how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

I just bought my first honda accord, an '09 LX-P.

I love everything about it except the stereo. But because the face of the stereo is so weird, and the wiring of the car is so complex, how do I upgrade the stereo without voiding the warranty or otherwise causing problems?

someone on here said something about a cleansweep....

Anyway has anyone else upgrade the stereo on one of these new models?

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

I dont do years that haven't happened yet, it's scary

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

A JL Cleansweep is for the person who wants better sound while keeping the stock radio in the car. I don't know if there are any headunit installation kits available yet, lol, I don't even know what the 8th gen Accord dash looks like...

As far as voiding the warranty, you may only void the radios warranty. As far as wiring, Honda should still be using a radio harness that has all the wires you need, separate from the rest of the electrical system.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

There are single and double DIN install kits for the 8th gen. JL Cleansweep gets rid of the EQ that the stock radio has to make up for horrible quality speakers. You need one if you plan on having a quality system connected to the stock HU.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

If you can afford an 09, you can afford someone to install something nice for you.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

That is not necessarily true, when ever you pay someone to install car audio stuff for you your getting ripped off. I've never seen or heard any prices for installs that were reasonable. This may just be a problem in Miami, but everyone here wants $80 just to install an amp. I would install an amp for $20 and that is still pretty good money for the amount of work. These people that do installs for a living are hustlers and they will hustle you so be careful, at least in Miami.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

Best Buy charged me $40 for an amp install about 5 years ago. I learned my lesson. And $80 - $120 for a wiring kit, is BS, copper is copper.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

WHAT?! 80 to 120 for a install kit? I was upset when I paid 80 for a kicker kit but it came with a distro block and a few other little things that usually don't come with a kit.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

The facts: It was a RF 8AWG kit with Best Buy mark-up. Oh well, still using it after all these years and it's been in 2 cars now.

RE: how do I upgrade my audio system?
 

I paid about a thousand dollars for:

New alpine deck
Premier GM-6150f speaker amp
10" premier subwoofer speaker w/ box and 800w amp
And installation for the whole thing, including those nice red and blue power cables.

They gave me factory discounts on all the gear, but ripped me a new one on the installation.

I will say though, the guy did an excellent job! I've been trying to figure out how the hell he managed to wire the speakers through my car, but can't figure it out for the life of me. The power cables run from my battery up to my firewall, then run along the firewall to the drivers side. The cable goes through the firewall into the driver's foot-pedal-area. At this point it disappears under the carpet. The wires come back out behind the back seat, right in the middle of the seat. I can see that the wires came from underneath the seat. Maybe they run under my car and haven't been able to search under there well?