Polk Speakers with Bose OEM
Systems
Posts: 14,873
I recently purchased a 2002 Acura MDX that has a OEM Bose headunit, indash CD changer, amps, speaker system. The front doors have component tweeters and 6.5" rounds, rear doors 6.5" rounds and a 10" subwoofer built in to the rear side panel and not in any kind of enclosure. There is also a tweeter in the center rear headliner. All are 2 ohm. It is tough to get exact specifications but the amps apparently are 25wx4 and 100w for the sub. The sound is very marginal and from what I read in a MDX forum the speakers are the weakest link - very cheap paper Alpines.
I want to do a speaker upgrade (Polks because I love my Polk HT speakers) and most likely can do the install myself as long as it doesn't involve cutting into existing wiring and tearing apart the car. I went to a local high-end installer (Myer-Emco) and they will do a speaker upgrade only if I replace the Bose headunit and amps. Because I have the factory nav system, tearing out the headunit causes all kinds of problems and may invalidate the nav warranty, plus the cost is outrageous.
Many MDX owners have simply replaced the speakers and got a substantially improved sound. One owner replaced the front door speakers with dx6's, a GNX104 sub and didn't touch any of the tweeters, rear door speakers or amps. He said the difference in sound was amazing and got more volume.
If I want to go a step better what are my options especially if I might add a better 4 channel amp in the future? Is the EX 365 better than the dx6? Would it be better in the long run to go with the EX3560 component system in front doors and EX365 or dx6 in rear doors? Apparently there are some crossovers built into the Bose system. Could I get by with those crossovers and not use the ones that come with the EX3560? Would Dynamat make an improvement? I live in Reston, VA and would be willing to drive up to Polk in Baltimore for an evaluation if that would help. Are there any good Polk installers in northern VA? I want to stay away from Circuit City. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I want to do a speaker upgrade (Polks because I love my Polk HT speakers) and most likely can do the install myself as long as it doesn't involve cutting into existing wiring and tearing apart the car. I went to a local high-end installer (Myer-Emco) and they will do a speaker upgrade only if I replace the Bose headunit and amps. Because I have the factory nav system, tearing out the headunit causes all kinds of problems and may invalidate the nav warranty, plus the cost is outrageous.
Many MDX owners have simply replaced the speakers and got a substantially improved sound. One owner replaced the front door speakers with dx6's, a GNX104 sub and didn't touch any of the tweeters, rear door speakers or amps. He said the difference in sound was amazing and got more volume.
If I want to go a step better what are my options especially if I might add a better 4 channel amp in the future? Is the EX 365 better than the dx6? Would it be better in the long run to go with the EX3560 component system in front doors and EX365 or dx6 in rear doors? Apparently there are some crossovers built into the Bose system. Could I get by with those crossovers and not use the ones that come with the EX3560? Would Dynamat make an improvement? I live in Reston, VA and would be willing to drive up to Polk in Baltimore for an evaluation if that would help. Are there any good Polk installers in northern VA? I want to stay away from Circuit City. Thanks in advance for any advice.
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