I was driving my wife's new 2008 Acura RDX

The tweeters on the A pillars are probably your problem.

My 2005 Accord has the tweeters in the dash corners pointed at the windshield, a terrible location that causes a horn effect between the windshield and the dash. A 15 minute ride at moderate volume would give me a headache.

My temporary solution was fast food napkins over them, a vast improvement. A thick hat worn over the ears is also effective. I do have a screwdriver gouge in the dash near one where I tried to pry one out in a fit of frustration.

Leaving the stereo on overnight a few times and turning the treble way down until they were broken in seems to have worked.

At present the treble and bass are at -2 and 0, and the sound is quite good for a factory stereo. Not in a detailed or accurate way, but fairly balanced and a slightly plump midbass to add some thump to my dance music. I also noticed that the audio system seems to be equalized differently for different sources, when listening to FM, there is an intolerable bass boost that sounds so unnatural that it is unpleasant. Perhaps you could check different sources and see if yours is similar.

I think you should stick some black felt over the tweeters for a while until they break in.

I only listen to talk radio so I don't even know what our cars systems sound like!! I run only 1 channel in the front cause its easier to hear a talking voice out of one channel opposed to 4 channels with the driver not balanced and getting the right ear hammered.

It probably drives my with nuts but she always leaves it on the one channel when she listens to her music. I sound like my old man now! Car factory systems are a disapointment anyways compared to the home.

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?