Need easy speaker upgrade
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Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 248
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From: Kansas City
Need easy speaker upgrade
I have the non-hifi stereo. The front mid-range speakers are totally blown. I want to put in something to replace them but don't want to rip off the door panels and run wire. Can I just wire up a pair of co-ax speakers using the original wires? It looks like the speaker wire heads into the mids and then goes from there to the tweeters. Can I just plug in the wires to the back of new speakers?
I am looking for an easy solution under $100.
I am looking for an easy solution under $100.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
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Yes you can...the spade connectors are pretty much universal on speakers.
I just did the same thing with the rears.....Went to my local Halfords (UK general motor parts store) They had a wall full of speakers that you can listen too and pick from. got some alpines to replace stock 10cm speakers and used the same speaker grills as the originals. I'm sure if you went to a US equiv store they will even check them for you it's a very simple DIY if you are so inclined.
£30 for rears.....($57 ish)
Chri s W.
I just did the same thing with the rears.....Went to my local Halfords (UK general motor parts store) They had a wall full of speakers that you can listen too and pick from. got some alpines to replace stock 10cm speakers and used the same speaker grills as the originals. I'm sure if you went to a US equiv store they will even check them for you it's a very simple DIY if you are so inclined.
£30 for rears.....($57 ish)
Chri s W.
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From: NE Florida
The rears would be easier I think because it's only a single speaker, no crossover. The fronts would be harder because you wouldn't want to replace just the midrange (woofer) and I think the crossover is inside the midrange speaker (I think). I replaced both the mid and the tweeter w/ a system that had an external crossover, not an easy task because I wanted to keep the stock grills and the crossover was large (and available door space is small). You MAY be able to replace/upgrade the midrange only but I wouldn't know what unit would be compatible.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
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Originally Posted by kb
Chris W -
thinking about replacing my rear speakers too. How easy is it to remove rear shelf and speakers? Bought the Boston Acoustics 746. Thanks.
thinking about replacing my rear speakers too. How easy is it to remove rear shelf and speakers? Bought the Boston Acoustics 746. Thanks.
Good Luck
993BillW - understood about crossovers. You would have to buy speaker sets (mids and tweeters) But this is standard pick-up at a good car stereo outlet.....just another thought but some of our UK stores (Halfords) offer an installation service if you buy the speakers from them, sometime for free if you buy enough. I've always done my own in all the cars i've had but this may be the simple get-out clause some people need.
Chris W.
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From: Nova Scotia
kb,
The rear shelf and seat back easily comes out as a unit: it is secured with four phillips head screws - and will tilt ahead enough to access the speaker wiring. To remove it completely, the seat belt anchor bolts have to be removed as well.
The small standard speakers have removable grilles and top mounting screws - so tilting the shelf ahead should be sufficient: the larger 'deluxe'
2-way rears are bottom mounted, so the shelf must be removed to access the screws.
The rear shelf and seat back easily comes out as a unit: it is secured with four phillips head screws - and will tilt ahead enough to access the speaker wiring. To remove it completely, the seat belt anchor bolts have to be removed as well.
The small standard speakers have removable grilles and top mounting screws - so tilting the shelf ahead should be sufficient: the larger 'deluxe'
2-way rears are bottom mounted, so the shelf must be removed to access the screws.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 248
Likes: 1
From: Kansas City
pcar964 has the solution
I found an old post by pcar964 that answers my original question. He upgraded the factory non-hifi system for around $200. For the front speakers, he just swapped out the mids with a set of coax 6.5's. I'm going to start with some $80 speakers up front. Then later upgrade the blown rears. Sometime I will upgrade the headunit with something that will control an Ipod.
Race Car
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,053
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From: Houston, Texas
Yea, forget trying to keep the tweeter, just disconnect it and get a good 6.5 coax to replace the door speakers. Its hard to find speakers that have the OEM grill look though, seems like every speaker is made for the Fast and the Furious crowd and come with ugly looking grills that look like car wheels. Yuk.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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From: NE Florida
Originally Posted by Chrisw_05
Forgot to mention - Im a CAB man. therefore speakers are side mounted not back shelf. i'm sure with a pozi drive in hand and a bit of patients you can work it out. or someone else can chime in with a coupe.
The only issue is the seat belt mechanism is behind that panel and too large a magnet will hit the mechanism. It shouldn't be too big an issue though.
Weathergirl
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From: SE PA
One thing to keep in mind is speaker efficiency (specified in dB). Many of the speakers aimed at the budget audience actually need a lot of power to sound decent. Since all Hondas need 1000W of amps, this isn't a problem. 
If you're driving the speakers with your headunit or a lower power amp, you should look for speakers with an efficiency of 91+, and higher is better. I've found that Infinity speakers are very efficient and sound great even with lower power.
If you're driving the speakers with your headunit or a lower power amp, you should look for speakers with an efficiency of 91+, and higher is better. I've found that Infinity speakers are very efficient and sound great even with lower power.
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When I replaced my front speakers, I left the tweeters connected at first. For whatever reason (I'm not a stereo guy) the highs were too loud (could the absence of a crossover cause MORE power to the component tweeters?) I eventually disconnected the tweeters, and it sounds a lot better (the 6.5" speakers have a tweeter built in, as most do).