Bass Mechanic

Hello everyone i am new here, i take delevery of a new 04 TSX 6 speed with Nav tomorrow.

im wondering if any of you guys have come up with any good ideas around the XM setup using the RF convertor that acura sells.
i did a little research and i have found a panasonic, clarion, and audio vox that makes a XM or sirrus tuner that had preamp outs that could be plugged into the factory AUx in connection to the stereo.
i dont want to use the FM tuner to listen to the xm system i would rather have it sent directly into the HU.
have any of you come up with any clever solutions to this issue?
i would really like to use the alpine unit Acura sells if there was some way to get a preamp out of that thing.

RJC RSX

hey another Club RSX member over here

Bass Mechanic

yea i float around from time to time

Bass Mechanic

i think i found somthing that may work
this little gem is not out yet but it has selectable colors for illumination and 3 faceplate colors so you can match the interior lighting and trim.
im thinking about getting it and trying to invert the display and replacing the LEDS with white units so it will match the interior lighting perfectly.
it looks from the size listed here that it will fit perfectly in the pocket below the radio
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...0&I=040SA10035

mojo_RENAMED

Yup. Take a look at my thread at http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...&threadid=1566 - that'll get you the AUX inputs from any source. From there, you can obviously install any type of device that has RCA out.

I personally did what exactly packrat555 described on the other site with my Here2Anywhere Sirius radio- mount it in the tray above the "Not An Astray" compartment. Mine is mounted so that the door can close over the unit, leaving a very clean installation. My antenna is near a rear speaker in the back, preserving the clean lines of the car.

kcf7z

Mojo -

Could you please post a picture of your Sirius-Not an Ashtray installation - I want to install satellite radio and want it clean and discrete.

mojo_RENAMED

Sure. See pictures on my site. Excuse the dirty floorboards. Check out additional instructions to my audio mod at Logjam's site.

I give credit to packrat555, who did the same thing first, and I only copied (see his post on the other site), but with the interface instead of FM modulation. The nice thing about this installation is that I can return to stock very easy- just remove the components and replace the rubber mat in the compartment.

A couple of notes:
a) I tapped into the cigarette lighter for power. This requires removing the "Not An Ashtray" and that requires removing the panel around the shifter. A pain, but I don't know where else to easily get 12v.

b) I removed the light from the top of the tray while I had it out, took out the bulb, and taped it to the outside of the socket and just let it hang there. This way, I don't have extra light where I don't want it.

c) I used the 8-32 tapered head machine screws like packrat, and nuts on both sides of the screws, then washers to lift off the radio from the bottom. I dremeled off the remaining screw past the nut

d) be sure to twist-tie or otherwise secure the cables to hole on the back of the tray, otherwise the cables will keep things from plugging in

e) I had to cut the lip connected to the Not an Ashtray just slightly where the nuts hit it; otherwise, it wouldn't go in smoothly

f) I put my antenna on the rear deck, and easily ran the cable along the side of the car for a completely hidden operation

g) lastly- there's an art to getting that tray out. Cross your hands, so that your left palm is facing right and vice versa, push on the inside of the tray and just pull. To do it without crossing your hands requires muscles I don't have.

Hope this helps-

luthier

Hi Bass Mechanic;

I swap my RSX for a TSX tomorrow as well. What you know about car stereos will be a huge help here. It would be nice to get some sticky threads and pic FAQs too.

Skip

Packrat55

Great install-Great minds think alike. I kept my antenna on the rear deck too and have no drop out problems at all despite having the dreaded metallic tint on the windows.

luthier

I got my TSX today and will start thinking about the audio mods in earnest now. I have a Kenwood MP-522 Sirius and MP3 HU from my old car that I was considering selling. Then it occurred to me ... why couldn't I use it as a pre-amp to add those functions to the car? My thinking was that I could get a nice equalizer/crossover unit with an aux input switch for both the new and old HU's and not have to mess with the rare SNHOND2 module. With the available faceplate for adding the official MP3 or cassette player I could add a DIN and a half. The MP3 and sirius couldn't use the steering wheel controls but I suppose I could manage that.

The eq would also be able to send the signals out the the new amps I will be adding. Right now I plan to use the existing amp for rear fill, feed a component amp for the fronts and tweets and put a basslink in the back to replace the 6 X 9's. The next question is whether the signals from the two HUs will be so different that I need to get some sort of line conditioner to balance them.

I am in my last couple of days working at an Acura dealership so I took advantage of the opportunity to copy a bunch of pages from the official "Electrical Troubleshooting Manual" or ETM in the shop. It has some good pictures of the center console disassembled along with with wiring digrams of everything in the car. Not a great read but probably pretty useful when I actually start rooting around.

Skip

Bass Mechanic

well lets see, 15 years in the caraudio industry, used to install many show systems and judged quite a few, invented, designed, patented my Power Mouse sub enclosures which can be seen at www.rmscaraudio.com and moderated several caraudio sections on the net for the last 5 years.

yea i can be a huge help here as i have been on many other boards.
ask electro he has known me for a long time.

Bass Mechanic

actually i never had a RSX i had 2001 TL with nav before i got my TSX

MJ-bos

Packrat's install looks like the cleanest.

My TSX arrives any day now (yeah!) ... but being the impatient soul that I am, I bought an Audiovox Shuttle. Logic = I want Sirius NOW and this unit can go in my partner's car when I get mine.

So, with some FM Modulated experience under my belt (the Audiovox has a built-in FM-mod)... I can now say that FM-Mod probably won't work for me.

1. I have to switch the station while on my daily commute twice
2. Lots more static than I expected

Now it looks like I'm going to have to figure out the logjam modified input gizmo. I was really hoping to avoid it as I don't want to take out the Navi.

If anyone out there has some good recomendations for an audio installer in Boston or New Hampshire ... please PM me or leave it here.

PS: Packrat, would the Audiovox shuttle fit in the tray above "not an ashtray"? The dimensions are 5-1/2"W x 3-5/8"H x 2-7/8"D ?

I don't think it will ... but I'm hopeful.

I'll probably now do the H2A just like you did ... but through the SNHOND (sp?) thing and direct-wire it to the Navi.

-mj