Hi,
Just wondering about this. Never noticed until a little while ago that when you really want to crank the radio, it only goes to 40 on the stereo. And thats really not excessively loud. Just wondering if I am missing something as I never have known a vehicle stereo system that could only go this loud, its not really that loud at 40. Thank you!

 

Wow - I've got old ears, and I'm suitably deafened by around 33ish. It is kind of odd though that they picked 40 as the max, I've never come across that.

Well, try increasing the treble and bass for a bit more punch, perhaps. I've thought the base stereo is terrific.

 

What are you listening to for an input source? I generally don't go over 25 and that's getting pretty loud.

 

"well this one goes to 11..."

 

How the hell do you people stand anything above 15? I can barely stand 13 with the windows closed. It's no wonder some people are hard of hearing...

 

haha yup anything above 15 is loud for me. im coming from 2 JL10 wos powered by a 400 clarion amp. and the stock RDX system is great!!!

 

Well I think I am actually getting old (35), so I should have put in there I wasnt some youngin' coming from my souped up Si with the big boombox. Funny thing is my wife was the one who brough it to my attention (she likes to listen to her Who real loud). My Cds are louder, but when listening to Hells Bells on the local radio station on the way home tonight, I had it at 40, driving 60kmh (ie not alot of outside noise), and I could have definitely put it louder. Maybe all our local radio stations suck wattage! I am really surprised no one else agreed with me...maybe next time I am in the dealership I will crank the radio on another RDX to see if I am going insane or something...

 

Just throw a cd in there and see how loud it seems. FM signal isn't really a great judge of it as it can vary greatly. Lately I have been pushing my volume up to about 30-35 and it is way too loud for me. I have been doing that to see if I can uncover any potential problems like some of the members here have had with ther headunits dying. So far no problems except my ears ringing. I haven't gone past 35 on the volume and it is crazy loud coming from my ipod. My normal high would be about 20 where my true normal volume would be 10-15. If other people are in the car with me, then it rarely gets above 7.

 

all honda/ acuras go to "40"

 

You have got to be kidding. The number means nothing, would it have seemed louder if they calibrated it so the high end read 100 instead of 40?

Put a CD or mp3 player in and you will see a major jump in volume from a clean signal. I Use the Madonna song " Hung up" on my CD to demonstrate the stereo in my base RDX. It starts very low as she works her way into the song and when it starts in earnest I find at 15 to a max of 20 it blows me and so far anyone listening to it, away and I find it is plenty loud enough.

Anything higher than that is getting very loud. Maybe not the kind of music you listen to but so far I have found it very good and loud on a variety of music.

 

40 !!! I am usually listensing to radio at around 8. The most I use for music CD is around 15 which is really loud inside the car already. Don't even want to try over 20 to make myself deaf

 

Well you guys are brilliant as usual. Sorry, yes, I forgot to mention on CDs it is loud around 20. But I again had my radio to 40 this morning. Just never had this before with any other vehicle. Usually there is some discrepancy between the two obviously, but I could have easily turned the radio past 40 and been comfortable. Its loud, but its not ear splitting loud, as I dont like it at that level. I am just surprised I can listen to the radio at 40 and not have my ears bleeding. Cds at 20 are very, very loud. Radio at 40 is just loud. Seems like an enormous difference? I have tried various FM stations as well but that hasnt made any difference.

 

There is a difference in mine too, but not that much. Noticable, but slight. Could be the particular station you are listening to. Have you tried multiple stations?

 

There must be something wrong with your radio or you have hearing problems, no insult intended.

Even FM is too loud at 20+. To be honest I wouldn't even turn it to the max as you are looking at the possibility of bring rattles, vibrations what have into your speaker system imo.

You might want to have your dealer take a look at it and see if there is a problem with your head unit.

 

That is interesting as there is a major difference between CD and FM in mine and to be honest that has pretty much always been the case with last half dozen Acura's I have had.

 

Major difference like you listen to CDs at 20 but FM at 30? I would guesstimate the difference in mine may be 4-5 tops, and it does depend on the station.

 

Hold the iPhone...I also find the 40 to be a little bit on the low side when I want to rock out in my Tech -- but I agree, this is likely a factor of weak radio waves (and a poor iPod connection, but that's gonna change this week) more than anything else. I've only ~ 800 miles on my RDX, so my listening time has been limited. Looking forward to my next drive; I'll have to put one of my rock CDs in and see what this thing can do.

That's awesome that your wife likes to rock as well.

 

True but 4-5 stops is quite a difference in the volume imo and the higher the volume the more the difference.

I mean there is loud and their is uncomfortably loud. Am sports radio probably about 7-10, FM music probably between 11-15 depending on the music, CD probably about 10-17 depending on the music.

That is just off the top of my head and of course the variables are window open, road noise etc. Haven't had a decent enough day to drive with the window down all of the time as it has been virtually raining for the last 3 months with a little snow in between

 

I played the new Beatles DVD-A at 15-20 and it could wake the dead OUTSIDE the car. Could never imagine going any higher than that.

 

Hey Pacer,
LOL! Yeah the wife likes to rock! Listens to her stereo much louder than I. Thats how I came of this because she told me she had the RDX out and maxed out the volume to 40. Of course the first thing I thought was AAAGHH! You're going to toast the stereo! But after checking it myself, I realize we perhaps have terribly poor radio stations in the city. CDs at 20 is really loud. But I can put the radio on 40 and still not be uncomfortable. If it was the head unit, I would think that the CD sound would be affected as well and it doesnt seem to be. Maybe just poor fm stations. But then my Murano was never like that. Cds were a bit louder, but not like 20 to 40 on a volume scale like the RDX!

 

I've noticed that FM stations need a louder volume than XM or CD. We were listening to NPR one day and then switched to XM and the volume difference was considerable.

 

I could especially see that on talk radio since they hardly ever talk to the line level peak.

 

I feel like a dork. I never paid much attention to what number the volume was until this thread made me curious. So, I looked when I went to lunch - it's at 7

 

I have GOT to get some DVD-As! Anybody know who sells them cheap?

I dropped a CD in today...Journey's "Trial by Fire" (last album with Steve Perry, circa '97 or so)...some good tuneage. Cranked it up to 10, nice. 17, great; 25, wow; 35, ummm, yeah, really nice; 40, I was wishing I had a DVD-A! Really, though, for a CD, anywhere from 17 to 27 sounds pretty sweet imho.

Gotta get some AC/DC as well, thanks for the reminder, Nick. My brother had all their stuff on vinyl when we were growing up, and he put together this KICK-ASS stereo system in his room. Would be nice to hear Angus on DVD-A. So...

For THOSE about to ROCK...

 

I'm beginning to wonder if I have become the "thumper" that always annoyed me at stop lights! I've not gone over 30. My avg is about 12. At what point can the sub be heard outside the car?

 

Man....you people are scary. I guess you don't really care to hear much after 40, eh? I'm over 41, listen to mostly progressive metal, and I have yet to go over 14 with XM, 10 with a CD. I don't know how you can tolerate it at the numbers you guys are posting.

I find XM to be quite a bit quieter than CDs (4-6 clicks), and FM to be about the same as XM...

Mike

 

I have also found a significant difference between FM, XM, and CD/Ipod. For regular FM, I'd like it at about 18-20 for good sound, for XM about 16, and for CD/Ipod (I've found them to be about the same), 12-14. Of course, louder if I want to jam. Loudest I've taken it is about 24 while using XM.

What do you think is a safe level to take the system up to on a consistent basis w/out harming it in the long run (busted speakers, etc.)? I've got the non-tech system

 

Audio systems in cars today are designed for low distortion. Therefore the amp is designed to have some headroom to play loud if the music calls for it. Not like the old day when you would crank it loud, but it would sound a little fuzzy. Home audio amps are the same. They don't seem as loud as the old ones.

 

Wow.. Hard to believe some of these high numbers! I wonder if there is variations in the head units? I like my music loud, but have never gone over 15 for any source. I am typically 10 or under, be it XM, iPod or FM!!!