Indecisive on approach

FourCorners said:

Is there a consensus on the best approach for our Passports?

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Nope, most people are satisfied with the stock stereo (as I was initially) and don't do any upgrading.

FourCorners said:

I've visited 3 local shops, some want to just install speakers, others, a whole system (one guy got really excited about the under mat cargo space for amps and such)

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I was lucky, the second shop I visited had recently installed the Infinity's I was looking at and told me that the owner was dissatisfied and replaced them with Focals (which sounded very good according to him), I'd never had Focals, but did previously have good luck with MB Quart, but went ahead with it after reading some reviews.

FourCorners said:

I'm currently leaning toward the @stevenD route, and rocking 2 sets of Focals and deadening the doors, though I also wonder if aftermarket two ohm speakers might be a better choice given the amp as I don't want to lose volume. Although if I go with 2 ohm, and eventually upgrade the amp, I feel I'll regret not having 4s.

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Equally important is the Sensitivity Rating, this is how much sound (decibels) is produced by 1 watt of power, so an 92db rating is much better than a 87db rating. Yes, I do have to turn my power up higher, but I am just using the stock amp's power in a bit higher output level, no danger of overuse. I like to think of it this way: I have a Stereo Receiver at home, the power know goes "way far" around and yet I only turn it up a tiny portion of what it can actually output, so I'm maybe using 20watts when the Receiver is capable of outputing 100watts (per channel of course), same with the Amp in the PP, it is being under utilized with the stock speakers and is actually capable of powering much better speakers as well as speakers that are 4ohm instead of 2ohm.

FourCorners said:

Visiting the shops has made this even more nerve-racking as none of the three shops seems super confident in a solution for a newer vehicle such as ours. (They didn't say it directly but that's the feeling I got as they didn't seem that knowledgeable about late model Hondas)

Any advice?

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It seems like most Honda owners are not stereo geeks, so they are happy with the stock units and don't venture out of that comfort zone. Stereos and speakers are not rocket-science - better components - sound better and better components - cost more money. You can also check/talk with Crutchfield...

So, at some point, you just have to make that leap of faith...

Please keep us updated...