dickise

I'm looking into getting some upgraded speakers and was wandering if anyone had the rms rating on the amp so I can find a speaker that will not be underpowerd by the factory amp. The booklet says the sound system is 360w which comes out to be 45w per channel. I'm asuming that is a peak rating. Anyone have a clue about the rms?

Packrat55

rms = .707 * peak. so the amp should be 30 watts rms but I'll bet is quite a bit less. Bottom line you don;t have enough power to drive any decent speakers properly. Any decent speaker is going to be under powered unless you have 75-100 watts rms.

dickise

yea thats a lot lower then i was hopeing for since they do seem to make a big deal about the stereo in the TSX. has anyone installed an amp for the front speakers yet? if so where did you put it? how big is the factory amp and where is it? thatnks for any info you can give me.

Packrat55

pull out the storage bin and you'll see the amp. It will fit in the palm of your hand. Compared to the size of aftermarket amps I don't see how the factory amp can be more than 100 watts total power.

magic_man

Well, I would think that the factory amp would easily put out 30-45 wpc. Keep in mind, it's probably a 4 channel amp not 8 like the original poster assumed. A 4 channel amp with a 360watt peak rating would mean 90 watts per channel peak. It's also understandable considering it's probably running a 2 ohm load per channel assuming the rear-right 6.5" and 6x9 are on one channel, etc. I would guess it's more like 45 watts per channel RMS @ 2ohms. I replaced my front door speakers with a set of MB Quart RCE 216 Reference series components in a coax configuration and the rear doors with Eclipse SE8363 3-way coax speakers and the sound difference is breathtaking. This car sounds like no stock setup I've ever heard. It is really that clear. The bass is tighter (Not a bass machine by any means though) and the highs are ear piercing if you turn the treble up. I was considering a sub but am very satisfied with the way it sounds now and I haven't lost any space to boot!

fdl

magic_man ... did you have any rattling before you changed the speakers? Do you have rattles now? And what did you do with the rear deck 6x9s?

Thanks.

magic_man

I had the standard door lock rattle on the driver's side. I don't notice it as much with the new speakers. Of course, I never really noticed it with the radio on anyhow. The rear 6x9 speakers I left as is because they do an OK job of what they're designed to do, fill in the sound with a little bit of bass. If I found a set of 6x9 woofers, I may consider replacing them but they're doing fine as they are. My goal was to clean up and boost the mid range and add some crispness to the highs. The 6.5s took care of that for me. The "ghost" rattles still exist from EVERYWHERE when I turn the stereo up with any bass though. However, none of my rattles are terribly loud so I've dealt with them so far while I wait to hear about some solutions that work. My last car, an Acura CL-S w/Nav had a bad rear parcel rattle. That was taken care of and it sounded solid inside afterwards. This one, there are so many locations I hear rattles coming from, it would take forever to seek them out. One thing I HAVE noticed though is that the new 6.5" speakers sound much more solid in the doors than the stock speakers. The stock speakers in my car had a little bit of a wimpy sound as if the mount was not air tight or something. The new speakers sound solid even when there is a reasonable amount of woofer excursion. I still have to keep my bass setting at 0 though to prevent rattles from appearing at higher volumes. I typically listen to my music between 15 and 25-30 depending on my mood. With the bass at 0, audibly annoying rattles don't appear until around 33 or so in my car.

Wow, that was long winded. The short answer is: Yes. Yes. Nothing.

fdl

Thanks magic. I am thinking of just changing out the front 2. I dont think the back door speakers will make much difference? I am a little hesitant right now because I want my dealer to fix my rattles, but if I go and change the speakers I'm afraid they will use that as an excuse not to fix my problem. SO I may wait a bit longer.


If you like a little more bass to your music but dont want the rattles try putting your bass up to +2 or so and then fading to -3. You need to crank the volume a bit louder but then you get some decent bass from the rear while the bass in the front doesnt rattle as much.

tehCOW

Magicman...
i was wondering if you took pictures of the install. I can get an infinity component system for cheap, but i have no idea where to mount the tweeters. Where did you mounts yours. Also, did you need a spacer for your speakers? thanks

magic_man

tehcow,

No, I didn't take any pictures. Many MB Quart component sets, including the set I have, can have the tweeter mounted in a coaxial configuration just like a normal coax speaker. In order to eliminate the need for any cutting or modifications to the stock placements, that's what I did. Yes, I needed a spacer ring to get the speakers to fit.