[Akash.mathur]

Hello all -

I am a proud owner of a Honda City ZX MT (4th Gen), that I got myself in 2019. The car already came with a pretty good audio setup but once the warranty period crossed, I started to have an itch to upgrade the ICE.

Fast forward today, my setup already consists of the following :

HU : Blaupunkt San Andreas 970 (wireless AA + carplay)
Speakers : JL C1 650 components (front + rear)
Damping : Dual Dr. Artex 2mm damping done on all 4 doors.

I must say that the most significant impact on the audio quality (and overall noise reduction) happened only because of damping.

The JL C1 speakers on the other hand, while pretty good in themselves, are not much of a significant upgrade over the OEM speakers.

Now, I am looking to get a bit more bass output from this setup and I have tried to play around with the equalizer settings but I am not able to fulfil my desire.
Please note, that I do not listen to music at very high volumes and I am not looking for glass shattering bass which becomes uncomfortable for other passengers since it's a family car, just a bit of an increase is what I am looking for.

I did some research online and on team-bhp and found an underseat subwoofer to be a viable option and talked to my usual guy, who told me that we cannot install an underseat subwoofer in Honda City as the space isn't enough under the seats.

He suggested me to install an amplifier instead since I am not looking for a substantial increase in the bass and suggested brands like Morel or Brazo 4 channel amplifier.

My doubt however is :
a) Would an amplifier really give that incremental increase in the bass I am looking for?
b) If above is no, then what kind of options do I have? I am not keen to put a bass tube in the boot as I travel a lot and need that boot space.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Akash.mathur

HU : Blaupunkt San Andreas 970 (wireless AA + carplay)
Speakers : JL C1 650 components (front + rear)

JL C1 is a very decent performer, I doubt the HU is the weak link here. Having experienced multiple Blaupunkt HUs, their output quality or the flexibility of tuning is very limited when compared with Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer.

Originally Posted by Akash.mathur

a) Would an amplifier really give that incremental increase in the bass I am looking for?

Yes, to some extent.

Originally Posted by Akash.mathur

b) If above is no, then what kind of options do I have? I am not keen to put a bass tube in the boot as I travel a lot and need that boot space.

Try slim subwoofers like Sony XS-AW8
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...fer-india.html (Sony launches an ultra-slim subwoofer in India)


Or

Get a proper passive subwoofer installed with custom enclosure that doesn't consume much of the boot space

[Akash.mathur]

Hello Mr.Boss,

Thanks for the suggestions.
The first thing that came to my mind after bit of research was to install Sony XS-AW8. However, my usual car guy is strictly advising me that he can't fit in an underseat in Honda City. I believe it is time I find an alternate installer as the Sony does look really slim in design and should be able to fit in.
Appreciate the help!

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by Akash.mathur

I did some research online and on team-bhp and found an underseat subwoofer to be a viable option and talked to my usual guy, who told me that we cannot install an underseat subwoofer in Honda City as the space isn't enough under the seats.

Hi Akash,
Just to tell you what is possible, there are plenty of under seat sub-woofers available in the market that can be installed under the driver's seat. These are of the same dimensions as a regular amplifier that is usually mounted below the seat.

I drive a 2015 Verna and have an under seat sub-woofer installed (make Blaupunkt, I do not know the model number). They have been performing wonderfully for the last 7 years. The advantage is that they do not need amplifiers or hi-lo converters to be installed.

For my listening needs, it is the perfect filler sub. By the way, my head unit and speakers are stock that came with the car.

[greenhorn]

Finding a shop with an XS Aw8 in stock should not be hard. ask one to borrow and see if you can fit it under your seat - you can tell them the truth - that you are interested in buying one, but your usual shop declined your business saying that it wouldn't fit. I feel they should fit - My FIL's 4G city has amps under both seats - the AW8 size is similar

Personally as the owner of not one, but TWO underseat subs, i find the XS AW8 underwhelming - it struggles to fill my Indica with deep bass - It sounds more like artificial DSP'd mid bass. I prefer the Blaupunkt XLF 200A i got second hand in my Etios - It goes a lot lower. You should check out the Blaupunkt XLF10A - It's cheaper too.

[anshuman_b]

Hello,
I had an under seat subwoofer installed in my 4th Gen City. It was of Infinity make and the bass was more than enough for my taste.
The only con was the seat can’t be lowered to to its lowest position otherwise it would touch the subwoofer, so if you comfortable with the seat not going to it’s lowest position, under seat subwoofer are the best possible option.

[sunnsood]

Hello, sitting up an amplifier won't help much.
[ATTACH=Screenshot_2023120309504386_40deb401b9ffe8e 1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg]Specification Sheet from JL audio website[/ATTACH]

It's RMS is from 10-75w which any head unit can output.

Depending on the location, try another installer who has multiple underseat subwoofer options. This way you can try the one that fits and one that you like.

[attinder]

I didn't want to raise the seat (5th gen city ) so went with pioneer active subwoofer in the boot. It can be easily detached if extra space is required.

[Guru_Shikhar]

Hello @akash.mathur,

My experience-

I was in same dilemma in the month of August 23 when I decided to upgrade the speakers in my 2014 4th gen Honda city.

I had been to a shop named Genuine accessories on Tilak Road- Pune as it was suggested to me by couple of good friends.

I already had a JBL 1150 watt subwoofer from my previous car- Maruti Eeco- it was a slope box to fit Eeco’s limited boot and didn’t want to spend again as the exchange value was not at all impressive.

The owner Mr Rahul; tried for an under seat subwoofer from few brands which did not work for available space just for a check for compactness. Also I had an old two channel amplifier which was changed to a four channel under seat amplifier from JBL ( which fits well by the way ) and the old slope box subwoofer was placed in the boot and front two factory speakers were updated to infinity speakers and twitters with front doors dampening.

Disadvantage- since there is no direct placement of the subwoofer in the cabin area, there is some bass loss as it is in boot area separated by rear seat. Now I am used to it and enjoying it already.

It used to give amazing feeling while we used in Eeco since it was an MPV with complete cabin area available.

Yes there is some space you lose in boot but it’s Honda City’s humongous boot and we manage the luggage to have win win situation.

Cheers

[revintup]

I have a small upgrade on my Scross. Got infinity components in the front and coaxials in the rear. Stock headunit since I did not want to veer from the stock fit and finish. Used the above set up for a week and realised while the mids and highs were coming out nice, the bass was missing. Bought a 8"JBL powered sub. Built in class D amp, 100w RMS. Its nice and compact and sits nicely in a corner, and I can unplug it whenever I want.

https://ca.jbl.com/JBL+Stage+800BA+Enclosure.html

This unit is extremely sturdy and well built. The bass is nice and tight without being overpowering and doesn't drown out the mids and highs from the speakers.

Its not earth shattering. Guys do not go wow wow on hearing the ice set up. But its nice, clean and vfm. It was the kind of upgrade I was looking for and so am pretty satisfied with the results.

[akhil chandu]

What a coincidence I just installed an alpine pwe 7700e-el underseat subwoofer under the driver seat in my Honda city ZX idtec. It’s a new 7 inch model, compact and was a proper fit, just that seat had to be raised slightly. Previously I was using an infinity primus 12 inch subwoofer in the boot. Initially I had planned for an underseat and I’ve tried many but due to the space issue under the seat none of them could fit . Hence had to go for proper boot subwoofer . But then somehow found the bass too heavy and boomy. Moreover it was loud for people sitting at the back and there was significant loss by the time it hit the front passenger. Hence when I got to know about this underseat, took the plunge. I would say it’s decent in delivering tight bass. But then due to the space issue, the subwoofer touches the seat and transmits lots of vibrations on to the seat and it gets uncomfortable at times. Consider this before proceeding. In my opinion, for Honda city a proper boot subwoofer works the best. Get a small one if you’ don’t want heavy bass.

[valhallen.282]

So I wouldn’t suggest an underseat at all. I have the older gen city the 2011 - With a similar-ish setup. And I chose to pick what my installer called under powered for such a big car with such a big boot. I love SQ over volume. My pick: Blaupunkt GTB8200.

I can vouch for it falling squarely within budget at under 10k with everything. I’ve done road trips with four people and six bags in the boot with no issues. It’s tiny enough to not need space. And loud enough to provide rattle punch should you want to turn it up. Yes. On paper - it’s very underpowered and small. I’m in Bengaluru too. You can come and check it out anytime. Drop me a DM

Notes. It’s self powered AKA inbuilt amp. So the installer will draw power from a fuse tap; And only RCA cables from the HU to the boot. You can put it on quick disconnects so that you can completely remove it too. It provides 80W RMS which doesn’t sound like much. But is perfectly in line with the rest of your setup

[Car_Therapy]

Hello Team,

I own a 5th gen City. I was planning to install an under seat woofer and thought of getting some idea from our forum but it looks very difficult now.

I did some research and found that DSP could significantly improve the audio quality from the HU. So, I started to research on upgrading to component speakers and DSP upgrade (DSP+Amp, if I could find that combo).

Reaching out for suggestions / real-life-experience on available & tried models of speakers & DSPs.

P.S: I have mixed reviews of damping. Is it really worth it? any brand recommendations here please?

[akhil chandu]

Damping always comes first when it comes to audio upgrade. I own a 4th gen city facelift, Started with damping and it significantly improved the stock audio quality. Later upgraded the components with a 4 channel amplifier and in next stage added an underseat subwoofer. Had my car not been damped, the later upgrades would not have made an impact. I would say, damp your doors first and see if your satisfied with the stock output and later decide. I’ve used Dr Artex damping for doors, floor and boot. It definitely makes an impact in the overall acoustics of the vehicle, especially for a vehicle like city which suffers from poor NVH.

[Sbk__Audiophile]

Originally Posted by Car_Therapy

Hello Team,

I own a 5th gen City. I was planning to install an under seat woofer and thought of getting some idea from our forum but it looks very difficult now.

I did some research and found that DSP could significantly improve the audio quality from the HU. So, I started to research on upgrading to component speakers and DSP upgrade (DSP+Amp, if I could find that combo).

Reaching out for suggestions / real-life-experience on available & tried models of speakers & DSPs.

P.S: I have mixed reviews of damping. Is it really worth it? any brand recommendations here please?

If youre looking for audio quality in City 5th Gen, look for Headunit upgrade (Pioneer 6650 BT). Same quality DSP youll need to go for Helix / Goldhorn etc. which is 4x the price.

Yes Damping makes a huge difference in Gen 5 City