Hello all,

I have been recently reading different posts here and there, and decided to become a member so that I may receive even more relative knowledge. It seems like there is a wealth of knowledge from many individuals that post here on these forums, and I thought... why not give it a shot:

So here's my current boggle. I am looking to add a sound system to my 2009 Honda Fit Sport MT as I have becomes used to after-market upgrades, even if they are simple.

What I am looking to add is as follows:

1) EQ of some sort in order to keep the Factory HU. Have been pondering over eq's such as the MTX re-q 5, JL Audio Cleansweep, and AudioControl EQ all in the $150-$200 price range but am open to suggestions.

2) Upgrading door speakers. Most likely component speakers for the front and am pondering the idea of either leaving rear doors stock or taking them out altogether. For components I am currently considering the Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1's (~$145), Pioneer TS-D1720C (~$130), or Alpine Type-S Components (~$70). Each one has its ups and downs as I see it, but I will go over that a bit more later.

3) Adding a subwoofer(s). I don't mind buying multiples of subs, but really don't want to spend much on them all together. I have been looking at the Infinity, Alpine, and Rockford Fosgate subs which all cost from $40-$100 each for each respective brands three primary stages. I want, or at least I think I want, SQ first and foremost with the ability to get loud when called upon. I am not looking for ungodly SQ or SPL, so with that being said, I'm hoping to find a happy medium within those three brands unless I can get the same results for the same price elsewhere... And of course I will be needing a custom box made to not only look good in the car, but sound good when paired with the sub.

4) Adding amps. For the amps I have been looking at Fosgate, Alpine, and Power Acoustik or possibly Infinity's Kappa line. I only have experience with Fosgate and it has been a good experience, however I have heard good/bad things about the other brands as well. I am more open minded when it comes to the amps, so any suggestions are appreciated. My max for a sub amp will be $340 but I don't really want to spend that much unless I absolutely have to. As far as a four channel, which I may not need if I only replace the front speakers, no more than $170.

5) I am also planning on adding Dynamat to the doors, hood, and trunk area, but am tossing around the idea of taking out the seats, and all that stuff. I did the trunk in my Accord, but never got around to putting the trim back in...So I can only assume the interior would be more work and yield similar results...

Okay, so those are the biggest things bothering me right now. I am really hoping you guys can give me some insight, and those lucky enough to have personal experience with all these products would really help me a lot. I realize subjective is a word that comes up a lot, but its better than basing decisions on absolutely nothing (at least sometimes).

Oh, and side notes for points of interest I suppose.

I listen to a wide range of music. Rock/Alternative, Hip-Hop/R&B, Country, Pop, Jazz, Acoustic tracks (my fav), and generally anything that gets me feeling good.
That has led me to lean towards Kappa Perfect components, however I have heard that they might be a bit bright, especially if installed in dash locations. I am really pushing for a stealth install in the front, but if it is a must, other locations will be considered...
It also has geared me towards two Kappa Perfect 10DVQ's, but again I am open to suggestions.

These are only things I am leaning towards, but please feel free to sway me (gently) in other directions. The price, I would say, is the major component leading me in my current directions, but if I can yield similar results for less that's always an option .

I apologize for the long post, but wanted to cover as much as possible, even though I know there are many more questions to be asked...

Thanks,

- Jay

 

You have it all figured out my friend! Now post some pics of the finished install! JFWY. I think many here will tell you that the weakest link in the chain is the factory head unit, that its economy origins handicap any effort you might make to make it "sound better" Opinions on this are legion of course but I would tend to agree. You seem to have concrete goals in mind, and have selected good quality components to use. Why hamper all that effort with a weak head unit? And the dash kits actually look really, really good once installed, almost OEM I would say. Good luck, and welcome!

 

Thank you, grtpumpkin.

I will be sure to take pics during the install (sadly I don't think I will be doing it myself this time).

As far as the HU goes, I'm still on the fence. It has been said that if someone was planning on breaking into your car, it is either because they heard you showing off your stuff or they just do it for the heck of it.

I was planning to keep the factory HU in order to deter people who look in as much as possible, but if is agreed that an aftermarket HU will make that much of a difference over a re-Q/Cleansweep type device then I guess I will start doing research on those.

Also if anyone has any experience or suggestions with the other equipment I mentioned I would love to hear it.

Thanks,

- Jay

 

well from my experiences I'd say go with the s type speakers, a couple pioneer premier series subs, and a JL amp. the alpine speakers are great speakers and Ive done a couple cars with em. the premier subs pound hard and are crisp, great for all kinds of music, and are resonably priced. as far as amps, I'll never run anything but JL. they tend to be a bit more money but they are AMAZING amps. people brag about phoenix gold amps but they have nothing on JLs. JLs are measured by normal running not peak power so they actually are substantially more powerful than an amp with the same rating of a different brand. also they NEVER blow. I've gone through about a dozen subs of various brands(none of which were cheap) and the JL amp has outlasted all of them.

 

Unfortunately I somewhat have a budget that requires me to only buy from certain manufacturers as per my discount.

I have heard great things about JL's entire line, amps and all, but I get no discount on those, and it would skyrocket my budget.

Now the Alpine Type-S components I can get, however I have heard mixed reviews about them due to the fact that they don't have an external crossover. Does anyone know if the stock components in the Fit have a crossover that can be used with the Type S? Or will that sort of defeat the purpose because I think on the Alpine's they are built in or something?

My store used to carry the Type-R components from Alpine, but sadly no more... The Type-S components were my first choice because I already had some Type-S coax 6.5's in my closet that could go in the rear doors that would save me some money, but I just got turned off on the whole no external crossover thing. I do enjoy cranking up my music on a Sunday morning drive with the windows down and I would hate if those Type-S component's tweeters got too much bass and blew... That is honestly my fear with those...

I have heard good things about the Premier series subs...

How would they compare to RF's Punch Stage 3, Alpine Type-R's (heard very mixed reviews about those), or Infinity Kappa Perfect's?

 

honestly, I've never liked punch, they sound too sloppy and don't pound that hard. type r's are good but they require a more powerfull amp than a similar sub from other brands. not too sure about infinity to be honest. the premier's are loud. let me just say they shook the trunk bolts on a bmw loose! the type s speakers are good. my brother had them in his caddy and they shook as hard as some subs I've heard! I stucj a set in my friends car and we were listening to all sorts of music with it turned up all the way and it was fine.

 

as far as the co axe part, if you really want to, you can snip the wire on the crossovers and rig it up to stock tweeter

 

I was very against replacing the OE radio for the exact same reason as you actually. Hondas are broken into and stolen more often than almost anything in the NOVA area, and I don't want to tempt fate. Be that as it may, i want better sounds even more and the factory radio just doesn't offer the adjustability that I want. The trouble in my mind with a sound processor is that it will require fiddling to get right and as a result may never be 100% "dialed in" That and I really miss the nearly infinite tuning posibility that an aftermarket HU offers. In any case good luck and keep us posted on your progress....

 

Allright, so I have purchased a few different components on the system, but haven't installed yet.

I bought the Infinity Kappa Perfect components to replace the stock components. I currently have on layaway two 10" Eclipse SW8000 subs and am pondering the idea of just buying one, because it might be enough for me. I am going to use my old Fosgate Punch P450.4 amp for the highs/mids and my P600-1.bd for the subs.

I dynamated the front doors inside and out, but only dynamated the outside (exterior part) of the rear doors. I originally bought a dynamat trunk kit and door kit (~36 sq. ft.?) and hoped that it would be all I would need for the doors and rear but it's I did the doors only and its all gone

I am still tossing around the idea of an aftermarket HU, but one major concern I have is coming up so maybe you guys can help me...

Is high quality DAC's>multiband EQ? I was looking into the JL cleansweep/3 Sixty.1 but heard they were meh at best and that it doesn't fix the problem the Stock Headunit has with poor DAC's so the amps will only be amplifying a poor signal. But, the headunits I'm looking at right now dont have the greatest EQ but have decent DAC's, specifically the Alpine CDA-9886.

I saw that you can add Alpine's IMPRINT processor to it which will add more EQ bands and Timing Adjustments and so on, but don't know if it's worth it...

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

- Jay

 

I just installed an aftermarket head unit, which is the only change to my sound system so far. I noticed a massive increase in sound quality out of the stock speakers.

just my $0.02, you sound like you have far more experience with this sort of thing than I

 

yah, for most people (including me) a nice HU with ample EQ control will be enough.

the stock speakers aren't bad. i was surprised when one of the members did a
dog and pony show with his eclipse 2din on stocks speakers. was blown away.

was the reason why i swapped out my HU too.

 

First off: Who do you work for? Based off of the brands you've mentioned, and the discount you mentioned, I have a feeling that we work for the same people. PM me and I can tell you exactly what I bought and what I would recommend.

In a more general sense: Do yourself a favor and replace the HU. No amount of EQ will ever make the processing in the stock unit decent. You can put a flower in a turd, but it's still a turd, if you know what I mean.

For headunit, I love Pioneer and Alpine. I went with the Pioneer DEH-p6100BT because of the built in Bluetooth that is just plain awesome. It honestly has a crappy display, but it's worth it for me.

For speakers, I went with the Infinity Kappas without components. They're good, but not as good as I'd like. If I were to redo it, I'd buy the Alpine Type-S. Get the components for the front, and get the non components for the rears. Don't leave speakers out of the back, it's just not worth it for us.

For subs, I have a 10 inch Inifinity that I've had for a few years. I'm waiting for it to blow out on me so I can buy the Alpine Type-R 10 inch. I would recommend the Type-R 10 inch for you, or a Fosgate 10 inch P3. Put either of those in a ported sub box and it'll sound great for your mix of music. I listen to metal, so I use a sealed box for greater punch.

For amps, it really depends on where you're planning on putting the amps. I didn't want mine on the back seats or on the sub box, so I got the smaller Alpines. I got one of the 400 watt RMS @ 2 ohms (mono block) for my sub, and the smaller 4 channel 75 watts @ 2 ohms for my speakers. They sit under my driver and passenger seats, which means I still have all the room in the back and nothing gets in the way. If you want more power, which it doesn't sound like that is important to you, you could go with the bigger Fosgate amps (which are honestly better), but you'd have to put them on your seats.

If you get a decent headunit that has a removable faceplate, and good security system, you should be perfectly fine. If no one can see your amps/sub, they won't be willing to break into your car for a mediocre stereo. They won't be able to steal the car, and the way our headunits go into the dash, they won't be able to take it. You'd only have to deal with broken windows and small things missing, and maybe some dash damage. That still totally sucks, but it's better than not having a car or replacing the stereo.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

I went ahead and took the next step and ordered the Scosche Dash Kit. I am still pondering the HU though. I've been looking at Eclipse and heard great things and the prices at Amazon aren't too bad... Still love the Alpine look, though.

I really like the idea of hiding the amps under the seat
Have any of you guys who have upgraded the HU and added an amp or two had any problems with the electrical system?

 

I'll snap some pictures of my amps tomorrow, now that I finally cleaned my poor Fit.

As far as the electrical system goes, I was pretty surprised by how well the car handled it. I'm not pushing that much compared to many other people, less than 1000 watts RMS. I can crank it up pretty damn loud, to the point where it is uncomfortable, and it still sounds good. Even better, I get absolutely no dimming or jumping of lights at all. I was honestly expecting to see a bit, as I haven't done my "Big 3" upgrade yet, but none at all, whatsoever! So that just means I don't have to rush doing any electrical upgrades under the hood. But I still will, it'll just get pushed back on the list a few spots!

 

Awesome! That's great to know. That is one aspect of upgrading that I have been worried about for some time now, but like you if it doesn't need to be done right away it will be pushed back til after the fun stuff!

I will probably be running just under 1000w rms (according to the amps) myself and will prolly never crank it that loud anyway...