New Acura TL looking for suggestions for stereo upgrade!!
 

Hey everyone, just inherited a 2007 TL from my X girlfriend who cant make payments. And now that I have the car (Drama to the max!!), I HAVE to have TUNES!!(At least better than stock. Im coming out of an AUDI A3, and the stereo is pretty tight for stock compared to the TL) Just had a few questions to help me figure things out.

1.) It looks to me like the head unit is a double DIN install, but there isnt much info out on the web saying that. If so, whats a good unit? Bare in mind that I listen almost exclusively to music off my Iphone. So its gotta have integration.

2.) If I decide to keep the stock head unit, are there auxillarys for me to run an amp to push some better mid ranges and low ends? Because If i can avoid the cost of a head unit and just install a DICE for my Iphone, that would be great.

3.) any suggestions for speakers and amps? Ive been out of the loop for a while when it comes to audio. Im thinking memphis baby belle, and some rainbows for up front... keep the stock rear and some kind of drop in woofer....

any help would be great!! Thanks!!

JL or Alpine seem to be the favorites for 3rd gen cars. I would only put one sub in the trunk and run an amp to it. :2cents:

i think our fronts and rears are pretty good already, some members on here switch out the tweeters and the center channel for some infinities, and throw a single sub in the back running a mono amp. i myself have stock speakers and one alpine type-e pushed by an alpine 325watt RMS amp.

it all depends on your music taste

Here is the Dice unit. I think you can save yourself a good amount of money by not going with an aftermarket headunit. The DICE will work with the factory headunit.

https://acurazine.com/forums/sponsored-sales-group-buys-10/2008-dice-ipod-integration-kits-new-features-exclusive-pricing-380640/

We're also working on making a drop in sub. Check out this thread.

https://acurazine.com/forums/acurazine-articles-2/

Keep stock headunit...integrates well with any aftermarket stuff, just add a BLT between hu and aftermarket amp to get flat signal. If you are talkin rainbow, you must have a good budget. I can speak to Zapco DC amps, extremely flexible tuning and clean power. :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the help!! I think Im going to stick with the head unit and add the dice in. I'll probably drop a JL sub in and power it with a mono amp, and then get a two channel for fronts... maybe keep the rear speakers on the HU. I said rainbow because I know that even the low end is some of the best stuff out theree... But I've also heard good things about phoenix gold as well... we'll see.. my buddy does installs I'll consult him too... thanks again everybody.

am I the only person who thinks the factory stereo gets loud enough ? o_O

nope, I think the same too, when only in the car as you'll end up deaf. Only the sub needs some improvements at higher volumes.

It's not just about volume, but SQ. Stock is O.K., but has huge potential to be a LOT better.

meh.. I understand a small sub upgrade, or if the speakers completely suck from the factory, but the stock stuff is fine in the TL; i'd rather spend it on my home theatre stuff [HK FTW!] :)


But to the OP - everything is becoming so integrated now it's hard to maintain full functionality and a nice look when you go with an aftermarket setup; I've seen the plastic blanks that fill the TLs radio area, and I think it looks el-cheapo =/

I don't see the need to ever take out the factory HU. I also think the factory system is loud enough or at least close but I'm adding an amp to the mids/highs too in search of better SQ. Hopefully I'll be able to pull some midbass out of the Infinities one day as I'm hoping the lack of it is from the stock amp. It would be nice for those rare occasions when the stock system isn't loud enough to really crank it and to be able to turn up the gain on the W6s.

I have the ipod integrated into the factory head unit with the USASpec unit and just added an aftermarket amp and subs pushing about (1000rms). The stock speakers actually sound really good and clear so I have no need to upgrade anything else.

I did unplug the stock sub for the new ones so that one is just sitting there doing nothing.

Everything sounds pretty good to me.

Im thinking of going with memphis pretty much all around... any info on them? I might go with JL Audio 10W3V3-4 - JL Audio 10" sub and push it with a JL Audio A1400 amp, and then for the front mids, Im thinking of going Memphis M class pushed with a Memphis 16-MCA150 - Memphis 75 x 2, and leave the rears stock for fill... and then the dice integration for Iphone... I dont care about the text to much, I'll just mount it with a dock and use the controls on th Iphone. What do ya think? What else am I missing... I heard something about need a controller of some sort because TL works at 8 ohms...

TL runs at 2 and 4 ohms at most. You might need a line driver if you want to eliminate the factory amp or maybe a Sound Processor if you want better SQ.

Are you also experiencing the IPod skipping using the USA SPec unit? I was about to pull the trigger on that purchase until I read many people here complaining about the annoying, constant skipping when using the USASpec unit. Maybe that bug was fixed since then?

I still have it. But its not really that bad. It may happen once on a long drive for me. Its not a consistant thing. Sometimes I don't hear it for a while. Having a skipping CD is much worse. Even with the small skip I still can't live without it.

I can vouch for the Rainbows and strong bottom end for a component speaker...I'm very happy with mine! I'm even happier since I added the 3sixty.2 to the mix.

I kept the center and surrounds running off of the stock amp, and only have them on for multi-channel music. Otherwise it's just the Rainbows up front blended nicely with a Rainbow Vanadium sub.