Have most of you guys been pretty happy with the factory stereo? Does it have a decent bit of knock (bass)? How would you rank it compared to say factory camry stereos? Is it "premium" compared to such?

 

It's acceptable but if high quality audio is your thing, it's a little lacking. This is the first generation I'm talking about as the new TSX has a vastly upgraded 5.1 sound system in it. From what I've read, appreciable gains in sound quality can be had by running an aftermarket amp. The upgrade is made easier by the fact that stock system has an external amp.

 

Thanks Lukeatron. A private party seller is offering me his 2007 acura tsx for $19,500. It has 30,000 miles on the clock. Think its a good deal or think I can hold out for better? I'm itching bad for a tsx.

 

Link to info on this amp upgrade?

 

Check the audio section for more info.

As for that deal, it sounds alright. A little bit less than what you might expect if it's in very good condition. You didn't mention if has the navi or not but it's a slightly better deal if so. The Kelly Blue Book value for navi 5at TSX in excellent condition is $20,800 for a private party sale. You might be able to do better but if you're really itching for it, you wouldn't be getting hosed on this one (as long as there's not something drastically wrong with it).

 

Yea it doesn't have navi and it seems to be in pretty decent condition. What do you think an ideal "deal" would be for a 2007 tsx with about 30,000? Closer to 19,000? I figured anything lower than blue book was a good deal, but haven't bought/sold many cars in my lifetime as I usually drive all my cars into the ground after purchasing them.

Not to mention all the other prices I've seen for the 2007 tsx's have been upwards of 20,000...they definitely hold the resale value.

 

Its alright, but with the stock tires car has A LOT of road noise so its kinda hard to hear anything on a high way. So, u would want to turn it up, but when this system is loud, it loses most of the quality. It sounds excellent when its quiet/ mildly loud. It sure is a premium system over 95 Camry's system, but u cant compare it to BMW's or Lexus GS's premium system

 

There has been a lot of discussion on the 1st gen sound system in the Audio and Video Subforum in Off Topic.

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/

There is also a FAQ in there that will answer a lot of questions.

To summarize what I recall from previous posts, the factory head unit is actually pretty good and sends a clean signal to the factory amp. There is a "loudness" feature that slightly rolls off the lower frequencies at volume levels below 20. The factory amp is small and doesn't pump out much power to the factory speakers (roughly 35 watts rms per speaker). The factory speakers suck, they have paper cones and tiny neomodium magnets. You can significantly upgrade your sound depending on how much you want to spend.

Least expensive upgrade is to swap out the door 6.5 and rear deck 6x9 speakers. Look for speakers with poly cones, rubber surrounds, with power rating no more than 50-60 watts (any rating much more than that will require more power to move the cones than the factory amp can provide)

More expensive option and better bass. Do the least expensive option but install a seperate amp and subwoofer instead of upgrading the rear 6x9 speakers (they only get low frequency signals and act like a subwoofer anyway).

Most expensive option and best sound quality. Replace the factory amp, replace the front door speakers and tweeters with high quality components, disconnect or replace the rear door speakers, add subwoofer and amp.

 

Lets keep this thread on topic. If you want to talk about how good of a deal the 07 is then post it in the other thread you started.

 

I have had 3 Acura's and here's my assessment of the TSX's sound system, 08 that is.

My 02 RSX base system was horrible. My 01 TL Bose system was very good in my opinion. Not a lexicon, but nice. I would say the TSX is good. CD/MP3 quality is very good at low and medium volume, radio and XM quality isn't that great.

I upgraded my RSX speakers and added a sub, did nothing to the TL and have no current plans to do anything to the TSX.

It is definitly better than average. I will also second that the OEM tires create tons of road noise.

 

Also, from what I heard, if I was to upgrade the speakers, Kenwood would be the #1 choice. I heard it is just as good as Bose, but costs WAY less. Again, its just a rumor that I heard from a guy who works at a TV studio

 

Pretty much any after market speaker you get that's not like a $15 RadioShack POS is going to sound pretty good. There's a good 15 to 20 manufacturers out there that have mid range speaker lines that are all roughly equivalent to each other in quality. Ideally if you're going to replace components, you should stay with the same line throughout as they will be designed complement each other. If you just piecemeal the the system you might end up with certain frequency ranges that none of your speakers can cover very well. This is only really a concern for the pickier listener however as most people won't even notice.

 

I'm content with the TSX's factory sound system. There is definitely better out there, but there is also definitely worse. The sound quality is just good enough to stifle the urge to do any speaker and/or amp replacements.

I think it all depends on the music you listen to.