May 23rd, 2007 by 
Derek
Two years ago I upgraded all the stereo components behind the factory head unit/in dash 6-disc changer. For those who think Bose represents high quality, don’t let the name fool you. The Bose stereo installed by the Acura fcatory is crap. We’re talking paper cone speakers, two tiny underpowered amps and a subwoofer that will make you laugh because it burps more than it thumps.
Check out the differences between the Bose 5.25″ subwoofer and the Focal sub that took its place. One, the Focal speaker cone material is stiffer than a 15 year old finding his dad’s porn collection. Two, the surrounding material and the overall basket construction is of a much higher quality over the Bose.
Stage 1 of the upgrade included installing Accumat in the door panels and rear quarter panels, using new wires/cables everywhere, Alpine amps, a/d/s component speakers for the front stage, Pioneer 6.5″ speakers for rear fill, power and ground distribution blocks, and a hi-lo converter. Sound quality was a HUGE improvement over the Bose stereo components.
I finally got around to upgrading the head-unit because I wanted integrated iPod control. The FM transmitters and cassette tape adapters just weren’t up to par. I’ve seen my friends use them and I didn’t like the drawbacks: finding an unused FM frequency to broadcast the iPod tunes, moderate sound quality, must use an external adapter to power/charge the iPod, must fiddle with iPod to access music and playlists (dangerous when driving).
So, I went from this:
To this:
Plus, there was a noticeable improvement with sound quality after dumping the hi-low converters.
Below are some pics of the install.
Alpine V-series amps, a/d/s crossovers and Scosche power distribution blocks. The green box is the hi-low converter which founds its way to the trash immediately after I installed the Pioneer head unit.
Focal subwoofer in Bose enclosure
Accumat sound dampening material applied to doors and rear quarter panels.
Upgraded parts list:
Pioneer DEH-5900IB
Alpine MRP-F250 (4 x 40 Watts)
a/d/s 246IX (6.5″ component speakers for front stage)
Pioneer TS-G1641 (6.5″ speakers for rear fill)
Scosche power distribution blocks
Phoenix Gold wire and interconnects
Accumat sound dampening material in door and rear quarter panels
December 13th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
ko-ol i got those but in my woofer .
should i change the subs in my hometheater sub or leave it like that?
January 18th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
You did a great job!
Where can I get a stereo panel for my 2002 Acura RSX? The stock stereo panel looks really awful… Could you please tell me where you got yours?
Thanks!
Artyom
artyomyakovlev@yahoo.com
January 19th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
If you are referring to the dash kit for the head unit, it is just a Scosche dash kit that can be purchased from many car stereo outlets since Scosche is a common brand. The cubby space underneath the head unit is part of the dash kit and acts as a filler since the Pioneer stereo is a single DIN size.
November 4th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
hey cool car! i have a 04 rsx s-type and i was wondering if a double din unit would fit in replacment of the stock unit and would best buy/circuit city have the dash kit or would they or myself have to order it and futher delay my head unit production?
November 5th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
A double din should work. You can pick up a trim plate from best buy or circuit city.
December 17th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Very nice work. I just bought a 2006 RSX Type-S 2 months ago, and I have been debating on how to upgrade the sound system.
My thoughts are to go with the Kenwood Excelon DNX8120 DVD/Nav, remove the Bose amp and the sub, RAAMAT the doors and rear quarter panels, and use Pioneer TS-G1642R in all 4 speaker spots. I had debated using components in the doors, but I did’t want to cut any tweeter holes.
Dis you use a wiring harness kit to hook up your HU, and if so, which one?
December 17th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
The Metra wiring harness made the job a lot easier and I avoided hacking up the factory wiring. I was super lucky discovering that the a/d/s tweeters and mounting hardware that came with the speaker kit fit in the factory location, located in the dash, without any cutting or modification.
May 6th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Hey man, great job on that!
I was curious though,, is that Focal 5.25″ woofer a direct replacement and DROP-IN of that Bose woofer??
Was there any modifications you had to do ?
any other help would be great. thanks!
May 11th, 2009 at 9:54 am
The Focal subwoofer (if you consider a 5.25″ speaker a subwoofer) is almost a simple drop-in replacement to the Bose subwoofer. The mounting holes did not directly line up with the Focal sub, so I had to create a mounting plate from a thin sheet of plastic. A very simple task.
The only other modification was replacing the factory speaker wire with something of better quality. I’m not a big believer of over-priced speaker wire and interconnects, but the factory wiring should be replaced with something better.