[tex]

Excited to see where this thing can go. I've been trying to get my hands on a 2008+ for a while now, and as of yesterday, I found one. Picked it up at 119k miles, and with 4/4 control arms slightly bent (2/4 needed to be replaced immediately, and the other two are going to get replaced with the HRG offroad kit lift extending control arms). shocked to say, after driving it 365 miles in one day, (back to where I live now), the damn thing drives like it was made yesterday, with the interior FULLY intact. I plan on doing a lot with this thing. expect some pretty cool **** to come out of it.

ALSO:
does anyone know if the Pioneer DMH-W2770NEX is a good budget choice for an element stereo?

 

[shaneopie]

Congrats on the Element find and welcome! It is a fun ride owning one for sure. Have had my 04' since new. Good luck on the stereo question, the head until is the one thing that is still stumping me at the moment mainly due to the EX model with the 7 speaker set up and the desire to retain that set up with just a head unit install.

 

[tex]

Congrats on the Element find and welcome! It is a fun ride owning one for sure. Have had my 04' since new. Good luck on the stereo question, the head until is the one thing that is still stumping me at the moment mainly due to the EX model with the 7 speaker set up and the desire to retain that set up with just a head unit install.

Thanks man!
yeah these double DIN radios are good, I also want to replace the sound system in the car, add the HRG lift kit, add some of the plating and roof racks off of element driven, and replace the headlights. Something I've also been looking at is replacing the headliner with hardwood, like an old station wagon with a modern twist. All of it in chunks, in due time. I live in MN, though, any recommendations for preventative or precautionary salt and deterioration maintenance? I want this thing to run beautifully for another 200k/300k miles.

 

[shaneopie]

All sounds like great mods. Keep us updated with pics. As far as the salt I live in Ga so my 04 still looks great underneath, not much salt to worry about here. But I am sure other owners on here can help.

 

[dc99]

Thats the easy part. Just use metra 70-7863 wiring kit and you can keep the factory amp

 

[pounce]

Consider some of the Android head units as well if you have interest in a floating 10" screen. Helps with a backup camera.

 

[wannahonda]

Congrats on the Element find and welcome! It is a fun ride owning one for sure. Have had my 04' since new. Good luck on the stereo question, the head until is the one thing that is still stumping me at the moment mainly due to the EX model with the 7 speaker set up and the desire to retain that set up with just a head unit install.

I was able to install an aftermarket stereo and keep the 7 speaker factory set up and still use the factory amp, there are two head unit adapters, got the wrong one the first time and no sound was coming from the speakers, swapped it for the other one and presto all seven speakers working again. If your head unit only has one pair of RCA jacks like mine had, then you will need a line outout converter, If I remember correctly

 

[tex]

I was able to install an aftermarket stereo and keep the 7 speaker factory set up and still use the factory amp, there are two head unit adapters, got the wrong one the first time and no sound was coming from the speakers, swapped it for the other one and presto all seven speakers working again. If your head unit only has one pair of RCA jacks like mine had, then you will need a line outout converter, If I remember correctly

Consider some of the Android head units as well if you have interest in a floating 10" screen. Helps with a backup camera.

For both of y'all; I'm looking at the XAVAX 5500 because it looks the most like stock. I'm not trying to get my ****in windows broken into. I'll post an update when I have the funds for it.

 

[wannahonda]

Yes I always go with a very basic stereo with no big frills too as it is far less a target for thieves.

 

[tex]

Yes I always go with a very basic stereo with no big frills too as it is far less a target for thieves.

thoughts on the DMH1770NEX? it’s reasonably priced, but i haven’t been able to find a review.

 

[Fitwise]

Thanks man!
yeah these double DIN radios are good, I also want to replace the sound system in the car, add the HRG lift kit, add some of the plating and roof racks off of element driven, and replace the headlights. Something I've also been looking at is replacing the headliner with hardwood, like an old station wagon with a modern twist. All of it in chunks, in due time. I live in MN, though, any recommendations for preventative or precautionary salt and deterioration maintenance? I want this thing to run beautifully for another 200k/300k miles.

Take to car wash to rinse often especially after any moisture, especially snow. Just go thru a do-it-yourself and give it a quick rinse, especially the undercarriage. Then go for a short drive at highway speeds (if possible) to dry it off. This will considerably cut down on rust.

 

[tex]

Take car to rinse your car often especially after any moisture, especially snow. Just go thru a do-it-yourself and give it a quick rinse, especially the undercarriage. Then go for a short drive at highway speeds (if possible) to dry it off. This will considerably cut down on rust.

i plan on doing that weekly. did that the other day, actually.

 

[wannahonda]

thoughts on the DMH1770NEX? it’s reasonably priced, but i haven’t been able to find a review.

The touch screen type head unit is too fancy for me and I would think those touch screen ones are going to be the ones more attractive to thieves. I like the basic ones with knobs and buttons. Cheaper to buy, not as much glare from the screen but I have heard that the Pioneer brand is the value leader, you will get more features for your money

 

[cursh]

I just installed a kenwood with 5 pre amp outs, a DVD player and CarPlay and it was $300 out the door. Im not a show queen, so I always try to get open box of its available.

both HU upgrades I made over the life of the car opened up the factory amp a bit. I now have fully replaced the speakers, but the amp is still factory. It sounds like a stealth install the sub just booms. Apparently the factory amp can take up to 2 ohms on any individual channel; no problem. Im running all the doors at 3ohms no problem.

The amp pushes 18w rms at 4ohm as bench tested by a member here and 36w rms at 2 ohms. Thats beefy/ equiv to a 75w x 4 amp. The sub is just four of the same channels bridged to 2x 36w at 4ohms. Kinda wild it all comes out of that tiny amp

bomb little system Honda gifted us

I would focus on having 5-6 preamp outs and a decent preamp voltage if you’re retaining the factory amp, Then just cruise what your into (physical knob/ disc playback/ we) I was careful to look into the Bluetooth generation (not always listed) to make sure I was investing in BT4.x or newer. Lots of BT3 out there even on new models. I couldn’t find any with BT5. I don’t buy audio often enough, so I didn’t want to be living with tech Thats 10 years old out of the box.

my old kenwood had 4v preamps, but no headroom to speak of (we rocked to 31 all the time out of 35 volume) the new one has 2v preamps but plenty of headspace as we’re playing now at 28/40 volume. No idea why/how, but ¯\(ツ)/¯ maybe the kenwood HU I just replaced inflated its preamp numbers.