Civic FD stock dash audio unit query....

**xcaliber** · July 9th, 2014 04:51 PM

Good day tsikoteers!

I am a newbie

with regard to audio system set-ups. My questions are these:

(Note: preferably the opera music "Nessun Dorma" would be used as benchmark for sound quality)

1. Can the stock audio unit of a Civic FD produce fine sound quality by merely replacing all the speakers, sound deadening on the doors and adding a tweeter or a single A-pillar speaker (?

) on both sides?

2. Speaker brands from Focal, JL Audio, Kicker, Pioneer, JBL are being considered. What would be your recommendation based on the above mentioned "test music"? (If you call it that

)

3. If maintaining the stock audio unit of the FD is feasible, what would be rough cost estimate for this set-up?

4. Any recommended shop in the QC or San Juan area that can do this?

Thanks in advance! Much appreciated!

:please::thankyou:

**markygy** · July 9th, 2014 05:44 PM

One of the worst oem head units you will ever encounter is found on the civic FD. The features, specifications are worst than the cheapest alpine or pioneer head units on our market.

Palitan mo muna yun stock oem head unit and proceed with your plans.

To give you an idea on the possible expenses:
1. Aftermarket radio panel is around 2,500 - 3,500
2. You need around 5 sheets of deadening material to cover the inner & outer shell of the two front doors. Depending on which type or brand of deadening sheet you use will set you around 200-900 per sheet.
3. After market head unit, depends on what features you are after for.
4. Speakers - depends on your budget.
5. External gears like amplifiers, subs, wires etc. will be another story.

**oj88** · July 9th, 2014 06:04 PM

Been there, done that.

Sound improvement by just replacing the speakers will be marginal at best... might not be worth the investment. You can proceed with that arrangement but I'm pretty sure you'll grow out of it very soon. Then again... SQ is very much subjective.

The tried and tested path towards upgrading the sound system is to change out the stock HU first. Only then can you look for a matching good set of splits for it.

The stock HU is heavily processed/EQ'd from the factory; NOT tuned for the best SQ, but rather to protect the flimsy stock speakers from being damaged.

**baludoy** · July 9th, 2014 08:09 PM

how about those 2 din touch screen HUs being sold at the casa for the fd? kumpleto na din kasi iyong package kasi meron ng conversion panel, digital antenna, & steering control module

hindi pala kasama speakers dyan hehe

**jhnkvn** · July 9th, 2014 11:26 PM

Okay, let me chip on this one..

Strictly speaking, sound quality is defined of three distinct criteria: staging, imaging, and tonality. A car having great SQ manages to score excellently on those three. Now, most people are familiar with tonality or how good it sounds but are less familiar with the other two - in fact most people equate that sound quality equals tonality. Now I can't blame them for that because we can tolerate good tonality but bad staging/imaging but I can't even think about the opposite (good staging/imaging but bad tonality).

Now, if you're using the stock head unit.. there are filters built-in that modifies the sound. As a poster previous stated, the filters are there in order to protect your stock speakers but if you plan on upgrading - this usually proves to be detrimental.

Okay, here's my recommendation for you. If you're budgeting less than 40,000php for the entire system, forget about changing the stock head unit. Just complete the sound chain (speakers, 4 channel amplifier, an a sub) so that you hear a rough full-range sound spectrum. The inclusion of a subwoofer will immensely improve your perception of good tonality - since everybody loves bass and normal cars don't have it. If you're budgeting for more than 40,000php.. then I believe it's time to first state a budget and give yourself time to plan your system.

I'm not a believer of test music. A car with excellent SQ will produce an excellent performance all-around whether that be of RnB, jazz, pop, or whatever genre of music.

**xcaliber** · July 11th, 2014 10:26 AM

Learned a lot guys!

Thanks for all the prompt answers and specific info. Much appreciated!

:thankyou::cheer:

**markygy** · July 11th, 2014 01:42 PM

Just in case you you haven't tried this yet but you can actually turn off or set the EQ curve of the oem HU to flat. This is advisable for those who change their oem speakers and are using the stock oem HU of the FD.

Here are the steps:
1. Press buttons 4 & 6 at the same time. While holding those buttons turn ON the HU.
2. DSP flat will now appear on the screen. Press button 4
3. Turn OFF the HU and turn it ON again.

The volume of the speakers will now play louder.

The factory settings will go back when you turn OFF the radio.

**oj88** · July 11th, 2014 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by markygy

Just in case you you haven't tried this yet but you can actually turn off or set the EQ curve of the oem HU to flat. This is advisable for those who change their oem speakers and are using the stock oem HU of the FD.

Here are the steps:
1. Press buttons 4 & 6 at the same time. While holding those buttons turn ON the HU.
2. DSP flat will now appear on the screen. Press button 4
3. Turn OFF the HU and turn it ON again.

The volume of the speakers will now play louder.

The factory settings will go back when you turn OFF the radio.

Actually, it will only go back to the default DSP setting when you switch off the key.

I did that for about three months before I decided to upgrade.

**markygy** · July 11th, 2014 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by oj88

Actually, it will only go back to the default DSP setting when you switch off the key.

I did that for about three months before I decided to upgrade.

Oo nga pala doon lang siya babalik sa original settings pag na swith off na ang key. Thanks for reminding me sir.

**ezem** · July 12th, 2014 01:30 PM

IMO, if you'll be keeping the stock HU, better include the plans of having a stand-alone DSP like bit one. but i'd still go the aftermarket HU route. if budget is constraint, i'd go one by one on this pattern: HU > seps > 4ch amp > sub > deadening (optional) > monoamp (optional, if you plan to go full active) > DSP (optional), ipon mode muna kung di pa kaya. Focal and JL Audio are 2 of my favorites, but there are other nice sounding "brands" also.

as for the shop, i'd always recomment Sun-X (look for Erick)...but there's also JC Car Audio and SimpleSound.

just my 2 cents of thought