I just got my car new TSX about 1 month ago and just finished the new car stero installation. I replaced all of my speakers using Polk EX speakers. I used Polk components in the front locations(dash and door), coaxial speakers for the rear doors, and 3-way speakers for the rear dash. I ended up replacing the factory amplifier and am now using a total of 3 amplifiers. I have (2) Kenwood four channel amplifiers with a MTX mono amplifier for the subs. I ended up running new wires for the rear dash speakers (which now output full range sound!!) and for my new front tweeters. Everything else I used the existing factory wiring. The system sounds SWEET!!

Here is how I hooked up my new RCA cbles to the existing HU. I purchased the gray RCA cable from Radio Shack, hacked off one end, and wired it into the factory HU plug that went to the existing Honda Amp. I also used a femal-to-female RCA adapter so that I could hookup my Monster Cable RCAs to my new connector. Absolutely no engine noise in my system.


Here are the pics of the finished system.

 

Looks niice man - any noise from the RCA's ?

 

At first when I wired this up, I thought it wouldn't work and that I would get engine noise without a line driver. I ended up not using a line driver and it worked out great and there is no noise in my system, even with the AC on or when I floor the gas pedal.

 

Thats good, you must have run the wires in the correct places and kept power away from signal.

That is a whole lot of sub for the TSX. Can probably hear you coming ...

 

olicuzTSX, that looks sweet. congratulations on a successful install. something i have been wondering about lately is whether replacing the factory amp will void any warrenties for anything that might happen to the HU. i know that if the HU shut off like it has for some people that this would be my first concern that it wouldn't be covered. and that thing costs and arm and a leg to replace. any thoughts? obviously i know that if the HU did short out of something it woudlnt be the aftermarket amps fault but Acura might say otherwise. so any input would be cool on this. thanks...

 

WOW! :phatyo: Does your rear view mirror shake too?

 

another question. so you replaced the tweeters? did you have to do any custom work to do that?

 

Yup, my rear view mirror shakes when I start cranking it but it sounds clean with all of my internal speakers being amped too . I ran the power wires down the drivers side and the RCA cables down the passengers side.

JiggaMan
Yeah, when I first started cutting/tapping into my factory wiring I was a little afraid that if I screwed something up, the HU wouldn't work. I unplugged both wire harnesses out of the factory amp and then started on my new connections. Before power up anything, I double and tripled checked all of my connections to make sure they were right (I used the wiring codes I got from this website). I then turned all of the gains down on all of the amps in case something was shorted and powered it up. I then readjusted all of my gain setttings and it worked perfectly. Yeah, I probably did void my warranty but I wanted better tunes. I know from past experience that sometimes when you unplug a factory amplifier, there may be a spark that occurs while you are unplugging it and this would cause you to blow a fuse therefore your radio won't turn on. All you have to do is find the blown fuse and replace it.

As for the tweeters, I custom zipped tied them to the bottom of the factory tweeter grill cover. Can't tell they are aftermarket tweeters, I'll post pics of that later tonight for you. All you have to do is run new wires for them if you are using an external aftermarket crossover(the ones included in component sets).

 

Thats a pretty sweet install. Congrats. How do the Ex's sound? I am debating between the Ex's and the dB's. Any suggestions?

Oh yeah, what side(S) did you run the power/RCA's down for this noise free setup?

 

Redline
The EX speakers sound great. I have their older models, EX2560, EX602a, and EX693a. I ended up going with all EX speakers because that was what I had in my old car. I didn't want to buy brand new speakers for everything so I reused my old 6 x 9s and front component speakers from my old car. All I had to purchase were the rear door coaxial speakers.

 

Oh yeah, I ran the power wires down the drivers side and the RCA cables down the passengers side.

 

The mounting depth of the Polk EX2560 is 2-1/8" and the EX602a is 1-15/16" deep. Did you have to use spacers to mount these speakers in the doors? If you did, how much more depth was required and what did you use to shim them? Did you have any door panel protrusion problems with coaxial speakers?

Thanks!
Chad

 

Chad,
I used spacers for all of my door speaker installs. I believe it was a 1" spacers. I bought them from Best Buy. I just drilled new holes for the spacer so that it would mount to the door frame and then screwed the speakers in to the spacer itself. I had no issues with door panel protrusion with any of the speakers (including the coaxials).

 

Thanks! With that information, I can start my master plan...

Looking into the Polk db6500 components for the front doors and rear deck... and maybe for the rear door as well (just the mids though... might just sell the extra tweets). Haven't figured out my amping or subwoofers yet.

I still have lots of time... I am not getting my TSX until May 19th. I am "absorbing" this forum in the interum while I daydream of my new car. LOL

 

Jiggaman
Here are the pics of my custom aftermarket tweeter install using the factory grill covers.

 

Nice work on the tweeters! Your Polk EX2560 component set features 3/4" dome tweeters and looks like they perfectly behind the OEM tweeter's grill.

However Polk's newer db6500 component set has 1" dome tweeters and therefore don't think they will fit using your zip-tie technique. My concern is that they won't fit at all with the OEM grill. Back to the drawing board. Hmmmmmmmm...

 

i like the way that you hooked up those tweeters olicuzTSX. very cool that you managed to maintain the stock look of the dash and didn't have to cut anything. are those tweeters available seperately or do you have to buy them as a set with some 6 1/2s?

tommorow (monday) my car goes in to have the stock amp taken out and replaced with an Alpine MRV-F340. i'm also having some Alpine Type-S 6X9s installed and the rear deck dynamated. CANT WAIT!!!!!!!

 

This is a nice job. Looks like the zip-tie technique works like a charm. I assume the grill covers snap back into the OEM locations without any problems, like rattles or looseness.

 

Jiggaman, you're mounting another amp in the stock location? I wasn't aware that there was room. Tell me how it goes and what amp. I'm considering doing a speaker + amp swap myself.

 

Jiggaman
I think you can get those tweeters by themselves. I think the model number for just those tweeters is : EX2500. The only place you could probably get them is ebay though.

 

Nice setup, I have just ONE of those polk boxes and its pretty damn loud i cant imagine running two

 

i'm getting rid of the stock amp but the new one will be in a different location. most likely mounted somewhere on the sides of the trunk. i'm already using the bigger of the two fold down rear seats as a mounting location for the amp that powers my subs.

 

That looks like a nice clean install. Good job!

 

Correct - you gotta do a small amount of cutting to make the db tweeters fit - this also eliminates the factory covers obviously. I like the sound/power handling of them better though, just need money for a better amp (eventually).

 

I notice you're running a capacitor inside your trunk. What kind is it?

 

i have one inch tweeters and still have the stock grill covers.

 

What brand were your tweeters? I have (I think) 1" that came with the Polk db6500 components I bought. I've been wondering if I can keep the stock look or have to mod the dash to make the Polk's fit like others have. I'd rather have the stock look myself!

 

olicuz thats a nice setup. You must have read my mind because I needed some clear info on an amp install. I just installed alpine type s speakers all around and dynomated... sounds great but needs more power. Now .. you are saying you used the output signal from the head unit, I'm assuming you tapped into those at the wire connecter into the amp. You just attached the grey unshielded radio shack wire to the output of the head unit and used shielded patch cords from there straight into the amps? You could have used grey female rca cables to eliminate the adapter. Sounds good theoretically and if you say it sounds good I'll take your word for it. I'm an impulse moder so I may just wake up tomorrow and do this. I'm happy with the aplines... but they drink up the stock amp power like water.

 

i've got MB quart Premium components up front. Titanium domed one inch tweeters.