2007 Honda Civic - Upgrading From Stock Honda Civic

Good, Better, Best

By Doug Newcomb

Few cars are more popular than the Honda Civic. From its origins as a tin can-like econo box to its current status as a stylish gas-sipper and prime tuner platform, the Civic epitomizes import carmakers' phenomenal success on these shores. The Civic is also a great vehicle for an aftermarket sound system since it's relatively uncomplicated and provides ample room for car audio gear.

That's why the crew at Sound Decision in Montgomery, IL, picked an '07 Honda Civic for this issue's Good, Better, Best. "We see a lot of them and [they're] driven by a very diverse group," says Sound Decision salesman Jeff Baldwin. "We have high school kids who have them because they're sporty and 40-year-old union guys who drive them because of their gas mileage."

"When people buy a car like this that's not very expensive," adds Sound Decision owner Sean Young, "they usually have money to fix it up. There's also a lot of aftermarket bolt-ons made for the car: body kits, air intakes and such." It is also a great vehicle for audio upgrades. "It's a pretty simple car to work on," Young adds. "For example, a lot of people don't realize they can easily replace the radio, unlike some vehicles."

Good:

For this first round, Sound Decision would keep the head unit in the dash and add an amplifier and speakers. The stock speakers in the front doors and rear locations would be swapped out for Focal 165 CA1 6.5" coaxials, which would be powered by the stock head unit. "The Focal Access speakers are fairly efficient so they work well with a stock head unit," Young says. "They also have good sound quality and a three-year warranty." A Dynamat Xtreme Speaker Kit would be installed with the front door speakers to quell unwanted resonances and improve sound quality. "It's to reinforce the sheetmetal," says Young. "On the less expensive cars it's good to add a little more thickness to the doors so it doesn't resonate."

To provide bass, Sound Decisions went with a Pioneer Premier TS-W1207D4 12" subwoofer in a prefab Subzone HS-12V ported box. "Pioneer's Premier line is exclusive to independent retailers," Young says, "so the customer is leaving here with something they can't get at a mass merchant. There's that exclusivity and Premier woofers have a two-year warranty." The box would also be removable. "We'd put banana plugs on it so the owner could easily take it out," Young adds.

Powering the sub would be a JL Audio A1400 Class D mono amplifier (240 watts by 1 into 4 ohms), which would be mounted on the back of the back seat. "One of the reasons we would use the A-series," Young explains, "is it has selectable input voltage, either high or low. So it effectively has a line output converter built into the amp and that can save someone $40 or $50." A Stinger SWK8 8-gauge Pro wiring kit would be used to connect the amp to the car's electrical system.

"A lot of customers don't think they can get high-end brands like Focal, Pioneer Premier and JL [Audio] in a budget system, but this shows that you can," Young says. "Plus, it gives the customer the ability to change the head unit down the road."