so i got some cash from the in-laws for the holiday, i have a phat system just sitting in my closet, and i'm too lazy to install it all myself. i usually have Circuit City do it because they remove it and put in the old HU and speakers when you sell your car. i did the sub and amp myself last time and really don't want to do it EVER again. can anyone recommend a place to install it? is anyone versed in what this might cost so i don't screwed? 1. factory HU replaced by Kenwood. i'll need the right harness. 2. replace front door speakers with kenwood 6.5". there is a bracket that will help these fit, right? 3. install the sub and it's amp in the trunk. it needs power and to be grounded. i do have all the old cables and whatnot from the last time it was installed. anything else you can think i might need? is this something we can do at the install day, or is it worth the money to pay someone to do it? i am looking for opinions, so let'em fly.
i got a quote at lunch for $230 with all new cables and wires. that seems way high. or maybe it was just the guy at the install place that was way high. for that much, i'll put the system in myself.
stereo installation is very expensive from my experience, unless you have connections...circuit city is always a good bet to start....usually they will cut you a deal if you buy the equipment from them but in this case not sure...
The price you got with new wires sounds like a pretty good deal. I used to love installing Stereo stuff, and if you want to take a shot at it at install day, I would be more than happy to help, assuming I don't have to work. Installing the head unit is cake, running wires is not hard. The only thing I always hate is doing door speakers. I hate popping the door skins off and usually end up breaking a couple of the clasps. If you go to SOG and get a couple extra clasps there should be no problem.
I paid $70 for my amp, sub and speaker install not including the amp wires. I got the speakers installed for free actually because there was a promotion going on when I bought my speakers. The amp (6ch) and sub I got installed for $70 because they cut me a break. The head unit is usually $35 to install, speakers are $50 or so per pair and the amp/sub, assuming the amp is mono or 2-channel, shouldn't be more than $60. I guess $230 is a good deal with all new wires if you're willing to pay that much. I personally think that $230 just in labor is a little much.
well considering i do this for a living now haha....at best buy we charge 35.00 for the set to put in your door speakers, 60 bucks for the amp, the amp kit is around 100 bucks, the head unit install is 50.00 and you need a wiring harness which is 20.00, and as for a pocket i had to get one out of a subaru forestor bc noone else carries one for our cars. i have a bugeye though so i dunno if that makes a huge difference. As for stereo install if you bring that stuff out to the install day randy i might can do you a favor my friend. I will charge you MUCH MUCH less if you get the parts.
+1 for bringing it to install day. i have done all my own systems for 6 different cars, and did this stuff everyday of the summer wiring up wakeboard boats, houseboats and car. im always down for helpin out another scuby owner. i just pulled out my indash tv/dvd/navi and sub today actually.
well holy hell fellas! looks like it's an install day deal. brian, what do i need to get to make the 6.5's fit the front doors? and there is no way to get 6.5s in the rear doors, right? without cutting the door panels that is.
i have never taken a wrx apart so i do not know what is under but 6.5s should be front and rear. I never have really had a fitment issue with cars and speakers. Should just be able to drill them in the door. ill look at work and see what the documents say on scosche.
I'd like to watch and see how hard speaker installs are because I'd like to add some components eventually. Head unit is a breeze in these cars. IAperformance.com has some nice speaker adapters for 6.5" components and a list of what speakers fit best.
i understand the trickiness is not the diameter, but the depth... either way, you gonna use mat to deaden the doors while you've got em apart?
Randy, do people sit in the back alot. If not, skip the rear door speakers and spend the money on something else. You will not hear the rear door speakers from the drivers seat. If it was on the back dash, that is a little different, but again, it is not, so unless you have people riding in the back seat offen it is just a waste of money. Fronts should not be too much of an issue. You may want to get the Spacers from IAperformance.com to be on the safe side. Also get the 93-05 Subaru Headunit Wiring Harness Kit#: SUB-WIRHAR from them and possibly Door Panel Extension Pin Replacement Pack#: NEW_ITEM and that should be it. Only other thing needed would be the amp wiring kit, and some speaker wire and you are good to go.
After seeing this post makes me a little more curious about installing my amps and subs I have sitting around at home. LOL... who knows.
not exactly. I disagree. I prefer my car music to be more encompassing, so the balance in my system is tweaked so I can hear sound everywhere. not in the majority i know, but in my case, not a waste of money
i got the kenwood to factory wiring kits, so that's good to go. next is the dash plates and door speaker brackets. i'm having trouble finding a fake silver plastic like my 05 dash. it's totally different from the other WRX dashes. in case you did already know that.... i don't see how a 6.5" will squeeze into the 4", so i'm ok with not upgrading the rears. no biggy. what is the "mat to deaden"? is it just filler? do these doors tend to rattle? wasn't an issue in my old GT.
Dude If you care about sound replace them all.... weather you think you hear them or not SQ will go way down by having to stock speakers in the rear
sound dampening mat brands, like Second Skin, Dyna Mat, B-quiet. These spread like wallpaper with a sticky side. These reduce panel vibration and also noise-dampen.
If your sound damping anything. May also wanna consider just pull seats and carpet and doing it all. It will quiet down the road noise.
actually, i think personally that the wheel wells and roof are where the most running noise and wind noise come in from. Thump your roof the next time you sit in it and listen how long it takes to get quiet again.
High Frequency Sound waves travel in a single direction. The direction they are facing. Since the door speakers in the rear are aimed across the back seat, very little of that sound is getting to the drivers ears. Replacing those speakers serves no purpose aside from pleasing people in the back seat. Also, Music is recorded in Stereo not surround. At a concert all the speakers are in front of you. With Music, the sound stage is always supposed to be in front, not need to have speakers in the rear. If you plan on doing Mobile Video in the future, then yes, replacing the rear door speakers would be a good idea, btu at that time, you would also want to make custom panels or mount speakers in the rear dash for better imaging. If you want to do Sound Deadening, we can definitely do that as well, however, you are going to need alot of mat to do the entire car, and that will get expensive. Also the mat is not light so you will be adding alot of weight to the car. I would highly recommend a small amount of mat, at least for the back of your license plate to eliminate rattle, but unless you are going with an extremely high powered system, I don't think sound deadening the entire cabin would be necessary.
not to mention the fact that i am way too cheap AND lazy to do all that work. a little foam behind the license plate and a lot of volume and i'll hear nuttin' but my tunes. if you hear a rattle, it's quiet in your car :naughty:
I strongly disagree with your observation. One, because the sound emission is in front of you at a concert doesn't mean sound doesn't circulate all around you, in particular indirect reflections from the floor and back wall of semi-high to mid frequencies (which amounts to most of the ambient-type sound reverb.) Because you don't have the same air mass in a car that you would in a concert hall, one needs rear speakers to simulate those reflections. Truly, on SQ high end head units, you can find built in time-base correctors, or signal delay processing just for that purpose(not just a preset eq that says HALL). I agree their position sucks for maximum driver enjoyment, but certainly they are not useless or have "no purpose", and certainly to me they are missed when I fudge with the balance. ...but if i had to choose i would also rather them in the rear deck..
i disagree as well i think the rears add to your sound especially when you have an exhaust. just to let you know Randy i took apart my car today and put new door speakers in its a piece of cake to do, probably one of if not THE easiest ive ever done. Go to best buy and get 4 speaker adaptors though so its all just plug and play no splicing required. will run you 12 bucks for 4.
Rock on YO! :naughty: i'll gettem soon. did you do just the front or all 4? and if all 4, what size did you go with in the rear? Thanks forthe info Brian.
hey man i finally got around to the rear today. I bought 6.5's and i put it in and it was about 4cms to big for the door panel. So i ended up with 5.25s in the rear. I did alpine type s speakers and they sound great. The speaker harnesses were mitsubishi that it took. Anywayz it will be a breeze putting these in at the install day. All we need is a 12 volt drill, flat head screw driver, and some self tapping screws.