Some updates from over the weekend. Here's the RCA cables run...
I sleeved three audio cables, two Focal Elite ER5 cables for front/back and one Monster cable for sub. I used Techflex Flexo F6 wrap, with nylon zip ties every 16", and then heat-shrink wrap at the ends...
I removed the center dash panel around the stock head-unit. Before doing so, I taped the area along the instrument cluster so as to prevent scratching by the panel. It was pretty easy. And a big thanks to
SuperAkuma for the good advice of making a fist within the compartment area to pop out the bottom of the panel. That let me remove it without any special tools...
This is the panel I removed from the bottom of the passenger's side dash. It's sort of a cheap, thin fiber-glass that's lightly carpeted on one side. But I love the plastic snaps, as you use a phillips screwdriver to make a half-turn to remove them, then insert and press them down to re-install them.
The easiest way I found to run cables from high in the dash to under the dash is to tape a fairly heavy socket onto the end of a cable and drop it through. I used a socket that's a similar diameter as the cables I'm going to run, since this helps me check the clearances...
I ran the RCA cables along the trim, down along the bottom edge (not up in the stock cable run areas). Since I ran all three cables together, it's somewhat thick. This is proof that it's pretty easy to run 0 gauge cables under the stock trim of a 5th gen Legacy.
RCA cables running under the rear seat, secured in place with aluminum tape...
RCA, power, and remote wire running to the trunk area...
