I installed a Pioneer DEH-80PRS from Crutchfield over the weekend into my FD3S Touring with stock Bose, replacing a newer JVC head unit. The DEH-80PRS is an audiophile grade head unit, with an incredible amount of tuning ability along with automatic time alignment and EQ setting using a mic that you mount on the driver's headrest. My stock Bose system is the front door speakers, no center speaker (never had one), and the stock Acoustic Wave subwoofer, all with recently rebuilt amplifiers. The JVC was connected using the speaker outputs, with the DEH-80PRS I instead used the 5V RCA outputs with an RCA to speaker wire adapter connecting into the stock harness, which gave me the ability to run the Acoustic Wave off of the RCA sub preout to utilize the independent sub control and low pass filter adjustment. The results are absolutely incredible, night and day compared to the JVC. I'm not going to claim that it compares to a full custom system, but frankly it sounds completely different. The sound stage up front is much higher and better integrated left to right, the auto EQ tuning is spot on, and the stock sub is very clean and tight. Really my only complaint is that very low bass frequency response is lacking, but overall it sounds great. Another bonus is that the DEH-80PRS is a very simple and clean design that fits reasonably well into the FD3S interior, and the abundance of illumination color options allowed me to match it to the stock orange/red interior lighting. The DEH-80PRS is a bit lacking in terms of smartphone integration but it does the basic Bluetooth stream and phone functions, which is good enough for me. This is a relatively simple upgrade with dramatic results, highly recommended!

 

Interesting. Earlier this year I installed a Pioneer DEH-X7800BHS in my car. It immediately sounded better than the stock head unit, making me suspect that my stock head unit is broken since it wasn't driving the acoustic wave very well.

I don't like the DEH-X7800BHS very much though--it clashes with the stock interior and it's really glossy and hard to read the LCD during the day. I might follow your lead and get a DEH-80PRS instead. When I go to Crutchfield though, they say that it doesn't fit in the car--did you have any fitment issues with yours? I assume you also used a Scosche C4MA02 to hook into the Bose system, right?

 

I had to remove (read cut) the small pot metal brace across the back of the radio area that held the OEM radio in place. This is the brace with the rubber pin that seats in the back of the OEM radio. After removing this part I had no issue installing the DEH-80PRS with RCA cables. I had a basic wiring harness adapter left over from the previous JVC, and I used RCA to speaker wire conversion plugs to hook the RCA preouts into the harness.

 

I have the DEH-80PRS too and want to tackle the install soon. Did you use a dash kit? Do you have pics of final install?

Nick

 

Did you use the Bose/Schosche Adapter?