Audio Setup

I plan on getting polk 6501s components in the front, 650 coaxils in the rear and a Alpine MRP-F300 4 channel amp. I also plan on purchasing some dynamat. How do ya'll think this setup would do?

Would do better if you ditch buying rear speakers and use the money you save to buy better fronts. But, it'll do fine as long as your happy with the Polk's sound and don't expect to win any SQ competitions.

Well I figured the Polks were the easiest to install given their depth. Id be willing the ditch the rear for some higher quality fronts, but not sure which would fit. Should i just go with a 2 channel amp then too? Thanks

No, keep the 4 channel. You can bridge channels 1/2 and 3/4 to run the splits and if/when you decide to get a sub you can run the splits off channels 1 and 2 and bridge 3/4 for the sub.

 

There are a lot of speakers that can be slot straight in, depending on the spacer that's made to suit. Look into Crescendo and CDT for starters.

I agree with focusing on the fronts. The rears are mostly just filler but the fronts are what your probably going to base your listening experience on.

There's a guy on here who makes speaker spacers for our cars. He could make you one for any speaker so you don't have to worry about the depth as much. I did type r components and coaxials in my car with an MRP-500 4 channel, works great and sounds very nice.

Right on... who is this guy? I'll probably stick with the MRP-500 4 channel, but not sure what Components to get. I'm looking to spend 200-300. Any recommendations?

Memphis Audio or Alpine type R....

Kinda leaning towards some Boston Acoustics Pro60 SE's... quite pricey. I wouldn't have to buy the rear speakers then. Anyone have experience with these?

I suggest Alpine Type X components. Go with the reference line. Just installed a set myself in my LGT after having a set in my last car. Love these speakers. Powerful midbass, soft tweeters, very good sound quality.

Would I need spacers to install the Alpine Type X Components? These look like pretty good speakers.

I bought spacers from a guy on here, phenryiv1. Send him a PM and let him know what car you have and speakers you plan on buying and he'll custom make them for you. Good product and they made installation pretty simple. Not to mention they don't cost too much. My recommendation though is to use some form or foam or sealant on the back of them when you install them to get a good, air-tight seal to the door.

 

Mine are amped and I used an Apline PXE-H660 processor in my install and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. These are the only speakers I currently have installed; no sub yet and I never run rear speakers.

 

There are other options though. A few I personally considered in that same price range:

Focal 165A1

CDT CL-62

JL VR650CSi

I'ma go with this setup. I'll buy some Dynamat and I pm'd the guy who sells spacers. What else will I need?

 

Alpine Type X

Xa125.2 - Cadence 2

You'll want an amp wiring kit. If you're sure you're going to stop at this power level, an 8 gauge kit will be enough and you can save a little money. But if you think you might want to add a sub amp later, you might as well run at least 4 gauge now so you don't have to redo it later.

8 Gauge Kit

4 Gauge Kit

 

I picked those because they're cheap, good quality, and blue lol. They have similar red kits for a bit cheaper. Look around on that site and find what you like, it's a great site with good prices and the best customer service. You can buy from anywhere though; Sonicelectronix usually has good prices too.

 

The included speaker wire in those kits likely won't quite be enough, especially if you don't mount your crossovers in the doors. So you'll want to buy some speaker wire. I use 14 gauge, 16 gauge is enough too.

 

With the Type X crossovers, they have quick disconnect terminals. You can't just insert bare wire into them, so you'll need female quick disconnect terminals for your speaker wires. There's 6 on each crossover and 2 on each woofer. I bought these; you won't need the male connectors.

Quick Disconnects

Ended up going with the Alpine-Type X Pro's with a more powerful amp. My question is.. will I be able to install the tweeters in the stock tweeter location? Also, how much trouble will I have installing the speakers in the kick panels?

 

Dimensions

Tweeter Mounting Diameter (mm): 47mm

Tweeter Mounting Diameter (in): 1-55/64''

Tweeter Mounting Depth (mm): 18mm

Tweeter Mounting Depth (in): 45/64''

Woofer Diameter (mm): 153mm

Woofer Diameter (in): 6''

Woofer Mounting Diameter (mm): 134mm

Woofer Mounting Diameter (in): 5-9/32''

Woofer Mounting Depth (mm): 64mm

Woofer Mounting Depth (in): 2-1/2''

Crossover Size (mm): 112mm x 162mm 32mm

Crossover Size (in): 4-13/32'' x 6-3/7'' x 1-1/4''

I installed my tweeters in the factory location. It's easy to do, I just used a little super glue to hold them in place. The issue is that the tweeters will sound very bright to the point of being fatiguing when installed in the factory location. It was worse than I expected. If you install them here, you'll want to attenuate them using the crossovers' adjustments. You'll have to experiment to find out how much, but the crossover has 3 or 4 settings built in.

 

If you buy or build speaker spacers, the woofers will fit in the factory location with room to spare. Once I saw how much room there was, I almost went with bigger woofers.

Yeah, just use the factory woofer location. Kick panels would be totally custom, AFAIK, because I don't think Q-logic or the like makes kits for our cars, but I could be wrong.

 

This guy makes the speaker spacers/brackets.

So are you guys all running the stock stereo and just upgrading the components and adding a 4 channel amp? I don't want to spend the $ or time on the JDM double DIN swap, but the stock components leave much to be desired.

^ Yeah, I installed front components and an amp on the factory head unit. I'm using an Alpine PXE-H660 on top of that though, and not running rear speakers at all. I've got plans for a sub to come soon.

 

I was in the same boat...even though I already had a really nice aftermarket head unit, I wasn't about to pay that much for a kit to install it. I'm happy with how things turned out this way.

From what I've researched about the factory HUs, (and is consistent with other factory HUs) the bass output is greatly reduced at higher volumes. That's one reason many choose to use JL Audio's CleanSweep signal restorer. I think AudioControl makes a similar unit.

 

I know others have installed double DIN units in their cubby above the HVAC vents.

 

I haven't installed my speakers yet, as I'm saving for a JDM unit, or waiting for a converted OEM unit to show up in classifieds again. I want a double DIN unit with traffic built in.

Hey guys, I'm currently doing my research before upgrading the audio on my 2011 Legacy 2.5i, and I was wondering about aftermarket head units plus amp vs factory head unit plus signal processor plus amp. It sounds like a few of you all collectively have done it both ways.

 

I'm happy with the look and functionality of my factory head unit, so my instinct is to go the signal processor route. However at least one guy who knows car audio told me that the sound quality from an aftermarket head unit connected to an amp via its pre-outs is always superior to a factory head unit connected via speaker-level outs to a sound processor. Is this true? If I'd get better sq from an aftermarket head unit, that would be something to consider.

 

On a related note, the Subaru parts catalog has different part numbers for the OEM head unit and OEM amplifier (for 2011 at least), suggesting to me that they are physically distinct, and therefore that it might be possible to connect the HU to a signal processor using line-level outs. For those of you that have taken out the factory HU, could you tell if there was a seperate amp back there, and if so, would connection is used from the HU to the amp?

 

Thanks!

Alpine Type X Tweeters ...smooth?????!!!!!

 

This forum definately isn't for audioholics.

 

Alpine Type X components are generally known for being Edgy, bright. Oh btw, I have owned a set of Boston Pro's. I had them for my front stage in Jeep. Mid woofers were mounted "on axis" in deadened sealed kick panels and tweeters were "off axis" in A-Pillars. They were being ran active (no passive crossover) off a bridged Zapco 4 channel pushing 140 RMS per seperate. Head Unit was an Alpine 9884 + Imprint Processor. I do not have my x over settings, but I can tell you I could compare the tweeters of the Pro's to the ALpine Type X tweets. Very Edgy, very bright. The mid woofers on the pro's were definately the strong point. Lots of Mid-bass kick in the 100hz range, lol they were 5" drivers.

 

Anyways, if you plan on using stock/OEM locations you will want to look for a midwoofer that will have a good frequency response "off axis." As far as tweeters go, I believe they are mounted flush near your door handle "off axis." LOL if you were going with those Pro's or Alpine's that tweeter is going to be bright as hell. I'd definately try mounting them elsewhere.

 

Rule of thumb: Soft domes typically sound better above waist

Metal Domes typically sound better below waist

 

 

 

You truly hear 85-90% of the music up front so do yourself a favor and save some money and focus on your front stage. I mean do you sit in the backseat when you drive?

 

...than take that money that you were going to use for your rear speakers and use it on the instal. Perhaps look into sound deadening. There are many companies that carry this including Dynamat, hushmat, stinger roadkill, etc etc. Skip paying for the big brand names and head over to Lowes, Menards, Or Home Depot and buy some Peel and Seal. Same material, just not paying for any "mainstream name here." If you have some extra $$$ look into kick panels. Trying to mount a midwoofer "off axis" is always a battle since most mid woofers sound better "on axis" Tweeters, different story. I am not sure how familiar you are with fiberglass, but if you suck at it, Q logic makes pre-fabs. If you go with pre fabs I would highly recomend atleast backing them with resin or deadener. They are often thin, flimsy.

 

Always, if I were you I would ditch all those Mainstream brands and head with Raw Drivers from such companies as scanspeak, peerless, etc etc. Why pay for the big name brand instead of the product itself?

 

I think you should head over to diyma.com and create an account. Great guys there, great info. Than we can get furthur in depth and you can learn about diffraction, reflection, etc etc..

Oh as far as OEM processor upgrades there are.........

 

JL cleansweep (icky)

 

Audiocontrol (awesome products, but lack ipod integration)

 

Alpine has the pxe h650 + pxe h660. Great products, I have used both. Head for the h60, you need no lap top with this guy!

 

JBL has the MS-8: This is what I run:) Flexability takes a huge leap over the alpines. You cant beat this. This is the forum boner on diyma.com hehe

 

Audison Bit1: Very spendy, never got a chance to get my hands on this guy.

 

 

 

I guess it al depends on what you want. Do you want ipod integration? Do you plan on using passive crossovers or are you going fully active + need a processor with active capabilities. Ooo I forgot to mention rockford fosgaet has the 3sixty, .1,.2, and soon to come out with the .3! If so do you need 2 way active capability, fully 3 or 4???????????

IMHO, it'd be foolish to get something like a cleansweep or JBL unit when for $100 more you can get the JDM adapter kit and run a newer, cleaner, more fully featured head unit.

Are you sure they make a dash kit for this vehicle? I have an 05 subaru legacy gt ltl and they do not make a dash kit for the auto climate controls. Only manual ones, maybe I hvae that switched around lol.

 

But hey BigTDogg: The MS-8 will take over ANY head unit anyday other than a few McIntosh, Nakamachi, Denon, or the Infamous CLarion DRZ 9255 ANYDAY

 

When I said JBL, I mean the MS-8 Processor (oem processor upgrade) THis does not replace your OEM head unit. LOL you guys have a lot to learn....

 

and lol the MS-8 has EVERY option an aftermarket HU will have and more. LOL this is like saying Sony is on Par with Dynaudio, bahaha