[Vantastic]

I have ordered a 2002 Ex RRP in November and should be receiving it in
April. Seems like forever already. I am currently the proud owner of a 95
Ford Junkstar GL as another post put it. Only the GL should be LG for LOTS
OF GRIEF. With only 47000 miles I hope it holds out till spring.
My question is after seeing many posts about upgrading the radio on
Hondas I was wondering how much worse can it be compared to the factory
radio in my Winstar or any other van with the standard radio? I live in
Omaha and can't find a dealer with a 2002 EX in stock to listen to.

Thanks for your replies

 

[sinbad]

Replace the head unit with any 25 watt aftermarket unit (the factory unit is believed to be around 10 watts), and replace at least the front speakers with aftermarket units. Pioneer speakers have received good reviews here. This will produce a dramatic increase in sound quality.

------------------
2002 TW EX; Weathertechs; Splash; 4X Pioneer 1695's w/ Blaupunkt Casablanca head unit; Hella Supertone Horns; Hitch w/ Transmission & Power Steering Coolers; 2001 Five-spoke Alloy Wheels.
2000 Honda CBR 929 RR
Honda "Masters" GXV140, 135 cc. mower

 

[adam1991]

The EX factory unit is 30w per channel.

 

[shindog]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Vantastic:
My question is after seeing many posts about upgrading the radio on
Hondas I was wondering how much worse can it be compared to the factory
radio in my Winstar or any other van with the standard radio?</font>

Hi Vantastic, hope your wait isn't too long!

To answer you question specifically in regards to the factory head unit, I'd say it's pretty comparable to an other basic OEM factory CD player. (but not to be compared to a higher end OEM setup like Bose, Nak, McIntosh...) Not sure if your Ford had a CD player, but if it did, the Honda OEM head should be similar.

This means that for around $200 aftermarket, you're likely to get some noticable improvement in perceived power and sound.

Having said that, the real bottleneck in the Ody sound system are its poor speakers. My recommendation is to get the van and assess what you have. If it is not to your liking, upgrade front speakers next and then see. If you need more volume/better sound, you can look at the head unit, subwoofer, etc...

Good Luck!

------------------
-Shin John
'01 DEP EX, and I'm workin' on it! (slowly)

 

[adam1991]

Of course, if you really want the factory DVD option you're stuck with the head unit. In that case, definitely put money into speakers. And a subwoofer.

 

[KT XPRS]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by adam1991:
Of course, if you really want the factory DVD option you're stuck with the head unit. In that case, definitely put money into speakers. And a subwoofer.</font>

Does anyone know how to improve the sound if you do have the factory DVD unit?

 

[Car2ns]

We had a '96 'Junkstar'. The '02 Ody stereo is lightyears better. When I have some spare $$, I'll probably go with a subwoofer and better speakers though.

 

[adam1991]

If you have the factory DVD, switch speakers out and make sure you add a subwoofer (the factory unit is fine, really).

The rear speakers seem to be problematic, probably because of the speaker mounts themselves. The rear cavity isn't sealed off completely from the van interior, and that's causing low to no bass (or midrange, really) response back there.

 

[SoFlaOdyssey]

I heard the stereo in a 2002 Odyssey at the Miami International Auto Show in November. It had the RES and had a "movie" playing. It looked mostly like Honda advertisements.

Anyway, the sound was MUCH better than my factory 2001 LX stereo. I thought it sounded quite nice. I'm aware there's always room for improvement with OEM stereos, but this one sounded pretty good. It was not blasting, but was loud enough.

Regarding my 2001 LX; I'm sure a 2001 EX will have a better setup. However, I simply replaced my speakers (Pioneer 1665's and 1645's) and the improvement is dramatic.

So, a simple speaker upgrade should suffice if you don't want to swap head units. I wanted to keep the stock head unit as I also installed the in-dash 6 CD changer.

Good luck!


------------------
Nelson
2001 Odyssey LX
2001 Civic EX Sedan
1990 Mustang LX 5.0 Coupe
http://fiveoh.homestead.com/main.html

 

[viper001]

Picked up our RRP EX-L RES last night, so I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with the new DVD, but I have a few comments to add to this thread.

Head unit: I definitely don't feel "stuck" with the head unit. It is easily the slickest setup I have ever seen! Compared to all the aftermarket systems (IVES included), there is NO comparison. The dual zoning ability, built in CD, DVD, and cassette, really nice. And the speakers are decidedly better than the stock ones that I traded in on the '99, I can't imagine swapping them out, but maybe I don't have as discerning an ear as the next person.

Even though I am usually a fan of subwoofers, I'm forgoing that route in favor of 3 additional wireless headphones ($21 a piece, great price from Handa Accessories). My thoughts on that, we will have spares if they break in the future, and why would I want my driver's seat rumbling for a movie that I can't even see, so I see us using the headphones more often anyway.

A couple of questions that I haven't found answers to yet, maybe somebody here knows. Is there any way to respond to a DVD menu prompt via the head unit? Basically, some DVDs launch to the menu instead of the actual movie, it would be nice if I could respond via the head unit to the "enter" command. Secondly, how does the unit deal with widescreen movies? And third, which audio track (Pro Logic, Dolby Digital) is the player utilizing, and is it capable of any surround logic when playing through the speakers?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Shaners]

Viper,

There are some commands that can be used in the head unit to operate the DVD. I have only used the DVD player once, and I operated it from the head unit.

The movie we played was widescreen format, and it filled the entire screen and the picture was very good. I don't know what sound/audio format the system uses. I switched off the front speakers and played the movie through the rear spekers for the kids. I haven't tried the headphones yet or any of the other cool features like multiple tuners or playing 2 CD's at once using the DVD player as the optional CD player. This head unit is very complex!!!

------------------
2002 EXL-RES Redrock Pearl

2001 Chevy 2500HD crewcab 4x4

 

[lotus18]

quote:'And the speakers are decidedly better than the stock ones'
This statement made me think about if the RES-equipped 02' Ody has the same kind of speakers as other 02' Ody?
I have a 02' EXL-Nav and the sound is definitely better than my old 99' Ody EXL, but does the RES-equipped Ody have upgraded speakers because it is specially designed for playing DVD movies?
Anyone knows the answer?

 

[adam1991]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">A couple of questions that I haven't found answers to yet, maybe somebody here knows. Is there any way to respond to a DVD menu prompt via the head unit? Basically, some DVDs launch to the menu instead of the actual movie, it would be nice if I could respond via the head unit to the "enter" command. </font>

No problem. Just press the DVD Play button (it's one of the radio preset buttons, with a DVD > label underneath--I think it's preset 2). Or DVD Pause, similarly labeled.

 

[viper001]

Thanks for the info on the play button on the head unit!

One trick mentioned that it won't do apparently is 2 tuners. I tried to tune different radio stations front and rear but them seem to move together, so I guess it just won't do that. Otherwise, it is very cool, having the 2 CD players is a very nice feature by utilizing the DVD player.

 

[Shaners]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by viper001:
Thanks for the info on the play button on the head unit!

One trick mentioned that it won't do apparently is 2 tuners. I tried to tune different radio stations front and rear but them seem to move together, so I guess it just won't do that. Otherwise, it is very cool, having the 2 CD players is a very nice feature by utilizing the DVD player.</font>

I haven't tried the dual tuners, but I think they are there and they will only work with the headphones. Maybe I misunderstood when I read the manual...


------------------
2002 EXL-RES Redrock Pearl

2001 Chevy 2500HD crewcab 4x4

 

[adam1991]

No dual tuners. One tuner only.

So you have several sources: tuner, cassette, in-dash CD, and DVD player. The DVD player could be playing a CD instead. Front and back can each be playing any source independently. They can also each be playing the same source.

What's slick about the Honda RES is the rear control up at the front of the screen. The rear passengers have complete control over whatever audio source they've chosen, via this hardwired control panel.

Or, the driver can turn the controls themselves off and leave control to himself up front. It's all very well integrated, especially for a first effort.

 

[Phace]

'03 EX Stock Radio?

Does anyone know what this radio is? Who makes it? What are the true specs? What possible model number of the OEM company we can look at to see the specs?

I'm debating hard on getting the Alpine 7897 or leaving the stock HU in... at least for now. I installed the 1695's this weekend. I need to install my amp and subwoofer, but the install for the Amp is very different for the stock HU and the 7897. I don't mind doing it twice, but I'd love to get some hard-core specs to look at.

 

[JoesYum]

Re: '03 EX Stock Radio?

Does anyone know what this radio is? Who makes it? What are the true specs? What possible model number of the OEM company we can look at to see the specs?

I'm debating hard on getting the Alpine 7897 or leaving the stock HU in... at least for now. I installed the 1695's this weekend. I need to install my amp and subwoofer, but the install for the Amp is very different for the stock HU and the 7897. I don't mind doing it twice, but I'd love to get some hard-core specs to look at.

If you have the money and time, it would be well worth it to go with aftermarket HU. I did the speaker and amp upgrade, sounds lot better than stock, but notice short comings from factory HU. I really haven't found a aftermarket HU i really like yet(don't want to spend that much money for whats out there now, i'm looking to the $500 to $700 range for new HU), but the stock HU will go out the door soon as i see a aftermarket HU i really like.

 

[Phace]

Re: Re: '03 EX Stock Radio?

If you have the money and time, it would be well worth it to go with aftermarket HU. I did the speaker and amp upgrade, sounds lot better than stock, but notice short comings from factory HU. I really haven't found a aftermarket HU i really like yet(don't want to spend that much money for whats out there now, i'm looking to the $500 to $700 range for new HU), but the stock HU will go out the door soon as i see a aftermarket HU i really like.

Well, I'm figuring just to tap the rear speaker outs from behind the HU for now, pass them through a voltage converter, use some RCA cables from that to my amp, and from there I have an active crossover built in, plus the ability to bridge the channels just for the sub use. The amp is more than I need, but it's nice to have more than what you need than less.

 

[Phace]

ok, It sucks. The bass is cute, but the sound just isn't clean enough.. I'm getting the 7897... that's it.