I agree that the fm/am sound is poor. To me, there is quite a bit a difference from playing a cd compared to the radio. Its like 2 different sound systems. But for me, I love music to be loud and clear, thats why I am going to REUS AUDIO SYSTEMS in socal for them to design a system for my car. I will let you know more about it when after I go.

 

You took the words out of my mouth, it is like two different systems when the radio is on versus a cd or the audio card. God luck with your system. I hope this FM amplifer works because I plan on keeping the Navi, and I almost hate to listen to the radio anymore.

 

Does anyone know about adding XM radio? I have nav. and it says "XM-Ready" on it. It was like a $700 option, so I took my chances on being able to add it later for less.
I would guess I just need a tuner installed at Circuit city or something, but I figured I would throw it out on the forum, so that if anyone had any more info I could go in w/ at least some knowledge of what I need. Thanks all!

 

Ok, comparing the radio to the cd player is apples and oranges. The CD player is a digital signal straight into your deck. The radio is an analog signal going through all kinds of atmosphere, going through an analog transducer (antenna) and analog input. No surprise that the radio sounds worse.

If, however, we are comparing radio reception in the hybrid to the radio reception in other cars, then we have an issue worth investigating. The location of the antenna may very well have something to do with it. Though the motor controllers are probably not located behind the seat with the batteries, they may be one of the reasons they handled the antenna differently in the hybrid. I have an 04 and my radio sounds just about like any other car radio, so it doesn't seem to be a problem for the first generation. Perhaps the 06 has some other issues or they simply did not choose a good antenna setup. These are the kinds of things that get fixed in later versions of major revisions. Let's hope the 07 has a fix.

 

I don't know if this is a reasonable distinction, but the AM problem doesn't seem like a reception issue to me. It's more just purely the "sound". It seems more like someone at the factory bumped the equalizer **** and flattened the sound before they started mass-producing the radios

 

Have you listened to AM very much in other radios? AM quality, because of the way it works, sucks inherently - not just reception, but also in the general sound quality. So it should sound worse than CD or FM on your stereo. That said, if you're convinced that it sounds worse than other AM radios you use then perhaps there's something to it. It's also possible that they figure now in the days of FM, XM and mp3, that nobody really cares much about AM anymore so don't put much effort into making it sound good.

 

This is a slightly harsh way of putting exactly what I was going to say. There is a reason they invented FM in the first place, and there is a reason music is played on FM and talk radio is on AM. AM still has a niche because it can travel farther than FM.

OTOH stock Honda radios are really not the best. The Insight's radio was a total joke. The Civic's sound system is better but still not the best.

 

Just as a test, the next time someone takes their hybrid in for service, find a marginal AM (or FM if you want to check that) station before you turn the vehicle over. Then enlist a salesman and go out and listen to the same station in a regular 2006 Civic and see if there is a difference.

Just a thought, then you'll know if this is a Civic thing or a Hybrid antenna system thing...

Oh yeah then post what happens here...

Scott

 

Yeah but what about my very shitty FM signal? FM should be as bad as it is in my car. For the record, I never listen to AM so, I don't know about my AM reception.

As far as the antenna placement on the HCH2, that could be a part of it. The HCHI the antenna is in the front of the car, where it is in the rear with the HCHII. I was told from Honda that the hybrid's antenna is not embbeded in the rear glass like on the other non hybrid models because they were worried about the battery and inverter interfering with the signal. Maybe the antenna on the '06 is doing just that, maybe even though its not in the glass but in the rear of the car maybe it is recieving interfearance.

 

It's bad, even for AM. I agree that it sounds flattened, with the bass turned up too far. The AM in my 99 Accord sounds significantly better.