So I've been inquiring about town about upgrading my 2010 Fit Sport's sound system. I'm more or less undecided about what I wanna do. It would be great to replace the front speakers, add a 8 or 10" sub, and a nice amp, and I'm not sure if I wanna keep the factory head unit. Alternately I could simply add an amp to the factory system and just add a sub, but I'm not sure how that'd work with the factories.

I have a quote from a local place with some really nice stuff but it seems pretty crazy pricey to me on the labor ($560!!!):



I have lots of questions...
- first, is this labor charge reasonable.
- second, should I go with somewhat lower end stuff.
- third, I want to be able to fit the amp somewhere out of the way (under the back seat maybe) and I'm not sure how to go about that.
- fourth, is there another good performing sub/enclosure that'd take up less space (I do love this particular one though, a friend has it).
- what can i do to get the best deal?

I listen to a lot of bass heavy music like dubstep so power is important, but I also value clean mids, which is the main reason I'm strongly considering upgrading the door speakers as well as adding a sub.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions, help?

Thanks so much!

 

yeah, thats expensive in this economy, but some are willing to pay it. i personally feel that you should get a head unit with factory harness adaptor. also, your GE model fit will have a cheaper dash unit as well. running around 40-50 bucks. then you should see whether or not you want to upgrade the speakers. ive heard that the sport models are not that bad...considering tweeters and all. get the head unit then you could upgrade when cash allows. BTW....you could do the door speakers yourself. i am. nooo way im paying some rat bastred hundreds of dollars to put two doors worth of speakers. gawd!!!

 

Thanks

After reading this and various other things, I think what I wanna do is simply add an amp and sub and do a 'wait and see' on the front speakers. They do seem decent, it'll at least be good enough for a while. The main reason I wanna keep the factory headunit is that it already has everything I want, I wouldn't be buying a new one for extra functionality. The main concern I have is that I won't be able to control the EQ very well, but I found out I can get controller knob for the sub separately installed, that could solve the issue.

Still thinkin on it.

 

headunit!!! i did the stock stereo and sub for a while... HEADUNIT ALONE blows it away... better sound in every aspect

 

Hm that makes me reconsider the plan. I'm wavering on this headunit thing, lol. Everyone seems to be saying I should just switch the headunit so maybe I'll drop a couple hundred on a solid Alpine or something.

I was thinking Alpine S series sub (if I can mount it somewhere stealthy at a semi-reasonable price) or a JL audio enclosed sub if I can't do that. Prolly Alpine 4 channel amp since it seems to be the best price/quality combo I can find.

It's shaping up in my head!

 

I'll second that. The limiting factor in any upgrade to the stereo in the Fit (be it a GD or a GE) is the OE head unit. It works, but for real quality listening of any kind, from symphonies to death metal, you have got to replace it with something that has a better heart. If you get a good HU you can thrash on the OE speakers until they give out and then spend the cash on better stuff. And you won't be handicapped when it comes time to add an amp/sub either. I am surprised that a place that charges that much for labor didn't advise you of that right up front....

 

am I reading that right, over $700 in labor alone?

 

Yup. 9 hours at $80/hr. $800 if I wanted the sub dial added.

Ridiculous.

 

Personally since I have a GD3 the metra and scosche kit are okay at best. I like the scosche kit but it just doesn't fit perfectly. Even with the small modifications you can do to make it fit well it, it won't be 100% perfect. I am also in the same boat debating on if I should just get the JL cleansweep and run my system through that. If the dash kit you are getting has a perfect fit then go and get a HU. I know a dash kit is very minor to a lot of ppl, but just seeing it sticking out from corners or not sitting right would just bother me.

 

Install it yourself instead of paying the labor would be my advice.

 

The dash kits don't really fit that poorly, and the fit can be massaged with a little gentle sanding and filing of engaging surfaces. The improvement in SQ over OE is well worth it, believe me.

 

YES... PLEASE throw away the stock H/u and burn it.. it's really not worth keeping. lmao

 

cleansweep would clean up the signal, its a good alternative for those who want to keep it looking stock..
to answer the OP: look into sonicelectronix.com for parts.

the pricing for those parts is pretty much MSRP, which is not worth it. that 8" sub isnt going to give you the bass you want, granted you'll get some cabin gain, but it's not going to be the heavy bass you want.

look around and read reviews, sonic electronix does ship out install accessories if you order a headunit and you can read reviews on there as well.

you can fit an amp in the spare tire if you really want to put it out of the way, and have a sub box in the cargo area, so you get to keep the magic seats in full functionality.

i would look into alpine pdx amps as they're small and you can hide them almost anywhere, and they're a decent price.
sub of your choice, although jl is pricey...

i suggest headunit though, as that would make the biggest difference in audio.

 

honestly google is your best friend

the head unit is going to be ideal to get the biggest gains. the stock unit isn't that good. i like the flow of the oem radio but i would much rather have the sound i have now than the oem look, and i don't even have subs or speaker upgrades (yet! )

that being said between the info on fitfreak and google, you should be able to do everything you need to on your own. will it take a lot more time? hell yea. just make sure you check everything twice and pay attention to what you're doing.

this is a good thing to get your hands dirty with so to speak. i mean i installed my fair share of radios when i was in my first 3 cars and while my gd3 was a bit more "involved" i did get it done.

also i have the metra kit and while i'm not 100% sold on it, i'm sure if i actually spent some i could get my annoyances about the fitness on it up to what i want. but no one else is noticing b/c they aren't in my car as much as i am.

and that $700 labor is enough to get a really solid DVD/NAV headunit......

 

seriously, i was all for getting it done at a shop till they quoted 160 to install the HU... wtf??? no thanks. haha it took like 6 hours for my to install it only because i kept lagging and stopping cuz i got lazy but honestly, it wasn't too bad. We're here to help if anything

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, my head is spinning with all the possibilities.

One thing I really can't do is install it all myself. It would simply take forever as I'd have to look up every little thing having no experience, plus I really don't want to spend hours and hours taking my car apart with on street parking in February in Massachusetts.

Thx for the sonic electronics link, intuitive site. I'm wondering if I can simply buy all the parts I want and then pay someone to install them. I figure I can but as I said, I'm a noob :P

The PDX 4.100 seems like it'd be more than enough power for two speakers and a sub and could fit under the front seat (right?):
Alpine PDX-4.100 (pdx4100) Multi-channel Amps Car Amplifiers Car Audio Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix
^ good recommendation, I guess I'll have to drop a pretty penny on an amp

I'm thinking 10" sub, hopefully smallest enclosure I can find. I ordered the cargo cover so as to keep my valuables out of sight. Or... those bazooka tubes are interesting. Don't know much about them but they seem cheap and easy.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_136S110...owAll=N&tp=112
^looks good

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_777B17/...17.html?tp=112
^Seems too good to be true, quality questions?

The Cleansweep or RF360.2 are intriguing to me as it seems like you can hijack the audio signal and 'fix' it, though I'm not too fond of the remote volume knob idea. Mainly I don't like the idea of a dash unit that doesn't fit perfectly, I expected them to be more or less seamless. Though, I went to a shop today and I was looking at a Pioneer headunit that seemed to fit the bill and was around $150... they were trying to sell me the top of the line Alpine unit for $350 but I'm not really looking for that.

It looks as though if I ordered a headunit from Crutchfield they'd give me the dash kit for free? Seems pretty solid.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113MP34...684&tab=review
^ fits my budget :P
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE1...684&tab=review
^ a little sexier

Sorry to keep posting random products but I'm in a bit over my head!
This Kicker 10" looks pretty sweet. Compact and can hit 24hz:
http://outlet.crutchfield.com/p_2068...cc=07&tp=13605

 

what's your budget? i can help you piece something together that's worth your time/budget, shoot me a pm, i'll be more than happy to help you out.

audio was my thing before i got my fit

 

Sound Ordnance just launched if i'm not mistaken. They took up primo real estate on Crutchfield to launch...who/what they are...no clue. Honestly haven't checked. sometimes those non brand names are simply manufactured by a major brand with different labels...kinda like cars.

as far as work on installing it...yea February would be a beast for you up there lol

honestly $200 for the HU might wind up being a sweeter spot for you as far as function/ability on it but i don't know how you want to play this all out.

You could go

HU only

HU/Speaker Upgrade

HU/Speaker/Amp upgrade

HU/Speakers/Amp/Sub upgrade

it's all in how you want to float your boat, ya know?

 

its scary how much shops charge. installing things yourself can seem a bit daunting but honestly, use google to get wiring diagrams, install guides etc. and just start doing it and you should be able to figure it out without many hickups. if you put the money you save doing the install yourself into the equipment it'll make a huge difference. plus then you get to say you did it yourself

 

If u pay that much for labor ur crazzy lol I'd understand 200 the fits a pita to do the subs on my o9is rocking the factory hu and sounds solid much better than some after market ones my friends have on theirs idk how the hu is on the 10 but mine was fine but if u really wanna do it good then yes spend the money one a great hu but if u are ok with pritty good quality u don't need to change it