Hey gang - long time forum user and Acura enthusiast, owning many through the years. Just picked up a nice used silver 07' RDX w/Tech at 166k miles for a great price and pretty good shape with lots of pep still in her (reminds me of the pep my old beloved 3G 06 TL NBP had).

I've started working through a small list of items to fix, repair, improve, etc. One of which seems like a possible blown amp on the audio system. My reason to suspect an amp issue are based on the following symptoms:
a) overall low / moderate distortion in the signal (impacting all source modes)
b) poor output levels from the front bottom door speakers and the subwoofer (subwoofer is completely non-existent regardless of settings in the audio setup). The center speaker appears to be the only thing operating at what I expect to be proper levels with correct freq response, quality, etc.

I've run through and checked all the audio setup configurations and nothing is out of the norm. I do need to check the speakers individually as well, and plan to lookup details on the amp, location, etc so that I can at least check the basic stuff (physical connections, etc.)

And yep, I'm going to do some more research on my own tomorrow, including searching the archives here. Just thought I'd also check with the group to see if there's any immediate known/obvious issues /quick fix on the 07 ELS audio system.

Cheers!

 

Sorry admins - I should have posted this in the audio/electronics/etc sub-forum. Feel free to move as needed.

 

I should also note, I'm gauging my experience based on what I remember the ELS system in my 06 TL sounding like, which was awesome. Very good dynamic range, freq response and separation, regardless of program material (e.g. electronica, house, jazz, rock, etc, etc.)

If the 07 RDX ELS system is supposed to sound similar to what was in the TLs (which I believe it should since it seems to have the same overall design and implementation), then the ELS system in this RDX definitely has an issue, as it sounds nothing like what I remember in my TL.

 

I've heard of speakers going out, but don't recall seeing anyone with amp issues. Good luck tracking that down. I assume you double-checked the speaker balance and sub-woofer output settings. I had to do that to find out I had a tweeter that wasn't outputting sound...it only sounded a little off when listing to music, but once I fucked around with the balance I could easily tell the left door sound from the right door. (turns out a body shop broke the door harness when replacing the door)

 

I checked all the audio settings and balance/fader/center/subwoofer/etc are all set accordingly.

I did some more troubleshooting today, adjusted the fader / balance and center to isolate the speaker one by one, and it's definitely all the larger lower door mounted speakers and subwoofer that are not operating at all. 0 signal level. The only speakers working at the moment are the smaller (hi-freq treble) speakers and the center speaker. This explains the distorted sound as I was having to crank the volume really high to get decent levels. I'm guessing either the wiring has gone bad somewhere, all lower door and subwoofer speakers are shot/blown, or someone removed them! lol.

I'll be digging around some more tomorrow to find out what's up.

 

My issues are intermittent. I have the '07 RDX Tech Package. Before starting, and after the car starts, the radio / cd / aux / system voice just crackles. After a while of turning on and off, and drive time, it will sometimes come in normally. Restarting the car starts the process over again, very bizarre... I have been chasing other electrical issues, and this one as well, since I bought this vehicle just after Christmas. I disconnected the hands-free hoping that "trickle drain" would stop the battery problems. Had the battery checked (was replaced by the dealer in November) and alternator, thinking it might be related. Battery was bad, alternator was good. Replaced the battery, and the same issue persists. I am now thinking it might be amp related???

 

In your case it could be any number of issues. I would start first with running some of the self-diagnostic tests available for the audio system. They can be found in the Service Manual. There is one in particular that generates a simple test tone signal and lets your cycle through the various speakers in the car. This will let you verify whether your issue is further up stream (eg electrical, signal, etc) or further downstream (eg speakers, speaker wiring, amp, etc). Or possibly the audio head unit itself.

In my case it appears to be the audio head unit. I replaced the amp ($64 on ebay) and still same issue. What I did find is the previous owner(s) had a major spill accident in the center console area, as there was dried syrup (likely a spilled softdrink) all over the inside of the center console, and appears to have also been spilled into the audio unit itself. Which explains why many of the buttons on the audio unit were sticky and hard to push when I first got the vehicle. My suspicion is that whatever component controls the speaker routing logic in the audio head unit was fried during that spill accident, thus no signal for the larger speakers makes it to the amp.

The Service Manual also has pretty good info on how to check for continuity on all of the wire jack pins to check and troubleshoot all this more methodically. Normally I would go that route with my voltage meter, but decided to take the swap component route, as I don't want anymore "ghosts" from the prior owners negligence.

 

Cool 😎 let me know how it works out for you!!!

 

Hey Holografique, did you ever figure out your audio problem? I'm having similar issues.

 

Its been a bit, but If I recall, I believe it was ultimately the head unit itself. I remember replacing the amp first and nothing changed. Once I changed the head unit, all the speakers started working, but sounded like ass because all the speakers were blown, lol. So I replaced all those (including the sub).

 

Okay, thanks. We have similar issues but my case has another, more strange thing going on with a door speaker.
AWFUL right-channel distortion at all volumes in 07 Tech door speakers - AcuraZine - Acura Enthusiast Community