2014 Civic Coupe Premium Stereo System Upgrade build post

Marc Meyers

Well-Known Member
48
33
Ohio
Vehicle Model
Coupe
Body Style
EX
I finally started upgrading my stereo. It was put on hold until my bathroom remodel was done. That project took me a year and a half. I gutted my bath down to studs and did everything myself.

I want to thank Hillstones for all the information he contributed to the forum. I took his advise and purchased a JL audio XD700/5 amplifier. I was not crazy about mounting the amp under my seat. I wanted everything to look as factory as possible. So I made a bracket and installed the amp in the same location as the factory. I do plan on painting the bracket black. One of the feet for the bracket uses one of the bolts for the factory amp. The other is under one of the nuts for the accelerator pedal. It fits pretty good I removed the vent blower duct to make room. I think I can just turn it 90 degrees and it will still serve it purpose.

Here is a pic of the plate and amp:

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Here's a pic with the feet installed:

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with lots of trial and error and rebending the feet, I got it to fit:



I took the seat out and was on my back for a long time.

I ran the power wire through the fender, like other DIY show.

I also,like so many others, did not want to cut into any of the wiring. I plan on putting the original system back into the car when I resell it. I looked and looked and waited and waited, hoping that someone would come out with a plug and play cable for this system, but as everyone knows it does not exist. So I took out my calipers and started taking a lot of measurements of the 24 pin connector at the amp. I drew it up in a program called Sketchup. If anyone is interested it can be found at sketchup.com, it is free and there are many tutorials on how to use it. I basicly taught myself how to use the program as I was drawing up the connector. I found a friend of a friend that had access to a 3D printer, he printed it for me and here is the final product. It turned out pretty good.

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with a little modification I got the pins to fit;

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I did a lot of research and found the pins for the connector that match the factory connector at the amp from the radio. The pins can be purchased from Newark Electronics.

Here is the link;

http://www.newark.com/molex/16-02-0117/contact-male-24-22awg-crimp/dp/92B7913?ost=70190984&selectedCategoryId=&categoryNameResp=All+Categories&searchView=table&iscrfnonsku=true

If you don't want to bother with the connector, you can probably get away with just plugging the pin into the amp connector and using heat shrink tubing to cover the bare parts. Then tape them together. That is all I did with the 18 pin speaker connector to connect the amp to the car speakers. That part is only temporary until I replace the speaker then I plan on running speaker wire.

Here are some pic of the amp wired;

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I followed the pin out from the other post. Pin 13 (blue wire) is the 12V turn on signal for the amp.

I hope this post helps everyone.
 
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Unbelievably nicely done! Props on the whole setup including the 3D printing.
 
Thanks I'm proud of it, took a lot of time, work and research, but forums like this are great


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I installed JL Audio TR-650 CXi in the door and rear, I made speaker adapter rings out of 3/4" MDF. I thinks the rear are too thick, but they work. I'll try and get some pictures later. I also got a JL Audio HO110-W6v3 subwoofer...

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after some tweaking of the levels and crossover points. It sound great!


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Nicely done. For the connector I have one from a factory amp I could've given you. It's a clean install though. I mounted my amp under the seat since no one sits behind me anyways. You could have also gotten a mercman harness like I did. Well done all around.
 
Nicely done. For the connector I have one from a factory amp I could've given you. It's a clean install though. I mounted my amp under the seat since no one sits behind me anyways. You could have also gotten a mercman harness like I did. Well done all around.

Thanks, I considered getting the one from Mercman, but I also wanted the challenge of making one.


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I finally took picture of the battery hook up.

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Gray wire goes to amp. Put it under the main battery cable


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This is brilliant--thanks so much for your write-up! Do you by chance have any additional pictures of what you described that you did for the 18-pin connector? I'm going to try and do the same for the 24-pin connector, as like you, I have searched far and wide for the harness, and it doesn't seem to exist. Wish I had the ability to 3D print one like you! But since I don't, I'll make do otherwise. I really don't want to touch any of the factory wiring. Thanks!
 
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This is brilliant--thanks so much for your write-up! Do you by chance have any additional pictures of what you described that you did for the 18-pin connector? I'm going to try and do the same for the 24-pin connector, as like you, I have searched far and wide for the harness, and it doesn't seem to exist. Wish I had the ability to 3D print one like you! But since I don't, I'll make do otherwise. I really don't want to touch any of the factory wiring. Thanks!



I don't recommend plugging the pins into the plug, I broke one off, never got it out (one of the smaller pins, I think it was a front speaker) I ended up abandoning that harness and running all new speaker wire.

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Also the blue wire is the remote that I used to turn on the amp. (Pin13)

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Btw, what 3D printer do you have, or maybe it was one you have at your work?
 
Btw, what 3D printer do you have, or maybe it was one you have at your work?

I don't own a 3D printer. A guy I work with, his brother in law has access to one. He printed for me. I just watched a YouTube video, this guy reviewed one, it only cost $180. I have thought about getting one. I think here's the link.


View: https://youtu.be/ispolAHB4jA

Why did it add the video twice?

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I don't recommend plugging the pins into the plug, I broke one off, never got it out (one of the smaller pins, I think it was a front speaker) I ended up abandoning that harness and running all new speaker wire.

Also the blue wire is the remote that I used to turn on the amp. (Pin13)

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Good to know! Guess I'll go down a different route. I may try to find a Mercman harness. Thanks!
 
Hello everyone, New member and first post, great forum here! I have a 2015 coupe lx, I bought a non navi system from a 2015 coupe si on ebay. Regretting my purchase, but I accept in now. I've read Hillstones thread and many, many others, my brain is mush. I understand I need a amplifier that supports differential balanced outputs, there are 4 plugs going into my existing radio, 3 of these plugs fit into the non navi head unit. Connector A (24p) fits, connector B (20p) fits, connector C (14p) does not fit and of course connector D (3p) fits. I cannot find a diagram for the connector C on a 2015 civic lx. I did plug in the non navi head unit and pretty much everything works except for the phone answer, voice command and hang up buttons on the steering wheel.
Some of my questions are:
Where can I buy the connector plugs for the non navi unit?
Can I splice into the stock wiring for connector A, 24p and convert it to rca?
Can someone please help? I'm starting to feel that cannot be done!

I am going with JBL Club components in the front and coaxial's in the back, eventually I will install a subwoofer in the trunk. I think I will use the Kicker 43CXA300.4 amp installed in the trunk underneath the rear deck.
 
I haven't seen anyone find connectors themselves for sale. The best bet is a to call a junkyard or check this site

http://ahparts.com/cars-list.php?Model=CIVIC

They'll supposedly sell pieces off cars if they have one available.
Thank you webby. I've been researching this for a month now! I think I'm going to accept my losses, try and sell the unit to gain some money back and go with an aftermarket head unit, it will be much easier.
 
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