What's better: Stock HU + Aftermarket Speakers or Stock HU + Aftermarket amp + Stock Speakers?
I want to keep the stock head unit because I like the look, the orange lighting, and I like leaving it in place when possible.
Prob gonna get the Polk Audio DB 6502 speakers if I go that route.
Hoping they sound decent enough without doing a subwoofer in trunk.
Thoughts?

 

Unless you want bass bass baby, an underseat powered sub is all you need in this tiny car. Enough to take load off door speakers.

But to do that, you beed some sort of crossover so door speakers don't have to try and do bass frequencies AND nid frequencies. Aftermarket hu all now have that built in. But if using stock hu, you'll need to include some sort of hardware crossover.

Most component speakers include a hardware crossover for tweeters, but nothing for the low end. You'd need a high pass filter (hpf) for doors.

The stock speakers are the weak link for fidelity in our systems. So you'll want to do those. But with weak stock power, you'll still need an amp if you want to hear it.

Its a noisy convertible. Its never going to allow the highest quality components to shine through. So my suggestion is go for 'good enough' speakers, and a 'good enough' amp. So buy both, with budget you were going to put into super high quality speakers.

I suggest a class D mini amp. No heat, so can mount anywhere. Super small. Can mount under dash. These are typically 90W rms when bridged. That should make a huge difference.

 

Excellent write-up, thanks! So, Class D mini amp + aftermarket speakers and sub with stock head unit and it will be decent enough. Thanks!!

 

You will need a separate DSP (which should also be able to handle that crossover that Car Analogy is talking about). All new head units will have some sort of DSP that should be infinitely better than was available stock. Ideally, you would get one that supports microphones/room correction, but I still haven't seen this technology available on consumer single DIN head units.

I actually don't think the stock speakers are that bad, it is just the stock head unit has 90s programming in it with relatively dated digital processing.

I STRONGLY recommend stepping in a vehicle with ONLY a new head unit first, and make your own conclusion (which there should be plenty of at any car meet).

 

pioneer deh-80prs had it. stopped making it tho, which is why i got $500 for mine lol.

OP, change the radio. it sounds like shit. adding an amp and sub to a stock radio is just louder shit.

 

This so much. The stock stereo was an afterthought. I'm all for keeping things stock but the stereo bothered me so much it had to go.

Continental makes a single-din with amber lighting that could pass for OEM if that matters to you.

If you care, store the stock components somewhere so you can revert later.

 

How is it "just louder shit"? Brand new good speakers can still sound good even without a ton of power going to them from an amp. Right?

 

because its only going to sound as good as the weakest link. the oem radio dos not output a quality signal. it is the same crappy radio honda used for twenty years.

dont be stubborn. i went through this with hundreds of customers who were hell bent on the stock radio. every time we would use anything from $20 line outs to $1000 processors and they all ended up with a new radio and an "i should have changed this from the start."

 

Any recommendations for a budget (under $200) single DIN without a garbage DSP that has terrible tuning + Bluetooth? Perfectly fine with shopping for used as well. Tried my friend's Sony and it was a decent head unit, but curious if there are better options.

 

"louder shit" - in my experience the stock HU will clip when trying to push more power and it basically turns certain frequencies into static. I also tried to keep the stock stereo in various 1990s-2000s cars with poor results.

They're all kind of similar these days I think, not much innovation or demand for aftermarket stereos since they're not easily replaceable in newer cars. If you're just doing a head unit and speakers (no separate amp) the only real different option I can think of is Sony's DSX-GS80 with the built in class D amp but you'll need to run a separate power and ground wires for it.