Ok, I'm not sure what to do. I want to add some rear speakers, but after thinking about it, wondering if I should also replace the front ones with something simular to what I'm putting in the back.

I think I'm going to go with the Kenwood 1379ie's for the back, and thought about putting 1679ie's in the front. Will these be better then what's already in the front? Should I just add speakers to the back?

My main concern is hearing the stereo (ipod) while driving with the top down, I'm not an audiophile, but that doesn't mean that I don't want it to sound good.

So, what should I do? Just add the rear's, or add rears, and swap out the fronts too?

 

the fronts in your m.y. '04 are said to be much better than the crappy ones in
my '01, so I doubt you pick up much improvement. Adding the rears will
definitely help with volume, and to the extent that it allows you to hear
without cranking the volume to the point that the headunit distorts, will also
improve sound quality.
I'd add the rears, see if that does it for you, and if not the next step is likely
to be headunit/amp/front speakers.

 

Alrighty...

So you want clearer sound for top down driving...

Well I would suggest replacing the fronts seperates and get a new head unit.

Just adding rear isn't going to do to much for you other than waste your money and time... only to have to do more work in the end.

You should get front speakers and a HU.

 

i don't want to disagree with darknight, becasue he is building me a cool sub box, but i don't think you need a new HU.

if you are going to go to the trouble of getting some decent speakers for the doors, instead of spending money on a HU, use that money for an amp and get some good line out converters. you might spend a little more money in the end, but it will sound MUCH better. Instead of spending $200 on a HU that might give you 20x2rms, you can spend that on an amp and get 80x2rms. My HU serves no purpose for me other than an ipod connection, and volume control. I don't listen to radio, i had xm in my last car and it sucked...and now that i have the ipod, whoo hoo!

i haven't tried this in my s2k yet, but i used good converters for my WRX and my installer was AMAZED at how clean the signal to the amp was, + it's like 8V.

i use converters from www.davidnavone.com i just picked up a N-777 for the front two channels, and a N-8V ( i think those are the numbers) for the sub in the trunk. the V makes it variable

i should know in a few weeks how it turns out...i'm just waiting on my box to be built, then i need to pick out some components and get it installed....can't wait.

 

But your talking about 2 different things. If he wants clean, clear sound then he should get a HU. If he just wants louder sound then you can amp whatever crappy tone the stock HU is outputing then you'll have loud crap.

I'm not going to get into this arguement again... we've had this disscussion so many times here its almost silly at this point.
But no matter how you look at it, the stock HU is a pile of crap. Even if you get a line level converter, all your doing is converting the crappy signal that comes from the stock HU. Sure you'll get "louder" sound but not even close to being as clear as a nice aftermarket deck can provide.

crap in = crap out Its just the way it works.

As a side note there are stock HU's out there that output enough to get much cleaner signal... but not the s2k.

 

Ok,

So if I don't want to spend a bunch of money right now, and my main concern is being able to heard the radio (or IPOD) with the top down on the highway.

Do I add rear's (like Lucid's), or add the rears, wtih matching front speakers? It's only an extra $70 or so to add matching front's, but do the fronts need to be replaced? They may be just as good as the kenwoods???

I have added the IPOD converter to the CD-Changer hookup, and like the controls built in. I could replace the head unit, but I would then need to buy the DCI, and find a way to do my IPOD. To make things simple, I thought I would add some rears (and maybe swap out the fronts)

Good idea, bad idea?

 

I am kind of in the same boat as you. I am replacing both front and rears with boston accoustics components. My next audio purchase will be HU and AMP.

I don't even use the radio now because its so crappy!

 

gentek1145 - did you do them at the same time? which one added more benifit? was it enough for when the top is down, and you are doing 75 MPH?

 

You should not use the same pair. You should get separates for the front and whatever you decide for the back but do not get a coax set for the front stage. You leg will block the tweeter and it won't sound to much better than what you had before.

separates for the front
Coaxial's for the rear(but you can get away without them for now)
and a HU.

 

If all you want is more sound with no real improvement in sound quality, simply add the rear speakers. Bear in mind, "more" does not always mean better."

If you want better sound at higher volumes... (I'll answer this one for you. "Yes! I do!") then add a set of high quality speakers to the front only. Forget about the rear speakers.

Just about any "high quality" after/market speaker is going to sound better than what Honda put in there for stock. Think of it as Stage 1 improvement.

Stage 2 would be to replace the stock head unit. Again, with a high quality deck that puts out a better signal to the speakers and allows better EQ control over that signal.

Stage 3 would be to add an amp to the mix to boost that high quality signal to your speakers even more. Even quality speakers can be improved if you add more power to them; something closer to what they are capable of handling rather than the 16-22 watts a typical deck puts out.

Just my opinion, but it's proven. The EJ's may argue do the deck first and then the speakers, and there's valid argument for that, too.
-golfpro