[Gavin]

I went the cheap route, bought my Element with no accessories - not even the radio! To fill the black hole in my dash, I bought a stock EX head on EBay for $65. I stripped two 5" Infiniti speakers from the car I was selling, and installed them in the front doors with shims. Now, I need to install two more speakers in the rear doors and the EX head.

So, my questions:
1) Is the wiring harness in the DX wired exactly like the EX stock CD player? In other words, can I just plug the harness into the radio socket?

2) What is the power rating for the EX?

3). How do you remove the tweeter grills in the windshield supports without damaging them?

4). Other than entering the security code, is there anything I need to know about doing this installation, i.e. is there anything stupid I could do that would set the car on fire?

Note to EX owners: if you put in an expensive aftermarket stereo, save the old EX unit for us poor DX owners who didn't have the bread upfront to give Honda $400 extra for the stereo!

Gavin

 

[mike1007]

When I removed my EX rear speakers to install aftermarket speakers it said 50 Watts Max (if I remember correctly) on the back. That would work out to about 35 Watts RMS, but remember these speakers are being powered by an amplifier.

I have the manual, will look it up tonight if harness same but I'm sure someone here knows offhand.

I have the EX stock Head Unit and 2 speakers if anyone is interested in buying.

Nothing speacial about entering security code, just enter is and your are set.

To remove tweeters you have to remove the panel and its pretty easy.
Mike

 

[ShaneS]

The wireing for the DX and EX are different because the EX has an external amp which is located behind the passenger side kick panel. Because of this you're actually better off putting that HU back on EBay, you can actually get more than $65 for it and make a profit. Also the DX wireing is much more friendly for those who want to install aftermarket equipment because there is no amp to bypass so your lucky there. Also if you want to keep your Element OEM, Honda has a CD player made for the DX and also an MP3 player which will plug in to the harness but their stuff is expensive for what it is. Or the better choice for sound quality would be to just get a decent aftermarket deck with a Metra dash kit w pocket.

 

[eMass]

Shane is right on target but I want to emphasize one point...

The EX head unit has no internal amplifier and therefore cannot power speakers on its own!

So, as Shane says, put that stereo back on eBay an get yourself an aftermarket unit like the one below. It'll cost a little more but it will be worth it.

The unit below is $160.00 and is a really great value. You can buy it here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3044022255&category=18798