2010 Civic Si (Europe) audio system

[Gershy13]

My bro recently bought a Honda Civic Si 2010 (Europe hatchback) with Pioneer navigation system. It's audio is nice, but sometimes distorts... Any tips on how I could improve this? Dont really want to change out the unit. The speakers are quite good, they pack a good punch. I was thinking of adding an amp of some sort, but not sure if it will help, and how to connect it to the unit... What's the best option?

 

Thanks

Gershy13

[klh2000]

13 hours ago, Gershy13 said:

My bro recently bought a Honda Civic Si 2010 (Europe hatchback) with Pioneer navigation system. It's audio is nice, but sometimes distorts... Any tips on how I could improve this? Dont really want to change out the unit. The speakers are quite good, they pack a good punch. I was thinking of adding an amp of some sort, but not sure if it will help, and how to connect it to the unit... What's the best option?

 

Thanks

Gershy13

Please fix for night theme users

 

Anyway, it depends on if the distortion is from the speakers, or if the amp/ head unit is clipping. If the head unit is clipping, get an amp with more output power than you head unit. If the speakers are distorting, I would replace them with higher efficiency, and higher quality ones.

 

[Gershy13]

8 minutes ago, klh2000 said:

Please fix for night theme users

 

Anyway, it depends on if the distortion is from the speakers, or if the amp/ head unit is clipping. If the head unit is clipping, get an amp with more output power than you head unit. If the speakers are distorting, I would replace them with higher efficiency, and higher quality ones.

 

how can i tell which one it is?

[klh2000]

14 minutes ago, Gershy13 said:

how can i tell which one it is?

Well, it varies depending on the application. When you begin to hear distortion, how high is the amp turned up? if it is near full volume and the sound from the speakers isn't that loud, it is most likely the amp. If you're volume isn't up all that high, and you hear distortion, it is most likely the speakers.

[Gershy13]

16 minutes ago, klh2000 said:

Well, it varies depending on the application. When you begin to hear distortion, how high is the amp turned up? if it is near full volume and the sound from the speakers isn't that loud, it is most likely the amp. If you're volume isn't up all that high, and you hear distortion, it is most likely the speakers.

it doesnt have an amp, just a head unit. it distorts depending on the type of music, and the volume isnt extremely high...

[rhyseyness]

13 hours ago, Gershy13 said:

it doesnt have an amp, just a head unit. it distorts depending on the type of music, and the volume isnt extremely high...

What are you playing the music from?

"Depends on the type of music" sounds like low quality files rather than the speakers/head unit.

[Gershy13]

2 minutes ago, rhyseyness said:

What are you playing the music from?

"Depends on the type of music" sounds like low quality files rather than the speakers/head unit.

they are all high quality mp3s or spotify 192kbps

[klh2000]

13 hours ago, Gershy13 said:

it doesnt have an amp, just a head unit. it distorts depending on the type of music, and the volume isnt extremely high...

well, the head unit has a built in amp. It's just lower quality than an external  one. Just as @rhyseyness said, check the files and device you are playing from. Try using a cd, that will be high quality and uncompressed.

[Gershy13]

1 minute ago, klh2000 said:

well, the head unit has a built in amp. It's just lower quality than an external  one. Just as @rhyseyness said, check the files and device you are playing from. Try using a cd, that will be high quality and uncompressed.

same thing happen with cds...

[rhyseyness]

1 minute ago, Gershy13 said:

same thing happen with cds...

Interesting.

Can you test with another head unit?

Like, take the current one out and connect up another one without fully fitting it?

Preferably a half decent aftermarket one.

This way you'll know if it's the head unit of the speakers.

My money is on the head unit as you said this happens when the speakers are at low volume.

The solution will be to fit an amp between your head unit and speakers OR replace your head unit with a better aftermarket one (I know you don't really like this option though).

[Gershy13]

Just now, rhyseyness said:

Interesting.

Can you test with another head unit?

Like, take the current one out and connect up another one without fully fitting it?

Preferably a half decent aftermarket one.

This way you'll know if it's the head unit of the speakers.

My money is on the head unit as you said this happens when the speakers are at low volume.

The solution will be to fit an amp between your head unit and speakers OR replace your head unit with a better aftermarket one (I know you don't really like this option though).

i dont really have another head unit to test, and yes i prefer the amp method, as the head unit is quite nice...

if im going to buy a head unit and try that, i might aswell try an amp...

[klh2000]

1 hour ago, Gershy13 said:

i dont really have another head unit to test, and yes i prefer the amp method, as the head unit is quite nice...

if im going to buy a head unit and try that, i might aswell try an amp...

If it's the head unit your going to need an amp anyway, so just try that I guess.

[rhyseyness]

14 hours ago, klh2000 said:

If it's the head unit your going to need an amp anyway, so just try that I guess.

I found when I fitted a new head unit in my car, it negated the need for an amp, as there was one built into the head unit.

My car got a lot louder without loss of quality with a new head unit.

 

16 hours ago, Gershy13 said:

i dont really have another head unit to test, and yes i prefer the amp method, as the head unit is quite nice...

if im going to buy a head unit and try that, i might aswell try an amp...

The issue with that would be that if the speakers are the issue, there's a high risk you'll damage them using an amp.

Plugging in a new head unit is highly unlikely to damage your speakers, but adding an amp when the speakers might not need one could definitely hurt.

 

However, I only recommended trying a different head unit if you had one laying around.

I agree that there's no point in buying one to test if you're going to use the original anyway.

At this point, I don't know what to suggest other than just buying an amp or a new set of speakers to test, and hoping one of them works.

I can't think of any other reasonable way to test where the issue lies without having to take the car to pieces.

 

Hopefully someone can think of something!

Best of luck!

[Gershy13]

On 03/08/2016 at 9:06 PM, klh2000 said:

If it's the head unit your going to need an amp anyway, so just try that I guess.

Yeah thanks, I'll give that a go. Even if it doesn't help/work I can use the amp for other things...

On 04/08/2016 at 11:55 AM, rhyseyness said:

I found when I fitted a new head unit in my car, it negated the need for an amp, as there was one built into the head unit.

My car got a lot louder without loss of quality with a new head unit.

 

The issue with that would be that if the speakers are the issue, there's a high risk you'll damage them using an amp.

Plugging in a new head unit is highly unlikely to damage your speakers, but adding an amp when the speakers might not need one could definitely hurt.

 

However, I only recommended trying a different head unit if you had one laying around.

I agree that there's no point in buying one to test if you're going to use the original anyway.

At this point, I don't know what to suggest other than just buying an amp or a new set of speakers to test, and hoping one of them works.

I can't think of any other reasonable way to test where the issue lies without having to take the car to pieces.

 

Hopefully someone can think of something!

Best of luck!

I have a 2 channel amp lying around, I might give that a shot first...