Upgrading the Audio in a 2010 Fit: Subwoofer and a Stock Radio

I decided not to change out the stock radio in my 2010 Honda Fit Sport. So, I’ve been doing upgrades here and there to the audio system. I had previously decided to not add a subwoofer to this car.

But, I had an old 10″ Infinity Subwoofer in a sealed enclosure and an old Phoenix Gold amp with a built in crossover. It’s rated at 300 Watts when bridged to mono. Someone had ordered this one painted white instead of the normal black. It’s pretty old (and dirty), but works well.

Since I was not swapping out the stock radio, I did not have easy access to RCA outputs for a subwoofer. Once in a wile I would miss the low end a subwoofer can bring, but not enough ti change out the radio. Then I basically ended up with a Line Out Converter for free.

A Line Out Converter (LOC) takes high output signals, like from the speaker lines of a stock radio, and converts them to RCA outputs. I had never used them before. The plan was to siphon off the audio from the rear speaker channels. The LOC gives me a remote turn on for the amplifier as well as two RCA outputs. To install the amp I needed a power cable from the battery and a ground.

This was easier said than done. The Fit has a small engine bay, and it seemed to be impossible to find a grommet to pass the wires through the firewall. I ended up, after some Googling, running the power cable through a hole in the fender, and then through a grommet near the door. The cable is covered by the inner fender lining, so you cannot see it, and it should be protected. I wrapped some electrical tape around the cable as well, for an added layer of protection.

I was able to get the power ran around to the battery, through the carpet and under the seat.

The amp fits right up under the seat. I used velcro to secure the amp, so I can remove it if needed. The LOC is supposed to take audio from the left and right speakers. But, I didn’t want to run the audio from two locations. I was curious if this would work. So, I hooked both left and right positive and left and right negative into the LOC inputs. Then I attached the remote turn on, and ground to the remote and ground of the amp. And I ran the RCA cables. And tied into the left rear speaker.

At this point, it should be done. When I turn on the stereo, the signal on the speaker wire should trigger the remote turn on and the amp should fire up. I had no idea if pulling the signal from just one side would give enough power. I know, if the low end is stereo I will miss it on the subwoofer. But I’m willing to try it.

Just a quick test, and I can already see the signal level is plenty high. I had to significantly reduce the sensitivity (Turn down the knob) on the amp. It was way too loud.

So, I still have some tweaking to do, and time will tell if I need to run wires to the right rear speaker or not. But I have enhanced low end in the Fit now. The LOC was very easy to use.

Advertisement

Upgrading Audio in a 2010 Fit: Sound Deadening Project

I’ve been writing about upgrading the audio in my 2010 Honda Fit Sport. I did not want to rip out the dash, so I have been working on some alternative upgrades. But, one upgrade that could have huge benefit is to reduce the noise coming into the cabin.

One of the first things I noticed when I got the car was that the road noise was terrible. Most small cars are loud, but this one was especially loud, harsh. Add to that, some of the roads in ETX have this weird surface that is even louder.

But, I did not want to tear the entire interior out of the car, and deaden everything. I wanted to try to deaden what I can without too much tear out or expense. So I got 18 square feet of 80 mil Kilmat, a butyl and foil sound deadener. It is self adhesive.

After some research, I chose to apply it in the front floor, hatch and around the rear axle.

Here’s how it worked out:

18 Square feet doesn’t cover 100% of these spaces, but it covered a good bit of it.

The DB meter is a free app off the Apple Store. I doubt it is specifically accurate, but I hoped it was consistent from pre to post deadening.

As you watch, you will notice that the mount I was using for the pre- recording is different from the post- recording. The mount broke in between videos. An iPhone XR has mics on the front and bottom. The old mount had a hole in the bottom to let cables and audio through. So, the post- recording is still similar, though somewhat more open to the mics. If anything, this makes the DB meter more sensitive, and puts the post- deadened audio at a disadvantage. but I don’t think it had much impact, over all.

You can see the change wasn’t huge, but it was significant, in that the frequencies that were deadened were the higher ones. It makes the driving experience more pleasant by reducing the harsher noise.

The added benefit is that the frequencies reduced are also the one where music and melody play. While, low bass sounds won’t be helped, I’ve noticed that music sounds clearer at speed.

So, is it worth it? The deadener costs a little over $30 (at the time of writing). The install was done in a few hours. It did not require seat removal. The overall volume reduction was not huge, but what was reduced were the frequencies that interfere with music most and make the road noise harsh. Overall, not a bad investment.

Upgrading Audio in a 2010 Honda Fit Without Replacing the Factory Radio – Part 1

I recently bought a 2010 Honda Fit Sport. It’s a fun car to drive. It’s a little loud at highway speeds, but I like it quite a bit.

The problem is the 2010 audio system. This is the higher end Fit, but does not have the navigation system. I looked for a used one of those, but could not find one. Just saw a picture of one. This version has both a USB and mini plug aux input for audio. It does not have Bluetooth or much of a screen to communicate much of anything.

It doesn’t sound bad for an 11 year old audio system. But I use bluetooth all the time. Going back to a wired audio connection isn’t ideal.

In previous cars, I would just rip out the stock stereo and replace it with an aftermarket one. This car is a little bit more complex than my older ones.

The dash and radio is more integrated. Instead of a separate radio, which can be easily removed, the center console has this weird oval shaped entertainment area. It has hazard lights, air vents and the climate controls are placed around the edges.

And, it looks like removing it requires more than just popping the bezel off and removing a few screws. Now, Amazon sells complete replacement units. but they are Chinese made radios, with terrible reviews and reliability.

Of course, you can buy an aftermarket stereo kit. In addition to being more complicated than other cars, it makes your dash look odd. You can see an image of the kit below. I’ve decided against it.

So, the first thing I tried was adding Bluetooth. The easiest way to do this, for me, was to use an Amazon Echo Auto device I had. The Echo Auto can connect to a radio through Bluetooth (which I don’t have) and a mini stereo cable. Then you connect your phone to the Echo Auto.

In essence the Echo Auto becomes a Bluetooth bridge between your phone and the stock stereo.

Aftermarket Stereo Kit

Amazon Echo Auto in use.

The Echo Auto comes with an air vent mount, but I wanted it a little lower profile, and didn’t want to block two of the only 4 AC vents in the car. I bought a CD slot mount from Amazon. I also placed a magnetic mount for my phone on the air vent.

Overall this works pretty well. Except the air vent blows right on the Echo microphone. And there are a lot of cables visible.

When I start the car, the Echo powers up, and my phone connects automatically. It can take a few seconds to fully connect. But it’s not bad.

As someone who uses Audible, it’s pretty cool to just start the car, and say, “Alexa, play my audio book” and have it pick right up where I left off. Or play my Amazon music playlists. Or, you can just play audio from your phone and the Bluetooth bridges right into the stock stereo.

So, I’m good? No, of course not.

After the wreck that totaled my Matrix, I had a rental car. For the first time I had access to Apple CarPlay, and I liked it. I liked it a lot. Plug in the phone and all the relevant functions are displayed. Hands free control. Maps navigation.

I want that. But, the only way to get it is through an aftermarket stereo, right? And not a cheap one. It would be a $300ish one.

I started looking at the CarPlay Dongles for Android stereos. I was trying to find out if I could get a cheaper Android aftermarket radio and still use CarPlay. Turns out, you can. You can download an app, hook up a dongle, plug in your iPhone and use CarPlay on an android stereo. Any Android stereo using software version 4.4.2 or later.

But that still means ripping up the dash. I’d rather not.

One morning, I woke up and had this crazy thought… can you use these dongles with any Android device? Could you use it with an Android tablet?

Yep. You can. I’m not the first to wonder about it, and won’t be the first to do it. There are several posts, blogs and videos talking about the process. It’s the same as loading it up on your radio. The challenge is charging the tablet wheel using the dongle.

Here’s what I will need:

Android Tablet- The Kindle Fire, which costs just $50, will work. You can use almost any tablet. But unless you’re going the eBay-from-China route, the Kindle Fire is probably one of the cheapest solutions. I happen to already own a Kindle Fire 7.

Apple CarPlay Dongle- These can be pricey, but I found a wired version from Carlinkit for about $40 on Amazon.

Tablet Car Mount- I’m not sure which of these I will buy. There are several that run between $20 and $30 on Amazon. These mount in the CD slot. I want one that will be solid, and hang lower than an air vent mount.

OTG Charging and USB Cable- The Kindle Fire will only last a few hours. I need to find a cable that allows me to plug the power cable into the tablet and attach the dongle via USB. This seems to be a challenge for most trying to do this sort of thing. One guy said he had a cable that would not add charge, but would hold charge while plugged in. Driving around town this won’t be an issue, but on long trips it will be come important. I’ve got one in my wish list that claims to be able to charge and pass USB signals at the same time.

In the meantime, the Echo Auto will work until I can get it figured out.

There Really is No Excuse: Make a Film

“I’d make a movie if I just had a decent camera… microphone… lights… actors…. crew…”

How many time have you heard, or even said something like that? But none of those things are stopping you from making a movie.

The other day someone talked about a challenge to create a short film using just public domain or free sources; Video, audio or pictures.

I was intrigued and started thinking about this. So, there are several places online to find footage you could use. NASA is a major resource. Just about everything ever shot for any of their space programs has been made available for free use.

So I searched for little known stories from NASA. And I quickly found a story about the lunar landing with Apollo 11, one that I hadn’t heard of.

Then I was off into the archives from Nasa, looking for footage, audio and images. I did research on sites that took me through the events moment by moment.

In the end I cheated. I recorded a VO. The astronauts just sounded so professional that you couldn’t tell how stressed they were. Even so, I created an entire short film, with a complete story (beginning, middle and end) out of freely available footage.

There truly is no excuse. Free footage. Record audio on your phone if need be. Edit in one of the many free programs. You can make a short film now.