REALLY don't much care for the new EX-L's stereo.
 

OK, so just ponied up and got a '11 EX-L Coupe (w/ the V-6 and in Blue, w/o nav) and like the new ride a lot, except for the stereo. Kinda disappointed, I was expecting somehting more along the lines of what my old Jetta VR6 had (Tsunami or something like that), which was more than adequate. This, not so much.

So. Kicking around some options.

Option 1: Upgrade the speakers. Polk MM6501 in the doors, MM651 in back and a MM 8" sub. But after poking around in here for a few days, it seems the opinion is that there isn't enough power in the stock amps for that to work well. Which leads to:

Option 1.1: Same speakers (yes I have a thing for Polks) and add a Rockford Fosgate P500 for 4 channels @ 65w RMS, and another RF to be named later to drive the sub. It is my understanding that the EX stereo has preouts for the amps, so this should work better. Not sure if the factory HU is a good signal source for that setup though. Anyone done this and have an opinion? Not sure about this noise cancellation thing I hear about or any other weirdness.

Option 2.0: Starts with Option 1.1 but adds a nice HU, Alpine maybe, with Sirius (XM doesn't carry the NFL games, wtf), and a connection to the steering wheel controls, and Bluetooth. This is where is start getting unhappy with the $$$$ involved.

Option 3.0 Involves Hertz speakers and other top end components, but I can't get into that here in much detail, cuz it also involves selling the neighbors kids to the circus so I can finance it all, and it just wouldn't be prudent to detail all that here in a public forum.

Mostly trying got determine how good a signal source the factory HU is if I just want to go the amp and speakers route. Thoughts?

Option 1.1 will make you happy, provided you spend enough time on the installation.

Outstanding. Thinking about it more, I would probbly be well served to add some EQ ability as well.........

HEY.

KHA, are you really in the QC? I just moved from IC to CR. You are right down the road.

For EQ you could get a factory integration processor like JBL, Alpine, Audison

Yea, in the QC.

Well that all seemed easy and straightforward, I was just going to throw an AudioControl EQS in the mix.

Then saw the JBL MS-8. Wow. Anyone have experience with one of those?

Am I reading the lines out right, I have 6 channels pre-out on this factory HU, yes?

i would appreciate it if you could take photos of the rear of your factory head unit.

you need to know what you have anyway, and it should only take a few minutes.

The JBL MS-8 is nice, worth the money and one of the better units out there. Audison BitOne is probably on top. Alpine is soon to release the new and greatly improved PXA=H800.

I run the PXA-H701 and RUC-C701 controller and i must say it's the most flexible processor i've ever used. I love having that much control at my fingertips while in the driver's seat.

probably the best thing to do would be to have the factory headunit modified to include a fiber optic output from the CD section. Then you have distortion-free digital data straight into the processor. that's what i'll do when i decide to buy a newer car and the factory head unit is fully integrated. i wish manufacturers did that now.

I doon't actually have it apart yet. Trying to eResearch this as much as I can. Right now I am getting conflicting info on the what the line outs look like. Got a document from Honda that says the pre-outs for the main speakers and the sub are on different plugs, but I think that might be for a 2009 (don't have it in front of me), and another couple docs that say all the pre-outs are on 1 plug.

I will be doing a write up on the upgrade when I do it. Still waiting on the tax man to give me my money back so I can go shopping.

May do this in stages.

Polk MM 6501 (fr)/MM651 (r) with a MM840 dvc sub, all in stock locations (still assessing enclosure issues for the rear deck).

Rockford Fosgate P400-4 for the speakers, should drive them @ ~90W rms @ 2.7 ohms. RF R250-1 for the sub, 250W rms @ 2 ohms.

Then add the JBL MS-8 later.

sounds like a good plan. however you may get much better sound in the interim by first getting the amplifiers powering factory speakers. you'll be amazed what a good amp can do for a speaker.

eResearch is fine when you don't have access to the equipment. if it is in your garage then i say screw the internet and just look for yourself. i'm sure there are variations in audio options so what one person has may not be identical. what was true in 2009 is most likely different now.