Ron Parr

I hope to post a longer version of this in the future with pictures, but for now I'll just give a quick mention of this part to get the information out there as quickly as possible.

I did search, and I haven't seen it mentioned here before. A firm called "American International" makes a speaker adapter for the 2003+ Honda Accord. The part number is HSB-518. This part has clips that will fit snugly in the original door speaker holes in your TSX door.

There is one complication: For my speakers, the holes already in the HSB-518s were a little too close to the center for the holes in the speakers. Instead of using the holes already provided in the HSB-518, I screwed the speakers into the edge of the adapter directly. There was just barely enough room to make this work. The edge of the HSB-518 was bulging from the screw, so if my speaker holes had been just a hair wider, I probably would have split the side of the adapter and this trick wouldn't have worked. Despite not using the provided holes in the adapter, I do think that I got a pretty secure mount.

You will probably get a tighter and more secure fit if you screw directly into the sheet metal with your own spacers, or build your own mounting bracket. However, the HSB-518 path is probably the least effort if your speaker mounting holes aren't too wide.

If you google for them, you can find the HSB-518s for $10/pair online.

nnh768

I'm thinking of getting these because i'm not comfortable drilling holes into the metal. Is this bracket the same for the front and rear doors?

Thanks

moda_way

Metra makes a kit too.

Check out Partsexpress.com and search on 82-4300.

$6.90 a pair.

jlukja

Ron,
You went with the Alpine SPS-170A ?

Reach

Do these (Metra ones) work well as spacers for the Alpines?

I'm going to go with this soon, and if I need these to space I'd just assume order them now.

moda_way

I believe a few folks used these for their speaker installs and they worked great. You might have to drill holes for the screws though.

Reach

In the Metra brackets, right? (ie: not the car). That's what I'm trying to achieve.

Ron Parr

Yes - it's the same bracket for both front and back. I'll reiterate that drilling into the plastic bracket is a little tricky and that you could easily ruin the bracket if you aren't careful. The good news it that even if you screw up and need to get an extra set of brackets for a redo, your total loss is just $10.

Ron Parr

That's something a bit different - at least of the picture I found when I Googled is what's in the box. It looks like you would still need to drill holes in your sheet metal to use those.

Ron Parr

Yes - I'm quite happy with them. Thanks for all of the tips you gave over the past few weeks while I was working through the issues!

The issue now is that I'm noticing that (as I believe you predicted) the tweeters sound a bit harsh compared to the clean sound from the rest of the system. I'm looking into replacing the tweeters with some good silk dome ones, but it doesn't have the urgency of the door speaker replacement since I can now listen to most music without cringing.

BTW, the Dynamat Extreme installation eventually got easier as I mastered working with the material and twisting around to install it. I do feel like it has reduced some sources of noise, but plenty still remain. The engine now sounds a bit louder because there is less competition from other sources. The main annoyance remains rough or concrete roads, which just seem to resonate through the entire body of the car.

jlukja

I think the crappy OEM tires have a lot to do with it. They are fairly quiet on new asphalt but very noisy on concrete or worn asphalt.

As for tweeters, I've been reading very good things about the Vifa D26NC05-06 and the LPG 25NFA. Take a look at them and them to see what others are saying.

STL

Is this the place you got them?

Ron Parr

I actually got them at my local Tweeter and paid twice the price even though I knew of the internet option above. The issue was that I had some external pressure (guests arriving) to wrap up the project and clear off the space on the dining room table that was covered with a growing collection of tools and parts.

joerockt

Will these only fit the front doors? I wonder if the rears have the same setup...

jlukja

I'm thinking the front and rear door setups are identical. But I don't know for sure.

Reach

I've got 2 sets ordered and I'll let you know eventually

But really, I'm a while out from actually doing it, so I won't know for a some time. I've been ordering parts piecemeal for the last month. Maybe another month and I'll have everything.

Now have / ordered:
JL 250/1 amp
ElDude's custom sub box / DLS 10"
Honda speaker hookups and splitter for 6x9s & sub to share signal
Door mounting brackets for all 4 doors

Next paycheck:
replacement door speakers for all 4 doors (prolly the alpines) and tweeters

After that: get someone else to do it all for me

Ron Parr

Yes - I used the same brackets for all 4 doors.

Ron Parr

Sorry I don't have time to organize these better. Here's the link:

http://bellman.cs.duke.edu/~parr/speakers/

131 & 132: Front then back view of the original speakers
133 & 134: Front then back view of the mounting bracket
135 & 137: Speaker with the bracket temporarily held in place with tape. Notice that the holes for the speaker don't line up with the holes in the bracket
138: Example of a hole drilled in the bracket
142: Speaker screwed into bracket. Note that I didn't use the screws that came with the speakers b/c they are too long. I also angled in slightly when driving the screws.
144: Side view. Notice the edge of the bracket bulging.
148, 149 & 150: Back view. Notice that one of these didn't grab that well, but I think it will still hold.
151: Installed!

jlukja

Ron,

How deep is the mounting bracket? (i.e. how far away from the door metal does it hold the speaker?)

Ron Parr

I didn't measure, but when I eyeballed it, I thought it was pretty close to the original speakers.

STL

Thanks for the pics. To my eye, the bottom part of the bracket that holds these spacers to the doors looks different in pic 133 compared to what I see in pic 134. Did you maybe get two slightly different brackets?

Looking at those pictures the OEM speakers really do appear to be crap. I'm thinking I should be able to rip out the stock cone/driver and modify the OEM bracket to be my spacer -- thus avoiding having to purchase any new brackets.

Ron Parr

What you're seeing is one bracket. I just flipped it over between shots.
I contemplated this, but decided against it. The original speaker is glued/fused to the original bracket at many points. I didn't see a way to do it without destroying the bracket.

joerockt

Thanks Ron for pointing us to these brackets. They worked PERFECT! I just installed them in the wife's 06 Accord, mounted Alpine Type S speakers to them...