[securityguy]

I just finished installing the center channel speaker from @securityguy this afternoon, it helped the sound on a brief listen so much I went to the Crutchfield site and ordered door and tweeter upgrades: Hertz MPK 165.3 PRO

Then I went over to the DIYMA(Do It Yourself Mobile Audio) forum that I haven't visited in probably ten years and found a pair of these minus the crossovers for $450 so it looks like the Crutchfield box will be going back....

While I was over there I ran across this thread about a SQ buildout on a 2019 BE and I'm thinking I may have one more full blown build left in me. After all, the RTL-E is most likely the last vehicle I'll own, it might as well sound good! Last time I did this was 10 years ago on my '02 4Runner, partial build thread from the DIYMA forum here , back in 2011.

I have yet to figure out how far I want to go with this, if the new speakers on the Honda electronics suit me I'll stop there. If not, it's gonna be balls to the wall.....

Stay tuned!

So happy it worked out for you Bill. I told you it would make a huge difference my friend. Enjoy the build and have some fun with your RL!

 

[Spidey]

Here is a pic of my Hertz tweeters installed in my A-pillar...looks OEM!

View attachment 420802

Thank you very much for the picture as that enabled me to seal the deal and order them.

A few months ago I replaced the front door speakers with these Kickers from Crutchfield. As with virtually any new speaker, they really didn't get broken in until about 40 hours of use, and I quite like them. Certainly a nice upgrade from the factory speakers:
Kicker 46CSC654 CS Series 6-1/2" 2-way car speakers at Crutchfield Canada

 

[securityguy]

Thank you very much for the picture as that enabled me to seal the deal and order them.

A few months ago I replaced the front door speakers with these Kickers from Crutchfield. As with virtually any new speaker, they really didn't get broken in until about 40 hours of use, and I quite like them. Certainly a nice upgrade from the factory speakers:
Kicker 46CSC654 CS Series 6-1/2" 2-way car speakers at Crutchfield Canada

You are very welcome my Northern friend Take a few pics when you're done!

 

[ajg1960]

The Tweeters are HERTZ DT 24.3 - $80
The Center Channel is Hertz DCX 87.3 - $90 (I have my other one if you want it for $40 shipped to save you some bucks)
The Doors will be HERTZ X165

Happy to answer any questions you have about the install my friend. Let me know if you want my other center channel DCX87.3 as it makes no sense for you to spend $90 and have one left over yourself

Well, I now have an extra Hertz DCX 87.3 that I will sell for $40 shipped.

 

[billg71]

Well, I now have an extra Hertz DCX 87.3 that I will sell for $40 shipped.

You have a PM, a friend with a Ridgeline heard mine and wants to do the upgrade on his.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[securityguy]

I think I created a monster..... 😂

 

[ajg1960]

You have a PM, a friend with a Ridgeline heard mine and wants to do the upgrade on his.

Thanks,
Bill

Got it- responded to PM

 

[AndrewHorse]

I have XM on the built in radio but found if you play music from your phone hardwired to CarPlay and adjust settings on the XM app to maximum it makes an amazing difference. You have to have unlimited data plan on your phone because it uses A LOT.

 

[EKhatch]

The Tweeters are HERTZ DT 24.3 - $80
The Center Channel is Hertz DCX 87.3 - $90 (I have my other one if you want it for $40 shipped to save you some bucks)
The Doors will be HERTZ X165

Happy to answer any questions you have about the install my friend. Let me know if you want my other center channel DCX87.3 as it makes no sense for you to spend $90 and have one left over yourself

Thanks for all the great info. When I look at these speakers on the Crutchfield website it states "Replacing the low-impedance factory speaker with a 4-ohm aftermarket speaker will result in lower volume levels."

Did you notice this and if so how much of a difference was it?

 

[securityguy]

Thanks for all the great info. When I look at these speakers on the Crutchfield website it states "Replacing the low-impedance factory speaker with a 4-ohm aftermarket speaker will result in lower volume levels."

Did you notice this and if so how much of a difference was it?

That is why you choose an efficient speaker like the Hertz. It has very high sensitivity and will drive just as easily as the OEM without volume degradation. I notice no difference at all in my choice of volume selection. Everyone on this forum, I believe that purchased the Hertz, have been extremely pleased with no regrets.

 

[riprob1]

Been digging around and cant seem to find it, anyone ever upload the Crutchfield Install instructions for a Gen 2?

Would love to look it over before I decide to tackle any speaker upgrades, specifically the tweeter and center channel... the door speakers seem pretty straight forward (after you get the Honda adapters, of course)

 

[securityguy]

Been digging around and cant seem to find it, anyone ever upload the Crutchfield Install instructions for a Gen 2?

Would love to look it over before I decide to tackle any speaker upgrades, specifically the tweeter and center channel... the door speakers seem pretty straight forward (after you get the Honda adapters, of course)

PM me and I'll send it to you via email. The mods took down my posting. The center channel and tweeters are super easy to get to as well. I am happy to answer any questions or help you remotely during the process if you like.

 

[EKhatch]

Thanks for the info securityguy as well as the recommendation on the speakers. Can't wait to finally improve the sound in my truck. I never really felt like the stock center channel and tweeters added as much to the door speakers as they should.

 

[securityguy]

Thanks for the info securityguy as well as the recommendation on the speakers. Can't wait to finally improve the sound in my truck. I never really felt like the stock center channel and tweeters added as much to the door speakers as they should.

Once you add the Hertz tweeters and center channel...you will truly be amazed at the difference they both make.

 

[rfcii]

I've been more or less happy with the sound, but am giving these a try (center, pillars, front door). I'll have one of the centers available soon if anyone else is interested.

Question for the group - what to do with the old speakers? Is there a market for them? I am not as concerned about money as keeping them out of landfill.

 

[venom]

I've been more or less happy with the sound, but am giving these a try (center, pillars, front door). I'll have one of the centers available soon if anyone else is interested.

Question for the group - what to do with the old speakers? Is there a market for them? I am not as concerned about money as keeping them out of landfill.

I will take the extra center speaker RFCII!!!! Will send you a PM

 

[rfcii]

I did the center channel swap today and it went off without a (major) hitch. My only notes are:

- There is a tiny tab on the back of the existing plug, so make sure you have a small tool handy to depress it while disconnecting the existing speaker. Probably everybody knows this, but it took me a minute to realize.

- Despite using what I felt was great care with a trim tool, I slightly crushed the front lip of the center dash grill, so there there is a now tiny gap when replaced. I don't think very many people would notice this, but maybe go slow and take care to keep what is, I guess, some delicate plastic unscathed.

- The existing wire connection is fairly short without much slack. Not a real problem, but just be aware you will have very little room to work/do the splice and I'd suggest going slowly so that you won't need to cut off any more in case you mess up. Honda had wrapped it with some nasty duct-tape style stuff that took longer to remove than the rest of the splicing operation took. I used open-barrel connectors and a ratcheting crimper and then covered the splices with heat shrink tubing. Soldering these would probably be the bulletproof thing to do but I felt secure in my crimps and thought it would be a tricky place to work a soldering iron (even a butane portable). I used speed clips on the speaker terminals but also soldered new hookup wire to them. Crimping would probably be totally fine here but since I could easily take the speaker to my workbench, I did.

- According to the Crutchfield doc, and as was the case in my RTL-E, tan is positive and light green is negative. The Hertz speaker has a small red dot on the positive terminal.

- The Hertz speaker drops right into the grill with no modification needed, but it only fits one way due to the shape of its mounting slots. You don't need to use the Hertz clips or bolts, save the bolts from the Honda speaker.

It does indeed sound great! Definitely a high bang-for buck mod. Less than the cost of a tank of gas (if you can split the speaker set with someone else, which doesn't seem to be a problem around here).

I'll aim to tackle the front door and pillars this weekend.

Thanks again to @securityguy for doing the research and paving the way here!

 

[securityguy]

I did the center channel swap today and it went off without a (major) hitch. My only notes are:

- There is a tiny tab on the back of the existing plug, so make sure you have a small tool handy to depress it while disconnecting the existing speaker. Probably everybody knows this, but it took me a minute to realize.

- Despite using what I felt was great care with a trim tool, I slightly crushed the front lip of the center dash grill, so there there is a now tiny gap when replaced. I don't think very many people would notice this, but maybe go slow and take care to keep what is, I guess, some delicate plastic unscathed.

- The existing wire connection is fairly short without much slack. Not a real problem, but just be aware you will have very little room to work/do the splice and I'd suggest going slowly so that you won't need to cut off any more in case you mess up. Honda had wrapped it with some nasty duct-tape style stuff that took longer to remove than the rest of the splicing operation took. I used open-barrel connectors and a ratcheting crimper and then covered the splices with heat shrink tubing. Soldering these would probably be the bulletproof thing to do but I felt secure in my crimps and thought it would be a tricky place to work a soldering iron (even a butane portable). I used speed clips on the speaker terminals but also soldered new hookup wire to them. Crimping would probably be totally fine here but since I could easily take the speaker to my workbench, I did.

- According to the Crutchfield doc, and as was the case in my RTL-E, tan is positive and light green is negative. The Hertz speaker has a small red dot on the positive terminal.

- The Hertz speaker drops right into the grill with no modification needed, but it only fits one way due to the shape of its mounting slots. You don't need to use the Hertz clips or bolts, save the bolts from the Honda speaker.

It does indeed sound great! Definitely a high bang-for buck mod. Less than the cost of a tank of gas (if you can split the speaker set with someone else, which doesn't seem to be a problem around here).

I'll aim to tackle the front door and pillars this weekend.

Thanks again to @securityguy for doing the research and paving the way here!

I am happy to hear that you are pleased with my advice and ability to help you spend your money

 

[rfcii]

Just put in the Hertz front door speakers, with no problems!

A couple notes for anyone else going down this path:

- Do make sure you let Crutchfield know that you are ordering these for a Ridgeline. You will need a mounting ring adaptor, and wiring harnesses, which they throw in free. I actually neglected this step, and they mailed them out 2nd day deliver at no charge. Great service indeed! You'll want a set of these: American International HSB524 Speaker Mounting Brackets

- You need to remove the factory speaker, and then use the bolt that was holding the speaker to install the ring. Before you do this, though, remove all the tabs on the inside of the ring. They will otherwise be in the way of the speaker seating properly. Once the tabs are all broken off (just wiggle them back and forth with pliers, they come off pretty cleanly), install the ring by putting the two tabs in the slots at the bottom of the speaker opening, and then bolting the ring into place. Now, connect the harness to your speaker (assuming you put Crutchfields harness on to the speaker, otherwise, connect wires as you see fit), loosely place the speaker, and rotate as needed to line the holes in the speaker up up with the slots in the adaptor ring. The slots give you a bit of wiggle room in exactly where you place the speaker. NOTE: You do have to install the ring in the door first! I wanted to prep the speaker in my shop before bringing it out, but the speaker will obscure the ring's mounting bolt. Thus, you need to install the ring first, and then install the speaker to the ring in place.

- Test the speaker and replace the door panel! I did not fully remove the door panel, fwiw. I removed the 3 screws holding it on, popped the connectors, and then just removed the two harnesses going to the door handle. This gave me enough slack to carefully set the panel just a bit aside and resting on a 5-gal bucket (experience learned doing the rear door checks, if you have a 2019 like me). The hardest part of this entire process is getting the door panel reseated properly at the window line - make sure the seal is straight the whole way. Out of 4 doors, I had this go perfectly the first time on 2 of them, and the other two were a minor PITA. It will probably go better for you since you are smarter and a better mechanic than I am.

They sound great! Looking forward to moving onto the tweeters, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[securityguy]

Just put in the Hertz front door speakers, with no problems!

A couple notes for anyone else going down this path:

- Do make sure you let Crutchfield know that you are ordering these for a Ridgeline. You will need a mounting ring adaptor, and wiring harnesses, which they throw in free. I actually neglected this step, and they mailed them out 2nd day deliver at no charge. Great service indeed! You'll want a set of these: American International HSB524 Speaker Mounting Brackets

- You need to remove the factory speaker, and then use the bolt that was holding the speaker to install the ring. Before you do this, though, remove all the tabs on the inside of the ring. They will otherwise be in the way of the speaker seating properly. Once the tabs are all broken off (just wiggle them back and forth with pliers, they come off pretty cleanly), install the ring by putting the two tabs in the slots at the bottom of the speaker opening, and then bolting the ring into place. Now, connect the harness to your speaker (assuming you put Crutchfields harness on to the speaker, otherwise, connect wires as you see fit), loosely place the speaker, and rotate as needed to line the holes in the speaker up up with the slots in the adaptor ring. The slots give you a bit of wiggle room in exactly where you place the speaker.

- Test the speaker and replace the door panel! I did not fully remove the door panel, fwiw. I removed the 3 screws holding it on, popped the connectors, and then just removed the two harnesses going to the door handle. This gave me enough slack to carefully set the panel just a bit aside and resting on a 5-gal bucket (experience learned doing the rear door checks, if you have a 2019 like me). The hardest part of this entire process is getting the door panel reseated properly at the window line - make sure the seal is straight the whole way. Out of 4 doors, I had this go perfectly the first time on 2 of them, and the other two were a minor PITA. It will probably go better for you since you are smarter and a better mechanic than I am.

They sound great! Looking forward to moving onto the tweeters, hopefully tomorrow.

Happy to hear you got it all sorted out my friend!