Speaker upgrade

ken brydson

I'm interested in upgrading the speakers in my '04 Honda Oddessy, yuck a minivan, I know. Try to keep the chuckles to a minimum.
Anyway, I'd like to keep the stock headunit. I think I've read posts that suggested that replacing the stock speakers didn't really do much with the stock HU. Is this true?
The fit guide doesn't have '04 Hondas yet so I pulled up '03 (should be the same, right?) and came up with this-

http://www.polkaudio.com/car/toolbox/fitguide/fitlist.php?body=MINIVAN&model=ODYSSEY&make=HONDA&year=2003&trim=Standard

Would any of these make a significant improvement over stock or would I be wasting my money?
Thanks!:)

Jstas

What is your incentive for keeping the stock head unit?

ken brydson

Originally posted by Jstas
What is your incentive for keeping the stock head unit?

Lazy, cost, asthetics, functionality. Mainly cost.

sntnsupermen131

to tell you the truth, in my entire life(not a long time though...), i have never installed aftermarket speakers off a stock head unit
ive always thought of it as too much of a hassle when adding amps and such
theres a radio out there for your tastes...nakamichi makes some great head units that are all black
take a look at those
your stock head unit, depending on how good it is...may not be enough to power any of those speakers...minus the gxr crap...i mean speakers
any component system is going to be a great improvement over your stock speakers...moveable tweeter...better materials...so on
coaxials arent as good as components, but depending on how much you want to spend...they might be the right thing for you, and sound much better than your current speakers
id start with an aftermarket head unit, then progress to aftermarket speakers
im guessing youre a home theater guy...
this is comparable to replacing just the speakers that came with your tv instead of getting an external reciever
yes, theyre better speakers, no theyre not going to be played to their potential
if you give us a cost of how much youre willing to spend, we might be able to get you what youre looking for
and as far as should the be the same speaker sizes?
if there wasnt a big difference b/t the 2 yr models, i doubt there would be a difference in the speaker sizes
if you have a question call crutchfield
www.crutchfield.com
theyre open to midnight...and most of them know what theyre talking about
-Cody

ken brydson

I appreciate the imput guys. Yes, I am a HT guy and I understand your analogy. My interest in audio has moved into the house. I was just wondering if spending a couple of franklins on car speakers would yield much improvement.
I think even in HT, better speakers on marginal equipment should sound better than crappy speakers on marginal equipment, no?

Jstas

Well, laziness is no excuse!

As far as cost, aesthetics and functionality goes, it all depends.

No, not adult diapers!

The cost can be fairly low for a good indash CD player. Around 200-250 bucks can get you a nice unit that will sufficiently power all of your speakers and, unless your stock stereo has functionality related to the rest of the van, it'll have much more functionality than any other stock stereo I have ever seen.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though. What I think is nice may be total crap to you.

The main reason I am asking is because you are basically correct. Changing the stock speakers but not the stock stereo is not going to get you much for the cost at all. If you can swing an extra 200-250 bucks for an aftermarket head unit you will get much better than stock electronics plus more power. The only draw back I can see besides extra cost is if the stock stereo is tied into other things like the navigation system or what have you.

If you went with just speakers though, I'd recommend the DB series. No sense in getting the MOMO speakers because they will never be pushed hard enough by the stock stereo. The stock stereo may not even have enough power to drive them effectivly which would end up just killing them pre-maturely.

ken brydson

No nav system but steering wheel contols are nice. Can aftermarket HU's use them?

sntnsupermen131

agreed, unless you have more than 4 speakers or your head unit is tied into something like navigation, id go ahead and get a head unit as well
and go look on ebay at what your stock head unit is going for, you might be able to get a lot of your money back...some stock radios sell for a lot even though theyre not nearly worth that much...you could even sell the head unit and the stock speakers as a set...
-Cody

ken brydson

Originally posted by sntnsupermen131
agreed, unless you have more than 4 speakers or your head unit is tied into something like navigation, id go ahead and get a head unit as well
and go look on ebay at what your stock head unit is going for, you might be able to get a lot of your money back...some stock radios sell for a lot even though theyre not nearly worth that much...you could even sell the head unit and the stock speakers as a set...
-Cody

There's something I hadn't thought of. Thanks!

Jstas

Originally posted by ken brydson
I think even in HT, better speakers on marginal equipment should sound better than crappy speakers on marginal equipment, no?

Not necessarily. Car speakers are beefier than thier home audio counter parts because of the abuse and power levels they need to handle. Consequently, the sensitivity ratings drop and the speakers need more, clean power to be played at a sufficient volume. They also need the added power to control the movement of the speaker. Not enough power and the inertia gained by the speaker in it's movements can exceed the force that the magnet is exerting on the voice coil given a certain level of voltage. So basically, the polairty in the signal is trying to reverse the movement of the voice coil but the the speaker assembly is too heavy for the low wattage to change it's direction fast enough. That results in over extension, distortion and uneven electrical fields in the voice coil assembly which also causes distortion. It creates not only a very muddied and inaccurate sound but it kills bass response entirely. Under-powering these speakers can actually damage them and will shorten thier life. On top of that, they can over-work an amplifier easily and cause clipping and such which damages the electronics too.

Jstas

Originally posted by ken brydson
No nav system but steering wheel contols are nice. Can aftermarket HU's use them?

There are kits out there that take a little bit of wiring to install but will allow you to use steering wheel remotes for an aftermarket system. IIRC, Hondas are one of the easiest remote systems to convert.

ken brydson

Good advise guys. So I guess it's more than 16 screws and 4 sets of wires, huh?

Jstas

Truthfully, even if you are just replacing speakers, it has the possibility of being many more screws, wires and other stuff than that.