fyi - i tried the rdx antenna and while it looks great and regular am/fm reception is fine... it totally kills the hd radio reception and the hd radio sounds really good in comparison to regular. here in socal the majority of main stations are in hd even some am sport ones so i went back to stock too much of compromise for me for just the look.

 

^so you mean rdx stubby antenna doesnt really for here in socal if you have hd radio?

 

Yeah if you like listening to the hd radio the rdx antenna makes it seem like there is no hd radio signal being broadcast or very weak signal.

Heres the comparison from my experience:

Stock antenna:
hd radio works great sounds awesome, other ppl remarked it sounds a bit like surround sound compared to the regular am/fm radio. one friend after hearing alpine system with the hd radio in the tc went out and bought an aftermarket one with hd radio for his ride.
Performance wise all major stations hd radio kicks in immediately or within 1-2 seconds. for the hd2 or hd3 substations tuning in occurs within 1-8 seconds. Occasionally driving under a bridge or overpass can cause momentary loss of hd signal.

Rdx Stubby antenna:
After installing, it was looking great but when i fired up the tc to go for a drive and i heard the regular radio i noticed the hd radio isnt coming on and the symbol doesnt seem to show up at all on a station which it normally does. I switch to another station same thing, i try another same problem, i try a fourth one and the hd symbol shows up blinking indicating trying to tune in the signal. It keeps blinking for over 30 seconds, cant seem to lock in. Finally it kicks in then lasts for about 3 seconds then tries to find it again for 30+ seconds. hd2 or hd3 substations cant be heard shows acquiring signal indefinitely.

I drove with the rdx antenna for a few days to see if it would improve, but no improvement so went back to stock. I like the short look but i like the sound with hd radio more.

Imo if you have the hd radio available with the stock antenna and switch to the rdx antenna its a bit like having a 1080p flat tv then hooking up the dvd player by rca instead of hdmi

 

anyone else have issues with the RDX antenna? wanted to go ahead and get rid of the ridiculous oem one. i dont really listen to that many cd's, and i cant get my alpine to work with my droidx, so i tend to listen to the radio more so i dont want to screw it up with an antenna that doenst pick up the HD stations.

 

I find some stations are not coming in as clear (FM stations in Toronto, ON). I am also using the RDX antenna.

 

Is the s2k antenna a better choice? Anyone that has both and tested the sound quality/difference?

 

Been using the RDX in the DC/Metro area, no issues so far. *shrug*

 

My S2k antenna gives me the same reception as the stock. HD radio works perfectly fine in DC area as well.

Honestly, either one you go with will be fine. As long as it's OEM Honda quality.

 

Now im tempted to buy the s2k one from honda dealer to try it out....btw the RDX one that i have is an oem honda/acura part

 

If you have an RDX one already then I wouldn't bother. The s2k one is more expensive for some reason. Do we know which one is shorter?

 

I had both, RDX is shorter. S2000 antenna is like 40 bucks at the dealer and wasnt any better...glad it was stolen

 

I can confirm the stubbie antenna on the 2010 Rav4 works on the tc2. it looks perfect, alot like the RDX antenna. However, i cant say the same for the tc2 antenna on the rav4.

 

Can you take some pics of the RAV4 antenna on the tC? How long is it compared to the RDX, and how is the reception?

I've tried a couple of different Honda dealerships for the RDX antenna, first one didn't have any in stock but they could order it (was way out of the way, just happened to be driving by), second one said I had to go to an Acura dealership ...WTF

 

i basically took my parent's rav4 antenna and put it on mine. i couldnt keep it cause the scion antenna looks ridiculous on the rav4 and reaches too high. sorry. i'll take pics of it the next time i could borrow the car.

 

No problem, I ended up using a Honda Fit/CRV antenna as someone suggested earlier in this thread. Looks great, and no noticable difference in reception so far (I live in downtown Toronto though).

 

Just put a honda crv antenna on mine. Fit is perfect and it looks really nice. I don't have HD radio but will be replacing stock pioneer with Alpine INA-W900BT this week. Hopefully reception is good.

 

[quote=XerotC;3848430]i basically took my parent's rav4 antenna and put it on mine. [quote]

I think my uncle is about to lose his antenna.....

 

I'm rocking a 13wrx stubby antenna fits perfect Havnt tested out the reception but it looks pretty dam good

 

Hey guys, if you want to change the OEM antenna, that honestly looks very ugly, try the Matrix second gen (2009 & up) antenna. It looks exactly like the one that Cheo puts on the previous reply picture and is very inexpensive (like $20 or so), plus you can find it in any Toyota dealer.Reception is perfect and is a Toyota part, so is a decent quality. I have it on my car, since I had in the past a Matrix and bought an extra antenna back then, "just in case"... I remember that cost me like $15 or so back then. Don't have any pics on me, but if you like I can take a picture of it.

 

I got my honda s2k antenna on ebay for 20 shipped.. came in a honda wrapper as well. Works great!