Want to upgrade sub and add an amp 2013 accord.
 

So I've been reading and several people agree that Honda dropped the ball with the 2013 accord stereo sound quality. The sub blats and sounds like crap with any moderate amount of bass. I'm not saying I want to turn my car into some ghetto hood rat ride or competition car but I would like to enjoy music. I want to undermount an 8" sub in place of the factory and power it with an aftermarket amp as well. I have also been reading that people have been having problems with ANC when doing this however there seems to be an easy solution now to disconnect this feature.

Does anyone know where the factory amp is located? Would it be possible to tap into this for the 12v power supply, ground and signal? The thread that I saw the OP had a shop install the sub and amp. They cut the rear deck to make room for the sub. I'm assuming so the sub was not hitting the deck when in use since they undermounted it. My thoughts were to add a spacer and still undermount and avoid cutting anything.

I saw another thread where the guy was talking about his fuel efficiency going down due to the amount of power needed to run the amp??? This makes no sense to me.

I'm not looking forward to installing this crap but want it done correctly and do not want to hand it over to a shop. I plan on keeping it as factory as possible and very clean.

Your thoughts/opinions?

Here's the thread if you are interested.
Subwoofer Replaced! - Page 4 - Drive Accord Honda Forums

what kind of a budget are you looking at?

Thanks for the reply. What do you mesn by baffle? I ordered everything this afternoon. Thanks

baffle is the thing that seperates the front sound wave from the back sound wave. the front of a sub box, the rear deck on deck speakers, the door on door speakers. I guess spacer ring would have been more accurate terminology. just a bad habbit steming from saying mounting the speaker to the baffle.

Changed out amp today
 

First, thanks to all who contribute to this site...you guys are fantastic! I have a 2013 EX-L coupe with navi. I just paid Best Buy to have the amp swaped out and replaced the rear speakers today. First, the amp (it is only an underpowered 198w) is located behind the glovebox area. Second, for the dyi folks, for the rear deck to get to the speakers, you can't just take off the grills, the whole deck needs to be removed. To spoolme, I don't think you will need to add a new sub...it isn't the problem.

The head unit is made by pioneer and the speakers by some company named Foster. My suggestion is to replace the rear speakers and the components in the door as well as the amp. I put in some Infinity Kappa 62.9 ($71 online) in the rear and an Alpine Mrx-F35 ($215 online - with an 8 gauge Rockford Fosgate amp kit $45 online) amp in the back (attached to the fold down seat). The sound quality is significantly improved as well as the lows have come to life. I have not replaced the components yet, because I hear Infinity is going to be releasing their replacement for the Kappa Perfect 6.1's sometime in the next week or two. If you like quality over loud, this is a great setup. (some here point to Focal speakers...be careful you lose the ability to direct them and one dealer said they would be a poor choice because of there is only one way to mount them)

I found out why the sound sucks. It has to do with the way they made the crossovers. The tweeters, which in my opinion sound pretty darn good, have a crossover in the factory amp. However there is not a crossover for the mids in the doors. That is why it sounds muddy and mismatched. I decided not to fight with Honda, I made a complaint to Honda America, but I plan on asking the dealer for a half dozen oil changes for my "hassle". It won't make you whole, but to the people who think you get a premiums sound system from car manufacturer, I'm not a believer.

Hope this helps!

ACEIV

Thanks for the reply guys! I've already ordered the sub, amp, cap and all supporting install parts. That sucks about the rear deck. Anyone have directions or a how to for this?

you mean a how to for installing the sub? it really depends on what sub you got and what the rear deck looks like. but for a general overview.

take the rear deck out. remove old sub, see if new sub fits. if not cut a spacer ring ( a jasper jig would be really helpful to have here) mount the ring to the deck. then mount the sub to the ring.

for the amp, find a location to mount the amp. run a 12v from the battery fused (4 guage preferably) then run a ground no longer than 3 feet from the amp (same size wire as the power). run a remote from the factory amp remote.

it depends on if you are gonna use low level or high level inputs on how you do the next part. if you get an amp with a auto on feature you can use the high level input and wont need the remote line.

Sorry, I should clarify. I was wondering if anyone had instructions on how to take off the rear deck cover for the 2013 accord. My plan is to pull the factory sub and undermount an alpine swr-823d, gen 4 exactly as you suggested. I ordered an 8" sub spacer that I will mount under the existing hole in the rear deck where the factory sub is. Since the feed is right there going to the factory sub I will use high level input. I also ordered an alpine mrp-m500 to power the type r.

I'm guessing from what I have read that I will have to disable ANC. I will access it through the storage area by the shifter and unplug it. I will run the power and signal to the front and look for a ground in the trunk.

I also ordered all the wiring and a cap and will pick up some dynamat or something similar to place on the rear deck since I will have the cover off. I did go with an 8 gauge wiring kit after talking to crutchfield. I think that will be fine with this application as it is not a huge system. Am I missing anything? Suggestions?

Thanks for your help guys.

I didn't see how they removed the rear deck, but it looked like the plastic comes down about 8 inches from the top of the rear seat and there were about 4 screws attaching it. There should be those round screw cover plastic thingies (technical term) to show you where the screws are.

As for the ANC. I used the information contained here about removing the 2 wires (front and back mics) on the drivers side a pillar (by winshield) and that solved the feedback. They forgot to do it so I went 20 feet hear the "whale call" and turned right back around :)

They did use a plastic spacer (riser) kit for the rear left and right speakers. The factory installed speakers had the riser molded to the speaker.

Let me know if I can help in any other way...

I don't think I've seen the ANC solution that you are talking about. I have seen where people were cutting the wire by the sunglass holder and pulling the headliner for the rear and where others are disconnecting behind the center console. What is the method you used?