Here's a new dilemma. The navigation system of the car basically "talks" to the radio head unit.

This is a conversation between me and some people on an Edmunds bulletin board:

#182 of 187: Audio Unit Question (dignan17) Fri 19 May '00 (08:32 PM)

Hi. Tomorrow (Saturday the 20th), I will go to a
Maryland dealer to put the down payment on my very
own Honda Odyssey EX w/ Navigation System :)
I'm getting it at MSRP, but hey, for a June 25th
delivery date, I don't mind.

I have a question though about the audio system.
Here's what I want to do.

I want the empeg car MP3 player. For those of you
who don't know, this is a DIN head unit designed
and manufactured in England. You can find more
info about it here: www.empeg.com (this is an old
site. they are coming out with a new player and
the new site with most of that info is scheduled
for June). I'm not getting the CD changer in this
automobile, so I won't have too much that I don't
use.

My question is: Will I be able to uninstall the
Honda radio and install this one without much
difficulty? I've been told that Honda radios are
somewhat integrated into the vehicle, and diffucult
to uninstall. I'm also worried about the
navigation system. Does anyone know if it has
controls for the stereo? I seem to remember other
navi systems I've seen that did control the stereo.

So basically my question is whether or not it is
difficult to take out the Honda head unit (and how
much, if any, it is used with the navi). The
installation for the empeg is the same as any
regular 2" DIN head unit, so that's not a problem
if the audio system on the Odyssey is normal.

Also, what does everyone think of the stereo
system in their Odyssey? I'm mainly interested in
how well the speakers perform, but if this plan
doesn't work, I'll be interested in the quality of
the head unit it'self.

Thanks for your help!

(ps-for those who have the navigation system, is
it really as cool as I think it is?)



#183 of 187: Nav system response to dignan17... (capecodder) Sat 20 May '00 (05:12 AM)

If you live in an area for which the Nav system
provides detail, it is nothing short of a wonder.
We just moved to Cape Cod and it is a treat to find
things so simply. For example, if you realize you
need to get something from a hardware store (which
seemingly happens every day when you've just
bought a house) you just ask it where the nearest
hardware store is to the location you happen to be.
Same if you're hungry and are looking for a
restaurant. Or your Ody is thirsty and needs a gas
station. Works great and has a very good user
interface.

Now for the bad news. My sense is that there's a
pretty good degree of integration between the Nav
and the radio (which is adequate but nothing more,
by the way), in that the Nav "talks" to you via the
radio, even to the point of shutting down the
front speakers when the sweet little voice is about
to tell you to make a "slight right turn in 500
feet." I'd check very carefully before replacing
the head unit with an after-market unit.



#184 of 187: Audio Unit Question (dignan17) (arbarnhart) Sat 20 May '00 (01:21 PM)

I have the LX, so you are getting "heresay" info,
but...

The EX has steering wheel mounted audio controls
and apparently very few systems other than Honda
factory systems work with them.

Do you know how cheap CD recorders are now? You
might want to look into that. There are conversion
programs out there that will put your downloaded
music onto CDs, and recordable CDs are very cheap
in quantity. I would give this some serious thought
before I tore into the dash of a new van to take
out a component that is pretty tightly integrated
into the NAV and the steering wheel controls.





#185 of 187: About Stereo Placement... (dignan17) Sat 20 May '00 (09:29 PM)

Thank you for your responses capecodder and
arbarnart. Those are things to think about.

capecodder. Do you have the CD changer? Even if
not do you know where it goes? Is it a standard 2"
DIN? (the size of the stereo) Can you control the
basic functions of the stereo via the navigation
system (radio controls, tape controls (is there a
tape deck in it?))?

My idea is that I could put the stereo where the
CD changer goes and put the empeg into the slot for
the stereo. The empeg it'self has the means to
support a secind head unit so the actual
installation in those terms wouldn't be too
difficult.

The issues therefore, are:
1-level of control via the navigation system
2-whether the internal wiring can accomodate the
downward displacement of the factory installed head
unit
3-whether the location available for a CD changer
installation can accomodate a normal head unit.


Also, does anyone know if there is an amp that
comes with this van?

Thanks for all your help.