renesis.ca

Nothing like cruising across North America, at twice the legal speed limit with your favorite tunes playing from your 200 watt MP3, CD-R, CD player.

Hope Mazda will take that Protoge MP3 sound system, less the boom box in the trunk, and push it into the dash of the RX-8.

spwolf

I am sure you will be able to get nice sound system, if maybe with some extra dough ;-)...

but when I drive fast, I preffer to hear the road, tires and engine... since I will be mostly driving on backroads and two lane roads...

DANNER

Yeah, I hope the sound system will be good or at least there will be an option of an upgrade.

One thing I definately don't want is it to only be decent but still not great. That's the situation I'm in with my RSX-S. It comes with a 6 CD in dash HU and a 6" sub. Nice Right? Well the sub isn't that powerful (very little thump) and the HU is only okay. That makes it difficult to justify buying an aftermarket HU and sub. If it was a 1 CD HU and no sub I would definatly spring for good sub.

Jerome81

Danner,
I also own a Type S. I'll agree that the Bose system is quite weak. Are you familiar with http://www.clubrsx.com ? They have a great forum there that might be able to help with your stereo desires.

Also, what is the VIN on your S? If it is before 16,XXX, as mine is, there was a problem with the wires to the sub being backwards when put in at the factory. It is a simple fix that is covered on clubrsx, or you can take it to the dealer and they will fix it for you. There was a bulletin in December and they should know about it. After fixing mine, the sound was substantially better, but still not what I'd expect from a Bose (the Mazda Millenia and Nissan Maxima systems are WAY better). Definitely worth the fix.

Let me know.

DANNER

Yeah of course I know about clubrsx. Go there all the time :D. I haven't done the fix (Partly afraid to mess up the wire, and partly just lazy). Still wish it had a bigger sub or at least the option to get one.

RX - 8

a veri good sound system is a NEED for me, my fd has the bose and it was a very nice system for a 93, but for me ..TODAY i would need something with alot more umpff

Grimace

Better yet, a "radio delete" option so I can put my own stuff in, but we won't see that in a million years.

Shots of the interior show the HU is integrated with the climate controls, so upgrading would be a real pain. Might be the HU stays in and everything else gets upgraded.

spwolf

interior is not finalized yet, which is why none of the mags that drove the car, said anything detailed about interior... i would wait until production version before making conclusions

alear

I would also like to see a radio delete option. But also design the interior so an aftermarket head unit could be installed without looking out of place. Not sure if I like it, but the s2000 seems to be designed this way with the stereo behind a fold out panel.

Grimace

It is easy to install an aftermarket radio in the S2000 and make it look integrated. However, its a real problem integrating with the audio controls next to the steering wheel. I think there is a fix available, but it was expensive (www.s2ki.com). I'm wondering if the radio controls on the steering wheel stay on the RX-8 that we'd have the same kind of troubles. On the s2000, most just disable them.

alear

Believe it or not, I actually have a lot of experience interfacing steering wheel controls with aftermarket head units. Most systems are not difficult but I haven't dealt with all of them. Most systems were for friends and just for fun. I also have experience reverse engineering popular data buses (alpine, sony). I have an electrical engineering degree and would have no problem creating a simple system to interface any wheel controls including the Mazda's.

Grimace

If thats the case, I may be giving you a call Alex!

RX - 8

personally i think that i would rather have a cheap system in there so i could just buy my own system and install it..just because i know what i would like and it would suit my tastes better

boowana

Has anyone heard about Satallite Radio offerings in the RX-8? Do you know which of the two systems will be offered?
Have any of you tried Satallite radio and if so, what do you think of it? Thanks.

Grimace

No mention of satellite radio in any of the stuff I've seen written about the '8, boowana. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Do any of the auto manufacturers offer this currently? I can't think of any that do, but that may just be brain fade.

I've never tried it. Radio that you pay for seems strange to me (I have trouble paying for cable :p ). But if it is commercial free and really high quality like its supposed to be, I might consider it. How much a month is it anyway? Anyone know?

Styjan

A bunch of the GM cars are availible with an XM Radio option. The subscription fee is $9.99 and I think there are over 100 stations.

Grimace

Ah yes, of course. I forgot about GM.

Hmmm... I don't think I'd subscribe for $10/month. Maybe if I drove more.

Jerome81

Here's what I know.

XM and Sirius are the two satellite stations. XM is 9.99/mo, but only about 30 of the 70 music channels are commercial free. Those that are commercial free are things like oldies, jazz, classical, etc. The channels with all the latest music HAVE commercials, though the commercial time is less than most FM stations.

Sirius is 100% commercial free on music stations for 12.95/mo. Both XM and Sirius subscribe to things like Fox news, CNN, etc which have commercials.

The interesting thing is that it is usually either one or the other. For instance, Sony, Pioneer, Clarion, and Alpine support XM decks, while Kenwood, Jensen, and Panasonic are Sirius. I believe this is going to be changing, and all makes will have stereos that will do either service.

As far as factory decks, most car companies plan to sell cars ready to go for satellite radio. GM owns a stake in XM, so it will use XM, as will Honda, Suzuki, Isuzu, and Saab, and Porsche. I'm sure a few others will but are not listed. Sirius on the other hand will be used by BMW, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz, Mazda, Ford, Jaguar, Jeep, Dodge, Porsche (again), Lincoln, Volvo. Sirius sounds as if it will be installed in the factory more than XM.

I have heard this technology is here, and will be spread to nearly all vehicles within the next model year or two. It would not surprise me to see the 6 be Mazda's first car ready for Sirius, and I'm sure the RX-8 will be as well. Especially when you look at how both the 6 and RX-8 have unique radio controls and displays with controls located mid center stack, but the display information is at the top of the center stack.

The sound quality is AMAZING. Stop by Best Buy, Circuit City or something to listen. It is as crisp as a CD. Personally, I really like Sirius. Great programming and 100% commercial free music. I don't mind the extra $3/mo. It is still cheaper than a CD per month, and will probably make CD's relatively useless because of such a wide selection.

You can listen to live stream of Sirius at their website at http://www.sirius.com It is actually VERY good quality for internet radio too. I found the selection of music to be very very good.

Hope that helps.

red_base 95

At www.caranddriver.com there is a mouse-over banner ad at the top of the front page that has some high level info on programming choices.

Also, I have recently noticed on my Direct tv programming guide there is a channel devoted to XM radio - a 24/7 infomercial. I think it is channel 347 or so. If you have Direct TV, spend about 5 minutes and you'll hhave enough info to make a decision.

BTW...my stock club has purchased some XM stock (symbol is xmsr). There might be some opportunity there for investing - if you're into that.

applejax

I have yet to hear a factory system that is good...

--jax

Synergy

Ok, well this is my first post here, but it's actually something I know about so here's what I think. I've worked as a car installer at a high end stereo shop and as a salesman as well.

Factory RCA's - Not a Snowball's chance in H---. Car manufacturer's are doing everything in their power to make life difficult for aftermarket stereos. In the last ten years I have yet to see a OEM stereo become easier to work with. Only harder. Bose is probably the worlds worst about this one.

Not to say that aftermarket stereo can't be done. My RX-8 will be my show car. I'm planning to compete USAC with mine, so it'll have a system in it that I plan to WIN with. So, the factory stereo is going to go.

As far as getting the vehicle with no stereo, probably about the same chance as getting factory RCA's. Nil. Most companies just won't do it.

And yes, integrating the head unit into the dash will probably present its own challenges because it seems that the display might be integrated with the display of the Climate control. But then I'm sure there's a way around everything. There almost always is. Just give it a little time. Someone will put a kit out that you can get at your local stereo shop. Even if the Climate controls are integrated. It'll probably just cost a little more.

Sirius Radio. Ford has been planning on offering Sirius with all of their cars. What it's looking like is that you'll get a year or something like that of free Sirius with a new car purchase, after which you start paying the subscription fee. Whether satellite radio will be a factory installed option yet when the RX-8 comes out is so far unknown, at least to my knowledge. The question is when Ford will begin putting the satellite into cars. The RX-8 should get it at the same time as all the rest of Ford's cars.

bluesunlion

6-disc in-dash changer, capable of reading MP3s. 6 speakers with a decent sub. I don't need the kind of sub that offends everyone over the age of 21, just something that provides adequate bass fill.
I don't really want a bose system, they are impossible to fix/modify.

I'm not a total audiophile, I just want something good. not competition quality, just factory stocker stereo good.

cgorham

I noticed a whole lot of manufacturers who force one sattelite or the other. I also noticed nissan wasn't listed, recently I was configuring a car online and you can get either sattelite if you want. Just thought this would be of interest.

ZoomZoom

Does anyone here know for sure, can Canadians purchase one of those radio satellite systems here?

I am willing to bet that our good old CRCT will kill that idea due to the fact that they will loose control of our airwaves, and that B$ about lack of Canadian content.

boowana

I think it would be better for manufacturers to offer a choice. On the other hand, there are probably major kickbacks to manufacturers to align with one or the other.
With that said, enjoy your Sirius equipped RX-8.:o