Hardware Car audio replacement

the_randomizer

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So, the speakers in my 2003 Honda Civic are blown, like so blown that the audio from the speakers makes my ears bleed, thus making listening to anything, even normal talking on the radio, yeah, so I need to get them replaced. Right now isn't an option, but it's good to gather information as there are so many brands, some good, some crap. Now, I have four speakers and no sub woofer, but the speakers actually pack quite a punch in mids, highs and lows and have nice deep bass, so I'm pretty much looking to replace that and keep four speakers.

The brands I hear are good include Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, and JBL I believe. With so many different brands, models of speakers, it's overwhelming to decide what to get, and it seems the total cost for adding new speakers at Best Buy would probably be $150 to $200, so not too bad. Heck, I don't even know if these brands are even top of the line or mid-range, but as long as I get good speaker with good treble, bass, mid/high/low range, I don't really care. I just don't want them to suck :P
 

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Is there a way for you to figure out your current brand of speakers? If you like them enough, maybe you should just look for the same kind/manufacturer :o
 

FAST6191

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Are you sure it is the speakers that are blown (have you seen detached cones and whatever else?) and not the wiring that has come loose some (soldering is treated like a dirty word around your neck of the woods it seems)? It is quite possible to have blown speakers in a car but for the sake of tightening a screw or 5 seconds with a soldering iron....

Likewise if yours are stock then you might find, what with your car being one of the cars of choice for the modding set, you might be able to get some kid to sell their old stock set when they "upgrade". Alternatively a trip to the scrapyard when the same inevitably uses the pole assisted method of parking/stopping.
 

the_randomizer

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Is there a way for you to figure out your current brand of speakers? If you like them enough, maybe you should just look for the same kind/manufacturer :o


Not sure, but I'd maybe if I located the user manual I could find out, but without taking panels off (which I'm in no position to do myself) it's kinda hard to find out. I wouldn't mind getting the same brand again :)

Rockford Fosgate.
Nuff said.

Honestly get Kenwoods.
Or Pioneer.

Also, get a proper headunit ;p


Sounds good to me, it's also probably be a good idea to listen to different samples; cool thing is at Best Buy, they allow people to hear how sound is from various car audio kiosks :P
 

Tom Bombadildo

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I would either go with Rockford Fosgate (as Dinoh suggested, though they tend to be a bit pricey compared to others), Kickers, Pioneer, Alpine, or Kenwood speakers. IIRC, Honda Civics have like...6.5" in the doors and 6x9 in the rear (at least, a friend of mine's 2002 Civic did :unsure:) so I suggest looking around for those. I myself prefer Kickers, I put these in my door, and these in the rear. They sound great, definitely better than the stock in my 2008 Chevy Aveo.

I also suggest looking around online for speakers, sometimes you'll find them a lot cheaper than you would from Bestbuy.
 

the_randomizer

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I would either go with Rockford Fosgate (as Dinoh suggested, though they tend to be a bit pricey compared to others), Kickers, Pioneer, Alpine, or Kenwood speakers. IIRC, Honda Civics have like...6.5" in the doors and 6x9 in the rear (at least, a friend of mine's 2002 Civic did :unsure:) so I suggest looking around for those. I myself prefer Kickers, I put these in my door, and these in the rear. They sound great, definitely better than the stock in my 2008 Chevy Aveo.

I also suggest looking around online for speakers, sometimes you'll find them a lot cheaper than you would from Bestbuy.


True, I will find them cheaper, but I sure as heck aren't going to rip the panels off myself (I guarantee I'd ruin something in the process), so I'll let Best Buy or some reputable car audio place do it for me, even if I have to pay more; that will cost less than if I had to buy new panels that I ruined myself lol. But those dimensions sound right to me.
 

Tom Bombadildo

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True, I will find them cheaper, but I sure as heck aren't going to rip the panels off myself (I guarantee I'd ruin something in the process), so I'll let Best Buy or some reputable car audio place do it for me, even if I have to pay more; that will cost less than if I had to buy new panels that I ruined myself lol. But those dimensions sound right to me.

You don't need to buy the speakers at Bestbuy to have them put them in you know ;)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/standar...39&st=categoryid$pcmcat143000050016&cp=1&lp=4
 
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the_randomizer

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You don't need to buy the speakers at Bestbuy to have them put them in you know ;)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/standar...39&st=categoryid$pcmcat143000050016&cp=1&lp=4


Oh! Well that makes things easier for me! :)

Edit: Bugger, they don't do door panels it seems, which my car has on each side, or rather, each door panel has speakers I believe. Crap.

Are you sure it is the speakers that are blown (have you seen detached cones and whatever else?) and not the wiring that has come loose some (soldering is treated like a dirty word around your neck of the woods it seems)? It is quite possible to have blown speakers in a car but for the sake of tightening a screw or 5 seconds with a soldering iron....


Likewise if yours are stock then you might find, what with your car being one of the cars of choice for the modding set, you might be able to get some kid to sell their old stock set when they "upgrade". Alternatively a trip to the scrapyard when the same inevitably uses the pole assisted method of parking/stopping.

I really don't know what the cause is, but there is a lot of crackling and painful distortion when listening to music, but I don't know jack squat about soldering so I'm not going to attempt to give open heart surgery on my speakers or side panels, I'll let Best Buy or another professional do that. That and I'm very wary about trusting previously used electronics mostly due to the uncertainty of said longevity ;) I'm better off just having Best Buy install new speakers since I won't be doing any tinkering around.

Incidentally, the cigarette lighter got stuck, so I can't use my MP3 player with it until I get it unstuck, it pulls forward, but the panel moves with it too, so maybe a flat head screwdriver can be wedged in there and give it a good yank.
 

the_randomizer

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Okay so after doing some research, the speakers in front are all 6.5" while the ones in the back are 6 x 9, the problem is, I don't know what brand they are, or if there is indeed a subwoofer built in, separate or what have you. Finding the right and very specific information proves to be difficult. It's a 2003 Civic 2-door coupe
 

Tom Bombadildo

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Looks like your car doesn't have a subwoofer, and 9 times out of 10 the speakers will most likely be generic or unbranded (which doesn't really matter anyways, you don't need to replace speakers with the same brand or anything). You could always use Cruchfields "Outfit my Car", they should have info on what speakers/kind of system you have.
 

the_randomizer

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Looks like your car doesn't have a subwoofer, and 9 times out of 10 the speakers will most likely be generic or unbranded (which doesn't really matter anyways, you don't need to replace speakers with the same brand or anything). You could always use Cruchfields "Outfit my Car", they should have info on what speakers/kind of system you have.


Oddly enough, the speakers did have a good amount of treble and bass without one, my only fear is getting speakers that sound flat and have like no bass whatsoever, I don't want that to happen ;) As long as it has decent mids/highs/lows, and good rich bass, I should be fine, I mean, I'm not exactly an audiophile, but I do have sensitive ears :P I've heard Pioneer makes really good speakers.
 

the_randomizer

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Lol, probably 99% of the time aftermarket speakers will sound better than factory speakers, generally factory speakers are cheaply made and don't support very much wattage compared to aftermarket, so you really have nothing to worry about there.


So chances are very good that I'll have good bass/treble despite not getting a subwoofer. Glad to hear it. I'll be sure not to go cheap either as I don't want super low-end speakers either, mid-range will suffice; thanks goodness Best Buy can do all that for me. I don't trust myself with speaker installation as far as I can throw a football lol:P

So something like this

Front speakers are 6.5" http://www.bestbuy.com/site/a-serie...=7456227&st=categoryid$abcat0302005&cp=1&lp=2

While the back would be 6 x 9
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/6-x-9-3...=7456254&st=categoryid$abcat0302005&cp=1&lp=1
 

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My speakers sounded like the ones in your car, so I went to a local retailer and bought some cheap Pioneers to see what they were like. I'm not too fond of Pioneer probably because I don't like their radios, but just needed something to get my on until I can get some better speakers. I never owned Pioneer speakers and always wanted to see what they were like. Well, I think I need to junk my factory radio because it don't seem to give the base I'm looking for, so I cannot comment on if I like the Pioneer speakers yet.

A few years ago I put some Rockford Fosgate speakers in my Jeep and what a difference the sound made, I was also using an old Kenwood radio too. Then I replaced the Kenwood radio with a new Kenwood radio and that made a big difference too. I think this weekend I'm going to put that Kenwood in my car and see how those Pioneer speakers sound.


it's not hard, do it yourself
http://www.google.com/webhp?nord=1#nord=1&q=2003+honda+civic+speaker+replacement&tbm=vid
 

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My speakers sounded like the ones in your car, so I went to a local retailer and bought some cheap Pioneers to see what they were like. I'm not too fond of Pioneer probably because I don't like their radios, but just needed something to get my on until I can get some better speakers. I never owned Pioneer speakers and always wanted to see what they were like. Well, I think I need to junk my factory radio because it don't seem to give the base I'm looking for, so I cannot comment on if I like the Pioneer speakers yet.

A few years ago I put some Rockford Fosgate speakers in my Jeep and what a difference the sound made, I was also using an old Kenwood radio too. Then I replaced the Kenwood radio with a new Kenwood radio and that made a big difference too. I think this weekend I'm going to put that Kenwood in my car and see how those Pioneer speakers sound.


it's not hard, do it yourself
http://www.google.com/webhp?nord=1#nord=1&q=2003 honda civic speaker replacement&tbm=vid


I absolutely refuse to install them myself, trust me, you would not want me to do it, knowing my track record. I don't care if it's extra money, but I feel safer with someone else who knows what the hell he's doing. I can watch videos all day and not learn a single thing from them. Maybe if someone was with me when I did, and that's a big maybe, but with me? No, no way I'm doing it myself. I also know nothing about wiring, soldering or whatever it is I have to do. I appreciate the suggestion, but I'll have to decline on doing it myself.
 

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I absolutely refuse to install them myself, trust me, you would not want me to do it, knowing my track record. I don't care if it's extra money, but I feel safer with someone else who knows what the hell he's doing. I can watch videos all day and not learn a single thing from them. Maybe if someone was with me when I did, and that's a big maybe, but with me? No, no way I'm doing it myself. I also know nothing about wiring, soldering or whatever it is I have to do. I appreciate the suggestion, but I'll have to decline on doing it myself.

Pay for me plane ticket and I'll install them for you ;p
 

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