Audio upgrade for clarity

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by HariN, Jun 3, 2018.

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  1. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

    Has anyone installed a volume knob? God I miss a volume knob lol.
     
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  3. Cash Traylor

    Cash Traylor Well-Known Member

    I haven't done it, however the infotainment system, as we know, is Android and can be reasonably easily rooted and external apps loaded. As such, it would likely not be terribly difficult to add an off the shelf "bluetooth" volume knob controller (amazon or ebay etc) or even a USB volume knob that supports Android and you can get a hold of the apk for manual adb sideloading. Like any mod or hack there are some drawbacks, but like many on this forum - we seem to be of the mindset that whatever Honda missed on the Clarity - we as a user group can fabricoble together for our own fun. If you try this report back. Rooting the headunit only has significant risks with some software loading as far as warranty is concerned, however I now know for a fact that the dealer "can" reinstall Android, however until someone on XDA gets a hold of the bootloader and original ROM there will likely be no way for us to revert to a non-rooted head unit for "temporary" service visits. However, it is software and there are a lot of bright people out there - give it time. I've just become accustomed to it and use the steering wheel control exclusively. As a side note, the panel that holds the push to start button has some room behind it if you installed a knob it could easily fit there, or the dummy cover under the headunit is another location, but you would need a "service loop" of wire there for removal. Good Luck! Send pictures!
     
    Michael Angelos likes this.
  4. Electra

    Electra Active Member

    Too much work, try to get used to the steering wheel controls.
     
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  5. WantEV

    WantEV Member

    how about a head transplant? swap with accord's infotainment unit?
     
  6. sshams95

    sshams95 New Member

    I would pay whatever for this to happen.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  8. Ben Miller

    Ben Miller New Member

    Same here
     
  9. DC2

    DC2 Member

    How do you go about removing the infotainment display? There doesn't seem to be any guidance in the post documents. Does it slide right out?
     
  10. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

    So far ive replaced the speakers with Infinity's and plan on adding an Alpine power Pack amp, an audio control LC71 and a Bazooka sub.

    What are the noise cancelling concers? And whats the deal with the sub possibly picking up the sound of the car? Sorry I've read through these thread and found it a bit confusing.
     
  11. John E Barbato

    John E Barbato New Member

    Does anyone know if the 2019 Clarity has addressed this speaker problem or the knob issue?
     
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  13. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Honda has released no information regarding the 2019 Clarity PHEV--not even an availability date.
     
  14. Cash Traylor

    Cash Traylor Well-Known Member

    The ANC, at least in my car would create a bass pulse (about 4 of them) anytime the ICE would start up for the first time on a drive or be triggered from the throttle detent. This seems to be a data bus command and not something that the ANC is detecting over the cabin mics as it will happen identically whether driving or parked. It is on my list of things to do when I get some more time to play but the holidays have been very busy. I think it may be possible to suppress this behavior in the ANC module and keep the analog ANC. However, I need to figure out a more objective way of determining the function of the ANC system to determine if it is worth doing so. For now, my upgraded noise cancelling system post sound system upgrade will be a better set of tires that don't generate the road noise the high efficiency ones currently do. I detailed the ANC deactivation in an earlier post above.

    Removing the infotainment system is easy, you pop out the little panel under it and the two bolts are exposed. It is very easy to remove after that. The fake wood trim pops up in front and snaps out at a 15-20 degree up angle (up and pull toward you). Sorry it took so long to respond but I have been swamped over the holidays. Final note here is that for those that really read through this whole post and upgrade saga, the Rockville sub (second one) has been working perfectly since the initial failure. I obviously got a dud, but I am not convinced that is not common with them at their build quality. However, for the price I have to say I recommend it as it fits so perfectly, really almost like it was made for that location on the back of the right fold down rear seat. When closed up, you almost don't need any mounts to retain it in place, no rattles at all. So, hopefully it will last a while and I don't blast it like I would in my youth so maybe I will get lucky!

    Cheers and Happy New Year to all! As a side note, I have now had 3 other Clarity sightings driving around north Dallas in the past month, two in my local area! Guess they are finally catching on and I no longer am driving the only White Elephant on the Tollway... ;-)

    Cash
     
    Daniel M W likes this.
  15. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    The Honda Clarity web page now shows the 2019 Clarity PHEV. No knob. No claim of new speakers.
     
  16. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

    I installed a rockwell volume knob and had to run the system through 2 channels and it sounded terrible. I pulled it. I need to disconnect the ANC and I didn't even install a sub, but something about the amp sets off a hum even when the stereo is off.

    I installed:
    Infinity Primus PR6510CS 6-1/2" Component System
    Alpine KTP-445U Head Unit Power Pack 45W x 4 Car Amp
    an Audio control LCQ6

    The sound is so bright I had to pull all the highs down with the LCQ and even disconnected the front tweeters. Did you have a lot of harshness? what speakers did you install?
     
  17. Cash Traylor

    Cash Traylor Well-Known Member

    ___________________________________________________________________________
    No not really harshness although I find anything in a tweeter other than silk or titanium harsh to my ears. But that is personal preference. My full install is detailed on page 3 of this thread. I went with the JL audio, they are very efficient. I think Kentucky went with the higher grade tweeters for his front pillar (full silk dome) and if I ever bother to further upgrade that would be the way I would go. However I am very happy with the C1's, as I said in my post, I achieved what I wanted which was a "Premium Factory Audio" system like a high end Bose or ELS Acura system. The limited parametrics of the factory EQ is obviously a limit in my system that the LCQ6 could help you with if you paired it with a remote EQ. However, how speakers sound is really personal. It's one of the reasons why this particular thread draws as much interest as it does occasional disdain from people "annoyed" by those that find the stock Clarity stereo "lacking" in performance for a touring class vehicle.

    I am not in Pro Audio anymore, so take what I am about to say with a seriously large grain of salt as true specs on our system are ambiguous as to that is really under the hood. However, let's assume they are not lying about the 180 watt stereo. If that is the case and Honda didn't cheap out, it is likely 180 watts RMS (as that really isn't unreasonable to achieve, especially if they went class D). That said, you may have actually hurt your system performance by installing the Alpine KTP as it is also class D and well, one class D amp is bad enough. They are efficient, but most audiophiles HATE them when compared to A/B or even C (or AB). Your chosen speakers are certainly far better than the factory drivers but I have never heard them. As for the hum, I honestly doubt that is the ANC (but as contained in this post, I have been wrong before on that one). It is likely the combination of your audio amp/processor add on interacting with the DC/DC converters buck switch mode supply. Basically you have a noisy signal path or ground loop. I would take all that out, connect your replacement drivers to the factory system, flat the EQ and see how it all sounds to you, with a program you "know" how it should sound. I have very clear mental images of HOW a few select songs sound on high end reference systems. That's what I compare with tweaking things, since I don't have an RTA anymore. Best wishes, however this is all I can offer.

    https://salestraining.honda.com/en/Clarity-Family/2018-Clarity-Plug-In-Hybrid/Vehicle-Details/Interior/Clarity-Audio-System

    The tweeters that I would/should have put in the pillars - but would have changed my budget goal for the system (my whole upgrade was just under $500.

    https://www.crutchfield.com/p_136C5075CT/JL-Audio-C5075-CT.html

    The JL drivers I chose and am happy with: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_13699043/JL-Audio-C1-650.html

    Cheers,

    Cash
     
  18. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

     
  19. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

    What woofer would you have gotten had you gotten those tweeters? If I return the amp I'm happy to apply that savings to the speakers.
     
  20. Cash Traylor

    Cash Traylor Well-Known Member


    Oops, it wasn't Kentucky it was Sniwallof.
    Post is here: https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/clarity-speaker-quality.711/#post-10892


    As for the woofers, I would have still installed the C1's, just replaced the front pillar tweaters with the C5075's vs the lower end ones in the C1 component kit.

    As a side note, if you do go with an "amped up" system (but you need more than 45/ch) the Focal ISS or RSE 165 (but may not fit, maybe ISU?) Series are awesome but really need more power than the Clarity head unit or that Alpine can provide to sound good. The tweeters may sound more balanced to you and be a good bang for the buck - but you should go hear them in an audio store if possible. Again, speakers are very personal - call local sound shops and see what they have in their racks to listen to. Even compare brands as each brand has it's own engineering tweak that is unique to it's line.
    Cheers,
    Cash
     
  21. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

    And than you
    DUDE!!! Thank you so much!!! I basically listen to classic rock, I just want Zeppelin II to sound good, which chokes on a bad system. I have unlimited installs at Best Buy so I just keep going back for tweaks. Checking all this out now. Thank you!!!
     
  22. Michael Angelos

    Michael Angelos New Member

    Crutchfield kept flagging high wattage items for this vehicle, you installed an 800 watt sub, was there any issues with that?
     
  23. wjcarpenter

    wjcarpenter New Member

    Alas. I tried this a couple of weeks ago with a USB volume knob that I already had. The result was good news/bad news. The good news is that operating the knob did cause an on-screen volume slider to appear, and it moved left and right as expected. The bad news is that it didn't actually control the volume for the radio. When I plugged in my phone and ran Android Auto, the volume control knob did control all those apps.

    I would love it if someone cracked that final piece of the puzzle so that the knob would control the radio volume.

    BTW, the volume control was "seen" on the passenger-side USB port, so that's nice.
     

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