. And that was the one thing that stopped me from doing a new headunit, the question of fitment. But it's not THAT bad and I can certainly live with it in exchange for greater sound.

 

Two things:

1) Why would you spend MORE money on all those extra speakers when you could save a few bucks and buy two incredible speakers that will get louder AND have greater sound quality? A set of four decent coax's will definitely cost as much as a single good comp set and I have yet to hear any coax's with good highs that aren't crazy expensive.

2) You'll be underpowering good coax speakers anyway. If you have no amp you're gonna be underusing the speakers from the get go, so you might as well get a set that's good.

3*) An alternate solution (one a lot of people do) is get a good component set in the front and then a cheap coax set for the rear doors that just get powered by the HU. Or hell, just leave the stock speakers back there if you just want that "surrounded" feel.

*Okay I lied.

 

Very good points but I do disagree with your first point. I had coax speakers that had really good highs that were $100. I don't think that's too expensive for a coax speaker. It all depends though, everybody's looking for something different. Also, a lot of good components out there have have the same high frequency response as some good coax's. Not all of them but some.

 

if your running amps and dont go components... your wasting your money. you might as well power it with a headunit. for a few bucks, the difference is incredible. coaxles cannot handle the power like components can. hands down, theres no comparison.

 

According to responses I've gotten so far,

If I'm running 4 coax's with an amp, I'm wasting my money on an amp.
If I'm running 4 coax's without an amp, I'm underpowering my coax's.

I had a previous setup which sounded fine to ME. Because that setup isn't one of the ways recommended, it's wrong? I like the advice guys, I really do. Don't get me wrong, I'll most likely run components in the front and good coaxs in the rear with a good 4 channel amp. I'm just saying right or wrong, there a couple ways to produce good sound.

 

Dude, it's all about personal preference. If you've done something before that you liked, theres no reason not to do it again. As far as amps, coaxs and components go, it's up to you. Personally, the way I see it is if you put in components, you really do need to run an amp as a head unit won't power them properly. Most component sets need at least 50 watts RMS. Most decks put out 20 watts RMS tops. As for running coaxs with an amp being a waste of money, I disagree. My Infinitys ask for 75 watts RMS at 2 ohms and my amp sends 75 watts RMS at 2 ohms. Perfect match. And for me they will sound awesome. Components aren't worth it for me as I have a Base GD3 and I don't want to be cutting holes or drilling screws into my door panels. You never know whats going to happen. I plan on having this Fit for at least 10 years. What if I get married and have kids and don't want the amps in anymore? Then I'd remove the components and have gaping holes there. That's not cool with me, so I'm sticking with a solid pair of high powered coaxs.

I don't think we really offer advice here. It's more like opinions. I use this site to get other's opinions and see how they work with my opinions. If you have an opinion on something, don't think it's going to be wrong. As long as YOU like the end result (and it doesn't destroy your Fit!) then do it and love it!

 

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

im currently running stock speakers, with a headunit. they sound very good, and im might not even upgrade them. sure an amp would sound better and id love to do that. but my electrical system will defiantly need some upgrading, which im not doing. coaxles with a headunit are fine.... but of coarse there are better and more expensive methods.

 

Just taken delivery of a 09 GE and was not to impressed with the quality of sound from the stock unit. this is virtually a brand new car and it sounds crap. Now i see the problem, i have dealt with a lot of speakers and i have never seen anything with such a small magnet talk about cut backs these things have to go.

 

sorry to intrude on somebody else's thread, but just wanted to say thanks for all the info. i recently (3 days ago) bought a fit and of course the first thing i looked into was upgrading the audio. like the original poster, i did want to keep to original HU, because I like the setup, but now i'm giving it second thoughts. we'll see what i choose down the road, but for now i'm happy with it.

i do have one question though. on here, i hear people say "it's only as good as your original source", and although that's true, i haven't seen anybody say what the "true" original source is they're listening to, i.e. the audio file. what do you people judge "good" sounding audio off of? CD's? FLAC? MP3's? this has a huge impact on the final product that reach your speakers. you could have your entire interior built out of speakers, but if you're pushing a 192 kbps mp3 rip out of your ipod, i'm sorry, but it's still going to sound like garbage.

i'm really not trying to nitpick, but it's one more piece of the puzzle to consider. my personal preference is lossless formats across the board (FLAC, Apple Lossless, etc), but if i ever have to consider a lossy format, i go no lower than 320 kbps. even then i feel like i'm cheating myself, haha.

 

Here is a picture of the midbass driver in my doors,

as you can see its pretty beefy. And yes upgrading one or the other HU or Speakers will not really give you much improvement over the factory sound. If you do HU you are pushing more power most likely to the factory speakers then they were designed to take. As well the speakers can only perform so well till they start to distort. If you only upgrade speakers again you are on the flip side running a lower quality output to better quality speakers.

My advice, upgrade both or upgrade NONE. You are better served upgrading both the HU and speakers. There are numerous Component systems that will work easily in the Fit (GE). As well I am running 150watts to each of my components and no I do not have rear speakers I was going to put them in but decided not to bother with it. I listen to everything from classical to hardcore bass and there's not a single genre of music that with some on the fly tweaking of my HU's EQ, X-over and Sub-out doesn't sound amazing.

Dynamat shouldn't be necessary in your application, if you were adding a sub/subs then I would recommend it but without that you do not need to spend money on that. Stock battery will be fine, remember you are mainly riding on your alternator not your battery when playing your stereo UNLESS the car is off, when you start your car the battery becomes another part of the electrical system in a resistive load situation. A simple 50x4 clean 4channel amp would be perfect if you wanted to upgrade the HU and speakers, I always recommend external amplification because your HU is way too small to be nearly as efficient as an external amplifier.

If you want some help with doing the install check my install log here; https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...stall-log.html

And if you have any specific questions just ask I have taken the entire interior out of my fit so there's nothing I can't or shouldn't be able to guide you with removing. The car is put together very well and in a manor that shouldn't take too much for you to get it apart.

 

Hey y'all, I'm new here, just bought an 09 base and love it cept for the stock stereo, so I did something about that right away. I went to Crutchfield and ordered a Clarion HU, the CX-400, and installed it a few days ago. Huge mistake. Even with the sound processing, it sounds like crap. My last car, a Corolla, I put in an Alpine CDA-9856 that sounded really decent with the stock Toyota speakers. I have just ordered a used Alpine CDA-9857 from ebay for a hundred bucks, to replace this Clarion POS.

Back in the 90s I had a 91 CRX. In that I had an Alpine cassette deck (a pull out lol) with 2 Precision Power amps and MB Quart original German-made co-axes. That system rocked. I no longer have the speakers (my parents threw them away) but I still have the amps and I just tested them and they still power up. One is a PPI 2050AM and the other is a PPI 2030AM. The are pretty small so I am thinking they will fit under the Fit's seats. These amps were "cheaters" for competitions back in the early 90s, so they are underrated power-wise. They sounded incredible when they were in my CRX.

I am thinking about installing my amps and getting some Boston Acoustics components for my Fit front doors, and maybe some Boston coaxes for the rears. Does anyone have an opinion about the pro series? They are super cheap right now on Amazon. Any feed back and opinions are welcome

Drew