- Do you want a lot MORE sound
- Do you not need a mega $$$ sound system
- Do you want to keep your Dash Control Functioning
- Do you not feel that this should cost a lot of money
....Read On!

I've read just as many have about adding speakers to the rear of my S2k using the untapped rear speaker outputs from my stock radio. I could'nt accept that there was any mystical wiring going on that would cause me to need a lot more wiring done, this is afterall a generic Honda stock radio, it wasn't solely designed for the S2K. I have an '03 S2000, I make no guarantees that the 3 years prior have the same exact setup but I can't imagine if it is that it is by much.

What you will read below works perfectly (as it would in any other Honda). This is however my own experience, your's may vary. You will have to do some cutting of the panels behind your seat, the rest is very straight forward and damn easy! You won't even be cutting into your stock wiring or soldering anything.

All pictures below are links to full sized images

Here's the short version: (keep going below if you want/need details)

I cut my rear panels to accomodate my 5.25" speakers. Then ran the wires that came with them to the front, along the passenger side of the center console, up into the radio hole.

I unclipped the pins from an aftermarket harness matching my stock harness and put them in the same spaces they came out of in my stock harness (no wires were cut from either my harness or the aftermarket harness) The reason it has been said you loose your mute function is that the aftermarket harness doesn't include the wire for it (maybe ours is the only car using this radio that gets dash controls?!) Our radio has the output for the rear speakers but no wires coming out of the harness. CLICK HERE for a detail of the clip showing what wires go where

You now have your stock harness with 4 wires sticking out of it, wire those to your rear speakers and Voila, perfect 4 speaker sound, fully controlled by the Dash Controls. Enjoy your MUCH BETTER sound.

If someone knows where to get the specific pins that are in a stock harness please let me know, you won't even need the expense of the Honda harness in this adventure (~$!7).

Not knowing exactly what I would find out or if any of this would even work (I hadn't even opened up my dash before this) I bought at the recommendation of the stereo shop a clip intended to plug into the radio (had the extra 4 wires) and a clip intended to plug into the stock harness (as if you were wiring an aftermarket radio) I'm not sure why that even made sense but it seemed to at the time so I spent the money. Both harnesses were $17. I have what could be 5 installs worth of wires left here and will happily supply my fellow S2K brethern a set of what you need for $6 (Dividing the cost of the 2 harnesses up into 6 sets) This will save me from the hassle of taking the unused un-opened harness back to the store email me if you are interested

- A Dremel Tool (for cutting the rear panels, isn't required, but I HIGHLY recommend it)

- A pair of 5.25" speakers (*1) Whatever brand you like best

- A wiring harness, intended to plug into a typical Honda Radio 98-up. (The bag mine came in says "98 Honda Pwr /4 spk car side) This will look exactly like the plug going into your stock radio right now except it has 4 extra wires coming out of it.

- A Phillips Head Screwdriver

- a Cork Board Push Pin (or similar small pokey device)

- Jewler's screwdriver (small flathead)

- (4) Butt Connectors, if you don't want to solder your rear speaker wires

Time: About an hour to carefully cut the rear panels, about 1/2 hour to do the wiring.

That's It!

*1 - I think that the 5.25" speakers work best here from what I've seen, if you want it even a little easier you could use smaller speakers (might not be worth it) and I've heard of many putting 6.5" speakers back there but it's a tight space, you be the judge. I used a pair of Kenwoods that I got from my local Best Buy.

Speaker Panels - Take off the cover from the hooks, then either use your Phillips Head or an 8mm socket and take out the screws. The panel will now pop out with some gentle tugging, it's held on by about 5 or 6 plastic clips. You see when you take the panel off that there are metal supports back there, the magnet of the speaker has to fit between the support and the "floor" of that shelf. You must make sure your speaker isn't too high, too low or too far over as to hit any of that back there.

There was a template that came with my speakers as part of the box, if you don't have one you will need to do some careful measuring and remember your drafting skills using a compass. I used a sharpie marker to mark the panel for my cut, then used my dremel's cutting wheel to cut radial cuts out to the circle then across the lines, then used the sanding wheel to smooth out my circle. (If you severely mess up your panel, they can be bought through a number of places for around $11 so don't be skeered)

Click the pictures below for visual details of the above descibed procedure:

Reinstall your panels with the speakers in them back in thier original locations. Before you do that run both sets of wires to the front radio hole. I ran both wires along the tunnel above the clips keeping the console cover down.

Take what you need from the Aftermarket Harness - There's a clip holding in all the wires like a bar with notches on either side of the part of the harness where the wires are coming out you will need to open that to get the wires out CLICK HERE if you need details on how to get this open.

Next take a pushpin and stick it in the front of the harness, the wires should slide easily out the back now CLICK HERE for detailed views on what wires to remove and how to remove them

Now simply insert those 4 wires into the exact same location in the harness that's in your car. Remember you will have open the locking clip (I think) on your stock harness the same way you did on the aftermarket harness (above). Lock those clips back down.

Now wire the new wires coming out of your harness to your wires coming from the rear speakers. CLICK HERE for a detail of the clip showing what wires go where.

There you have it folks, improved sound, minimal $$$ investment, minimal time investment.

- There are tons of speakers out there, be careful of how big the magnet is as it may hinder you from mounting it properly.

- There is an aftermarket harness available widely approved of on S2Ki.com that is supposedly very much just plug and play if this all sounds like a lot of work to you by all means please check out this product! That company also offers precut panels and even sells panels shipped to you with the speakers already attached.

-I'm a "tinkerer" and skeptic and probably could be called a tight-ass, hence the above findings. Please take them for what they are worth. I feel like this information should be available (I couldn't find any of it when I was wanting to add my rear speakers)

That's all there is to it. If you have any questions please email me. If this was helpful at all, please let me know, if I forgot something along the way, again, let me know and I will add it.

If you would like, send me a before and after shot of your ride after this procedure and I'll begin to compile a scrapbook of folks this helped.

Travis