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?
Clarity Speaker Quality
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Kendalf
Active Member
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.
aapitten
Active Member
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.
Lucien Mcleod
Member
They are ok. But definitely will be changed
Kendalf
Active Member
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.
Hobbesgsr
Active Member
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?
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?
Lucien Mcleod
Member
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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bpratt
Active Member
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.
megreyhair
Active Member
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.
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.