Cascino

I have an 04 civic coupe ex(6 speaker package, has tweeters up front) I was wondering if the stock speakers honda put in are extremely good, or if i changed them i would notice a hell of a difference. im not going for a system(subs, amp.) i was thinking, new rears and door speakers. what do you guys think?

Dishwasher

new component speakers and some new rears will definitely sound better than stock. Go to your local speaker store and find some speakers that you like the sound of and buy them. I'd also recommend getting an amp and a new head unit.

steak84ss

Stock are NEVER GOOD!! I don't care if someone buys the top of the line Benz with Bose in it. I can make a better sounding setup. Stock speakers never have large enough magnets.

J187

1. I agree that the stock sound in the Civic is not very good
2. I do not entirely agree that changing only the stock speakers is a good idea
3. I do not agree that stock can never be "good"
4. I do agree that you could make a "better" system than stock for any car
5. I do not agree that it is merely magnet size that accounts for poor sound Q.

Basically, because I'm not aware of how the stocks are setup in these cars (because I never gave a rat's ***) and what all the factors are which would pertain here. For instance, what impedence are the mids, the tweets? Are there blockers? xovers? Etc. If you put the wrong impedence speakers in a stock location and didn't match impedence with the output amp or didn't have the right response to the xovers you could make nice speakers sound like ***. My advice to you, if you aren't going to change hU or at least add an amp, I would leave the stock speaks in there. 1. You could make it worse 2. you might not even notice a difference after spending a couple bills and wasting some time. 3. The stockers are designed to give you everything you need to enjoy the sound. Not well, but thats the idea. SO replacing them without adding speakers that can play fairly low with almost no power, might just play too high for you. Also, if you are going to be purchasing speakers that are on the cheaper side with low efficiency, they aren't going to do well with little power. By little power i mean the friggin 9 watts that the factory HU produces.

Now, because I love audio, my real advice is to grab some Dyns a couple mac amps and some IDMaxs. Because I anticipate you aren't looking to spend thousands . . .I'd say consider finding a relatively inexpensive hu, 2 channel amp and component speaker setup on the net and join us in our quest for pleasing sound.

steak84ss

Are we gonna have to argue again?....LOL. I only give detail when needed. A basic question was asked so I gave a basic answer. You're right. Not all stock stereos are bad but I can't go long without messing with them. I LOVE aftermarket setups.

J187

Don't remember arguing with you at all. I'm just giving my opinion too. I love a/m systems too. Thats why I hate to see anyone come at kinda half assed. But I respect that money and time constraints prohibit everyone from putting amps, hus, speaks etc in. I'm just trying to give my opinion, doesn't mean I'm correct. Stock system with a/m speaks might sound A lot better to some, I'm just giving this dude the heads up that he may not be able to push some A/ms well enough with stock HU power.

BTW, your insight is welcomed here just as much as mine. Ambiguous issues such as cars, stereos, fitness, computers etc. need multiple opinions and various sources of information from which to draw on to form our own ideas.

steak84ss

Thats cool. I wasn't trying to start anything. I just hate stock stereos. I'm a firm believer in buying a head unit and then new speakers. You can build around the head unit easily and always add later on.

IronFist

iTrader: (3)

I was originally wanting to do just what you suggested, but I ended up with new fronts, a sub, and amp for the sub, and a new headunit

My main problem with the stock speakers were that they didn't have enough bass. Well, I got new speakers in the front that had awesome sounding mids and highs, but had even less bass than stock. So then I got the sub to produce the extra bass, and then I got the head unit so I'd have awesome control over everything.

I think that there may not be many speakers that will produce good bass unamped.

shmik1

iTrader: (6)

I didnt read all that was posted so some of this might have already been said... stock speakers are PAPER if you didn't know, or appear to be something cheap if they're not, I glanced at em, the best is amped speakers because a deck only puts out about 20ish rms on average.. get a good set that run 50-100rms and amp them at 50-100rms match them up and get a quality 4chan amp, they'll sound great stock wont even compair..

shmik1

iTrader: (6)

btw first step is replacing HU, a new head unit would even make stock speakers sound better, then replacing stock speakers and having a HU is another good step up, then the best setup is adding a 4chan amp to ur aftermarket speakers and also having the aftermarket HU

J187

There is nothing wrong with Paper cones

brash

To answer your question:

I think if you are just going to replace the speakers, don't waste your money.

I basically agree with J187 (including about paper cones).

Mystic3030

If all you are doing is replacing the speakers, don't bother. The OEM stereo in the EX is actually relatively well balanced, and by switching to aftermarket stuff you are going to lose a lot of bass and up your highs. If you really are intent on switching, I would leave your OEM rear speakers in, buy a decent set of component speakers for the front, with a new headunit and a 2 channel amplifier. You could have a complete front stage that has a decent upgrade from stock for about $650.

Mystic3030

BTW, the 04+ speakers in the EX coupe are upgraded from the 01-03, and actually sound better. They are no longer made from paper, and use neodymium magnets now.

LakelandCivic

I have the 05 EX Sedan and the stock speakers are very cheap, very light too. I have seen bigger magnets on a set of tweeters.....

Mystic3030

^^ thats because they are neodymium...its ultra eficient. THe same size normal magnet would be almost 4x the size.

85gp4

iTrader: (1)

I have an 04 Civic VP and just installed a JVC 200w head unit, and a set of tweeters up front. I also have two 10's in an osobaric box, pushed by an Audiobahn 600w amp. I left the stock door and rear speakers because they are actually pretty good speakers for stock, and the hu pushes more than enough power for them. The stock speakers sound much better with the aftermarket hu, and personally I have no plans to replace them anytime soon.

coop

Sound quality is all opinion...

That said - the stock system is of very low power, using lower quality components. It might not sound "bad" left intact, but the replacement of any one piece starts revealing limitations. Keep in mind the system as a whole is only as good as the cheapest component.

J187

Keep in mind also that the stock setup was designed as a system and not as 6 speakers and a HU. That said, you have to realize that each individual stock item does its job to create the best possible sound given the limitations. If you start mix and matching stock and a/m, you might open up a can of worms. The stock **** dosn't jive well with A/M ****.

coop

no - b/c aftermarket is of superior quality. We can compare systems if you want.

Atticus

the stock speakers in my 04 lx sound a lot better than the 6x8 pioneers i had in my ranger before the bitch in the porche hit me doing 67 in a 50....

now i drive a civic, with a good stock system i think...

ohiojosh78

i had a pheonix gold 500.4 hooked up to the stock speakers and that helped out ALOT! sounded better than just hooking up new speakers to stock deck.

Mystic3030

Compare all you want, the point is the OEM stuff is designed to play together to create the best sound possible with the available components in the car. If you start replacing without knowing what your doing it will sound worse. The only thing I would suggest changing is the HU. Replacing the speakers will usually result in LESS bass with sharp highs unless you have a sub, or a very good component set. (my front stage alone produces more bass than my friends car does, and he has a bazooka tube and Boston RX57's up front.)

Mystic3030

I agree! When I first got the car I ran a PPI PC250 to my front speakers for a couple months, and it sounded pretty good for what it was.

2k3kansasEX

iTrader: (2)

Hey look at the plus your stock set up is all pioneer

Roosbok

I am considering an upgrade myself. I have a 01 LX Sedan. The stock system is a cassete deck. From what I have gathered, the stock systems are not too bad as is. The speakers are supposed to be half decent too, although I question whether the front speakers are that good. Which of the following options would make the most sense.

1.) Add Honda OEM CD player, install in space provided. Leave all other OEM intact.

2.) Replace cassete deck with after market CD deck/receiver.

3.) Replace front speakers, leave stock rear speakers, in combination with 1. or 2.

coop

Option 1 would probably have the least impact on the stock sound b/c it's a Honda component. Once you introduce an aftermarket higher powered deck the limitations of the stock system will become apparent and then the sweater thread has been pulled......

Regularjoe

IMO most aftermarket speakers are intended to be amped. I know most Pioneer speakers I have come across don't come alive until amped. When I installed some cheap Walmart 6x8 Pioneer 3-way speakers I thought they were blown being powered off the HU. They crackled and popped really quick off the HU. Then I installed an amp and it was night and day better. They started thumpin and actually sounded quite good.

nindoo

iTrader: (1)

^^^^^^^^^I agree


If you chage the head unit the sound will be much better. Keep the stock speakers change the head and put a small sub. I forget which head unit one of my buds has but He has the same car with the six speaker and he changed the head unit his sound is much more crisp and loud than mine(Also ex coupe).

coop

Keep in mind that the stock speakers don't have very high power handling capability - which means if amped too high they might blow......if I recall the front stocks aren't much more than 15 watt or so....