The factory sound system on my Subaru is terrible.

Looking to upgrade starting with speakers first. Then maybe the head unit and maybe add an amp.

I’ve gone to several stereo shops and looked online. Opinions are very diverse.

Not looking to break the bank or my windows. Just need better sound.

Opinions? Have you replaced yours?

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Alpine is a favorite of mine. Pioneer is also a good one as is Kenwood. You do have to be careful as sometimes a company gets sold and the quality gets cheapened but the same name is on the face. Look at the specs and compare them and the features. Some features may be offered you don't want or features you do want that cost more.

Speakers...make sure the impedance is compatible as is size. Boston Acoustics is a great choice.

You might access the Crutchfield website, maybe even call them for recommendations. Crutchfield: Car Stereo and Audio, Speakers, Home Theater, Pro Audio, TVs

I second Crutchfield. Bought a couple of install kits from them. Top notch products and service.

__________________
The best I can with what I got

My audio expertise lies in sound reinforcement and backline gear. I am weak on car audio so all my inquiries as to such are directed at Crutchfield.

They know their stuff.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Get a complete system for the best sound.

If you try and piece one together, it likely won't have the sound you want and you'll eventually spend more money to get it to sound the way you want than if you bough a complete system in the first place! BTDT.

__________________
Thread Killer.

Crutchfield is the only way to go. I upgraded my speakers, and head unit. My factory head unit put out 6 watts, I bought a JVC the puts out 20 watts per channel. Major improvement. I bought everything from them, and their wiring harness. All plug and play. Their customer service people are great. I told them what I wanted, and they told me what would best suit my needs. Never tried to sell me anything I didn't need.

My front door speakers next to the 6x9 Kickers I installed.



I'd watch a few different YouTube videos to see how to remove your door panels. I was paranoid of all the clips, but never had a problem. It's nice to know what your getting into by watching others do it first.

I added sound deadening stick on stuff to my door before I put the speakers in too.



After:


Crutchfields pre wired harness. It looks like a mess, but all the plugs are different, so there's no way to mess up. All my factory steering wheels controls, and back up camera works perfect too.

What's the cigarette for???

__________________
Forum consigliere

He didn't have a banana.

I put a JVC radio in my Ford Ranger last year to replace the original which quit working. I used the factory original speakers. Everything came from Crutchfield, no problems installing it, much better sound quality. Note that few new car systems come with CD players today. Usually just a USB port which is fine with me as all of my music is on thumb drives.

To give ya an idea how massive the magnet was on the factory 6x9's. About the size of a half dollar.

My factory head unit had a CD player, but I never used it.

I remember the days of having CD holders over both sun visors, and a book of them in the back seat.

Flash drives are the only way to go. Around 20K songs on a 64GB drive. I'm waiting for a good flash drive reader to be made for my home stereo.

As I ponder my Soobs infotainment center, I'm curious as to how I might go about any part of it beyond a speaker swap

__________________
it just needs more voltage

They do exist. I have one but don't use it much as I rarely use my inside system.

I use this outside and in the garage. I use an old cell phone that I have a couple hundred songs on. It's loud enough to share music a few houses down if I want. Sounds really good too. It's Bluetooth, and will play close to 12 hours on a charge.

If you're going to remove the door panel yourself, get the proper clip tool(s). trust me.

If you break one/some of the clips, go to the local auto glass shop as they have spares or can get you clips or the kits. They weren't that expensive - I don't know about now.

__________________
Thread Killer.

Those JBL tube speakers are awesome. The sound system in my Mini Cooper is fried and very expensive to replace the amp so I play music from my phone thru a smaller JBL

__________________
_______________
Super Snooper

JBL borrowed the idea for tube speakers from the Bose Acoustic Wave Cannon.

Of course they shrunk it down.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

There’s a mistake there. Should be BoseZooka.

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

You can buy packs of assorted clips at auto parts stores or on amazon in case you break one (or a few). I do second the advice to buy a set of clip removal tools to avoid breakage as much as possible.

Again, Crutchfield will fix you up with a recommendation that will far exceed your factory system. They have everything for every vehicle imaginable.

__________________
Or something like that . . .

If you select what vehicle you have, Crutchfield will show everything they sell that will fit it. What took the most time for me was splicing the wires together. But they are color coded. Not difficult but somewhat time consuming. You use something like small wire nuts which you must buy separately.

I remember the days of having a few 8-track tapes stuffed in the glovebox, and graduating from that to having a small briefcase sized cassette holder. I wouldn’t know what to do with a flash drive. Is that “Flash Gordon’s” vehicle?
Larry

__________________
Miss Buddies crsides & fat tom

Crutchfield is your friend. Everything folks said above is true, and they value your business. Their online guide to parts and fitment is excellent.

__________________
50 Years of DSOTM

I have always had the best luck with Alpine and Pioneer in the past.
I see the car audio business going away since newer cars come with built in units that are part of the auto now.
Wife was not happy when we went car shopping last year and the built in systems are terrible and no way to upgrade.
She misses her CD's.

Or Crutchfield will sell you a plug and play wiring kit - no splicing necessary.

__________________
Or something like that . . .

On mine, the new radio had all the wires coming out of it with bare ends. I had to connect those to an adapter plug which plugged into the receptacle for all the power and speaker wires.That adapter plug was part of the purchase. I had to use the miniature wire nuts to do that. About a dozen wire splices were needed as I remember. I believe an envelope with the wire nuts was about $10 extra from Crutchfield, they were not part of the package.

Aha. The ones I helped my son with a few years back had plugs on the back rather than hard wiring. That would make the splices necessary. I have spliced wiring on vehicles, but I usually solder the wires and cover with shrink tubing. It just seems more secure with all the vibration that comes with the territory.

__________________
Or something like that . . .

I’ve been researching stereos and speakers for a few weeks now. Didn’t think I needed to replace the stereo but then I started having problems pairing my phone to it.

So today I got irritated and stopped by local stereo shop.

They installed a middle of the road Kenwood that’s highly rated. The difference is amazing.

I’m thankful I paid someone to do it because it looked like a huge pain in the backside.

Speakers are next!

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

and thumb drives dont skip.

__________________
NRA RSO

Would you be willing to say which shop you used? I have a '14 Tacoma with it's original stereo. It's never been great, and the menu system is horrible. It might be time to replace it. I just want to make sure a new device works with the backup camera and SiriusXM. Fortunately it's not as integrated with other car systems as newer vehicles.