Radio Signal

Hey this is my first time to post on this Audio/Security section so lemme say thanks in advance to anyone who helps me out b/c I'm kinda new to modding my Honda.... OK, with that outa the way....

I have a 98 Civic DX that I've had for about 2 weeks now. I've got my wheels and dropped her down nice so I wanna start in my system. I've got a head picked out (Kennwood KDC-X859) but I'm kinda hesitant to buy it right now b/c of the reception I'm getting from the OEM radio. I mean the signal is BAD. I live in Houston and in the Explorer I had before, I could pick up radio signals WAAAY outside of town but with the Civic I can barely pick up stations IN town. Is this a common problem with the lower model Civics? I'm wondering if I should replace my antena or get a signal booster or what? I want to take care of this problem before I drop a few bills on a new deck.

Also, I DO want to replace the butt-ugly antena that Honda put on my roof... does anyone make an aftermarket antena similar to the IS300's? One that is functional, that is... Thanks ya'll!

My radio reception is pretty good now that i live in a big city, but before it sucked. I thought it was a Kenwood thing, but I guess not. What I'd suggest is to go buy the kenwood, and then get sirius sattellite radio when it comes out, and it'll always be cd quality. Plus, since you need to buy an antenna with sattellite systems, you can buy one of that style.

You might want to make sure you have a good antenna connection. I had an extention cable in there because mines a super tight fit and that dropped my reception waaaaayyyy down. Ya never know, someone might not have pushed it in all the way....

if anything the new deck will help bring in stations cuz of better internal antennas, but if you go with the sirius sattelite option, you will not have to worry about it.