Acura MDX Audio and Entertainment Systems

c_wood_2121

OK, just picked up my 07 MDX. Here in Canada its called the Elite(sport+Entertainment).

I notice that the rear DVD will not play over the awesome sterio, only plays in the wireless headphones.

Anyone know anything about this?

Also, it seems impossible to change my "go home" address in the Navi.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

ang8346

I have a 2005 Acura MDX with the entertainment system and there are inouts on the console for additional earphones and speakers.

ang8346

Does anyone know what the wattage rating os on the 110-volt power outlet located on the rear console?

tidester

I believe it's 100 W. Anyone know for sure?

tidester, host

kbhakta

There is a pretty damn thick manual(I know, its on paper and not on a computer screen, but hey, the info is there.) that comes with the car..mainly to explain all the electronics. You need to press the rear source button.

tomarp

:mad: What a piece of crap! Anyone else really hate the stereo in the MDX? When I play a CD it isnt horrible ( not great) but the XM radio has the worse fidelity of any car I have ever owned! $3500 for this option? Acura should be ashamed. The system with Bluetooth works great: sounds horrible.
Anyone up for a class action lawsuit?

scottm123

I wouldn't consider this a cause for a lawsuit.... being a stereo and not something that causes safety concerns.

With that being said, I completely agree that the stereo is a joke.
I heard it when I test drove it and it sounded "okay" but not great.
Anyone who knows stereos knows that the speakers must have numerous hours before they start to provide their peak potential.
I expected good things from my BOSE stereo, even though I personally feel that BOSE is completely over-rated.

I have several hundred hours on mine now and I am less than impressed.
The subwoofer also causes body panel vibrations, which after 4 visits to the dealer, Acura claims they can no longer fix.

Sad

tomarp

The lawsuit was a joke. I looked at all cars in this category and was so glad to find the MDX I didnt listen to the stereo. I think the issue is more XM. With the CD its not bad. My sub is the only part that works well. I would ask to speak to the local Acura rep. Good luck. :mad:

stever

speakers must have numerous hours

New to me - sounds similar to having to get some miles on most cars before the mileage creeps up.

I like to tell my audiophile friends that their systems sound a little clipped in the high end and watch them fiddle with the dials for a few hours.

scottm123

Dynamic speaker drivers (the cone woofers and dome tweeters found in almost all speakers) have moving parts that are generally rather stiff when they come out of the factory. One of these parts is called the surround; it's the rounded piece of rubber or foam that connects the outer edge of the cone or dome to the speaker basket. The other is called the spider; it's the part that connects the center of a woofer cone to the back part of the speaker basket, and that keeps the woofer's voice coil centered in the voice-coil gap.

Surrounds and spiders are kind of like shoes, they're not very flexible at first but with use, they become much more flexible. And as the surrounds and spiders in your speakers become more flexible, your speakers will sound better. Some speakers sound just a little better after break-in. Some go from sounding horrible out of the box to sounding glorious after 24 hours of break-in.

...the internet is a wonderful place.

mecheng1

So......since audio components are attempting to reproduce something that already occurred and therefore are measured for their accuracy. When do you measure the frequency response on a speaker? Brand new or after this "break-in"?


Looks like......how each customer experiences an audio system can be highly subjective (especially ones designed into automobiles)....I bet Acura knows they are never going to please everyone - so they farm it out to a brand name (Bose), etc.) and only try "so hard" to please every customer.

scottm123

I agree completely.

I feel the stereo is okay, but not fantastic.

Yes, it sounds pretty good (not great) while playing CDs and yes, it sounds downright awful on XM.
I have a Sirius tuner through an FM modulator that actually sounds better than the factory installed XM, and that's sad.

Bottom line, the stereo is only good at best. (imo)
And the vibrating sub just heightens my awareness of this.

dogwhistle

Make sure your "front source" and "rear source" are set to the same source, then all the speakers will be playing what the folks in the rear are listening to.

corliss1

Picked up our 2007 MDX yesterday and were looking forward to much better sound than in our 2002. Were surprised to hear when we were doing the check out at the dealer that the better sound is mostly with use of the Pro Logic II and that it takes special CDs called DVD-Audio. Can anyone explain? How do you get to have the Pro Logic II sound? Do "regular" CDs play with surround-like sound? We were also told NOT to use recordable CDs, as they were too thick for the stack and won't work. We don't understand that either. Help!

krystkowiak

My tunes guy and I have decided to try some sound dampening in the door and hatchbck panels. I have the sub vibration too. The loud tire hum and cabin noise makes us think the stereo might improve if all the buzz and vibration can be killed. I'll let you know how it works.

krystkowiak

The MDX has little if any sound dampening in the doors or rear panels. I'll advise if the install in a couple weeks helps the stereo. The road noise and tire hum are so bad in my MDX I am convinced the dampening will help (with sub buzz too).

shell69

I love my new MDX....great drive!!
But with everthing in life, there is always something you wish could improve. I would agree with the previous posts, the radio is flat. Needs an equalizer, for more adjustments. Speakers are flat....no warm feeling. I keep on low-medium volume for OK sound. Loud, frankly sucks...

But I have to tell u the drive compensates for the speakers....still worth buying.

suv2002

Corless1

DVD Audio is a completely different standard than the typical CD. It's multi-channel audio (5 channels) compared to 2 for a normal CD (stereo). You need specially encoded discs to hear the multichannel audio--called DVD-As. You should ask the Acura dealer for a sampler disc just to see if you want to spend some $$$ for them. They're readily available on Amazon etc.

Dolby Pro Logic II is a process that turns any two channel music or a video software and turns it into multichannel audio. For the technically inclined go here:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/technology/prologic_II.html

As for CD-Rs being thicker than standard CDs, that's the first I've ever heard of it. They should work. Try one of your own and see what the real deal is.

corliss1

This is really helpful! You explained this well.I did go onto Amazon to see what they are (DVD-As), but I think I put in the wrong search term. We did get that demo CD from our dealer, and the part where they separate the pieces of the jazz is amazing. We got this new MDX partly because I love music so much, and our 2002 was a basic one without the BOSE system. So, we just didn't realize we were quite so much on the cutting edge, so to speak with the 2007. I loved the 2002, and we kept it (!). So we're a 2 MDX family. Now we also need to look at the DVD that came with the new one. Also appreciated the ProLogic II explanation. It is on our new HD tuner system for our HD TV, etc., and we do notice the difference in our Surroundsound. Thanks again!

texas83

I have an '04 with 30K miles. Two things I don't like about my MDX. A pull to the right that they can't fix and the junky stereo. That subwoofer is pitiful. It over powers the whole system and I constantly have to play with the dials. It distorts also with vibrations. I've been in three times and gave up. I guess I bought a Honday instead of an Acura.

tomarp

Here is the deal
turn down the base to -2 and the treble up to +6
with xm, it just isnt going to sound worth a crap.
if you want a decent sound only used cd's
really a poor option. next car will be a pilot and i will go w/ an aftermarket system and put a good portable garmin on the dash
shame on you acura.

scottm123

I have an 06 MDX in the shop today for an Oil Change, and to address a couple little things.
(One being the stupid Sub Woofer again)

They gave me an 07 TL Type-S for a loaner.
The stereo is a joke and sounds like complete crap.

I'm in the middle of working a deal for an 07 Infiniti G35 which comes with the Bose "Studio On Wheels" package.
The stereo is amazing.... so I don't blame Bose any longer.
My finger is pointing at Acura, who has obviously dropped the ball in the Audio dept.

dt63944

Sorry to hear about your "audio horror story". I can't think of any car I've ever driven, since I got my license in 1974, that I could ever call "crap", making allowances for the fact that audio quality has improved over time. XM and Sirius, while being advertised as "digital", which they are, are nonetheless quite compressed and not very sampled (rather like a low quality mp3). My 07 BMW, which has a wonderful Logic7 system, nonetheless sounds constrained when the source is Sirius music (talk always sounds good, of course). I wonder if Acura will make a mid-year Sirius availability, since the two companies want to merge.

scottm123

Honda/Acura own way too much XM to ever offer Sirius until the merge is approved and complete.
I have a feeling that we won't see that for at least another 6 months to a year.
If the merge goes through, maybe we'll see something offered from Acura in 09... but I doubt you'll see anything Sirius before then.

dt63944

Subaru is going to offer the choice of Sirius or XM on their 08 Outback (previously only XM was offered), suggesting that perhaps other vehicle manufacturers can implement an intra-model-year change. In any case, I can tell the difference between satellite radio, homemade or purchased CD's or FM - satellite is the lowest-fidelity of the three. HD radio looks promising, but the breadth of satellite programming is currently its greatet attraction, in my opinion. There aren't too many vehicles I like - certain BMW's, Subaru's and the MDX amongst them - and the quality of the sound system is quite important, even though I might be the only one who would really appreciate it.

tomarp

realms_reality

What is the best option performance / Cost / Ease of use of any of the after market ipod itegration that is out there ?

I have ruled out the "homelink" option after reading reviews about it. So what do you guys have and what would rate the best ?

realms_reality

I forgot to add, i have a 2007 Acura MDX with tech / RES. I need to get the most of the ELS system i have.

Any suggestions ?

bennb

If it were me I'd just plug it into the back using a set of audio cords ... mind sounds good plugged into the AUX in the middle console. I know it doesn't function with the display that way, but it's alright to me.

realms_reality

I thought about that wasn't sure whether the ELS sound system would be put to use properly in this case and of course the song list control is stil in the ipo which would be easy to use with one hand on the wheel.

bennb

You can go into the menu in your audio and tell it to try to convert all music to 5.1 surround.

realms_reality

I know there is a switch for Dolby digital and in some cases it says it is not available for this source, is that what you are talking about ? This is in the audio set up screen right at the bottom of the "balance" "Bass" list.

bennb

Yeah ... that's what i was talking about.

suvhunt

Hi, Does anyone out there with the MDX and tech/DVD tried to hook up the ipod via the RCA out? How does that work out? Do you have to turn the DVD on to listen to the ipod input?

lttmkd5

I actually have the Harmon Kardon iDrive. It is a small (3.5) viewer with a ipod like dial controller. The screen displays just like the ipod, and the control dial works just like the ipod dial. It can be used wirelessly, but I found that to have way too much static. So, went back to Best Buy and they plugged it in directly to system. Sound is just as good as CD, and it's simple to use. As long as you don't mind having a small screen mounted on your dash. It's very similar in size to an XM screen. I highly recommend it.

suvhunt

I am just curious that if there is an aux input on the car, how is having the iDrive better? Did best buy plug in the iDrive through the aux input in the center console? thanks for your thoughts.

lttmkd5

The's an aux input in the back of the system. Best Buy plugged it in. The "brain" of the iDrive gets plugged directly into the system. You can use the AUX jack in the center console (as long as you don't have the RES) as well. The iDrive is better because it gives you the small display, whcih you can use just like your ipod. Scrolling through artists, genres, playlists. Here's the link:
http://www.harmankardon.com/drive-1/default.aspx?Country=US&Language=ENG&Region=- USA&#btm

realms_reality

I tried just that last week. I have a 2007 mdx with tech/RES and i hooked my ipod through the RCA. It works just fine when you switch to the Aux mode.

The problems though are

I had to leave my volume at around 15-16 level, while i play my cd's at around 11-12 level.

Still trying to figure out how to charge the ipod while listening to songs.

Dunno how it compares to systems that directly hook on to ELS surround sound.

lttmkd5

I'm assuming this is where the Best Buy guys hooked mine up, don't know since I didn't see them do it. It works directly through the FM radio mode. You find a FM station that is just dead air, program that channel on the i Drive, and when you turn on the ipod, it plays through that station. I've never had interference issues. Is that what you mean? The are you talking about the RES with the RCA inputs?

lttmkd5

You won't be able to charge the ipod - that's why they want you to buy the crappy Acura Link for ipod. That's the only was to charge it....unless you buy the iDrive (Harmon Kardon). I use this and it charges while playing.

cantelopehead

I have a 2005 MDX with the single CD play without the DVD entertainment system. I noticed that other Acuras have the AUX input in the armrest. Where is the AUX input on my car? I've looked in the manual but there's no topic on it...

golfgod2

I have an '07 base model with the standard stereo. I keep customizing my audio settings (bass, treble, etc) but eventually they keep going back to the default standard settings. I don't know why this is happening and why my settings aren't being saved. can anyone shed some light on this and/or have suggestions.

Thanks!

dms9

It's the remotes. If you use the other remote it resets to whatever settings there are on the second remote. If there aren't any settings, it goes to the defaults. Even if you use remote one to start the car, if remote two has been the last to UNLOCK the car, then it will use the second settings. The solution is easy. If the second key has recently been used, just use remote one, lock the doors and then unlock the doors, all your settings will return.

Good luck.

golfgod2

okay, thanks! I do the same things so I get my audio station presets when I'm driving the car. for some reason, it doesn't work with the audio level settings. I'm thinking that I didn't set those. I'l give it a try. sounds like it should work. thanks.

dms9

more importantly, what's your handicap?

turbineben

My wife has a 05 MDX with the Bose sound system. I have the bass all of the way up, but the level is still too low for her ears. I would think that with the sub in the back, the level should be quite good. Anyone know where the amp is located in the car, or have any ideas on how to turn up the bass?

human321

I have an 07 Tech/Ent model. I tried our Ipod with a patch cord that went into the head phone jack of the IPOD and converted to red and white RCA which I plugged into the aux input jacks.

In my opinion this does not sound as good as the same media burned to cd's or dvd's and played through the player itself. We also have an 05 Accord which has an aftermarket IPOD connection which plugs into the bottom of the IPOD and charges it also. It seems that this interface has a superior sound compared to using the IPOD headphone jack.
FWIW

dpbhyd

Does 08'MDX come with RDS built into the radio unit.

deuro

Hi

On the DVD-Audio Test disc that came with my New '08 MDX Tech/Ent track 21 tests the different sources by playing music through the different speakers. But the last test "Deep base guitar ... through the subwoofer" the sound is completely missing. Is anybody else experiencing this problem with that disc or did Acura forget to connect the subwoofer ?

In the following music (track 22) you can hear the bass guitar, but I think that is through the other speakers. I tried turning the volume up on the subwoofer specifically, but that did not help.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

upstatedoc

Turn the radio on, open the back hatch and put your hand on the woofer speaker cover located on the right side below the 3rd window. If you can feel it, it's working.

dms9

Can I ask what RDS is??