Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

New accord owner here.

I'm not very pleased with the sound, used to own a TSX and felt the sound in that car was a whole lot better.

I want to upgrade the speakers, but I just want to swap out the speakers themselves with no hassle such as installing component systems or subwoofer.

I think I've heard the Polk Audio db 690's are good for the back, but I'm having trouble identifying what would be good speakers for the front-doors. Crutchfield isn't giving me many good options, so I would like to know if anyone has a recommendation on what to get for the front. Remember, I just want to be able to drop in new speakers and be done with it.

Thanks!

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

i put db690s in the back.

in the doors i put in db5somethings....the 5.25" speaker of the same line. used a spacer. sounds great.

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

The front speakers are 6.5's but not really. While the cone is 6.5", the magnet is tiny as is the hole in the door for it. In order to use a normal 6.5 youd have to use a 1" spacer. Unfortunately this also chokes off the cone by not only the sides of the spacer but also with the tiny hole in the door.

A 5.25" fits like a charm. Im running the Polk Audio Signature Reference 5.25's in mine. I used the supplied 5.25 to 6.5 adapter plate that comes with them and it fit like a charm. You have to drill your own mounting holes but any cordless drill can handle that easy.

A 5.25 will give up a little midbass to a 6.5 but you can still get very good sound from them.

If youre just wanting some tunes to listen to while you drive to work and back, the DB's will be fine front and back. However if youre wanting the best sound possible (within a practical budget) I recommend using the money youd spend on rear speakers and go with fronts only. By doing this you can get a much better quality speaker.

One other thing - whichever way you go try flipping the polarity on ONE of the door speakers. Since theyre toed in and firing into the middle-forward part of the car, theyre not in phase (notice how the singer seems to be coming from everywhere at once?).

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

Ah, thanks for the advice. I think for now I want to avoid drilling holes into my front doors, I was hoping for simple drop-ins. I'll stick with the rears for now, but eventually I know I'll be upgrading the fronts.

Any experience installing components into the front doors? Seems slightly daunting. And which speaker should I switch polarity on? The left or right? or does it not matter?

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

does it actually play like that?

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

So what does switching the polarity do?

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

Drilling holes in the doors is incredibly easy. You shouldnt shy away from that. Its in an area that really doesnt matter. its not as if you're punching it on the exterior panel.

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

Definitely. Im not near smart enough to explain the scientific reasons behind it but it works.

A speaker works by creating waves in the air. These waves are what youre hearing. If you have 2 speakers and theyre playing in phase then theyre working together and you hear things focused and with good tone. If theyre out of phase then theyre working against each other and you get a lot of cancellation and overlapping waves. This will reduce midbass response and make the image very hard to pinpoint.

If you have home speakers, listen to an AM radio talk station. This is a mono signal so it should be directly in the center of the soundstage. Close your eyes and point to where you see the imgae. Open your eyes and take not. Now flop the polarity of one of them and close your eyes. You will find it pretty hard to pinpoint exactly where the voice is coming from and when you finally try, open your eyes and youll notice its shifted left or right of center. You may also notice the voice thins out some and the overall tone may seem wrong when its out of phase due to the waves cancelling out some frequencies. You can try this same experiment in your car.

Several different things can affect phase. Distance is one. For car stereos, you can work a speaker back into phase if you have a processor or head unit that has time correction. By adding delay to one speaker, its like moving it away and eventually youll delay it to a point where the waves match up.

In the 7th gen Accord, both mids are firing to the middle of the front of the car and the center console area is blocking one speaker from the other. This is a STUPID way to mount the speakers and whoever designed them this way needs to be horsewhipped. Anyhoo, due to this STUPID configuration youve got waves essentially firing into corners and bouncing back and theyre all cattywhompus from each other. Switching the polarity on the speakers wiring will shift the phase of the speaker and theyll match up better.

This isnt a perfect solution but if you dont have a fancy processor that has time alignment and all the bells and whistles, this is a good poor mans way of fixing it.

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

i will definitely try to flip the polarity on one of the speakers

hasnt this been the design in the front doors for decade?

RE: Best Speakers w/ Easiest Install?
 

I dont know. This is my first Accord. Been driving Dodge Rams for the last 10 years. ;)

It was the first thing I noticed when I was looking at them. That and the other stupid thing they do which is put the hood release AND a big whopping fuse box in the drivers kick panel which pretty much guarantees never being able to put my speakers in the kick panels. And dont get me started on the tweeters in the dash firingup into the windshield instead of being in the A pillars like everybody else. That is absolutely the WORST place to mount tweeters. And I wont even mention the head unit that is part of the dashwhich makes it 100 times more difficult to add an aftermarket CD player.
[sm=boosign.gif]

One thing for sure, Honda may make thebest built and best designed cars in the world but the guy that designs theaudio part needs to be fired.