I have an 05 WRX and am thinking about upgrading the sound system, but keeping the stock deck because I think it flows better with the rest of the dash. I've been searching the boards and find that most people say the stock deck doesn't have much output power and the speakers suck. I'm a car audio newbie, so I'm thinking if I want to keep the deck, I should add an amp, replace the two front speakers (since I don't think my passengers mind much), but not add a sub, since I'm not TOO big on bass anyway.

Also, I hear the sound quality of the HU from the stock deck is just as good as the after market units under $500. The big difference comes into play when you want those extra features, such as mp3, etc. I'm just wondering what you guys recommend. Any particular types of speakers and amps that would make installation easy? Any trouble spots you guys have run into on 05 decks? Maybe I'm wayy off on my thinking and you guys wanna set me straight on my ways..haha

Also, is clarion the manufacturer for subaru stock systems? If so, how does the quality compare to their after market systems? Thanks in advance!!

 

The stock 05 WRX HU is manufactured by Matsu****a/Panasonic. I don't know about the power rating, but honestly short of a few HUs that require dedicated power wiring for upgraded amps, most don't put out much more power than stock. The bigger sound quality issue is the speakers. I, like yourself am keeping my factory HU for a while (environment dictates that fancy stuff in car= broken windows and missing fancy stuff) I'll be upgrading the factory speakers with something that will work with the factory wattage but allow room to grow when the parking situation changes and an aftermarket HU and amp can go in the car. I've done similar swaps in vehicles of my own and for my friends and a good quality speaker is the first way to improve the sound of a stock system that is lacking in clarity/fullness.

If you're going to want to run an amp for your speakers, you'll have to find either an amp that has hi level imputs, or run a hi/low converter. Either will offer degraded quality compared to a dedicated pre-out because the amplifier will be amplifying an already amplified/dirtied sound due to the fact that it is getting its input from the speaker leads off the back of the HU.

Chris

 

Matsu****a . . . hahahahahaha

 

Thanks Chris, I went to BB to ask them about potential setups and they suggested component speakers due to the tweeters in the car. Is a component system neccessary or are they just tryin to lead me toward a pricier alternative?

So, all you suggest is replacing the speakers? Wouldn't their potential not be fully utilized if your not running more power into them without an amp?

Thanks!

 

Component vs coaxial/triaxial is up to you and your wallet. Component setups will sound cleaner because the tweeter isnt' sitting on a post surrounded by the woofer(possibly causing some drag on the woofer cone). More importantly, you'll be able to focus your tweeters toward your ears and thus get better imaging. There are now some decent coaxial designs where the tweeter mounts off the perimeter of the basket for the woofer allowing a normal dustcap on the woofer and removing the possibility of drag on the woofer from ridding against a tweeter mount. Because our cars have that nice spot for a tweeter, you might as well run components to make the most of the situation.

As far as just doing speakers... The sky or your wallet are the limit when it comes to your car. It all depends on what you want/need. If factory volume levels with better clarity/sound quality will sufice; find a nice set of component speakers that work with factory power (Infinity Reference Series are what you'll see me spamming for this job ) If you want a little more umph behind your tunes you'll have to upgrade to an external amp. The only downside to this is that like I mentioned before, the amp will be amplifying an already amplified(and thus degraded) signal. When you run this type of setup, you basicaly create the opportunity for an exponential growth in distortion, because as you turn up the head unit, the signal degrades, and that degraded signal is then degraded further because the amp is pushing harder.

If you want top notch sound quality, AND higher volumes, you should get used to the idea of going to an aftermarket HU that can pass off a cleaner signal to an aftermarket amp.

While the Reference Series stuff is good, its not the best going. MBQuart, Boston, and even Infinity's Kappas are going to sound better with more power to them, but for the amount of power you are probably going to slap in there, even with an aftermarket amp, the reference series (or say a Boston Acoustics rally component setup) will give you room to grow if you decide you need more power than the factory HU can provide.

Speakers are really subjective, so you should really listen to as many different setups on the same amp/HU combo as possible. If you're going into BB or the like, bring your favorite CD, pick a mid level HU without any fancy stuff like bass enhancers, BBE sonic maximizers, etc. Play your music through the speakers you are interested in, and even makes that maybe you have never heard before. I like the reference series because they sound smooth. The bass is middle of the road, the highs are on the soft side. Compared to say a JBL component setup where the bass will be a little "thuddier" or Rock orriented, and the highs, seem a little harsher. The Boston Rally stuff that I've heard had a little more punchy bass than the JBL, and the tweeter setup seemed to similar but with a little more presence. Bottom line, listen for yourself and see. Any of the setups I mentioned have RMS ratings from 2-70(JBL) to 2-90(Infinity) watts, so you should be well within the realm of safety if you decided to upgrade to a nice multichannel amp at some point in the future.

Hope that helps,
Chris

 

I installed Pioneer 3-way 6.5" all the way around. You can get them for a good price and they have a higher sensitity then most components. Bestbuy will do the install for $32 a pair. It sounds much better. Now the problem is they sub better than the factory sub that bottoms out before the door speakers. Now I plan to do a upgrade. Now I got sirius. It's not as loud as CD so I need more power so sirius would come in better. So I got a kenwood 4042 pre-amp(it's only 3 1/2"w X 1" tall x 5" deep) so I can put in the center arm rest and hide it . I going to take out the factory sub and run a 4 channel amp and a mono sub amp. I just got to find a that wo'nt be in the way and take up much space. I know the factory sub plug has a Ground , 12 volt, left and right + and -. Does anyone know if the sub left and right are hi-pass or low -pass ?

 

Well, we know for sure they are line level, so just hook up one of your old door speakers and see what comes out. On second thought, since those leads are just tapped from the head unit leads going to the speakers, they should be full pass with the crossover network in the sub unit. I don't know what kind of sub you're looking at upgrading to, but if you're not going huge, you might look at running an all-in-one amp such as the Infinity Reference 5760a ( I only recommend this over the Alpine MRV-F450 because the Infinity has line level inputs). It will take up less space (one footprint) draw less power than 2 amps, and unless you need more power for a bigger sub, should do the trick nicely.

Chris

 

I have a 05 wagon and came upon a nice amp and a 8in truck box. The amp has line inputs, so I tapped the rear speaker wires and one of the pins in the factory deck for the remote (#10 I think there is a pin-out on scoobymods). And then bridged the sub and installed it in the back of the wagon. It comes out in seconds and really helps the factory system. The gain and low ranger filter are set pretty high on the amp, and the base on the deck set negative. I’m no audiophile but it sounds good to me, more than enough bass, and will extend the life of the door speakers. The best part is that the factory sub is integrated into the factory deck the same way so I can’t get crap from the dealer. I’d like to get a deck that can handle MP3/Sat/Aux, but have a lot of other thinks that I should spend that money on first.

 

Greg,

Now that you have an amp in your ride, (depending on its number of available channels etc) you could run your MP3 player/Sat/etc directly into the amp. No need for an additional head unit.

Chris

 

Forgive my audio noobness, but how would the amp behave with RCA’s and Line input. I’d have to find a source aside from the remote so I could turn the deck off. My two-channel amp is just running the sub also, so I’d have to get another and hook it up to the door speakers. So a new deck is probably the way for me, either way I'd ideally need new door speakers.