Stock unit install, what extra part do I need

[npcout 10+ year member]

I've always had an after market headunit with front, rear, and sub rca outputs. I just bought a 2015 Honda Fit. Not doing anything to powerful with it as i need room for the baby on the way. Need trunk space..

I'm not installing it myself, car audio place is, but I want to go with all the parts, I don't want to pay there price.

I want to get a 5 channel amp installed to my stock unit which is the 7in touch screen, steering wheel controls, etc.

The part im confused on, is the HiLo adapter (Never used one in the past))? I think that is what I need. I found a 4 channel HiLo adapter. Is that what I will need? I figured they can run two rca's, and use y connectors. 1 set for Front speakers, another for rear + sub split with the Y's.

Does that seem standard/doable? Do you see any issues that could arise with this?

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[CSCStang]

Check out a jl cleansweep. Or get a couple of lc2i's. These will restore bass that you will lose using a stock hu.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

get a DSP with an internal amp like a JBL MS8 if your doing a stock build. No need to get a 4 channel amp and it only needs one pair of rca inputs to it and has 5.1 rca outputs so front, center, rear and sub all there for you. It'll sound a hell of a lot better then just a stand alone amp.

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

get a DSP with an internal amp like a JBL MS8 if your doing a stock build. No need to get a 4 channel amp and it only needs one pair of rca inputs to it and has 5.1 rca outputs so front, center, rear and sub all there for you. It'll sound a hell of a lot better then just a stand alone amp.

I have never been so confused. So this thing alone is going to give me 400RMS just for my subs, and 60-70rms X 4 for my speakers? I'm upgrading my speakers to..

I plan to add, 4 new speakers, 2 tweeters, and a sub, all with the 5 channel amp. I am only leaving the stock headunit there.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I have never been so confused. So this thing alone is going to give me 400RMS just for my subs, and 60-70rms X 4 for my speakers? I'm upgrading my speakers to..
I plan to add, 4 new speakers, 2 tweeters, and a sub, all with the 5 channel amp. I am only leaving the stock headunit there.

i'm saying you wont need to buy 4 new speakers 2 tweeters or any 5 channel amp. A clean processed signal will make your stock speakers sound better then what you are planning on doing.

You wont have to buy new speakers its THAT good. Just get a small sub amp with your subs and your done. Trust me, the best upgrade i ever did to my system was the head unit, made the biggest difference in sound quality. Before that I had nice speakers along with over 100 rms going to every speaker, everything set up properly, beefed up electricals, giant subwoofer stage, however I was NEVER happy with the sound. Always sounded like **** for some reason, then i put in my 80 prs head unit and everything sounded amazing, worlds apart from the old sound. Keep in mind the head unit is only a 24 bit sound processor meanwhile a full on DSP is 32 bit with all the amazing adjustments you can have. Never underestimate the power of a strong clean signal. It will be louder and better sounding on lower power then a bunch of speakers on loads of power with a shitty signal.

If you ever listen to a stock system with only the addition of a DSP in real life, you'll be blown away.

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

i'm saying you wont need to buy 4 new speakers 2 tweeters or any 5 channel amp. A clean processed signal will make your stock speakers sound better then what you are planning on doing.You wont have to buy new speakers its THAT good. Just get a small sub amp with your subs and your done. Trust me, the best upgrade i ever did to my system was the head unit, made the biggest difference in sound quality. Before that I had nice speakers along with over 100 rms going to every speaker, everything set up properly, beefed up electricals, giant subwoofer stage, however I was NEVER happy with the sound. Always sounded like **** for some reason, then i put in my 80 prs head unit and everything sounded amazing, worlds apart from the old sound. Keep in mind the head unit is only a 24 bit sound processor meanwhile a full on DSP is 32 bit with all the amazing adjustments you can have. Never underestimate the power of a strong clean signal. It will be louder and better sounding on lower power then a bunch of speakers on loads of power with a shitty signal.

If you ever listen to a stock system with only the addition of a DSP in real life, you'll be blown away.

hmm, okay you have my interest.

So this is connected to the head unit. If I am okay with the sound, I don't need to add an external amp? I only need 1 set of RCAs going to this and they can branch everything else off of this? Then, if I want it to be louder, the sound will go from the headunit to the processor to the amp to the speaker.

I'll have to a do a bit more research on this.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

hmm, okay you have my interest.
So this is connected to the head unit. If I am okay with the sound, I don't need to add an external amp? I only need 1 set of RCAs going to this and they can branch everything else off of this? Then, if I want it to be louder, the sound will go from the headunit to the processor to the amp to the speaker.

I'll have to a do a bit more research on this.

Exactly. Most people with newer cars that want to keep stock head unit would go this route for the best sound possible.

I've been wowed by systems that only have a DSP tuned properly with only stock speakers before.

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

Exactly. Most people with newer cars that want to keep stock head unit would go this route for the best sound possible.I've been wowed by systems that only have a DSP tuned properly with only stock speakers before.

Thanks so much for your help, greatly appreciated. This is a whole new ballpark for me. Two questions I have,

JBL MS8: Would I be able to like my initial plan, hook a 4 channel amp to it. I would use channel 1 & 2 for both front and rear speakers wired together for a 2ohm load. Then use channel 3 & 4 for my subwoofer? I am trying to keep the setup simple, I really don't want two amps this time. I only have a small space in the spare tire area to hide the amp.

JL Audio CL441dsp CleanSweep OEM Car Audio Factory Integration

Kicker Front Row ZXDSP1 (12ZXDSP1) Digital Signal Processor

^What are these, do they do a similar purpose as the MS8? I see there cheaper. It looks as if theres no internal amp on these.

Mike

 

[CSCStang]

Bridge 3&4 for the sub. Someone with more dsp knowledge can help on the differences of those units listed.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thanks so much for your help, greatly appreciated. This is a whole new ballpark for me. Two questions I have,
JBL MS8: Would I be able to like my initial plan, hook a 4 channel amp to it. I would use channel 1 & 2 for both front and rear speakers wired together for a 2ohm load. Then use channel 3 & 4 for my subwoofer? I am trying to keep the setup simple, I really don't want two amps this time. I only have a small space in the spare tire area to hide the amp.

JL Audio CL441dsp CleanSweep OEM Car Audio Factory Integration

Kicker Front Row ZXDSP1 (12ZXDSP1) Digital Signal Processor

^What are these, do they do a similar purpose as the MS8? I see there cheaper. It looks as if theres no internal amp on these.

Mike

Similar purpose, you can hook your own amp in there if you want a lot more power to the speakers. I would do the Cleansweep over the kicker anyday buuuuuut, the JL only has 2 pairs of RCAs compared to the 3 pairs on the kicker. You want front rear and sub outputs right?

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

Similar purpose, you can hook your own amp in there if you want a lot more power to the speakers. I would do the Cleansweep over the kicker anyday buuuuuut, the JL only has 2 pairs of RCAs compared to the 3 pairs on the kicker. You want front rear and sub outputs right?

I actually would only use two outputs I think. For size reasons, I think I'd go with a 4 channel amp, use channel 1&2 for the 4 speakers wired together into a 2ohm load, and channel 3&4 bridged for the subwoofer.

I actually did research into these after the fact, and read people saying the Kicker and JL Cleansweap dont hold a candle to the MS8 by JBL. They were saying the cleansweep works good for an aftermarket unit, but for a stock unit, it just can't reproduce quality sound like the MS8.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I actually would only use two outputs I think. For size reasons, I think I'd go with a 4 channel amp, use channel 1&2 for the 4 speakers wired together into a 2ohm load, and channel 3&4 bridged for the subwoofer.
I actually did research into these after the fact, and read people saying the Kicker and JL Cleansweap dont hold a candle to the MS8 by JBL. They were saying the cleansweep works good for an aftermarket unit, but for a stock unit, it just can't reproduce quality sound like the MS8.

its very true, Those just mainly clean up the signal while the ms8 totally reprocesses it. If you do plan on getting the ms8, install it first and see how you like the internal amp first before buying another amp. If you like it then you might just only need a dedicated subwoofer amp. If anything you can always get a 5 channel amp. Bridging 4 channels is the super ghetto way of powering subs and typically does not offer optimum performance.

 

[npcout 10+ year member]

its very true, Those just mainly clean up the signal while the ms8 totally reprocesses it. If you do plan on getting the ms8, install it first and see how you like the internal amp first before buying another amp. If you like it then you might just only need a dedicated subwoofer amp. If anything you can always get a 5 channel amp. Bridging 4 channels is the super ghetto way of powering subs and typically does not offer optimum performance.

I'm actually def going to get the MS8. I'm going to save for it. I was messing with my speakers and playing with the EQ setting in the car, and with a CD, the front stock components actually scream nicely in a good way. I am not a HUGE car audio guy, I love quality sound, I love car audio but I don't have a crazy amount to spend, but im not a competition sound person. My old car I had Alpine Type S components powered from my hifonics amp at 100RMS, and to be honest.. these stock components sound pretty **** similar with the treble increased a bit.

I had a TC Epic 10 ported in a custom box tuned to 28 given 750rms.. I loved it, but i need a trunk. I got the JL 8in W3 ported in there custom micro box for a $200 at my local car shop, its $230 online everywhere. I heard it there, it pounds very clean for what it is, very good sq.

So, I buy the MS8. I will have it hooked up to stock speakers. What other parts do I need? How many rca cables? My car has components up front, and regular 6.5s in the rear doors. Do I need a high low converter? I'm going to do a 4g power wire because I will be adding a distribution block for the sub amp. Anything else I need?

Really really appreciate your help.