# 2013 Honda Civic EX-L - Car Audio System Build



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Here I go again... I just can't get enough. I love tinkering with car audio. 

 

2013 Honda Civic EX-L w/ NAVI. I think I will call it my 'mini-Lexus' because it is the quietest small car I think I have ever driven. 

I will be keeping the navigation head unit and tapping into the speaker out leads feeding a JBL MS-8 that I got from Amazon. From there I will feed an amp or two (still undecided on an amp just yet)... which will power the Hertz HSK 165XL 2-way components up front. A buddy of mine from Texas helped me snag the Hertz speakers at a really good bargain. I will also have an amp power a pair of JL Audio 10W6v3 subs firing into the rear, which I got from AudioX, the guys who installed the system in my wife's ES350. I also got an XS Power D5100R battery from Crutchfield... along with some wire. I also plan to do some sound deadening and absorbing materials to help with the sound and quieten the car even more.


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## morca (Aug 26, 2011)

I will be following your project


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Subscribed, enjoy!


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Well... I know I am way late on getting this posted, but it is finished.

Electronics wise I ended up going with pretty much all JL Audio, other than the JBL MS-8 processor.

*JL Audio*
HD 1200/1 Amp
HD 600/4 Amp (Running active on front stage)
XD PCS2-2B 
HD RLC

Here is what I had to work with:

   

The tweeter pod required some modification to get the Hertz tweeter to fit.

The box will house dual JL Audio 10W6 v3 subs and on the front will be the two JL amps (seen only when the seat backs are down... and the MS-8 will be on top of the box.

Here are the tweeters installed:

  

For some reason I either forgot to take pics of the door speakers or lost the images somewhere. They look like drivers installed in a door though.

The sub enclosure is sealed and an amp board installed between the cab and trunk...

   

Fifty-eleven wires going every which way and loose. As you can see I placed spacer strips on the back of the sub enclosure so that I could tuck and hide wires between the amp board and sub box.

Here are some sub box and amp board wiring pics after getting the sub box installed...

           

While it did not turn out exactly like I wanted it, it was getting to a point that I had spent entirely too much time on it and just needed to get it done. 

The sound is okay, bass is excellent, but the mids and highs are lacking a bit in imaging. It is not pinpoint like that of the Lexus... it is a bit more spread out, which some people like. I can listen to either one, but the Lexus seems to be a bit more refined, despite using XD amps vs HD amps. I believe the difference are in the 3-way Hertz system vs the 2 way Hertz system. Those mids really do make a significant difference. Also the highs in the Lexus are facing each other whereas the highs in the Civic are angles more towards the listener. I think it might help with imaging if I had the tweeter pods fabricated and aimed towards each other. It still sounds good and will flat out rock, so I will be satisfied with it for now.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Sonnie, thats really great work! Very clean.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Someone is going to be expecting a demo ride in a couple of weeks.:bigsmile:


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