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Suggestions for new Sound System??

Joined
21 January 2004
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Location
New Brunswick, NJ
I was bored today so I dropped my car off at a sound system installation place becuase last night on my way home that crappy BOSE system just pissed me off. Terrible sound quality and just OLD blown amps/speakers. The requirements are this:

1. Must retain stock head unit. Ive never seen a aftermarket head unit that impressed me in the NSX. I heard that this will require some sort of an interface by JL audio becuase im not using the bose amps anymore, is this true? If so, I heard its like $500 for this item. I also want to keep the stock CD changer so the stock head unit stays.

2. What kind of speakers do I get? Do I get JL's or Boston Acustics? Anyone make a good 5" sub? The factory sub is a 5' right?

3. Where do I mount the amp? I would like it to go in the tool kit area of the trunk? Is it safe here?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Time is of the essence so let me know. :biggrin:
 
BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
I was bored today so I dropped my car off at a sound system installation place becuase last night on my way home that crappy BOSE system just pissed me off. Terrible sound quality and just OLD blown amps/speakers. The requirements are this:

1. Must retain stock head unit. Ive never seen a aftermarket head unit that impressed me in the NSX. I heard that this will require some sort of an interface by JL audio becuase im not using the bose amps anymore, is this true? If so, I heard its like $500 for this item. I also want to keep the stock CD changer so the stock head unit stays.

2. What kind of speakers do I get? Do I get JL's or Boston Acustics? Anyone make a good 5" sub? The factory sub is a 5' right?

3. Where do I mount the amp? I would like it to go in the tool kit area of the trunk? Is it safe here?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Time is of the essence so let me know. :biggrin:

do you really have to keep your stock head unit? it certainly is NOT impressive, unless you have friends that are impressed with cassette tapes instead of 50+hours of mp3's. A good installer will make a head unit look good in there. other than that there are numerous speakers that are high end from Rainbow Ref, Focal Utopias, Mb Quart, Boston, etc. With these speaker upgrades, it will make poorly recorded material sound poor(like cassettes). i have an amp and my crossovers in my trunk. some people say the heat from the exhaust is not good on the amp, but i havent had problems yet. you could place it behind your seats as well. and it seems like blaupunkt or earthquake are the subs of choice for footwell placement.

Wait..did you say $500 for just the interface? :confused: that's laughable. i dont think it is worth upgrading the speakers and using the junky old stock radio\trunk cd player. :wink:
 
diablo2469 said:
do you really have to keep your stock head unit? it certainly is NOT impressive, unless you have friends that are impressed with cassette tapes instead of 50+hours of mp3's. A good installer will make a head unit look good in there. other than that there are numerous speakers that are high end from Rainbow Ref, Focal Utopias, Mb Quart, Boston, etc. With these speaker upgrades, it will make poorly recorded material sound poor(like cassettes). i have an amp and my crossovers in my trunk. some people say the heat from the exhaust is not good on the amp, but i havent had problems yet. you could place it behind your seats as well. and it seems like blaupunkt or earthquake are the subs of choice for footwell placement.

Wait..did you say $500 for just the interface? :confused: that's laughable. i dont think it is worth upgrading the speakers and using the junky old stock radio\trunk cd player. :wink:

I want the car to look stock! If I wanted an aftermarket headunit I would buy one. I think the stock radio, although very out dated, looks very good. I appreciate your advice but you didint really answer my questions. Thanks anyways. By the way, Im not looking to impress my friends or others. If I was into impressing people I would have bought a FERRARI :tongue:
 
why limit yourself to JL od BA...you can do much better...

BTW. a little bird told me that one of the best NSX online retailers will soon have a complete audio replacement setup...speakers, baffels, wire, amp,sub ,dynamat and instructions...could be added to factory or aftermarket radio....
 
01blacks4 said:
why limit yourself to JL od BA...you can do much better...

BTW. a little bird told me that one of the best NSX online retailers will soon have a complete audio replacement setup...speakers, baffels, wire, amp,sub ,dynamat and instructions...could be added to factory or aftermarket radio....

Thats what I talking about! What brands do you suggest?
I cant wait for an NSX upgrade, I cant stand to be in this car another minute with out a new system. Id was so bad, id often drive home with no music on at all. :frown: Its so rare that I even drive the car that when I do Id like to hear some hot beats... :biggrin:
 
BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
I want the car to look stock! If I wanted an aftermarket headunit I would buy one. I think the stock radio, although very out dated, looks very good. I appreciate your advice but you didint really answer my questions. Thanks anyways. By the way, Im not looking to impress my friends or others. If I was into impressing people I would have bought a FERRARI :tongue:

sorry, thought i addressed questions 2 and 3.
 
There are actually some paleontologists out there that like the stock deck look for whatever reason. I do hope you've looked at the double DIN offerings from Eclipse and Kenwood before staying stock though.

Anyhow, you don't need the JL Audio cleansweep because the stock deck has preout level outputs. All you need to do is get 2 Metra harnesses and solder in some RCAs to the speaker outputs. The harnesses you need are Metra 70-1720 and 71-1720 wired together with the RCA leads coming from the deck speaker outputs. This is the easy part of the whole install.

You can't just get a sub and stick it in the stock location. You need to have a box made for it. Dali offers a box that can handle an 8" sub. 10" is possible but not without sacrificing leg room for the passenger and you will be limited to just a few subs that can work with .5 cubic feet or less. Anymore volume than that is a bit of a stretch.

Door speakers, I would just advise going to a store and listening to them and choosing the speakers that sound best to you. Then you can consider the warranty and reputation of that manufacturer. JL, Diamond, Dynaudio, MB Quart, Focal, BA, etc. are all good brands you can find in most good shops.

The amp can go in the trunk toolkit area but it will get hot in there and some amps will go into thermal shutdown. You can get some heat shielding above the muffler to help tame the heat, it helped save me at least 20 degrees.
 
BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
The requirements are this:

1. Must retain stock head unit. Ive never seen a aftermarket head unit that impressed me in the NSX. I also want to keep the stock CD changer so the stock head unit stays.

3. Where do I mount the amp? I would like it to go in the tool kit area of the trunk? Is it safe here?

1. I agree with you.... Keep the stock head unit! The stock head unit is a brilliant Alpine unit.

Now, about the CD Changer... Bin it! You don't need to keep it if you are keeping the stock head unit. I have replaced mine with the latest Alpine MP3/wmf CD Changer. This is plug-n-play, no need to have any adapters or the like. This new unit allows me to play MP3's through the STOCK OEM head unit just like a normal CD!

NSXSAN OTOH, has replaced it with a DVD Changer. With the DVD Changer NSXSAN has retained the STOCK head unit and installed the Honda Navigation Pod with the LCD to play the DVD's through! All through the STOCK OEM head unit! Incredible!!! It makes his car look as though the NSX comes from the factory with DVD player!

Now the Amp... Yes you can mount it in the toolkit area BUT... This area get very warm from the exhaust and you don't want to do this to the amp. If you insulate it so it doesn't heat up from the exhaust.... How is it going to disapate it's own heat???

Hope this helps...
 
Malibu Rapper said:
There are actually some paleontologists out there that like the stock deck look for whatever reason. I do hope you've looked at the double DIN offerings from Eclipse and Kenwood before staying stock though.

Anyhow, you don't need the JL Audio cleansweep because the stock deck has preout level outputs. All you need to do is get 2 Metra harnesses and solder in some RCAs to the speaker outputs. The harnesses you need are Metra 70-1720 and 71-1720 wired together with the RCA leads coming from the deck speaker outputs. This is the easy part of the whole install.

You can't just get a sub and stick it in the stock location. You need to have a box made for it. Dali offers a box that can handle an 8" sub. 10" is possible but not without sacrificing leg room for the passenger and you will be limited to just a few subs that can work with .5 cubic feet or less. Anymore volume than that is a bit of a stretch.

Door speakers, I would just advise going to a store and listening to them and choosing the speakers that sound best to you. Then you can consider the warranty and reputation of that manufacturer. JL, Diamond, Dynaudio, MB Quart, Focal, BA, etc. are all good brands you can find in most good shops.

The amp can go in the trunk toolkit area but it will get hot in there and some amps will go into thermal shutdown. You can get some heat shielding above the muffler to help tame the heat, it helped save me at least 20 degrees.

Agreed.

I spent several months trying to keep the head unit because I wanted the "stock" look. The head was the last stock part in my system.
I finally decided the Bose head had to go.

I ended up going double din over single mainly because of the clean and updated look more than the ability to play DVDs or have Navi. I think these units fill in the space very well.

Have a look at some of the pics of after market heads in this section and see if anything suits you. I had a hard time having my console altered, but I wouldn't go back to stock now.

Good luck with your upgrade. Changing everything except the head should still give you "better than bose" sound.
 
Last edited:
well i recommend Diamond...cause they sign my pay check :)

if you can wait a week or so i might know more about the whole system replacemnt i was speaking about.
 
01blacks4 said:
well i recommend Diamond...cause they sign my pay check :)

if you can wait a week or so i might know more about the whole system replacemnt i was speaking about.

actually i have the Hex 6 inchers in my X now, just put them in. sound great. :biggrin:
 
AU_NSX said:
1. I agree with you.... Keep the stock head unit! The stock head unit is a brilliant Alpine unit.

Now, about the CD Changer... Bin it! You don't need to keep it if you are keeping the stock head unit. I have replaced mine with the latest Alpine MP3/wmf CD Changer. This is plug-n-play, no need to have any adapters or the like. This new unit allows me to play MP3's through the STOCK OEM head unit just like a normal CD!

NSXSAN OTOH, has replaced it with a DVD Changer. With the DVD Changer NSXSAN has retained the STOCK head unit and installed the Honda Navigation Pod with the LCD to play the DVD's through! All through the STOCK OEM head unit! Incredible!!! It makes his car look as though the NSX comes from the factory with DVD player!

Now the Amp... Yes you can mount it in the toolkit area BUT... This area get very warm from the exhaust and you don't want to do this to the amp. If you insulate it so it doesn't heat up from the exhaust.... How is it going to disapate it's own heat???

Hope this helps...

Do you have the model number of your New CD changer and the new DVD changer?

Thanks
 
A lot of interesting comments here.
Opinions are like you know what (everyone has one) so here's my contribution which should be worth about 2c!

BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:

1. Must retain stock head unit. Ive never seen a aftermarket head unit that impressed me in the NSX. I heard that this will require some sort of an interface by JL audio becuase im not using the bose amps anymore, is this true? If so, I heard its like $500 for this item. I also want to keep the stock CD changer so the stock head unit stays.

Stock head unit - guys, it's 15 years old already - technology has come a long, long way since then. There are many on-board features in modern equipment such as digital processing, in-dash CD, DVD, navigation etc depending on your final configuration requirements.
There's no reason why a replacement can't look as good - or better - than the original design aesthetics which in my opinion are also extremely dated. There are lots of very nice quality installs in this forum that look like they came form the factory that way.
However, if your taste prevails, you can easily & cheaply integrate the stock head per Mailbu's suggestions to make a harness adapter. If you search you will see examples & instructions of how to do this and where to source the components - cost - less than $25 if you make it yourself.


BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
2. What kind of speakers do I get? Do I get JL's or Boston Acustics? .
There are so many choices on speakers it's difficult to give a single recommendation - even within the brand names offered there are different model choices to choose from. Generally, you typically get what you pay for in speakers.

BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
Anyone make a good 5" sub? The factory sub is a 5' right?.
It's not a sub & it's not 5" let alone 5'! ;)
I haven't seen any literature that claims the stock unit is a sub-woofer - it is commonly referred to as "the sub" in this community but it's just not, folks. The speaker is the same size as the door speakers ~ 4".
Personally, I don't think a sub less than 8" is even worth considering - you'll get better response by investing in a high-end set of components with mids/woofers of 6.5" and a decent head unit & amp to drive to the low frequencies they are spec'd to.
Final thought on subs - those amp'd cans - Bazooka, Clarion etc are not worth the money for the given quality (or lack of).


BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
3. Where do I mount the amp? I would like it to go in the tool kit area of the trunk? Is it safe here?.

There is no problem mounting the amp in that location provided you insulate the underside of the floor adequately (search for details on that - it's been covered in this forum); much of the heat coming from the exhaust will depend on whether you have stock or after-market.
With any trunk-mounted amplifier additional air-flow would be recommended - a lot depends again on how much power you are sinking.

Again, these are just my personal opinions - not to say I'm right & anyone else is wrong. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
 
I appreciate what you're trying to do Bridgewater Acura. The OEM head unit I think looks great the way it emulates the shape of the HVAC controls. I also respect D'Ecosse's point of view and ceratinly don't question his knowledge of the subject. I have thought about ditching the Bose, but do you think that people would be upset as far as resale value, that the "Bose" name isn't on the stereo anymore?? We all know that this Bose system is poor, but they (Bose) have spent HUGE $$ on marketing and it seems like potential buyers would see the elimination of that as a decrease of value, when in fact the aftermarket units sound and perform better.

Also, How does this affect an NSX that is leased?? (Or any car for that matter). Do you have to uninstall the aftermarket stuff if you decide to turn the car in?? Thanks to Bridgewater Acura and others for their discussion of this matter. It's been very helpful!!!

PS: Doesn't the newer CD changers play MP3s??
 
Doc C said:
Also, How does this affect an NSX that is leased??
It is easily possible to make it completely reversible, which I would recommend if it is for a leased car that is intended to be turned in at the termination. This also applies to anyone who might consider re-sale would be affected by the changes - custom means just that, your taste might be not be the same as another's, even someone who might even have intentions to modify beyond stock.
That means when installing an after-market head, use harness adapters to avoid hacking up the stock wiring; keep all the OEM components; utilize a "used" or SOS console to modify & again keep the original unblemished.
I think with this method of install, I could probably convert back to stock in maybe 2 hrs tops.
It comes down to whether (or by how much) you value retaining the ability to revert to stock over the increase cost & offsetting return of selling the OEM parts.
 
D'Ecosse said:
It is easily possible to make it completely reversible, which I would recommend if it is for a leased car that is intended to be turned in at the termination. This also applies to anyone who might consider re-sale would be affected by the changes - custom means just that, your taste might be not be the same as another's, even someone who might even have intentions to modify beyond stock.
That means when installing an after-market head, use harness adapters to avoid hacking up the stock wiring; keep all the OEM components; utilize a "used" or SOS console to modify & again keep the original unblemished.
I think with this method of install, I could probably convert back to stock in maybe 2 hrs tops.
It comes down to whether (or by how much) you value retaining the ability to revert to stock over the increase cost & offsetting return of selling the OEM parts.

I am currently going with JL audio speakers with an 8 inch sub mounted in the pass. side footrest. I will supply more details as they are available to me from the shop. I dont plan on ever selling the car so I could care less about resale value. The one question I have is how do I insulate the trunk so the amp doest start a fire or anything? I really appreciate everyones advise and will post pix as soon as I get my car back. The owner of the audio shop where my car is at has had an NSX since the early 1990's and has a serious sound system in his car; apppeared in a Magazine if im not mistaken. The place is called Auto Image and they are a fairly big chain in NJ. Anyways thanks again!
 
BRIDGEWATER ACURA said:
.... The one question I have is how do I insulate the trunk so the amp doest start a fire or anything? !

p.s. don't worry about it starting a fire - it won't do that - the worst that would happen is that if the amp gets too hot the thermal protection circuit will temporarily shut it down long before the point of danger of damage, let alone fire. Usually will recover once it cools off with no adverse effects if it was deisgned adequately. Also, maybe unnecessary with a stock exhaust (not sure what you have) - A lot too depends on your ambient temperature as to whether you really need this step - but certainly can't hurt for under $100 investment, regardless.

Some more tips in this thread on airflow.
 
D'Ecosse said:
p.s. don't worry about it starting a fire - it won't do that - the worst that would happen is that if the amp gets too hot the thermal protection circuit will temporarily shut it down long before the point of danger of damage, let alone fire. Usually will recover once it cools off with no adverse effects if it was deisgned adequately. Also, maybe unnecessary with a stock exhaust (not sure what you have) - A lot too depends on your ambient temperature as to whether you really need this step - but certainly can't hurt for under $100 investment, regardless.

Some more tips in this thread on airflow.

My exhaust is currently stock but I think if it gets hot and the amp shuts off Ill definatly invest the $100. :wink:
 
My big 5 channel amp shut off last weekend for the first time. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on.
My wife had packed way too much stuff for the weekend in the trunk and blocked that vent. It was only about 80 degrees.
My amp isn't in the tool storage area, but on the drivers side of the trunk.
 
fkong777 said:
NSXSAN OTOH, has replaced it with a DVD Changer. With the DVD Changer NSXSAN has retained the STOCK head unit and installed the Honda Navigation Pod with the LCD to play the DVD's through! All through the STOCK OEM head unit! Incredible!!! It makes his car look as though the NSX comes from the factory with DVD player!


Do you have the model number of your New CD changer and the new DVD changer?

:smile:
 
01blacks4 said:
well i recommend Diamond...cause they sign my pay check :)

if you can wait a week or so i might know more about the whole system replacemnt i was speaking about.


I am interested in this, but I need more specifics. You can PM me if you prefer.
 
My suggestion is to keep the stock head unit and replace the speakers from a 1995 or newer NSX - I have the part numbers if you need them, after repairing my speakers numerous times (1992), I replaced the door speakers, the sub and middle speaker from a 1995 Model. The part numbers and electronics are totally different then in our 92's and they fit with no modifications and have thus far been working great.
:biggrin:
Just my opinion if you want to stay with stock stuff.
 
I am already putting JL audio speakers in the car. Ill post a more detailed description of what Ive done when I get it back.
 
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