I was driving my wife's new 2008 Acura RDX

Hey folks, some of you are mocking.

Acura is selling this off as serious audio. Elliott Scheiner talks like he really knows. I auditioned the DVD-A that came with the vehicle, and it's absolute trash. Tchaikovsky in a 5 channel barrel for the last of 21 cuts on the disc. Wow, was it bad. Sounded like AM radio with added efx echo.

I drove my TL - S 2002 with the old Bose. MUCH better, particular in the mid to upper bass frequencies. I think that's where the problem exists, and there is no graphic equalizer, just bass and treble and relative loudness of the speaks.

Thanks to some of you--keep the responses coming.

Guys and gals, I did all the things you suggest, turning the treble up, down, flat and the bass the same way. It's got a tipped up high frequency but no extended high frequency. Everything sounds sharp and it sounds brightly cool on pop, rock, etc. Their demo DVD-A used a multichannel mix of jazz with the classic guitar in back of you, keyboard back on the other side, bass in your head, etc. Sounded like my old pingpong stereo Command LP's of yesteryear, which admittedly, can be fun. Not realistic.

Sarah Brightman Webber EMI, Szell Philips 50th Beethoven 5/Sibelius 2, Van Cliburn Tchaikovsky pc 1 and Rachmaninoff pc 2 RCA hybrid, and others, no go.

I ended up with bass 1-2 up, treble 3 notches down and most of the sound away from the center (terrible speaker), with a bit more sound from the back than the front speakers and left right equal.

jeff bowman, good idea :)

I am asking for folks who experienced the same and maybe solved it without ripping out this fake high end system. If one looks at the website for ELS audio Acura, they rave like swooning teens about how great it is.

trucker, my system is 5.1 system. No tweets. I had those kind of things on our old car, the Lexus RX 300 (1998 1/2), which had a boomy softer sound, but at least wasn't sharp sounding.

Found the answer to my own problem and question.

http://rdx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.phpp=34963#post34963

doesn't go through, but here's the text, an answer in 10.07 to "Weak ELS sound?" on the acura forum:

Originally Posted by pdphill
The image processing of the ELS makes up for less than stellar speakers and amps. When I got my TL, the quality of the sound was amazing, but it certainly lacked the punch and clarity of my medium-priced aftermarket system in my Legend (still using the factory audio unit). Same for the RDX. For those of you who also notice this, keep in mind that the watt rating is not RMS but peak and is at 10% distortion at that rating. The 5 channel amp is about 6 X 8 X 2, so you can imagine the lack of quality. As for the stock speakers, the MSRP prices from Acura are $24.73 for the 4 door speakers, $21.28 for the 2 tweeters, $22.10 for the center, $25.48 for the 2 satellites and $236.62 for the sub unit which includes the 8" sub, plastic box and separate amp. In the base RDX, the sub and box costs $68.50 since there is no amp. I have pulled one of the door speakers and it is lightweight junk. I'm amazed it gets the sound it does. Imagine what some decent speakers and amps could do for this system. I am planning an upgrade and my first decision for the front door, tweeter and rear doors is between Boston Acoustics Pro60 or Focal 165V2. Any thoughts?