QuestionHi, I would like to get a better sound quality than what I have with the original radio of the Honda Civic 2003.
How can I know if the poor sound quality come from the head unit (radio) or the speakers?
Where should I put the money to get the most bang for the buck?
I don't plan to put more than 150-200$.
Any cue? thank you
AnswerOriginal equipment radio units are not what you would call real "high fidelity" but are, now days, much better than a few years ago. If the car was purchased with the upgrade or premium unit it should be quite good sound; in fact, some of the premium systems are equal to high quality aftermarket installs.
In audio systems of all kinds the speaker is always the weakest link. A well balanced system likes to see at least twice the amount of money into the loudspeakers as in the main head unit or receiver if a home system.
One of the problems you will face in your Civic is finding the space to fit better speakers.
The greatest single addition to an audio system in the car, all other things being equal, is the addition of a sub-woofer. They add another octave or so to the playback capabilities and it adds immensely to the quality and character of the system.
Therefore, you may determine that if you current system has good midrange and treble or high frequency sound that just adding a subwoofer would enhance the system tremendously.
And investment of $200 does not go very far but can get you into some nice gear.
I highly recommend www.crutchfield.com to you. They have the best service in the USA for giving a list of products that will fit into your car. They are THEE experts on fitting units into the head slot in the dash and how to wire them up to any car. If you go to their main page you can select to have it prepare a listing of all the unit that will fit into your car, the adaptors that may be necessary and the cable harnasses you will need to wire them up.
You have no obligation to purchase from them, but if you do they will send the installation instructions and wiring harness along with the unit. They have excellent customer service as well.
Finally, the mounting space in the doors of the civic are not able to accept very large speakers, but you can find some that are much better than those that are in the doors currently.
Upon reflecting, as I am writing this reply to you, I am inclined to suggest you start by adding a sub-woofer system and see if that does not satisfy your audio inklings. If it does not, you are not out anything as you can always use the sub system with a new head unit.
Hope this helps.
C
PS: I sub system that I like - it works well in just about any car - is the self-powered Bazooka system.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fFKdFlskkpu/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=51000&I=204BTA81...
It will fit nicely in the trunk or the back storage area and can easily be removed if you need the space. It will eat up all your budget, but it will be worth it as it really puts our some nice bass for a small car like yours. There are other models as well that you can find on the net and in the stores.
