Hi:

I just bought a used 2006 S2000. The (apparently modified) stereo sounds awful. I'm posting to see if someone can advise how to sort it out.

1. Car has the XM radio option. Antenna is mounted is center of trunk lid. Seems to work fine.

2. There is a disconnected (and really heavy) wooden/carpeted subwoofer enclosure installed in the floor of the trunk. The speaker faces upward (seems susceptible to damage). It measures about 10 1/2" in diameter and is marked "Punch P2"

3. There is a big power amplifier mounted behind the drivers seat (seems to use up some seat travel). It seems like it is hooked up; power light comes on with radio. It is marked "Kenwood KAC 6402 400Watt 4/3/2 channel"

4. The rear speakers (Including headrest speakers) don't work at all (radio fade control to the rear: nothing there.

So...my first inclination is to remove all the non stock stuff, and see if i can get the car stereo back to original condition. Before doing so, however, is there any point in keeping the subwoofer/amplifier stuff? Can the radio be made to sound OK (and the rear/headrest speakers made to work) with it in place? Any better location for that power amp?

I certainly don't want a car that "thumps" going down the road, but my (nice) home stereo has a subwoofer, and it sounds just great. I listen mostly to blue grass, classical, NPR, jazz. And, this is a very noisy car on the highway, maybe it could use some more sound system oomph, properly applied?

Thanks!

 

Is the head unit in dash the stock Honda unit? Did you buy this from a dealer or a private party? If the head unit is the stocker, does the xm radio work?

Chances are, if the car has a subwoofer and an amp, the door speakers are not likely factory either. And that will usually mean they have a lower sensitivity rating. Meaning, if you have a stock head unit in there, it will actually be QUIETER than stock unless you spend the extra money to buy stock speakers (which don't sound so hot in the first place). IMO--it will cost you less money to upgrade the stereo fully aftermarket than return it to stock, with better sounding results.

You shouldn't need much--a head unit (unless there's already an aftermarket head unit there), your choice of rear speakers (forget the headrest tweeters--either S-pods or Lucid's rear panels will sound better--IF you decide you still want a rear soundstage; many people use front speakers only), and an audio installer who can do a good job hooking it back up if that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for your help!

Comments:

Is the head unit in dash the stock Honda unit ?

- Yes

Did you buy this from a dealer or a private party?

- Pvt Party

If the head unit is the stocker, does the xm radio work?

- Yes (and, if I replace it with something else, will the XM subscription remain valid?)

Chances are, if the car has a subwoofer and an amp, the door speakers are not likely factory either. And that will usually mean they have a lower sensitivity rating. Meaning, if you have a stock head unit in there, it will actually be QUIETER than stock unless you spend the extra money to buy stock speakers (which don't sound so hot in the first place)

- Understood; lower sensitivity rating = higher power input for same Db level. I will pull the door panels and check. Whatever they are, they sound horrible. If so (have not looked), could they not be connected to channel B of that humongous amplifier?

IMO--it will cost you less money to upgrade the stereo fully aftermarket than return it to stock, with better sounding results.

- OK; Tks. Will do.

You shouldn't need much--a head unit (unless there's already an aftermarket head unit there)

- XM subscription issue? Remote controls still work?

, your choice of rear speakers (forget the headrest tweeters--either S-pods or Lucid's rear panels will sound better--IF you decide you still want a rear soundstage; many people use front speakers only)

- Wouldn't head level speakers. like the stock rollbar ones, enable you to hear the music better without blasting it?

and an audio installer who can do a good job hooking it back up if that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea

- (I'm definitely capable of doing this kind of thing; glad to hear the aftermarket stuff is worth fooling with. Thought it might be just a bunch of adolescent thumper garbage )

Good luck!

 

You will lose your XM tuner if you upgrade your factory radio, but you have a couple of options. You can either:

1. keep the stock stereo with XM, purchase a line output converter for it, so you can connect it to the amplifier. run channels 1 and 2 to the front doors, bridge 3 and 4 to the subwoofer, or

2. buy an aftermarket stereo (giving you much higher quality sound) and avoid the line output converter. The Alpine CDA-9820XM is a good choice, has a built in XM tuner, and is only $249 at Crutchfield.

If you buy an aftermarket stereo, like the Alpine, you can use the RCA outputs to run to the amp to power the door speakers and sub--and use the powered rear channels from the head unit to power rear speakers if that's your thing.

The amp and subwoofer may not be top quality but they will do the job (the "job" being, getting your stereo to sound better than stock). Stereo equipment is not just an adolescent "I want the world to be annoyed by my music" thing. Plenty of top quality installs in the "stereo install pictures" thread, from very mild to very wild.

My install is pretty mild but sounds very good, can be loud but not obscenely loud, and is fairly stealth.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...dpost&p=8433197

 

Many thanks, Will!

At this point, I'm resolved to pull the thing apart and sort it out. Appreciate the info. Assume the stock head unit has no preamp out outputs, hence the replacement rationale.

Looks as if the Kenwood amp currently behind the drivers seat (bad idea) has both speaker level and rca inputs, and the rca jacks are populated. Not sure what is going on; perhaps a converter has been installed, though not sure what good that would do.

Looked at the link you sent - beautiful install job! What year is your car?

I will post on this forum to see if I can get stock HU specs plus removal instructions for an '06.

 

It sounds like the seller had an aftermarket stereo, was running rca's from the head unit to the amp, and when he decided to sell the car he just swapped back the stock stereo--I bet if you look behind the stock stereo you will find the other ends of the RCA cables, hanging loose. In theory you could even keep the stock stereo, run traditional speaker wires to the amplifier and use the speaker-level inputs. You will sacrifice sound quality, but may as well try it to see if the sound satisfies you as this is a $0 option.

My car is an '05.

 

Will:

It's a mess! (Used 2006 Stereo sounds awful....)

OK, here's what I found:

- Stock head unit speaker wiring is tapped into two line/preamp converters ("Install Edge.com IEC VAULOC)

- Front channel speaker wires are cut; amp ch B speaker outputs are spliced in behind head unit

- Rear channel speaker leads are tapped but not cut (assume they go to the roll bar speakers

- Converter RCA outs goes to amp RCA ins

- AMP ch A output is bridged and goes to rear subwoofer

OK; thats the layout. I didn't pull the door panels to see whats in there (but I don't have the original speakers anyway)

I did find numerous problems with the installation work ($1250, according the the PO)

1. Broken front channel speaker wiring (@ tap)

2. Loose amp ground wire

3. Broken subwoofer speaker voice coil wire (actually burned through inside insulation between connector and speaker cone!)

4. Mixed up amp and line coverter trim pot settings

I decided just to fix the problems noted above to see what it was supposed to sound like (and to see if the amp was burned up by the subwoofer burned wire)

Got the sub and amp working (can't believe the amp wasn't burned up)

The front channel had to be trimmed down extremely (via amp and converter trim pots) to even begin to balance with the rear (roll bar speakers are still pretty inaudible). Assume door speakers were wired in parallel (resulting in 2 ohm impedence); therefore overdriving rear?

I switched the sub channel at the amp to hign pass and adjusted the roll over to about 90 Hz (not sure if this is right)

Messed up the center console trim putting the drivers seat back in (grrrrrr!)

Test drove: Better sound; still not very good. Rear channel still sounds v weak when driving above 50 mph

This winter: Think I will replace head unit (but, want to keep XM and remote radio controls), remove subwoofer (or move to side as you did; trunk floor exposed speaker keeps you from using the trunk), move amp to trunk (or above gas tank or something), install compatible roll bar speakers, and call it done.

Looks as if XM option is a receiver box just behind drivers seat (above gas tank). Assume need radio plus harness which is compatible

Thanks again for your help!

 

If you upgrade to non-factory radio, the XM receiver will probably not be compatible anymore. Somebody correct me but I believe you will need an aftermarket XM tuner that is compatible with the stereo you choose, unless you get the Alpine that has built-in XM (only one on the market I believe).

It sounds like the seller made a real mess of the sound system. Usually channel A goes towards the front speakers (not the sub!!!) for example. Also, the headrest speakers are usually not compatible with aftermarket stereos due to the way they're wired. Try doing a search in this forum for '06 headrest speakers. There have been discussions on replacing them or using them with aftermarket receivers. My suggestion: do those last. You may find that when you get some decent sound in the front soundstage you won't need the rear channels.