I'm an old guy with a brand new EX Coupe. I'm not looking to spend big money and I don't need huge tunes, but I'd like to get a little bigger sound from my stock system. I read somewhere that my system puts out 350 watts but the speakers don't use it all. Can someone explain to me how a stereo can put out more watts than the speakers produce? Do I just need better speakers? How much better? Thanks.

 

Id like to see where you read that because I would like to see it. The stock honda system is actualy pumping out about 10 watts per channel.

 

I'm probably not relating the post correctly and I don't remember where I saw it. What's the first thing you would upgrade on the stock system to get a fuller sound? Remember I don't know any A/V lingo. I know I have a subwoofer, but I have no idea what it does. I do know me lika da bass!

 

The most effective upgrade would be to replce the head unit. Look into things like Alpine, Eclipse, Nakamichi. I prefer Eclipse personally though.

 

+1 for the Eclipse!!!

I wouldn't go too close to Nakamichi though. They have just started remaking radios and I'm kind of leary about there service right now. Start with the basics, 1- A good radio, no sense in skimping on the radio, it provides the signal which ultimatly drives the rest of the system, your only as good as your source unit. 2- A nice set of speakers. Go out and listen to a few different brands, try to stay away from the BigBox stores(I.E. Circuit City, Best Buy, Walmart) Go to a few independant dealers and listen to as many different speakers as you can and make a choice on personal preference. Any one can tell you what they think sounds best but its your car and your ears. 3-Well; you already have a sub so leave it alone for now if its still a working model, Bass is hard to messup. If you like a tighter punchier more accurate sound go with a sealed enclosure. If you like loud and low go with a vented or ported design enclosure.
4- A good 4 channel amplifier for the highs can be added down the road. would round out the bass nicely and really helps with keeping your music sounding clean at higher volume levels. Everything else can be added as needed:Graphic equalizer, Dsp processors, time alignment, kick pods, 3-way components, etc, etc, etc.

Its easy to get lost in the sea of electronics available, but once you find a shop willing to take you in its a fun trip to get into.!!!!!

Good luck with your tunes hope I helped more than confused

 

^ +1 on the 4 channel.


Remember, the more power (not volume/loudness) you stick behind a speaker, the better it will sound. For component speakers I recommend MB Quarts. They are great bang for the buck for what they are and are actually hand made.

 

Thanks for answering such basic questions for me. You've been very helpful. By the way, Remi is my middle name. I thought to use it after seeing yours. There's that guy on Unique Whips, too. Suddenly this odd name is cool!

 

Lol... well it has nothing to do with my name.

 

this may seem like an obvious suggestion, but no one has mentioned it to you yet. go to ebay. i've saved literally a thousand dollars on my system. get the catalog from the line of products that you want to use and just punch the stock numbers that the catalog offers into the ebay search engine. hope that helps. i already drowned in the sea that remmy mentioned, good luck man.

 

bad thing about ebay is no warranty plus alot of the products are referbished. if i was a newbie on stereo's i would suggest local stereo shop that can help u when u have problems they usually won't help if u didn't purchase it there