You may have noted i said "some". First of all, it's subjective. I happen to think many hi end systems with these super tight subs and all sound artificial. Trillion watt amps with speakers that can handle it doesn't allow the speakers to breath till the system is bleeding your ears. Being a musician, tech, and having done a lot of sound in live situatuons for over 2 decades i think getting some news ears would be a real bad idea.

Yea, the aftermarket stuff will have lower distortion, and thats great. But in other areas thier "perfection" sounds sterile to me. A friend has a $1500 system that makes my ears tired after a while. I actually prefer mine in that respect. Thats not to say some aren't great. but to say as a general sweeping statement that all aftermarket systems are so much better than the accord's that i need new ears is an ignorant statement. I said "some", which means that the accord's system is at least as good as some aftermarket sound. And that at least puts it in perspective considering that many cars like a civic aren't even in good enough to be called "good". And IMO that tells him more about it than a statement that clearly states that it won't sound near as good as ANY aftermarket system.

 

Well, I have seem people with aftermarket audio in their 7th gen Accords, however they leave their stock radio in, and they ou the afyrtmarket headunit down in the center pocket. The kit is extremely ungly and very cheaply made! Now, The audio controls can be used, if you disconnect the OEM radio, get a harness and use the OEM wiring to the harness to your aftermarket. If will work for sure. You are then leaving the OEM radio in place.

 

And you may have noticed that "j/k" after the get new ears line. That stands for "just kidding". No need to get all offended. I can respect your level of knowledge and experience in the audio field. Fact is that the car environment is not the same as the home, studio, or live environment. Additionally, the difference between higher-end OEM systems/aftermarket systems as compared to the Accord OEM system will only become apparent at higher volume levels. At 70db it's pretty much all the same. That being said, the stock systems don't (generally) have the construction or power to reproduce the signal(s) as accurately as aftermarket gear. The original post asked about blasting music, not listening at moderate levels. Any aftermarket system can sound poor if not properly designed or installed. Assuming proper design and installation, the vast majority of aftermarket systems (swap market crap aside) would definitely outperform the Accord OEM system.

 

You're saying that you can plug the stock wiring into an aftermarket head unit and the steering wheel audio controls will work properly?

If you are, that doesn't sound right to me. Can you explain please?

 

No no, let me clarify. It would be like installing an aftermarket radio, but in your center console. So basically, your OEM radio is just sitting there off, but your climate ontrols will still work. IMO, the kit is ugly, and yes, the steering wheel audio controls will work because you are using the OEM wiring with the aftermarket harness. I hope that makes sense.

 

The OEM steering wheel controls will not work with an aftermarket head unit without the use of an interface such as PAC's SWI-X. The aftermarket head unit must utilize an infrared remote.

 

Well, then I must be imagining my friends 7th, and my other friends 6th gen Accords....Because they are using their steering wheel audio controls on Alpine HU's.

 

I can't say I'm familiar with the 7th gen steering wheel controls. The 6th gen accords utilize a single wire with varying resistance to control the factory head unit. Are you sure your friends are using the OEM steering wheel controls and also not using an aftermarket interface? I don't see any way that the Alpine head unit could recognize the resistance changes. Nor would it know what to do with the signal.

 

even with my stock speakers in my 4th gen and a kragen deck, i can "bump" them depending on which song it is, my friends 3rd gen, he put in pioneer and it almost seems like subs inside with a stock tape deck, hahaha.