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Hello,

So the rear speakers never worked. I got my multimeter and checked for voltage, and while there was a voltage reading that varied quickly, no sound came out. So I got a complete new set of speakers. I just installed the rear ones, and tested them out.

They work! An instant improvement from not working, if I say so myself.

Okay, but they are a lot more quiet than I expected them to be.

I know that getting the wiring incorrect will affect speaker performance, so my first question is in regards to just confirming that I did that correctly.

For me, the positive/negative terminals were not marked anywhere, but I guessed, from the terminals given on my speaker, that + is solid coloured and - is striped. Am I correct?

Second, I'm guessing that my new speakers might need more power to drive them. Both my old and new speakers have a resistance of 4 ohms, but my new ones have an maximum output of watts ten times more than the old ones. So does this mean that I need a new stereo to power these things?

EDIT: BTW, completely standard up to this point.

Thanks!

 
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Switch the polarity. Does it sounds better?

Maximum watts is not a useful as the RMS ratting in the speaker. If the RMS rating of the new speaker is higher then the old one (which it probably is) then your head unit will not have enough power to give it. Under powering a speaker is just as bad as over powering one.

 
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Wiring them backwards won't really make them sound quieter. It will make them out of phase where one speaker is pushing and the other is pulling effectively cancelling out the bass.

Your power rating on the speaker has little to do with volume at lower power unless they are high end/high power speakers (look at the nominal rating, that is the minimum power needed to drive the speaker, you need something below 10 for a stock head unit)

You need to look at the ohms of the speakers to ensure they are close (2.7-4 ohm), but more importantly, look at the sensitivity rating. You didn't say what speakers you bought but I would bet their sensitivity rating is under 90dB. You want to look for something 92-93 dB or higher when using a stock head unit and no amp. These speakers take less power to produce more sound.

 
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Also keep in mind that you are driving these through the stock wiring, which is extremely poor. It might have drive the anemic stockers, but I would recommend replacing the wire. Afterall, if you are going to be replacing the head unit, (and maybe getting a nice 4 channel amp in the future) then its a grezt way to futureproof your car for any of these upgrades

 
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The reason I asked about the polarity is that I kind of went to town so to speak on soldering in the adapters. They are really well done. Unfortunately, I'd have to tear it all apart apart to switch the polarity. However, they are both the same in terms of wiring.

The box says that they have 400 Watts peak power/200 Watts RMS.

 
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The system sensitivity is 92 dB. It's not a top of the line speaker, to say the least. I'm on a budget in both time and money. The exact model is CH6930 by Boss Audio Systems.

Re-wiring the car sounds like a lot of work.

_____

I haven't actually attached the front speakers yet. I'm currently building a speaker housing/adapter so that it'll fit on the door. (Why couldn't honda make their speaker holes 1/4 inch bigger?!?)

 
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200W RMS!!

That's a lot for a stock head unit that only puts out maybe 10-15 watts.

The stock wiring is fine.

 
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lol I guess it is.

Well, I'm happy to say that the problem sort of sorted itself out, and I think I have a theory why the rear speakers were so quiet.

In testing the new rear speakers, I had left the original old speakers in the front, because I didn't have the housing completed for the new ones. So maybe I was shorting the rear speakers out, because I'm willing to bet the old ones didn't have the stated 4 ohms of resistance after 15 years of use.

In any case, after installing the new front speakers, the rears seemed to get louder.

My new systems not only works, but also sounds quite good.

Thanks guys for your help!

 
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That's 200RMS for the pair. 100 watts each. And I guarantee those would not take 100 full watts without a melt down.

92db is fine. Stock wiring is fine for up to 200 watts. (I have pushed 3 times that) You don't need to change it out.
Sounds like it is working now. Use the fader to adjust the levels to your liking.

 
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I know this thread is 5 months old but

NO!... no.

 
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Uh, yeah. If you really have a system that you are pushing 200 watts through continuously, you aren't using stock anything. Very few car speakers are even remotely capable of handling 200watts on a continuous basis. In fact very few people ever use more than 20-25 watts for moderately high volume levels. (this is for mid bass and up drivers, not subs) Subs are a completely different discussion.

I had a pair of PPI PC2500's in my Jeep run through stock wiring to the speakers. The speakers were capable of handling well over 300 watts.

I am running an Alpine PDX-400.4 bridged to the front speakers. Running through stick wiring. Powering a pair of Boston Pro 6.5" capable of handling amps up to 400w. I push them hard and guarantee I am not getting anywhere near the 200w capability of the amp.

So again, unless you are running a full blown competition system, stock wiring is fine for most any retail car speaker and amp that can drive them without melting down the voice coil.

 
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Regardless of your experience, just because it 'works' or is 'fine' doesn't make it good a practice. You're stressing your amps out and for what.. being lazy or cheap? Silly.

 
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Someone who is actually pushing there system to the extreme will need to upgrade their wires. Like Tigger said most people use maybe 25w.

 
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While that is very-well the case, wire size is not the only bottleneck for these coupes/sedans. You also have to keep in mind all of the sub-par connectors throughout your system as well. Especially the large grey multi-connector mounted just above your rear pass. strut, leading to all points rear of your car. This is a common failure point for the 7th Gen. That ALONE convinced me to run my own 14 ga. to all of my components now replacing my stock spkrs.

 
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Yeah I mean, I'd rather have the head room with using a thicker gauge and know that there's no wonky connections, but to each their own. I'm not most people..