Clarity Speaker Quality

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Ok, I give up. Lucien, can you please take a photo and describe how you went through the firewall for you amp power to the battery. I have looked all around the engine compartment for a "easily" usable grommet location to push an 8awg cable through and come up with nothing. This car is wrapped pretty tight. Did you drill? Anyway, this would be very helpful info.

Cash
 
Cash Traylor said:
Ok, I give up. Lucien, can you please take a photo and describe how you went through the firewall for you amp power to the battery. I have looked all around the engine compartment for a "easily" usable grommet location to push an 8awg cable through and come up with nothing. This car is wrapped pretty tight. Did you drill? Anyway, this would be very helpful info.

Cash
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Never mind, figured it out and posted my solution in the other thread.
https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...io-upgrade-for-clarity.2221/page-3#post-29322
 
socalclarity said:
Could replacing the speakers be used as an excuse by Honda to void the warranty on other audio system components?
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Only if the dealer can prove that you replacing the speakers, caused the failure of the component.
Example: the A-pillar cover rattles because it has a broken tab. You broke it when removing the cover, it didn't break on it's own. Not warranty.

-Skip
 
VTSAX said:
One aspect of the reviews of the Clarity that I have not read anything about are the stock speakers, which seem to be the same for both the base and touring models. For those of you that own this car, do the stock speakers sound okay? I would fully expect to have to replace them with aftermarket speakers, but was wondering how owners thought it sounded. Are there any EQ settings to mess with that make it sound any better?[/

I really like the sound quality of my car (Clarity Plug In Touring).
It is much better than my last car, a tesla model S with the upgraded sound system.
That system I believe costs an additional $2 to 4K!
I think it is the best Ive heard in a car, but sound quality is subjective. I'm very fussy about sound.
I like bass, So I have the equalizer set at bass + 3, mid +1, and treble 0.
I would rate it a 9 or 10, and my Sound Studio Tesla a 6 or 7! That car came with a sub in the trunk, which was good, but the interior cabin speakers were only fair at best. For the Honda, I find the sound very clear and balanced, and not muddled as others have said.
I just added a powered sub, but have some issues with noise generated to the sub with the engine off or stereo off.
That is a separate issue. In any case. I would rate the Honda Clarity stock speakers very high in audio quality (for my ears anyway).
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Not sure if this has been mentioned before or not. Don’t have time to look for it. What I’ve noticed, however, it’s that the most irritating sound from my Clarity is the front window pillar tweeter speakers rattling in their mounts, even when the sound system is off.
 
ZedFez said:
Not sure if this has been mentioned before or not. Don’t have time to look for it. What I’ve noticed, however, it’s that the most irritating sound from my Clarity is the front window pillar tweeter speakers rattling in their mounts, even when the sound system is off.
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Don't think I've noticed this. Maybe something is loose?


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
Yes there have been lots of posts about the rattles. Our right side tweeter rattles depending on the road surface. Some owners have taken the car to Honda for a fix. Others have used foam tape to stop the rattles. Removing the pillar cover is easy.
 
ZedFez said:
Not sure if this has been mentioned before or not. Don’t have time to look for it. What I’ve noticed, however, it’s that the most irritating sound from my Clarity is the front window pillar tweeter speakers rattling in their mounts, even when the sound system is off.
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This thread documents the source of the rattle and an easy fix. It’s the dashboard edge vibrating against the A pillar right next to the tweeters (both sides in our car).

https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/dashboard-rattle.1082/
 
Lucien Mcleod said:
I added a few months back
A kicker 12 inch sub
Jl audio c1 all interior speakers
A Kicker cca600.1 amp
Jl audio sound processor
JL audio oem integration
Problem solved amazing “Clarity” and Bass
Boom
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Lucien, I'm thinking of replacing speakers and adding 4 channel amp. How did you hook this up to your head unit? I've been searching for installation videos/descriptions on how to remove trim from dashboard to access the headunit output wire(harness) but came up empty handed.
 
joseph devocht said:
Lucien, I'm thinking of replacing speakers and adding 4 channel amp. How did you hook this up to your head unit? I've been searching for installation videos/descriptions on how to remove trim from dashboard to access the headunit output wire(harness) but came up empty handed.
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You may look at my posts here, they may help a little - but not directly as what you are planning I did not attempt.

https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...io-upgrade-for-clarity.2221/page-3#post-29322
 
joseph devocht said:
Lucien, I'm thinking of replacing speakers and adding 4 channel amp. How did you hook this up to your head unit? I've been searching for installation videos/descriptions on how to remove trim from dashboard to access the headunit output wire(harness) but came up empty handed.
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If it is worth $10 for you to have the instructions for removing the dashboard trim, you can get Honda's own instructions at techinfo.honda.com ($10 for a one-day subscription to Service Express). I saw them there; did not save them, other than an overview of the upper dash components (see attached), but all the docs are assuredly there. Just enter "Dashboard" in the search window and you'll find all you need.

Keep in mind that in the instructions for removing part C, there are often instructions for removing parts A and B listed as "prior steps", so you need to get all the nested documents.

The set of docs labeled "Dashboard Engine" or something like that also shows also where there are penetrations for cables to come through the firewall, as I recall. if that is needed.

Edit: Whoops, this was a bit circular. Cash Traylor already posted many of these in https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...io-upgrade-for-clarity.2221/page-3#post-29322 -- specifically post #57. I saw the great pictures, but not these docs, the first time I looked.
 

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jorgie393 said:
If it is worth $10 for you to have the instructions for removing the dashboard trim, you can get Honda's own instructions at techinfo.honda.com ($10 for a one-day subscription to Service Express). I saw them there; did not save them, other than an overview of the upper dash components (see attached), but all the docs are assuredly there. Just enter "Dashboard" in the search window and you'll find all you need.

Keep in mind that in the instructions for removing part C, there are often instructions for removing parts A and B listed as "prior steps", so you need to get all the nested documents.

The set of docs labeled "Dashboard Engine" or something like that also shows also where there are penetrations for cables to come through the firewall, as I recall. if that is needed.

Edit: Whoops, this was a bit circular. Cash Traylor already posted many of these in https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...io-upgrade-for-clarity.2221/page-3#post-29322 -- specifically post #57. I saw the great pictures, but not these docs, the first time I looked.
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Great. Thanks for the help!
 
A simple upgrade for those complaining about the bass would be to just upgrade the front door speakers leave the rest alone. The Rockford Fosgate PPS4-6 Punch Pro ($80/ea @ Crutchfield) or similar will probably solve your complaints unless you want to rattle your license plate or compete in SPL contests.

I find the Clarity OEM audio to be good enough for my old "artillery ears" and I can't really find enough fault to justify upgrading it.
 
I found the bass and treble absolutely dominate the mids, on a "flat" EQ. -3 on bass and -2 on treble seems to balance the sound a bit though.
Audio quality is pretty good for day-day listening, I find
 
joseph devocht said:
Lucien, I'm thinking of replacing speakers and adding 4 channel amp. How did you hook this up to your head unit? I've been searching for installation videos/descriptions on how to remove trim from dashboard to access the headunit output wire(harness) but came up empty handed.
Click to expand...
Hi a professional shop installed everything. I’m not sure
 
The speaker on my Clarity is way better than a crappy speaker system in my old 15' Accord with Active Noise Cancelling (which messes up the sound completely) And I believe Clarity have one more speaker as well.
 
I am coming from a 2009 Mazda3 with bose speakers and I agree with others that the Clarity speakers are sub-par (I'd give them a 6 out of 10) but probably comparable to many other honda car speakers (which I feel almost all hondas - unless it says 'premium sound system' - have somewhat sub-par speakers - my parents drive an accord and civic). I worry that the issue may not only be the speakers themselves but also the cutoffs the head unit uses for frequency cross over. When I listen to the same music in my clarity and compare it to the Mazda, I can tell there are certain parts of the song that the subwoofer would handle and instead the head unit seems to play that portion of the song as a mid-level frequency, this makes every thing sound muddy because the mids are attempting to play a longer, deep note while simultaneously attempting to play the mid-range frequencies as well. Has anyone really found a vast improvement with simply replacing the speakers and not changing anything else? Also, has anyone noticed an improvement in the quality of sound when they compare bluetooth to apple CarPlay? I noticed my sound improved quite a bit when I played from apple CarPlay rather than over bluetooth. If you do go to a professional to get the speakers upgraded, do you go to a third partly installer or the dealer? Can I just go to best buy? Any recs?

Thanks!
 
I find it so interesting the differing opinions. My 4Runner has a JBL system with I don't know how many speakers and a sub-woofer. It sounds better than my Clarity but I think the Clarity sound is pretty good. I'd rate it more like a 7 on a scale of 10.

The other thing I marvel at is how well I think the Clarity handles on OEM tires. I'm often surprised at how well it takes corners and hugs the road. I will be buying new tires before a 1,100 mile round trip in June. Perhaps then I will notice a handling difference. But I've had many cars and the Clarity seems to handle better than all of them.

Then there is the looks of the car on the outside. It's not important to me but if I were to make an assessment I'd have to say I like the rear end looks, and the spats are a non issue for me. If anything I'd say the front end is least pleasing to me.
 
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