Neogeek

--I know I posted this in one of my past posts, but I felt like what this post had to say didnt apply to the subject line--

well brought my baby in today for surgery and boy what a nerve racking 4 hours it was.

Let me start from the top at 10:30PM as a drive into Tweeters. since my appointment wasnt until noon, i thought i would just wait for Tom Z. to arrive and then i would give him the final heads up on as to what I wanted.

12 on the dot-
He came we talked a bit and then he said he wanted to go everything again with me (price and all that) so it was 50 an hour for labor, 70 for all the monster wires and acc., and 55 for the clarion FM mod. He said that 2 hours would be plenty of time to get the job done right. Since i didnt have anything to do today I wasnt worried about time, I had my summer school reading with me and got a chair and watched discovery HD on a 60 LCD sony screen, so I was comfy.

Tom said for insurance reasons he had to drive it into the shop, so without a second thought, i handed him the keys and started walking back into the store. well i stopped half way because the dude kept on stalling the car... he finally got the hang of it and whirled around the corner. I just chuckled and went inside.

1 o'clock-
AFter watching a very interesting program on designing this mom's back yard in HD, Tom comes out and says that the installer is running along smoothly and everything had been taken out except for the stereo itself. I thought to myself that an hour just to get the devider out was pretty long, but this is my first time so i dont know.

He then remarked at how many screws the installer was taking out, and i was just saying to myself that every screw better be put back in or else ill have to face some major rattle issues.

He also apologized for stalling the car, which i thought was a good deed.

2 o'clock-
Tom comes out (watching shrek now) and is saying that the clarion isnt repsonding so they will try the audiovox. The reason why I went with tweeters was because they had the parts i wanted, so now i will have to live with some audiovox with a switch that belongs in an airplane.

anywho whatever, they are both fm mods, i wont see the switch so as long as it works thats fine. by this time its been 2 hours and thats 100 bucks in labor so im starting to get a little worried, but i still keep my cool.

2:30-
Tom comes out with a frown on his face and tells me that they have gone through 3 different FM mods and is telling me that when playing it at full 40 you can just barely hear the music that the ipod is playing. Now this whole time i was thinking well since they sell the ipod, they must have had some training in it.

I asked tom if he had changed the volume on the ipod at all, and his jaw dropped prb 4 inches. He took me out back where they were working on my car and there i saw the mess...

the glove comparment was taken out the clock bord was taken out... everything that was touching the stereo was taken out. thank god i had gone to the bathroom before i went to this place or else i would have shit in my pants. though I kept my cool prb from being so numb in shock.

I took a picture and once i get my card reader back from my uncle ill post it as well as the after pics.

Anywho I thought to myself, first i get keyed on the outside, and now im going to get ripped off in labor charges and end up with a half ass put back together interior.

I turned up the volume and viola we have sound, so i asked them to try the clarion again and went back to my corner and cried (well i wanted to, but kept saying to myself it will get better)

He said it shouldnt be more then 10 min to get the wiring done, and then 50 to get the mess put back together.

3:30-
tom came out and said that he will ring me up for the install and told me that it should be another 30 minutes till the car is ready.

well he rung up all the items (got the clarion to work thank god) and then apologized for the long wait and said that the labor will only be 70 bucks!!! so thats 2 good things in a row (clarion, and then the 70 bucks instead of 200 bucks for labor) So it all came to like 165 bucks with all the wiring and i was thrilled, but i still had to wait to see how the install actualy went

4 o'clock-
car comes around and tells me to come out. DAMN THEY HIT THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY PERFECTLY. I was so shocked/relieved. Not a single scratch and everything was concealed just the way i wanted it. Thanked the dude and then went to my street and floored it (Hartford has the crappiest roads so it was nice and bumpy... Well there it was the most anoying rattle that i had not heard before, and my heart sunk. i went more slowly and listened to where it was comming from... yep the center console. I opened up the door and then saw my fast lane transponder for the tolls. thats what was causing the rattle

so i went back up to the top and tried it again... silent

I went on a huge emotional rollar coaster today, but ended up top with a shit eating grin on my face.


As for quality. OK i am a really big audiophile and my family is too, so I am really picky when it comes to sound quality. Let me tell you this is not like anything a cassette deck can do nor is it anywhere near what an AUX input can do. there is a noticable hiss when playing soft music loud, but will fix that once my line out port for my ipod comes in, i wont have to worry about keeping the volume low to prevent distortion and the volume high on the dash.

Also I was expecting this so it wasnt really a disapointment was something called ground loop interference. the installer didnt have a filter but said that i can get it and he will install it when i replace the stock sub in the back. well for now i will just run on batteries and that will do fine.


This was the best 165 bucks i could spend on my car for audio... I would have liked to wait for something like an Aux input that worked without a problem with the TL's deck, but this will suffice.


Also when i was talking to the installer about the sub i wanted, he said he would have to take it from the sub output on the OEM amp because there were no preamp outputs that he could tap into

I will post pics in my second post. images are being uploaded to my server as we speak

Neogeek

ok here they are

Before the FM mod:


After the FM mod:


hehe not much of a difference on the outside that I can see. Here are the rest of the photos












And here is the ugly one that I took when they couldnt figure out how to turn up the volume on the ipod, and where i almost lost my lunch.

GaleForce

Most of the pictures don't work. Glad you like it though, I should post pictures of my setup soon. As for the hiss, since the car already has a subwoofer and a stereo and everything (obviously) try going to the sound settings in the iPod and putting the bass reducer on. Made the sound much better in my car AND there is the right amount of bass.

Neogeek

here try the directory, because the files are there but for some reason they arnt responding or something

Here

2 is the after

1-6 are other pics of the after

7 is the mess of installation

rescueswimmer

yea im only getting 2 pics as well. Talked to Alpine today and they were not sure about possible compatability with the 04 TL but he said he was going to get intouch with somone and give me a call in a day or 2.

Neogeek

gale: hehe thats funny you mentioned that about the bass reducer because when i was fiddling around with it this morning, i got this anoying subwoofer rattle, and with the bass reducer on, i was still able to keep my audio settings kindve the same, making it better for switching between xm, regular radio, and cd...

04tlnbppar

7th picture really show how mess it was during the installation.

rescueswimmer

i think that last picture would have made me a little worried about a rattle. but glad everything worked out ok. Thanks for the pics.

Lokius

All I can say is Wow Buddy, you are much more trusting than I am of those audio guys, but it sounds like they got everything working fine in the end, and I hope you enjoy your new found iPod integration!

rets

neuronbob

Great pictures. The install pic is simply scary, though. I have exactly the same fear as you Neogeek--that they'd introduce new rattles where there were none before. I think I'll wait for BJ's rumored wired solution...

Neogeek

heh well suposedly they took the shifter out, and didnt put it back on right so, it feels really loose when i shift. I am bringing it back on tuseday to have them take a look at it.

Hey thanks rets and lokius for redoing my pictures... I dont know what is up with my hoster... I have hotlinking off, but i guess it just didnt like that. awell now they are up and you dont have to worry about using the links.

I just ordered the Ground Loop Filter and hopeuflly it will help the sound when I have things plugged into the power


I also wanted to point out that when I went on a little day trip with my mom and her aunt, when they were shopping, I had some video editing to work on, and just popped my laptop out plugged it in and was able to use my car stereo instead of my shitty Vaio speakers.

Hopefully I will be able to tweak it a little to get some more bass out of the FM mod, but if I dont then thats alright, what is comming out right now is fine for every day driving...

w1n78

wow, picture 7 is scary. BTW what are those 2 plugs in your center console?

Neogeek

those are the RCA plugs for the ipod. I didnt want the 3.5 mini jack installed because I do alot of audio work and RCA is the most universal for all my equipment so i have your standard RCA -> 3.5mm mini jack for the ipod.

Xpditor

Don't EVER show me an autopsy picture like that of a loved one without warning!

Oh! The humanity!

You've got more nerve than I do. I'm still shaking!

XP

Neogeek

well i did... hehe at first they were only links

SlayerGTR

Holy $@%@$#%#^#@^@#^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

coasterlvr

WOW! That is a lot to take apart for just a FM modulator. There is a antenna connector you can get to without ever taking out the radio or console! TL, TSX and Accord all have them, as well as many other Hondas. There is also 6 channel low level outs you can use going into the factory amplifier. You do not need to use a high to low convertor, although if you are just adding a sub it isn't that big of a deal. You can tap audio into the 04 TL through the XM with a couple double throw relays and a switch. Much cleaner sound than any FM modulator. Anyway, I hope everything went back together well because there was a lot of extra work being done there.

JT

jtaudioacc.com

JetJock

OMG!!! I hope it was worth it. Personally, I'd be afraid to have anyone rip into my dash like that for an iPod. I have one, and the sound just isn't that good to take the chance with my TL. I'll stick with the DVD-A's, and use the iPod with earphones. BTW....I have "Etty's"....ER-4P to use with the iPod...and they are awesome. If you've never tried these phones with the iPod....get your hands on a pair to try...you can get them on the internet for 30 days to decide before you purchase. They make the iPod sound like "high fidelity", not the tinny crappy sound you get with the stock headphones.

Neogeek

I think it was definatly worth it, and would have been fine if only they knew how to control an ipod, but since they cant I was exposed to the horrors that they had done to my car.

The dude said they had done a few TLs before, but I am thinking it was the previous gens, beacuse every step they took seemed open another suprise. Awell after getting my hood keyed, I wondered that if anything worse could happen (not included a crash), and my questions were answered when I was getting the fm mod installed...

well i have tried a multitude of Aux inputs, and for some reason they dont seem to work with the XM port (another one of ELS' scheme to not alow Mp3). Although all the wireing is compatable if they do come out with something for the TL that works. I would just have to get a center tray replacement since the switch is there, and replace the fm mod with some working Aux device...

My clarion FM mod sounds really clean as long as you got the volume cranked at the source, or else you will here the frequency hiss as it gets louder.

Anywho wearing earphones in the car while driving is against the law in cali, and especialy with those etty's you prb cant hear a thing with them on. I bought the 4P for my Uncle's Birthday, but myself for my fleet I use the Shure E5C since i record all of my music at 320kbps, so its nice to have a set of buds that can reproduce it all.


BTW I did a serious look down and noticed 2 lovely plastic scratches and a loose shifter, but the plasticscratches are not noticable and the shifter is gunna be looked at on tuseday.

rets

Neogeek,

Maybe I'm blind, but I don't see you ever mentioned how much it cost. And, how do you like its sound quality via 04TL's speakers so far?

Neogeek

rets

I surely am sightless.

$165 isn't bad.

Thanks.

Mindcrime

Better you then me on this install. I'm happy with my 6 disk changer and XM so the Ipod install wouldn't be worth it, especially after seeing the last pic. Some day I'm sure Acura will look to integrate the Ipod into the TSX and maybe TL like BMW has now. Maybe on my next car I'll get it stock rather then though major surgery.

steve-o

Neogeek wrote:

"well i have tried a multitude of Aux inputs, and for some reason they dont seem to work with the XM port (another one of ELS' scheme to not alow Mp3). Although all the wireing is compatable if they do come out with something for the TL that works. I would just have to get a center tray replacement since the switch is there, and replace the fm mod with some working Aux device..."

Neogeek,

I was considering using the XM audio wires as the AUX input. However, you mentioned that electrically it was an easy connect but it did not work. Can you please expand on the why and what you did to confirm this.

I want to my an MP3-PC in the car with wireless so I can transfer stuff to and from it via 802.11g.

Thanks again.

Steve

bonegraf

Thanks to JT, installing a FM modulator was really easy - he actually called me back while I was half way through ripping out my dash - he pointed out that you can access the antenna on the inside (to the left) of the passengers foot well behind the pannel. I actually had removed the pannel so it was easy access, but I think this can be done without removing it at all. I am installing another on a friends 2004 TL with navi this weekend - I'll post pictures.

Overall, though I'm not really impressed. The sound is MUCH better that that crappy iTrip - I'm going to get a filter to see if that clears it up a bit.

I'll post again when I have more info.

Thanks - good forum

Neogeek

ah ha! so this is where the thread is now... hehe sorry about the delay

bonegraf: im glad it worked out for you, although sorry about the dissapointment in quality. overall i am happy with it. It makes me apreciate my DVD-A so much more.

steve: well i tried to install the SNHOND3 aux input adapter, and i think one other tried it in his/her TL also and it was very eratic, not very reliable.

If you want to wait there is an aux input being made for the 04TL but the manufactures name is blank from my mind at the moment (i will get back to you on the name).

goodluck with whatever choice you make down the road.

Neogeek

http://acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88181 its blitzsafe, they should be the first to have a working one come out.

thanks moreace!

bonegraf

I spoke with Blitzsafe - they do indeed have a module which works with the Non-navi 2004 TL, but there is NOT one currently for the navi - they told me the only way to make it work with their system was to disable the XM radio.

I am going to install another FM modulator tomorrow, and will post pics - I will try to do a minimally invasive operation, unlike my first one. I think I only need to remove a piece of trim, the glove box and the kick pannel.

cupidoneill

Have you guys seen these sites in regard to ipod integration at all???

http://ipodlounge.com/reviews_more.php?id=4665_0_6_0_M

http://neocaraudio.com/prod-ion.html

They look promising but don't mention anything about 04 TL.

Casper42

Do a google search on something called IceLink. Wont work in our cars but they use the CD Changer port on both OEM and Aftermarket radios to give you ghetto iPod integration.

Next Track = Next Song
Next Disc = Next Folder
etc.

If your Deck supports CD-TEXT via the Changer, they can even give you artist name and song title and all that on your display.