Sound Off
Average score
Audio: 6.7
Ergonomics: 6.5
Navigation: 7.8
Chris Yato
Acura is known for offering the "best bang for the buck" in the world of luxury cars, and the new MDX is no exception. Acura loads up the MDX with many audio and entertainment features uncommon at its price point. After listening to some of my musical test tracks, it was immediately apparent that the audio system, while pleasant, is not the strong point of the MDX. The 8" subwoofer does not provide enough output to keep up with the rest of the system. While the DVD-Audio tracks sounded the best, regular two-channel sources were a little hit-and-miss. The navigation system is intuitive to use but has a drawback in that it doesn't allow touchscreen input; rather, you must use the "interface dial." Although I had a couple nits to pick with the audio and ergonomics, I have to say that overall the new MDX is a dream come true for the technologically advanced family on the go.
Eric Holdaway
What a confusing, complicated and hard-to-use audio system! The controller interface makes the experience an aggravating time at best. The saving grace of this system is that it does sound pretty decent for a factory system. It has the typical problems of all factory audio systems that I have ever listened to. It doesn't go down very low and it doesn't go up and make the really nice highs. It also has the OEM crutch of cutting the bass in loudness as you turn up the volume, giving the system an odd feeling - a very annoying trait in my opinion. Given all of that, I still liked the way the MDX sounded; as a matter of fact, I thought it was the best sounding of the three systems we looked at. I really liked the fact that the system uses real 5.1 surround playback. It can add so much to the listening experience over regular stereo. The system gave a nice sense of space and the imaging and staging were good with the center image at the center of the dash and not skewed over in front of the listener.
Casey Thorson
Apparently, ease of use was not a high priority for the folks at Acura. From the second I sat in the MDX I couldn't get over the number of buttons and knobs on the center console stack. Intimidating, to say the least. Moreover, the buttons are too small and difficult to read. I found it confusing that the large interface dial at the bottom of the stack controls several vehicle functions along with half of the audio system, while the remaining audio control is done through two specific dials and surrounding buttons. Then there is the "Rear Speaker Power" button that, when illuminated, actually shuts the rear speakers off along with the sub when using the rear entertainment system. Replace the word "Power" with "Defeat" and it starts to make sense. My initial thoughts were that the ELS system was pretty good sounding. Tonally it was nicely balanced and it imaged fairly well. But staging was a different issue - there was no left. I felt that the soundstage started directly in front of the driver's position and went far right. Vocals recorded in the right channel were too often sucked down to the door. This right bias was aggravating, but the lethargic bass emitted from the rear sometimes overshadowed it. The sub performance was lacking in bass definition. To make matters worse, the sub level adjustment on the radio doesn't allow for sufficient gain from this speaker. The system wouldn't allow Dolby PLII to be selected on certain CDs and the DVD player doesn't permit use from the front console. Also, the audio screen doesn't match the aesthetics of the other displays in the dash. However, it does play 5.1-audio and had impressive tonal balance with PLII on or off.