i come here because i know there are some very experienced and knowledgeable people on this board. the RSX forums can't touch the maturity and superior information here....so i haven't left the CEG, even though i don't drive a contour anymore...
with that said....my RSX type S (by default) came with a bose audio system. it's a crying shame that bose has the stranglehold that it does on OEM "premium" sound systems based solely on the perception of their name, but that's another topic for another day.
the type S system is made up of a pair of separates up front (6 1/2's in the doors, 1" tweeters on the dash up by the windshield) and either 5 1/4's or maybe 6 1/2's in the rear. there's a 'sub' in the spare tire well mounted to the spare. the head unit is actually pretty cool; it's an integrated design, of course, and it has a 6-disc in-dash changer (+ cassette, though i'll never use it).
the SQ of this setup is pretty dismal....it's allright at low-to-mid volumes but has absolutely no bass whatsoever, and it doesn't go all that loud (not that i listen to stuff at ear-splitting volumes, but even *i* notice that this is a relatively quiet system).
i've tried to remedy the bass issue by installing my 10" MTX 5000 sub (cannibalized from my SVT) in a new box (that better fits the hatch area of the RSX) and my phoenix gold XS2300 amp (ditto). unfortunately, the gain on the amp has to be turned super-low to avoid feedback (b/c of the bose amp, i presume?)...and thus it sounds about like the stock system *should have* sounded, not like a car with a 10" sub driven by 300 watts.
i'm not looking for IASCA-quality sound - i just don't have the budget for it - but i do want something that sounds good. my car stereo installer guy is researching the manufacturer of the OEM head unit to see if he can match an appropriate amp to it and just replace the bose amps and speakers but leave the HU. if it comes down to it, the base model RSX has a conventional DIN-style radio with a surrounding cover plate and internal chassis that i could buy and retrofit to my type S, but if i can keep the OEM HU and still get quality sound i'd rather do it that way. the interior dash illumination is all red, and given the way most aftermarket HU's look these days, i prefer the simple 'stock' look. i don't need multi-colored LCD displays with dolphins swimming across them or whatever. :rolleyes: :p
so...my question to you gurus is this. what would *you* recommend in this situation? how can i "de-bose" my car and get the most bang for my buck? me and wiring don't get along, and given that this car is actually a lease, i'd rather leave this to the pros...so buying a bunch of stuff off ebay or making my own compenent sets out of vifa/shiva/whatever else drivers is probably not going to be a truly viable option.
i'm dealing with the owner of the car stereo shop on this one, not just an installer, and i've dealt with him for about the last 8 years or so. thus, i've got something of a rapport with him that i'd like to keep, and so if i have to spend a little more at the end of the day to keep the level of service that i get with him, then so be it.
he is thinking of a 5-channel MTX amp that puts out somewhere around 50 wpc to the door/dash speakers and about 250 wpc to the sub. this would replace my PG amp (off to ebay, probably, along with a 35wpc 2ch clarion amp i have lying around). this would drive diamond audio separates up front and probably diamond coaxials in the rear. with install and everything, he's saying somewhere in the $1400-1500 range for that.
does that sound reasonable? sounds kinda high to me, and it's more than i really want to spend right now....especially considering i've already shelled out almost $300 just to get the sub and amp reclaimed from the SVT and installed in the RSX.
and what about the MTX amp? i even have reservations about the MTX sub that i have, even though it sounded fine in my SVT...i still associate MTX w/ the cheap circuit city subs in pre-made boxes waiting to go in the back of a camaro somewhere. are they really up to par with phoenix gold, xtant, etc., in the amp business? and are the subs better than they used to be? i'll be the first to admit that i don't keep up with all the latest and greatest, but....??
any recommendations? comments on his proposal?
thanks, folks....
) but got very, very little signal afterwards. currently it's set up as the high-level inputs....