[Dookay]

So I finally got around to installing this system. For those that aren’t aware, it’s a plug and play sound system upgrade for 10th Gen Accords without the premium audio. Consists of the Alpine KTP-445U Power Pack 4-channel amp, which provides 45 watts RMS to the 8 factory speakers and also the PWE-S8 compact powered sub. Both units are installed on a custom frame made by Alpine that installs under the passenger seat.

I purchased it from Crutchfield for $749.

It comes with everything needed to install it, to include a power cable that is ran from the fuse box in the engine bay to the powered sub. No wire cutting is needed.

The install is not the best. If you follow Alpine’s included instructions, they are lack luster at best. There’s a bunch of discrepancies that I’m not keen on. They have you run the power wire through the firewall on the passenger side; an absolute mother f*cker to get to...and I’ve done my fair share of installs. Word of caution, the A/C line you have to reach around is a soft aluminum. Don’t bend it too much trying to get the wire through or you’ll weaken it and possibly cause a leak. Other small things I have issues with is the factory radio connection area. They just talk as if it’s a simple unplug, and plug the T-harness in. Not so simple. You have to loosen the head unit mount nuts (10mm) and slide the unit up for access. They also don’t include instructions for removing the shift console on a 2.0T model with electronic shifter. Discovered you just pull up on it, and disconnect 3 connectors. Lastly, you have to remove the passenger seat to install the assembly. This means disconnecting the 3 connectors on the bottom of the seat. One thing Alpine left out is that harness is secured to the seat with a white clip. I removed it as careful as possible using a panel tool, but it still broke.

Everything else is fairly accurate on the install sheet. You have to remove both side panels on the center console, the shift console, the storage compartment forward of the shift console, the push button start panel, the glove box, lower panel below the glove box, trim above the glove box, right side dash cover, and finally the HVAC panel assembly.

After I had everything wired, I fired it up and started testing things. Alpine’s instructions say to leave the crossover points on the 4-channel amp OFF. I’m certain the instructions say this and I’m not sure if this is an image error, or not.

To me, this muddied up the mid bass horrible. I have mine set to 80hz right now and might lower them to 60hz for more testing.

As far as sound quality goes. It’s LEAPS AND BOUNDS louder without distortion.

As far as bass goes, the jury is still out on that one for me. I’m not really a bass head but I can appreciate a low note and the low notes (around under 40hz) just aren’t really that pronounced. It definitely helps in bass, so don’t get me wrong. I haven’t heard a premium audio Accord yet but I’d like to compare them just to see.

And yes, ANC is disconnected.

I’ll answer any questions you guys may have about the install the best I can.

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[BackPack]

Did you change any speakers too?

Is it worth the $749?

I listen to SiriusXM religiously. Mainly Alt Nation and First Wave. Getting clearer sound at higher volume and better bass is what I want. Sounds like this may be the answer. Thanks for taking the leap and reporting back.

 

[Dookay]

I have not changed the speakers yet. They do not sound over-taxed, even at high volumes. I do have a pair of Focal Integration Components coming in for me to install in the front though. Probably will leave the back as is, as front stage is far more important than rear to me.

As far as cost goes? $750 is a little steep if you were to price the Power Pack and Sub separate. However, the custom bracket and plug and play harness is invaluable at this point. If you don’t want to go hacking up your OEM harness, this is about the only solution that I’m aware of right now.


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[341890]

This looks great and im sure has a better signal than the speaker level signal tapping most of us have done at this point. A question, does this also provide RCA outs? I would suspect these would probably provide a full range signal without the factory EQ, perhaps this then could be used with something larger in the trunk that may provide a stronger output for 40Hz down if one desired, this could be huge. As for the price, I paid almost that for My JL powered microsub which did nothing for the mids and relies on the speaker level output from the deck. This kit may have made this irrelevant! Please continue to update us on anything you might find.

 

[Dookay]

As far as signal goes, it’s nothing but a “T” harness at the head unit. Effectively, it’s just a speaker level input going into both amps. There are no RCA preouts that I’m aware of.

I will say though, I’m not so sure there’s much EQ built into the volume...on the base stereo, at least. When I turn the volume up to 25ish, it’s LOUD and clean.


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[turner850]

Damn this is really tempting.

I wonder if there's a way to get a hold of just the harnesses and use my own amplifier.

I'm going to give Alpine a call and see if they will sell me the harness separately

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[341890]

Damn this is really tempting.

I wonder if there's a way to get a hold of just the harnesses and use my own amplifier.

I'm going to give Alpine a call and see if they will sell me the harness separately

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I want to say the Metra "Axxess AX-DSP-HON2 AX-DSP" is what you need, it's another T-harness which exposes the speaker outs so you dont need to hack up your factory harness. I believe a member or 2 has had success with it, it will still require disassembly of the dash to install. You will also need the DSP module to get the RCA outs.

https://axxessinterfaces.com/product/AX-DSP-HON2

 

[341890]

As far as signal goes, it’s nothing but a “T” harness at the head unit. Effectively, it’s just a speaker level input going into both amps. There are no RCA preouts that I’m aware of.

I will say though, I’m not so sure there’s much EQ built into the volume...on the base stereo, at least. When I turn the volume up to 25ish, it’s LOUD and clean.


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Thanks for the info! I'm about to pull the trigger on this possibly. Do have another question, being speaker level outs then the terrible factory EQ curve is just passed along? I wonder where the "sub" output is coming from. The stock deck just has 4 speaker level outs does it not? does this harness connect an unused set of pins (in a non sub equipped accord) providing an actual sub signal? you dont now have a "sub" option in your tone controls, do you? getting a good solid non rolled off full range signal seems to be a challenge with this vehicle, it would be amazing if the harness somehow fixes that.

 

[Dookay]

Thanks for the info! I'm about to pull the trigger on this possibly. Do have another question, being speaker level outs then the terrible factory EQ curve is just passed along? I wonder where the "sub" output is coming from. The stock deck just has 4 speaker level outs does it not? does this harness connect an unused set of pins (in a non sub equipped accord) providing an actual sub signal? you dont now have a "sub" option in your tone controls, do you? getting a good solid non rolled off full range signal seems to be a challenge with this vehicle, it would be amazing if the harness somehow fixes that.

I’m not sure how they do it, but both the 4 channel amp and the powered sub are using speaker level inputs. Don’t know if the harness splits signal into two outputs, or not.

As stated earlier, I’m not so sure there’s a large EQ roll off as volume goes up, though I’m not positive. If there is, I don’t notice much of it. But at the same time, this system has issues reproducing that low low bass that is usually associated with a noticeable roll off.

I know for certain though, there are only front are rear outputs from the OEM HU. The OEM tweeters are not separately amped.


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[Dookay]

I want to say the Metra "Axxess AX-DSP-HON2 AX-DSP" is what you need, it's another T-harness which exposes the speaker outs so you dont need to hack up your factory harness. I believe a member or 2 has had success with it, it will still require disassembly of the dash to install. You will also need the DSP module to get the RCA outs.



https://axxessinterfaces.com/product/AX-DSP-HON2

Just looked at this. I don’t know if that harness will work. The light gray connector looks right, but that thinner dark gray one? I’m not sure where that would go?


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[341890]

Just looked at this. I don’t know if that harness will work. The light gray connector looks right, but that thinner dark gray one? I’m not sure where that would go?


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That goes to their DSP box that provides RCA outs, if you wanted access to just the high level outs you wouldn't need to plug that into anything. The harness allows access to those high level outs without hacking up the factory harness (or at least that's how I understand it)

 

[Dookay]

That goes to their DSP box that provides RCA outs, if you wanted access to just the high level outs you wouldn't need to plug that into anything. The harness allows access to those high level outs without hacking up the factory harness (or at least that's how I understand it)

Ah that makes sense.

So I called them and the guy wasn’t aware of the Accord working, or not. Said the while the plug may fit, the pinout may not be the same.

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[turner850]

We just need to hack the tablets audio out to an aftermarket mixer to fix this car... I wonder if we can tap into the harness coming straight from the Android tablet for a stereo signal.



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[341890]

Another question

I see from the install pics that you are using the carpeted floor mats.
Do you happen to know if the Honda branded all weather mats (rear passenger) will still fit without interfering with the sub?
The all weather mat has sides that are raised along the edges. The mat could always be trimmed I suppose, but I'd hope that wasn't the case.

Also, since you have had this installed for a few more days, are your impressions of it any different? have you found ideal settings to dial in the performance?

Thanks!

 

[Dookay]

I’m not sure if they will fit. I’ll measure the area for you and maybe you might be able to make a determination with that.

I changed the crossover to 60hz high pass and I’m still on the fence about it. Deep bass isn’t that low. But I guess not to be expected. Other bass notes are fine. I’ll play around with it some more and try defeating the crossovers again. Just doesn’t seem right sending full range signals to the doors, based off of previous car audio experience.


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[341890]

I’m not sure if they will fit. I’ll measure the area for you and maybe you might be able to make a determination with that.

I changed the crossover to 60hz high pass and I’m still on the fence about it. Deep bass isn’t that low. But I guess not to be expected. Other bass notes are fine. I’ll play around with it some more and try defeating the crossovers again. Just doesn’t seem right sending full range signals to the doors, based off of previous car audio experience.


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It's okay no need for measurements. If I go ahead with this and end up having to trim the mat its not a big deal.

I suspect the reason Alpine might want to send full range is they assume you will be running stock speakers and we all know that the speaker level outs have been EQ'd dramatically and they dont want to disturb that. At the same time i wouldn't see the harm in blocking low bass from the weak factory speakers, not like they can honestly put out 60hz and lower without huge amounts of distortion. Not to mention its a waste of power. At least the option is there to tweak things. As for the low bass, only so much a sealed 8" 120w sub is gonna do, and I still am curious where they are getting its signal from. I hope its a flat non-eq'd signal.

 

[Dookay]

Did some more playing around last night. I flipped the phase switch on the sub to 180* and the bass is a little lower. To me, it sounds more balanced and even than at 0*.


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[341890]

Question, if you fade from front to rear, does the sub output drop? Im still curious as to where they are getting its signal from. The front, the rear, both?

 

[Kalmanzar]

Awesome been waiting on someone to review. In agreement would love to understand if signal is coming from f/r or both. I considered this option but didn't go due to cost. Went with kicker hideaway underseat cross over set at about 80hz and love it hits hard. Don't understand why your not getting bass from this... I wonder if the fact that your sub faces down has an effect? The kicker is facing up. Kicker install system way easier because nothing to take a part other than anc.

 

[Dookay]

Sub loses signal when fading to rear. So it definitely gets signal from front speakers only. But then again, I don't know if it loses signal all the way. I read somewhere on here that the bass sent to the rear speakers was limited quite a bit in the OEM set up. I'm about to get back into my car. I'll let you know if the sub completely goes away if I fade rear.

Awesome been waiting on someone to review. In agreement would love to understand if signal is coming from f/r or both. I considered this option but didn't go due to cost. Went with kicker hideaway underseat cross over set at about 80hz and love it hits hard. Don't understand why your not getting bass from this... I wonder if the fact that your sub faces down has an effect? The kicker is facing up. Kicker install system way easier because nothing to take a part other than anc.

Where did you get your input signal from? I'm considering sending this set up back and do my own.