Car Audio Custom Upgrade for Honda 2023 Accord Hybrid

[Grevious]

Recently purchased a 2023 Accord Hybrid Sport L. Has the 180W "8" speaker audio (its really 4 component speakers). I found the sound to be shockingly anemic. It is flat, there are parts of music I know are there that I can hear clearly on a better system that are just absent on this. The bass is weak as well but mostly I care about the highs and mids and getting some depth in there. I want to keep the car looking as close to factory as I can. I don't want to replace the head unit but I want to drastically improve the audio quality.

Right now I am looking at getting a 6 channel amp (6x 125W RMS, 400W bridge), bridging two of those to a 10'' sub (500W RMS) in a custom box in the back and the other four to four component speakers (140W RMS) in the two front doors (tweeters in pillars) and the rear deck. Going to have it professionally installed and am trying to decide if sound dampening is worth it or not.

The other option would be a 4 channel amp (4x 125W RMS, 400W bridge), bridging two of those to a 10'' sub (500W RMS) in a custom box in the back and the other two to two component speakers in the two front doors (tweeters in pillars). The original head unit wattage would then go to the rear deck and I'd install better but lower 100W RMS speakers there.

As far as I can tell option 1 would be about $4k, $5.5k with dampening. Option 2 would be about $2.5k, $4k with dampening.

Any auto audio experts out there work with the later gen accords have any advice? I want quality audio but I'm not an audiophile and I don't want body-shaking bass, just some depth. Not blasting this thing I just want music to have the appropriate depth at normal volume. Am I on the right track. Is my budget way off? Should I be focusing on something else?

Thank you

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[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Am I on the right track. Is my budget way off? Should I be focusing on something else?

Option 2. What gear is included in option 2?

 

[HardofWhoring]

Have to ask a stupid question, but have you played around with the head unit? Does it have an eq you have adjusted, played with the settings to see if the sound gets better? If it doesn't even have those options, and you don't have nav, then you might want to reconsider that head unit. If you're going to spend several thousand, and not have eq adjustability or a higher voltage signal, time alignment, bluetooth, etc.. You can get some fantastic single or double dins for $100-$200, if yours is going to really limit what it can do. If you just get front speakers on an amp, you can find head units that will do 50w x 4 and that would be enough to add something in the back to fill it out a little.

Sound deadening to me is an INCREDIBLY SIMPLE job to do, it is just time consuming. Peel the backing off and stick it to where the noise is. Squish it down on the metal. I guarantee any shop that does that is charging you their ridiculous hourly rate. If you do this, find out which brand they are using, and make sure it is butyl and not an asphalt product. The only hard part about this is going to be figuring out how to take the paneling off your 2023. You might find a youtube video, but they most likely won't have any experience on your vehicle either. There is more of a chance that they will break clips or tabs, (that you probably won't notice and be able to call them out for it), until long after.
My best analogy for sound deadener is go listen to your music with your windows open. Put it as low as you need to, to hear it. Listen to that for at least 15 minutes to get adjusted. Then close your windows. That's what sound deadener is going to do, again. It's going to block out ambient noise from other vehicles, and from your own. Blasting your music over everyone else is kind of a youngster mentality. Blocking out the noise you don't care to hear, so you hear less of them, and can reduce the volume of your own music to hear it clearer is what it's going to do.
I'm not sure where you get $1.5K to dampen your accord. If it came to that, I would expect that breakdown to be enough to put about 1 full layer, at about $500, and most of that is going to be actual labor used, and most of that labor they will charge you is going to be them figuring out how to take your panels apart. If I really wanted to, I think by now I could gut my interior in 10 minutes other than the dash. The first time was several hours, because I had to learn how to do it. You ARE PROBABLY going to be paying for them to learn how to work on your car, UNLESS THEY HAVE STANDARD CHARGES.


IF YOU ARE DEFINITELY NOT INSTALLING YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT: Find what equipment you want, shop around, and know what a good price is. Search the company's website, find an authorized dealer, go there and have them give you a quote. (If you have multiple company's go to all of them, and search for their reputation). You will not get a deal on install if you buy your equipment online, but you might if you buy it from them. It's not worth saving $10 on a set of speakers, and then spending $100 to have someone install them, when they would have done it for free if you would have bought it from them.

Putting speakers in the back vs front, we're going to call a front and rear stage. Do you have people in the back often and want them to hear your music as if they were in the front? If not it's an accord, and you don't NEED amplified speakers in the rear, (if you think you do, you can always add it down the road). I would suggest getting the 4ch amp, because it's going to give you a bit more options down the road, and if you want more subwoofer, you can use the 4ch for your speakers, and then get a sub amp for more sub(s).

 

[Grevious]

Option 2. What gear is included in option 2?

Thanks. I was picturing an AudioControl LC-4.800 4 channel amp 125 watt RMS x 4 which can bridge two to 400W 4 ohm. Plan is to run two channels from amp to the front two speakers which I was thinking Morel Virtus 602 and then the back two component speakers would run off the head unit and would be Morel Maximo 6. The subwoofer would run off the 400w 4 ohm amp bridge and I was thinking a 600W RMS Morel Ultimo TI.

I havent bought anything yet so that is all up for change.

 

[Grevious]

Have to ask a stupid question, but have you played around with the head unit? Does it have an eq you have adjusted, played with the settings to see if the sound gets better? If it doesn't even have those options, and you don't have nav, then you might want to reconsider that head unit. If you're going to spend several thousand, and not have eq adjustability or a higher voltage signal, time alignment, bluetooth, etc.. You can get some fantastic single or double dins for $100-$200, if yours is going to really limit what it can do. If you just get front speakers on an amp, you can find head units that will do 50w x 4 and that would be enough to add something in the back to fill it out a little.

Sound deadening to me is an INCREDIBLY SIMPLE job to do, it is just time consuming. Peel the backing off and stick it to where the noise is. Squish it down on the metal. I guarantee any shop that does that is charging you their ridiculous hourly rate. If you do this, find out which brand they are using, and make sure it is butyl and not an asphalt product. The only hard part about this is going to be figuring out how to take the paneling off your 2023. You might find a youtube video, but they most likely won't have any experience on your vehicle either. There is more of a chance that they will break clips or tabs, (that you probably won't notice and be able to call them out for it), until long after.
My best analogy for sound deadener is go listen to your music with your windows open. Put it as low as you need to, to hear it. Listen to that for at least 15 minutes to get adjusted. Then close your windows. That's what sound deadener is going to do, again. It's going to block out ambient noise from other vehicles, and from your own. Blasting your music over everyone else is kind of a youngster mentality. Blocking out the noise you don't care to hear, so you hear less of them, and can reduce the volume of your own music to hear it clearer is what it's going to do.
I'm not sure where you get $1.5K to dampen your accord. If it came to that, I would expect that breakdown to be enough to put about 1 full layer, at about $500, and most of that is going to be actual labor used, and most of that labor they will charge you is going to be them figuring out how to take your panels apart. If I really wanted to, I think by now I could gut my interior in 10 minutes other than the dash. The first time was several hours, because I had to learn how to do it. You ARE PROBABLY going to be paying for them to learn how to work on your car, UNLESS THEY HAVE STANDARD CHARGES.


IF YOU ARE DEFINITELY NOT INSTALLING YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT: Find what equipment you want, shop around, and know what a good price is. Search the company's website, find an authorized dealer, go there and have them give you a quote. (If you have multiple company's go to all of them, and search for their reputation). You will not get a deal on install if you buy your equipment online, but you might if you buy it from them. It's not worth saving $10 on a set of speakers, and then spending $100 to have someone install them, when they would have done it for free if you would have bought it from them.

Putting speakers in the back vs front, we're going to call a front and rear stage. Do you have people in the back often and want them to hear your music as if they were in the front? If not it's an accord, and you don't NEED amplified speakers in the rear, (if you think you do, you can always add it down the road). I would suggest getting the 4ch amp, because it's going to give you a bit more options down the road, and if you want more subwoofer, you can use the 4ch for your speakers, and then get a sub amp for more sub(s).

Thank you for the detailed response. This is the equipment that I think would be that Option 1:
AudioControl LC-6.1200 6 channel amp 125 watt RMS x 6 $899
Front speakers: Component Morel Virtus 602 (140w RMS) $619
Rear speakers: Component Morel Virtus 602 (140w RMS) $619
Sub: Morel Ultimo TI. 600w RMS $659
The amp can bridge two channels to 400W RMS to drive the sub.
The installer is a very boutique custom audio installation ship in a high cost of living city so Im guessing they are top shelf pricing but my desire to go there is their fabulous reviews and the fact that they can tuck away and hide pretty much anything into a car and make it look factory. But yeah I was quoted $1500 for sound deadening and I dont know all that they do. The sense I got was that they don't do anything low quality so everything is top shelf basically and they probably have a high hourly rate.

 

[HardofWhoring]

Hiding wires isn't difficult at all. The common places are in the door channels, and under areas of the carpet where they won't take wear. If you want to take the time to learn, I'm sure you can find youtube videos.

You have to try to take into account your cost of living in Seattle, and going to a high end shop, and it sounds like those prices are okay with you. They aren't horrible. You have a good plan, and everything you picked is great stuff.

* The sub I would question. $660 for a sub you're going to send 400w to is the only thing I would have to change. I read the link on that, and it brags about low distortion and being 90% efficient. At 400w you're not going to notice that on a sub, and you're also going to need an enclosure.

Here's what I would ......... suggest at least considering.

* I don't think you need a second set of rear components for a honda accord. As long as you know, this is going to do very little for the front seat passengers and mostly about having everyone in the back listen in, then cool. If you know electrical, the difference between the 4 and 6 ch amp besides about $1k is also about 25 amps. If you're in a hybrid, (unlike those of us with just gas), you're going to take a hit on mileage with every bit you add.

* I would really consider at least evaluating your head unit. Again if you don't currently have nav, bluetooth, a 13 band eq, USB, or android auto /apple carplay if you use those, they why wouldn't you spend another couple hundred to add options to your nice stereo, and make it a lot more user friendly. Plus, then you SHOULD also get a stronger voltage signal which means a better signal to your amp.

* That's a lot to me for sound deadener. I use dynamat which is the good stuff. I have a full size regular cab pickup. I have 2-3 layers on the doors, at least one layer everywhere in the cab, and maybe 20% is 2 layers, and about 10% is 3-4 layers. I'm guessing we are about the same area, and I've probably spent $700-800 on material. I would make sure it's at least butyl, and ask how much coverage you get for $1500. Sound deadener can be done in pieces, and sections, you can do an area stop and do another area later. My guess is they are charging you about $1k on labor, I would hope for $1500 that is the entire vehicle, and if so that's probably about $1k in labor. Probably most of a day for one person, maybe several hours for two.

Nothing you're getting is complicated. It's all pretty basic if you want to learn, but its one of those things on how much time do you want to spend learning, and is it worth it TO YOU.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I like to clean the area with a soapy rage and wipe with a dry afterwards. let that dry. Then use alcohol 91% or higher if you can find it and clean the surface. Peel and place the deadner, and use a heat gun to just get it warmed up and roll it and it will stick very well/should never begin to start to peel back off. It will take an act of God to get it back off

 

[HardofWhoring]

I don't think OP is going to do the deadener themself, but these are my tools for it. If its 80 degrees out, you can just leave it out and it's plenty pliable. Sometimes the curved in shapes are a little hard to get just right. Don't worry about making one pretty full size sheet of it, nobody is going to see it anyways. You can put it up against the surface you are going to use, and push it down to match the curves, and shape it. Then you have the exact cuts marked out you need, and make your cuts with a boxcutter. All the excess pieces can be jigsaw puzzled to fill spots like the doors since doors have switches, handles, mounting hardware so it's kind of hard to get a sheet to sit well.

This is the roller dynamat sells for I want to say an extra $10. I use the end of the handle more than the roller. My best tool is just a 1/2 thick piece of straight, scrap wood. Can get all the sharp corners and smooth it down. Can slide it along rails and channels, and really easy to use inside the door. When piecing scraps together, the wood helps get it all flush and smooth. When I first did it I used the roller, and now I don't use it anymore. I don't think the OP is worried about it, but in hindsight, forget the roller, save the $15, and just use a piece of scrap wood to press it down, and into curves.