Hey everyone, I have done tons of research on this forum and others about upgrading the factory audio system in our cars. Like many other people I want to keep the factory head unit on my tsx and upgrade speakers, add an amp for mids/highs, and add a sub. I have installed many systems before, but I have always replaced the head unit.

I’ve come to find that my options for this car are fairly limited for getting the signal to the amplifiers for lows/mids/highs

1) Use the factory preouts.
2) Use line out converter.

It appears by the look of many other threads that no one has developed an alternative to mercmans harness nor is he selling them anymore. Is this correct or can someone steer me to the right place? If there is no alternative, will using the factory pre-outs undoubtedly cause noise without mercmans special circuitry?

If mercmans harness or a noise free alternative is unavailable it appears my only option is a LOC. The problem I have with this is no speaker has a true full range in our car from what I’ve read. Again from my research, the mids or door speaker have both a high and low crossover making them a poor choice for pre-outs. The 6x9 may be good for subs, but don’t they have a very low cross over to protect them from bottoming out? If I’m stuck using a LOC, can I combine the signal from the tweeters and door speakers to get a good preout for the amplifier powering the speakers/tweeters?

Are there any other options I’m not considering? All help appreciated.

 

3. Use a processor.

 

^ probably your best option

 

I didn't know about this option. I've researched processors, and looked extensively at the JBL MS8. Looks pretty decent, expensive. What do you guys think about the MS8?

What are some other good processors?

Will I lose any sound quality using a processor?

 

I think you should buy and MS8 before you do anything else.

 

+1. if you want to keep factory, then save yourself the headache and get quality.

 

Thanks for the feedback. The MS8 does seem like one of the best options if it performs as good as people claim. Nice thing is it already had an aux input.

If nothing new happens with the mercman harness by January, I'll probably end up getting the MS8 and hopefully being done with it.

 

Hands down the best option for ya is gonna be the rockford fosgate 360.2 im currently running it in my tsx and i get no alternator whine and the tuning is like no other