Xanthous

Bought a new Acura RL (craigslist) and of course when I went to drive home I found out that the radio didn't play right. It plays about 75% volume to the right side of the car so to balance it the balance must be set around 75% to the left side. Also the radio has some static in it, the joystiq cannot be used to make selections on the display (must use turn dial) and acts strange in general. Where does the problem lie do you think a new cd changer would fix any of the issues?

New member here also, first time Acura owner.

Xanthous

Also, if i buy a stereo off of ebay, do I just need a security code or is there a specific security code for my car?

oo7spy

Security code should follow the radio. Unfortunately, your problem could be the head unit, the Bose amp, or any of the wires in between. Good luck on the fix.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

This could be messy to figure out.
If you do not have the skill/tolerance to trouble shoot it you may want to take it somewhere.

Xanthous

I had a feeling it may be messy since I've had bose stereos in the past and they tend to be complicated. If I took it somewhere, would you start with the dealer or someplace else?

oo7spy

Can you tell us more about the symptoms? Do all audio sources cause similar sound from the speakers, or is it only certain ones?

Xanthous

Only having driven it for a short time I've noticed a couple things.

-When I first got into the car the music was playing predominantly on the right side with the balance set nuetral.
-I've set the balance completely to the left side of the car, besides having the speakers on the right side off, and it still seems to play 60 to the right, 40 to left.
-The speakers on the left side seemed to have either white noise or static or both while listening to the radio. Could possibly be both sides.
-When playing a CD the static/white noise wasn't there but still played to the right side of the car. CD sounded better than the radio.
I'm not completely sure how the joystick works but I thought you could make on screen selections by moving it left/right/up/down or is it just to change screens/options?
-Voice commands didn't work for me while I was attempting to use it saying pardon can you repeat that.

That's all I've noticed so far. Speakers sound pretty good most of the time / has good bass but I'm particular and I'd like my speakers to show/play centered.

Xanthous

I seem to notice more that the tweeters are louder on the right than left more than the door speakers.

oo7spy

The joy stick does not move the menu selection cursor. With the screen on the navigation, move the joy stick, and the screen should pan with the movement.

Have you adjusted the fader? Is it all speakers on the left side or just front? IOW, does moving the balance and fader to the left rear cause the same sound as moving it to the left front?

Xanthous

Front, Balanced - Speakers sound okay, majority of sound coming from right side
Rear, balanced - Speakers sound muffled, highs/lyrics cut out/hard to find
Front right - sounds ok
Front left - sounds ok, both front seem to be of similar volumes
Rear right - same as rear
Rear left - same as rear

oo7spy

I think you need to verify the condition of all speakers and their connections are good.

The only thing I can think of otherwise is throwing a head unit and/or amp at it to see if either is the issue.

stevieray

Agree with 007. The sound issue sounds like a blown amp to me, I don't know if the Bose amps are prone to this kind of thing. However, if the joystick isn't working, that might be a HU problem. Good luck---

NathanJax

I'd try (In order)

Speakers
Amp
Headunit

Xanthous

I'd like to be able to test if the joystick/voice commands work. That way I'd know if there's a problem with more than the amp. Do you guys know any tests I could try? I'll play around with it some more.

007, I really would have no idea on how to test the speakers/wire.

NathanJax, I'd actually expect it to fall in the opposite direction. I'd expect the amp to be more durable than the head unit and the speakers more reliable than the amp.

Where is the amp located in the car?

Xanthous

I don't think it's the speakers because both of the rear speakers sound identical and the front speakers sound similiar.

Xanthous

Voice controls don't seem to work at all. I can say as many times as I want to find atm and it will say hide atm or change radio station to and it will say something like change fan speed to 3.

Xanthous

With centerpoint off the the highs are evident but with centerpoint on they're really non-existent/muddy in the rear. Also with the fm stations, there is static. Is there anything else besides the head unit, amp, speakers/wire that it could be? I want to try a head unit but since the amps cheaper I might go with that first.

oo7spy

In theory, the amp should affect all music the same. If different sources cause different issues, then I would bet on the head unit.