Clarity Speaker Quality

To be honest, I haven't been very impressed with the stock speakers (base trim). They sound rather muddy and unclear, even in comparison to the 11 year old speakers in my old Mazda 3. I've barely tried tweaking EQ so perhaps I can find a setting that will help to improve them. But I've been thinking about replacing them myself. Haven't really looked closely at the speaker grill so I'm not sure if they will be easy to remove, or if they are part of the door panel itself.

 

Ditto - not super impressed. I'm a bit of an audio snob and, while I probably won't rip these speakers out or anything, I'm fairly disappointed to not have better sound quality for that price, especially on a touring trim. I was able to fiddle with the EQ a bit to get it a little better.... I'd give it a 6/10. Definitely better than the cheap systems in base-model rentals I get for work, but not as good as what I had in other higher-trim cars.

 

I'm very pleased with the sound system of the Clarity. I think the speakers are fine. Not as good as my 2005 4Runner Limited with a sub woofer, but much better than the Prius.

 

I was surprised that they aren't branded like other car companies. It doesn't say Bose, or Sony, or JBL or anything. They are just speakers.

 

I'm perfectly happy with the sound quality. Given a good source, they sound fine.

 

They are ok. But definitely will be changed

 

I'd like to put a woofer in that big trunk, there's certainly room for one. But I'm not sure about trusting an installer at this point - and I'm not willing to cross any wires myself anymore. LOL - I quit doing that when back I quit adjusting points and timing.

 

I am not too impressed with the sound quality either. The speakers are fairly flat. I have played around with the EQ settings and have managed to have it sound a little better. However it is not as good as a premium sound system.

 

Perhaps the speakers just needed some burn in, but after a month the stock speakers definitely sounded better than initially, to the point that I'm most likely keeping them. If the speakers could be replaced without taking off the entire door panel then I'd likely still consider but for the effort involved I'm far less inclined.

 

Looks like the Clarity takes 6.5” speakers front and back.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-uM3L5d9eY5r/ymm/2018-Honda-Clarity-Speakers-Stereos.html

With fully integrated audio systems now (remember the good old days with DIN and double DIN), what else can you change?

 

I am looking to add a subwoofer I recently purchased . How would I get to the back of the headunit? Anyone know.( the piece below the headunit seems to wiggle a bit. I do t wanna break anything. Thanks

 

Was thinking about an amp and better speakers, but looking around under the dash, there are a lot of relatively fine gauge wires in there. Would likely need to remove head unit to access the speaker wires there (to add an amp).

Trying to just replace front door speakers and tweeter as a first step. Usually buy better speakers ($500+ price range), but since plan is to use the OEM head unit for now (without adding an amp), trying this midrange infinity (JBL related) solution discussed with Crutchfield (speakers on order):

tweeters
woofers

The woofers should just mount easily and plug in with the adapter plug. The tweeters take an inline crossover, will solder wires with heat shrink.

Agree with 6/10 assessment earlier in the thread. Hoping this minor upgrade is all I need for now.

These JL's look kind of interesting, but probably not worth it without an added amplifier, also would need to wire from the JL crossover box in the door to the tweeters, possibly a new wire run.

 

The Crutchfield recommended Infinity speakers for OEM replacement sound very good, there is a much better improvement than I expected over the Honda Clarity OEM woofers and tweeters. To my ears the sound is now much less distorted (the "muddy" is gone), and the sound seems more accurate and well defined. The OEM radio head unit is surprisingly good with better speakers.

I had a difficult time hearing anything out of the OEM tweeters, making me wonder if they were even connected. The sound out of the Infinity tweeters is clear and present. I was concerned a bit about a coaxial woofer tweeter down low (normally in component installations, the lower speaker is only a woofer). Setting the switch (small triangle shaped button) on the lower speaker tweeter to "0dB", not +3dB, seems to give good results and nice balance.

Another alternative for just OEM speaker replacement (no amps added) might be the Adison Prima system (much more expensive, but has some good ratings). A plus of the Crutchfield system are the supplied plastic mounts with the correct Honda mounting tabs and the connectors for the door speakers. The tweeters take a bit of soldering (from the inline crossover to the car).

For the front doors, there is a philips screw behind the switch panel which lifts out. For the A pillars, it takes a little work to remove a melt tacked inner structure for the original tweeter, and some gentle filing to open the hole a bit.

The electrical contact strip for the door speakers ends up close to a section of door metal. Just snipped down any sharp edges and added a few layers of electrical tape for good measure, seems fine.

Very pleased I made the upgrade. Might do the two back doors later.

 

For me the oem system is fine. I'd rate it a 7 on a ten scale.

 

sniwallof, how much work was it to remove the door panels? That's my main cause of hesitation for replacing the woofers. Don't want to risk adding any potential rattles or buzzes after loosening the fittings for the doors.

 

I'd give it a 7 or 8. Since the rear speakers are in the lower part of the door, it gives a slightly different sound than most cars that have the speakers under the rear window. After driving the car for 4 months, my wife's Lexus now sounds different and a little strange to me.

 

The magnet on the stock speaker is so tiny.. No wonder it sound terrible.

 

I saw that picture and was thinking, is that really the magnet size. The spare parts listings seems to indicate they are Pioneer speakers, but probably the cheapest ones made.

 

Thanks. Great option. I think an upcoming weekend is going to go to this project for sure.

Is there enough improvement on the low end that a set in the back doors to supplement could reduce/remove the need for a sub? I don’t want to get into wiring in a sub tube or box if I can avoid it but the current set is pretty weak on the low end. For reference, I listen to house/techno/EDM, but not at “annoy my fellow drivers“ volume.