CU2 Audio upgrade desperately needed for Accord Euro CU2 Luxury

[JustRight]

A very nice collection of goodies Warren.

It will be very interesting to see how your installer goes in getting it all hooked up, particularly where they choose to mount the amplifiers etc. The real winner in that list is the JBL MS8. Without a DSP to 'fix' the standard systems dreadful EQ the rest would be just a waste.

Cheers.

[WarrenM]

A very nice collection of goodies Warren.

It will be very interesting to see how your installer goes in getting it all hooked up, particularly where they choose to mount the amplifiers etc. The real winner in that list is the JBL MS8. Without a DSP to 'fix' the standard systems dreadful EQ the rest would be just a waste.

Cheers.

Juerg has been installing amps into cars for a long time. He installed a sound system into my Toyota Lexcen (rebadged Commodore) back in 1993 so he has had a lot of years across a lot of cars, finding innovative ways to fit components into crevices.

This will be his first system with the JBL MS-8 DSP - he has done quite a lot of installations with the Alpine DSP which is just a smidgen less sophisticated. My MS-8 is somewhere in the bowels of Australia Post. Hopefully it will be in my hands tomorrow.

The Schneider mono amp arrived today. I thought it would be larger - it is about the size of a ream of photocopy paper - weighs more than a whole box of the stuff though.

I was unsure of the Phase Linear sub, but Juerg says he put Phase Linear speakers into his 200B and, at the time, considered them among the best money could buy. He is certain the sub will be great. I ended up with two of them, so I guess I'll be selling one of those too.

[arverson]

nice progress. hopefully itll keep you happy enough for years and you wont feel the need to upgrade later. getting bit by the bug hurts.. and you seem to have a passion for home hi-fi too soooo.. good luck lol

[WarrenM]

nice progress. hopefully itll keep you happy enough for years and you wont feel the need to upgrade later. getting bit by the bug hurts.. and you seem to have a passion for home hi-fi too soooo.. good luck lol

I tend to upgrade my music system in occasional manic spurts. It tends to be pretty static. And I always buy below the market. My turntable system has cost me about $4000 which is more than most people spend on their entire hi-fi, but replacing it with an equivalent sound, new, would cost more like $20,000. I'm unlikely to make changes to it for a long long time. I take the same attitude to my car hi-fi. Once it is satisfying, it will always be satisfying (unless it blows up), so it is not going to be upgraded for the latest and greatest.

I never changed the sound system in my last car (the Bose 5.1 system in the Mazda 6 Luxury Sports), because it was not unpleasant - just not special. So, in a perverse way, I should be thankful that Honda did such a shocking job of the sound system in the Euro Luxury, that it forced my hand.

Now that I've committed to doing a real hi-fi job on the car, I'm really looking forward to it - I'm in the middle of a very exciting adventure. But once it is done, it will be done, probably for the life of the car. The only thing I will probably continue to do over time is improve the sound-deadening of the car, to block more and more road noise.

[Fredoops]

I tend to upgrade my music system in occasional manic spurts. It tends to be pretty static. And I always buy below the market. My turntable system has cost me about $4000 which is more than most people spend on their entire hi-fi, but replacing it with an equivalent sound, new, would cost more like $20,000. I'm unlikely to make changes to it for a long long time. I take the same attitude to my car hi-fi. Once it is satisfying, it will always be satisfying (unless it blows up), so it is not going to be upgraded for the latest and greatest.

I never changed the sound system in my last car (the Bose 5.1 system in the Mazda 6 Luxury Sports), because it was not unpleasant - just not special. So, in a perverse way, I should be thankful that Honda did such a shocking job of the sound system in the Euro Luxury, that it forced my hand.

Now that I've committed to doing a real hi-fi job on the car, I'm really looking forward to it - I'm in the middle of a very exciting adventure. But once it is done, it will be done, probably for the life of the car. The only thing I will probably continue to do over time is improve the sound-deadening of the car, to block more and more road noise.

Even that, the Bose 5.1 in the Mazda >>>>>>> Honda's panasonic system.
I guess thats where honda did the cost cutting.

[Vapochilled]

Hello guys!

Sorry I need to bring this thread back to life and wait that ... hopefully... one of you masters can hint me with something.
I'm from Europe, I have the Honda Accord Cu2 == similar == to Acura TSX I believe. The car is the 2008 version onwards.

1. I've upgraded all my speakers to Focal (all the 6 speakers: front, rear doors and rear shelter)
2. The front doors are the ones with tweeters / crossovers - The most entry focal level but still nice
3. I've upgraded my SUB shelter to JL Audio 8W3v3
4. I've applied Dynamat all over the shelter + some sound foam - still a lot of rattles
5. Since the Head Unit only sends 1Pre-Amp (Left / Right) + Data (?!?!) to the OEM Amp, there is no way to get the signal before amplified.
6. Additional AMP added: FD 4.350
7. The above AMP support high signal inputs. Thefore, I've connected the OEM AMP OUTs of Front speakers + SUB out to the FD4.350 IN's
8. The FD 4.350 is know for low voltage usage. No battery power cable was added. Instead I've re-used the OEM AMp Power and split to the Focal AMp
9. System worked flawless for 1 year. Suddenly died / sound is fuzzy / poor quality when raised


Debug:
10. Removed the Focal AMP. Other speakers seem to work (the ones not connected to Focal AMP)
11. FOcal AMP is working. Tested in other vehicle
12. Without doing anything even the speakers connected to OEM AMP started to make noise.
13. Even with low volume, if I increase the SUB from -6 to +6 (even without any SUB connected - because remember that only rear speakers + shelter are on) the sound goes like fully scratched
14. So, Focal is not there, therefore, SUB and front speakers are not connected at all. But.. messing in the head unit with Bass and SUB levels scratch the sound of the normal speakers?
15. I left the car in this state - my grandmother is in the hospital - heart issues - Suddenly this week, the sound seems ok again on those speakers! I can mess with levels of bass and SUB sound looks ok on rear speakers.
16. Note that Focal AMP is still of. I left the car only with rear door speakers connected. Something its ok... sometimes its not - :humf:\

Questions:
15. Is it the Head Unit damaged ?
16. I already got a spare OEM AMP from a friend. I will try to swap it. What do you think?
17. I don't think its a fuse problem or so, because I ALWAYS had sound. Just, either its ok, or sounds bad. So, I don't think its a fuse topic. I needs to be 15. or 16. topic.
18. I got a Audison 8.9 Prima Sound (8 channels) + DSP . This will work as amp and DSP. Its pretty small and it was an awesome price: 399. That's also why I haven't touched the car. Waiting to have time to do it.
19. Audison Bit 8.9 supports high input levels. Should I use again the outputs of the OEM amp and then use the DSP also of the Bit 8.9 to clean as much as possible the poor OEM quality ? This audison doesn't even have RCAs.... ! Its really for these cases.
20. Should I pass a cable from battery + Firewall to the rear for the amp?
21. Where do you connect the negative (earth) ? Do you scratch the metal in the trunk and place it there?
22. What should I do with the JL Sub? The shelter rattles even in dry bass house music or jazz. I already applied the dynamat. This sub was also a mistake. I believe this is not a Airfree Sub for our trunk metal shelter.
23. I was trying to avoid place a SUB in the trunk because I like to have space for the bike or IKEA furniture What if I change the shelter speakers by 2x 16cm woofers and sell the JL ?
24. Or, what if I try to apply some foam box around the JL to try to create a small box?
25. Or what if I just quit the JL, sell it, keep the speakers and place under seat Subwoofers like the new Alpine V80 ?


Thank you all!
Waiting for you inputs