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THANK YOU for posting this! Like you, I find the stock sound a bit muddy. Also, I'm missing the "soldering gene" so I may end up paying somebody to do this for me. I'm glad it sounds better. I think our tastes are the same as well - I've always liked Infinity speakers.
Would you say the dash tweeters affected the sound more (the original Infinity REF-4022cfx) or did replacing all four door speakers with the Infinity Reference speakers improve the sound more? I'm asking because I'm think I could pass on the dash speakers, but if you think the overall sound is improved by swapping them out then I might change those also.
Like many folks on this forum, I love my NX but hate the audio coming from the speakers which to me sounds pretty muddy and lacks low end. I've replaced headunits, speakers and added amps and subwoofers in many of my previous cars but I was much more hesitant with the NX. I've already located an fixed one rattle and didn't want to risk further rattles but the sound just kept bugging me so I settled on adding an underseat subwoofer and replacing the front dash speakers. After consulting the many threads on this forum, I decided I was comfortable with replacing the front 3 dash speakers and adding an underseat subwoofer. I researched Infinity and Polks for the front speakers and looked at Rockford Fosgate, Infinity, Pioneer, Kicker, Kenwood and Cerwin Vega for the underseat subwoofers. I've always liked the brightness of the Infinity's so I went for the 4" Infinity REF-4022cfx and as for the subwoofer that was bit tougher. There weren't too many local places that carried compact powered subs so all I could listen to were Kicker and Kenwood. While I knew I was sacrificing deep low bass due to the size, those speakers really underwhelmed me. I ended up choosing the Cerwin Vegas VPAS10 because it was the only powered compact subwoofer that was 10" and could fit under the seat.
Installation for the front dash was fairly easy except I couldn't find speaker wire harness adapters so I had to cut the harness and solder new speaker wire. I also had to break off two of the speaker tabs to install and fits rather snug. I replaced all 3 front dash speakers and took about 2 hours. I'm not the best at soldering =)
I didn't feel comfortable with running power from the battery so I ended up getting the Cerwin Vega sub installed at Best Buy. Took them about 2 hours and they were able to route everything to under my seat. It does stick out just a smidgen but it's not particularly noticeable.
How's it sound? Pretty good! The mids are very clear and the highs are bright - its certainly not muddy any more, particularly at high volume. The subwoofer doesn't give the deep lows that I really like. Its more of a mid-bass hit and because its under the seat, is rather concussive. You feel it. I'm still tuning it but it does blend in fairly well with the other speakers and really adds to the fullness of the sound.
Was it worth it? Certainly replacing the front speakers was, its really night and day and is the one recommendation I can make to all NX owners. I'm not totally sold on the subwoofer. It is loud and hits fairly hard but I miss the deep lows. However, I'm not willing to give up what little precious cargo room I have to house 12" sub boxes so this will probably be an acceptable trade off.
I know there's still 7 other stock speakers in the car but I'm pretty sure I'm done. I don't sit in the back so I'm not too worry about the sound back there and the door speakers supply bass and the subwoofer is taking car of that. Looking back, not sure if I really needed to replace the center dash speaker. Doesn't seem like a lot of sound is coming from there and maybe is used for navigation voices? Hope this writeup will be helpful for other folks intending to replace their speakers. I've attached some pics below of the gear. Feel free to PM me if you have q's. Enjoy!
4" Infinity's waiting to go into dash. You can see the new connections and electrical tape covering the soldering job.
4" Infinity's sitting in the dash
Here's what the Infinity speakers look like with the baffle back in place.
The 10" Cerwin Vega VPAS10 subwoofer
Here is the sub sitting right outside of the driver's seat.
And same sub tucked in with the seat in driving position.
Sub is tucked in with the seat in parked position. Its hard to tell there's a speaker there.
Here's the power cable ran from the battery with a fuse
I have a 2019 nx300h and am interested in doing this sub install. Did Best Buy install line output converter?
Hi. Did you have to cut or file any thing on the car to install the ARef 4022s?
[QUOTE=Suspendmix;10183962]Hi all,
Like many folks on this forum, I love my NX but hate the audio coming from the speakers which to me sounds pretty muddy and lacks low end. I've replaced headunits, speakers and added amps and subwoofers in many of my previous cars but I was much more hesitant with the NX. I've already located an fixed one rattle and didn't want to risk further rattles but the sound just kept bugging me so I settled on adding an underseat subwoofer and replacing the front dash speakers. After consulting the many threads on this forum, I decided I was comfortable with replacing the front 3 dash speakers and adding an underseat subwoofer. I researched Infinity and Polks for the front speakers and looked at Rockford Fosgate, Infinity, Pioneer, Kicker, Kenwood and Cerwin Vega for the underseat subwoofers. I've always liked the brightness of the Infinity's so I went for the 4" Infinity REF-4022cfx and as for the subwoofer that was bit tougher. There weren't too many local places that carried compact powered subs so all I could listen to were Kicker and Kenwood. While I knew I was sacrificing deep low bass due to the size, those speakers really underwhelmed me. I ended up choosing the Cerwin Vegas VPAS10 because it was the only powered compact subwoofer that was 10" and could fit under the seat.
Installation for the front dash was fairly easy except I couldn't find speaker wire harness adapters so I had to cut the harness and solder new speaker wire. I also had to break off two of the speaker tabs to install and fits rather snug. I replaced all 3 front dash speakers and took about 2 hours. I'm not the best at soldering =)
I didn't feel comfortable with running power from the battery so I ended up getting the Cerwin Vega sub installed at Best Buy. Took them about 2 hours and they were able to route everything to under my seat. It does stick out just a smidgen but it's not particularly noticeable.
How's it sound? Pretty good! The mids are very clear and the highs are bright - its certainly not muddy any more, particularly at high volume. The subwoofer doesn't give the deep lows that I really like. Its more of a mid-bass hit and because its under the seat, is rather concussive. You feel it. I'm still tuning it but it does blend in fairly well with the other speakers and really adds to the fullness of the sound.
Was it worth it? Certainly replacing the front speakers was, its really night and day and is the one recommendation I can make to all NX owners. I'm not totally sold on the subwoofer. It is loud and hits fairly hard but I miss the deep lows. However, I'm not willing to give up what little precious cargo room I have to house 12" sub boxes so this will probably be an acceptable trade off.
I spent a shade under $400 for everything. Here's the breakdown and links to the products I used (all purchased on Amazon):
$157
I know there's still 7 other stock speakers in the car but I'm pretty sure I'm done. I don't sit in the back so I'm not too worry about the sound back there and the door speakers supply bass and the subwoofer is taking car of that. Looking back, not sure if I really needed to replace the center dash speaker. Doesn't seem like a lot of sound is coming from there and maybe is used for navigation voices? Hope this writeup will be helpful for other folks intending to replace their speakers. I've attached some pics below of the gear. Feel free to PM me if you have q's. Enjoy!
4" Infinity's waiting to go into dash. You can see the new connections and electrical tape covering the soldering job.
4" Infinity's sitting in the dash
Here's what the Infinity speakers look like with the baffle back in place.
The 10" Cerwin Vega VPAS10 subwoofer
Here is the sub sitting right outside of the driver's seat.
And same sub tucked in with the seat in driving position.
Sub is tucked in with the seat in parked position. Its hard to tell there's a speaker there.
I did some research on forums and decided to upgrade dash speakers. I replaced the stock speakers with audison APX4, perfect fit, plug and play. I used a 22uf film and foil cap for HPF. Here are some pictures.
I bought both the REf 4022 and the R14X2 to try them out. So far, My quick thoughts are that the arc R14C2 have better bass response, crisp highs, but at mid to high Volume, the get distorted. The infinity have better mids and high frequency but the bass is not really there. Will update as days go by thanks
I bought both the REf 4022 and the R14X2 to try them out. So far, My quick thoughts are that the arc R14C2 have better bass response, crisp highs, but at mid to high Volume, the get distorted. The infinity have better mids and high frequency but the bass is not really there. Will update as days go by thanks
Dash speakers are not designed to reproduce low frequencies. Stock speakers are cut around 6000hz, your lowest point must be 2 times Fs of the speaker. But I wouldn't recommend to go lower than 600hz.
Wow, still good to see this thread has some life, hadn't been back on here for while and realize I never followed up on some of the q's. I ended up replacing all speakers - dash, both front and back doors with infinity ref speakers except the tweeters in the rear and the stock sub, just left those. Along with the cerwin vega sub, I'm extremely happy with the overall setup, particularly as i've sat in other cars and realize how much better and cleaner my system sounds. Its a very bright sound with concussive, not boomy bass with clear mids when tuned properly. I didn't think changing the door speakers would make much difference and they didn't for the highs but it cleaned up the muddiness in the bass significantly. i have to admit that I sometimes need to turn down the subwoofer, particularly with tracks that utilize bass guitars as that can be a bit overwhelming, but otherwise, I'm loving it!
Finally found the time to replace all the door speakers with Infinity Reference coaxials - 6.5" Surprisingly, it made a huge difference in the sound as its much brighter, significantly less muddy, and I'm not entirely sure how, allows the subwoofer to shine. Bass in the car overall is cleaner and less distorted after changing out the door speakers. Even my oldest kid was impressed. It wasn't hard pulling off the panels in all four doors maybe total time spent was about 2 hours. I didn't spend too much, probably around $400 for the 7 Infinity's, 4 speaker brackets, 4 wiring harnesses, 1 Cerwin Vega subwoofer and labor to install the subwoofer. It certainly was worth it. Only stock speakers left were the tweeters and cargo subwoofer. Btw., if anyone wants the Crutchfield NX200t installation guide, I'd be more than happy to share the PDF. Just PM me. It's got step by step instructions on pretty much any audio related installation.
Here's the power cable ran from the battery with a fuse
Sorry for bring up an old discussion, but how did you get the amp wiring through the firewall? did you need any special tools or have to take anything apart? it looks difficult to get it through.
Sorry for bring up an old discussion, but how did you get the amp wiring through the firewall? did you need any special tools or have to take anything apart? it looks difficult to get it through.
There is a large grommet in the firewall high up on the driver footwell. I had to take off the wipers and cowling under the wipers to get the wire through that grommet when I wired my trailer connector. It was a PITA
11-30-18, 11:37 AM
