Hi. I'm new to the acura world. Just bought 2005 acura TL m/t in September. It's in sweet condition and the guy was moving out of country to get married and I picked it up for $7500! Got navi and full vehicle history and maintenance records. 100k (will have to do timing belt soon). Anyway, I'm so thankful for how helpful this site has been so far. Just wondering if anybody has thought of creative ways to coverup cassette deck? It's bizarre this car came with one. I basically made a temporary laminated decal to cover it so it doesn't look so old school and it actually looks decent so I plan to keep it on.

 

By the way, here's my car.

 

congrats on the new TL. imo please don't use a decal to cover it up. it's better to be old school than to be tacky

 

someone on the forum was creative enough to design an Ipod dock to replace the tape deck.

 

Although I agree that cassette player is pretty goofy, I think any attempt to cover it up would just look more out of place than the actual cassette player itself. It's really not that noticeable so I say leave it as is. A random thing that says oneal really brings attention to that area which is exactly what you don't want to do.

 

I actually use mine from time to time lol, I have a decent collection of cassette tapes.

 

lol nice! Just out of curiousity, how does it sound?

 

It's surprisingly good. Of course it depends on your tape. Even one of my dubbed copies of a CD from ~1991 sounded excellent.

Plus it's fun to listen to the random crap you were into several decades ago.

 

Here's the interesting thing I find about our "archaic" tape deck. If first found it strange too, but I used to be seriously into high end audio, and had some very good tapes that I dug up.

There's something about analog music that is more engaging to me. There has been a significant resurgence of analog LP record sales in the US (of course LP format will never fully return, but people are rediscovering the special sound). So I pulled out some very well recorded casettes that I made in the 80s and 90s.

Pretty unbelievable to have analog sound in your car--and our Acuras are one of the last few more recent models to provide this.

Some of my tapes sound ridiculously good in the TL--in some ways (not all ways) better than anything I've heard in a car. I blew away a guy recently who rode in my car--he simply couldn't believe what he heard came from a cassette tape. And it simply sounded more real, fat, and "there" than any of my CDs.

So don't sell your TL tape player short--it provides you a mobile analog source player that you can no longer find. Enjoy!

 

yah... I cant believe it has an 'archaic' tape deck...

along with...

-archaic LED tails
-archaic HID headlights
-archaic mindblowing ELS system
-archaic good looks

don't let the 'archaic' tape deck bother you, the TL is one of the sexiest sedans on the roads even now! see ya at the next Vancouver MEET.. get on our 'whatsapp' group messaging.

 

Yeah it's odd but it makes a mighty fine place to stick a custom phone holder without needed to resort to sticking crap to the dash !

Archaic phone since replaced

 

I like it, I mean there's certainly no mistaking a cassette tape is playing when you hear it. Most if my tapes are 90s alternative stuff, spin doctors, sponge, better then ezra etc... from when I was a kid. I would never get a tape deck as an option now, but I do like the fact that the TL has one standard.

 

 

I love the phone holder idea. How do I get one?

 

Cassette deck FTW

 

In an '05, what are you using for a line-in from your phone? I am happy there is a tape deck since that is how I connect my phone for music.

 

^several choices.
iSimple, which charges and allows for steering wheel controls with your ipod/iphone.

and any aux input systems, like the P.I.E x3...

 

just put the iphone in there. (yes i realize thats a not a TL )


my galaxy doesn't fit.

 

^hahahhaa

my galaxy note 3 DEFINITELY doesn't fit

 

Here's the real deal...

 

Justin is magic!

 

That is funny right there.

That is so sick. I love it!!!!

 

unfortunately, the pictures of the DIY are no longer hosted.

 

I think you may want to look up the definition of "mindblowing".

 

It's a DIY one-off franken-holder. Made of a cassette, a modified Garmin nuvi ball mount, and a mini-grip holder. PM me if that didn't scare you off and you want more info.

Here's a better pic. The stuff on the cassette is stick on velcro (fuzzy side) to make tight in the cassette slot.

 

Guerilla mod FTW!

 

Are you sure that's not just iPod to bluetooth (i.e. iSimple)? haha!

 

I'm positive, because the owner made a DIY thread on how to convert the tape deck.

the pictures are no longer hosted tho....

 

I use the cassette deck from time to time for practical reasons. It always took me a long time to make a mixed tape because I spent a good while working out the running order and fitting it within the tape's capacity. Then when I recorded the tape I made a bit of a game out of trying to have absolutely no gaps between the tracks whenever possible (how? Meticulous use of the tape deck's "pause" button). Most of my mixed tapes were either C-90, C-100, or C-110 minute tapes, so transferring them to a CD is impossible because they won't fit given the 80-minute limitation on a CD. I suppose I could transfer each tape to multiple CD-RWs, then rip those, then burn a DVD-Audio. But that's a hassle and it leaves the problem of the gaps between the tracks when I break the tape across two discs (as far as breaking up the tracks on the CD goes, I just have to sit there and listen in real time and insert the track breaks manually).

It's not worth the trouble. It's easier just to have two or three tapes in the bottom of the center armrest and play those if/when it suits me (admittedly not all that often).

 

Too bad it didn't come with an 8 track, that would be the perfect place to hide a small pistol.

 

No iDevices here. Android only. Ease of integration into my car audio would be one of the only reasons I would consider switching, but just can't bring myself to do it.

What is this P.I.E. x3 you speak of?