New Subwoofer Purchase

I just bought this. [url]http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=332[/url] All I wanted to do is replace some of the bass I loose to road noise. The reviews say this won't blow the door off. But, it adds nice bass to factory systems. I'm 33 so I am out of the door pounding phase. Anyone ever use this? NGG

It looks almost exactly like the OEM subwoofer, with the same power, and approximately the same size speaker, and is mounted in the same location, for close to the same price (from subaruparts.com), but without the wiring harness that plugs right into the head unit and the mounting bracket. Why would you buy this over the OEM unit without first having heard the quality of it? If you don't want door shaking bass, the OEM subwoofer is pretty good. At least the one in my WRX was.

What does the factory unit cost compared to that one? If it's only a few dollars more, I'd go for the one that plugs right in.

that harness that comes with the OEM POS is not worth $50. it'll take an extra half hour to wire that thing up if you know where you are going through the fire wall, and have a wire diagram for the stereo. while i do not believe that this thing hits 30Hz, i am certain that it has better bass response than the subaru sub. the speaker quality of the clarion is also better. it is made of plastic rather than paper. it'll take a lot more abuse. i say good choice. also, if you do a search at nasioc.com, there was a guy in a Baja that wired this exact model up. maybe he followed up with a review of it.

[quote name='-HEF-']that harness that comes with the OEM POS is not worth $50. it'll take an extra half hour to wire that thing up if you know where you are going through the fire wall, and have a wire diagram for the stereo. while i do not believe that this thing hits 30Hz, i am certain that it has better bass response than the subaru sub. the speaker quality of the clarion is also better. it is made of plastic rather than paper. it'll take a lot more abuse. i say good choice. also, if you do a search at nasioc.com, there was a guy in a Baja that wired this exact model up. maybe he followed up with a review of it.[/quote] I guess the value of the harness depends upon how much you value your own time. You are probably good with wiring. To me, the OEM harness is worth it because of the time factor and because I'd rather not hack up the factory wires. As far as I know, the harness is not a standard sized plug, so I don't think it would be easy to make your own harness. With the OEM sub, the sub-harness plugs into your head unit, and the stock harness (with leads for power, speakers, ground, etc.) plugs right into the sub-harness. You don't need to worry about splicing any wires or going thru the firewall. Even an idiot like me can figure out how to install it fairly quickly. And the OEM sub is made of polypropylene, not paper.

[quote name='SC GT'] And the OEM sub is made of polypropylene, not paper.[/quote] that blows my mind. i did assume that it was made of paper. do you know if they used a foam rubber surround?

[quote name='-HEF-'][quote name='SC GT'] And the OEM sub is made of polypropylene, not paper.[/quote] that blows my mind. i did assume that it was made of paper. do you know if they used a foam rubber surround?[/quote]\ I don't remember. I bought a OEM sub off of nasioc.com classifieds for my WRX wagon, and saw for a fact that the sub was plastic (I am assuming polypropylene), and was surprised at how easy it was to install. Here's a link to a scoobymods.com write-up about an older version of the sub. I don't know if Subaru's been making incremental changes to them over the years. [url]http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199[/url] BTW, I'm not saying that the OEM sub is the end-all, be-all subwoofer for the Legacy. I'm just saying, for the amount of money the original poster was willing to spend, and because he isn't an audiophile, why buy a subwoofer unit that doesn't look a whole lot different than the OEM, probably doesn't perform that much better, and would require wire splicing, etc. If the $40-50 extra for the OEM is a concern, you could find a used WRX subwoofer on nasioc.com classifieds for $40-50 cheaper than the Clarion.

Are you gys sure it's the same part number as on the WRX?

i don't think that it is the same thing. c_hunter said in another thread that he removed one from a wrx and it would not fit under the Leg seat. page 3, 5th post from the top: [url]http://www.legacysti.com/viewtopic.php?t=1421&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30[/url]

I'm not. I know it is different in that the Leg sub mounts under the driver's seat, whereas the WRX sub mounts under the passenger seat. However, I'm assuming the underseat WRX subs are compatible based on the assumption that Subaru hasn't changed the radio wiring. All Subaru OEM radios, disc changers, and subs seem to be interchangeable from '93 to '04.

Guys - I have an older version of this clarion sub and it works well, better then the stock Lagacy sub BUT, I cant get it to fit under the seat. The 8 way electric drivers seat doesn't have the room... and if you look at the OEM factory Legacy Sub (that goes under drivers seat, there really isn't much of a box around it.... so, I'm left with either under the rear deck (by spare tire) or strapped to rear seat in cargo area (my dog's going to love that) hence my post further down here asking if anyone knows the pin out for the factory sub :) I'll check with my dealer tonight and answer my own thread if need be :wink: But, net - net - the clarion sub is good if your are looking for a little rear view mirror rattle (and even my wife admits it sounds better - so no self justification here) Oh, and I have shock sensor under drivers seat, so no good for me there either.

Yeah, the WRX sub does not fit under the seat of the 05 Leg/OB. Otherwise, it would work fine -- the harness will connect inline with the radio harness just like on any other Soob. The Sub for the 05 Leg/OB is considerably smaller. In fact, if you look under the driver's seat, you will see a depression where the sub is meant to sit. It's pretty small. Craig

any of you guys try under the passenger seat?

Well, I did take your advise and cancel the order. I'll go with the proven OEM model. Easier install and genuine subby (panasonic). :) Thanks for the input. NGG

[quote name='c_hunter']Yeah, the WRX sub does not fit under the seat of the 05 Leg/OB. Otherwise, it would work fine -- the harness will connect inline with the radio harness just like on any other Soob. The Sub for the 05 Leg/OB is considerably smaller. In fact, if you look under the driver's seat, you will see a depression where the sub is meant to sit. It's pretty small. Craig[/quote] Are you talking about the Ltd. seats? Do you think a WRX sub would fit under the non-Ltd. (manual) seats?

I am talking about an XT-Ltd. I seriously doubt there is that much more room on the non Ltd models. If they molded a dpression in the floor/carpet, it makes me think none of the models have a lot of underseat room. Craig

Just bought this: [url]http://www.subarupartsforyou.com/sp_partdetail.php?partid=934[/url] It's the only 2005 LGT model I could find on the web. Later, NGG

let us know how the service was, how the install went, and how it sounds. :D

[quote name='Subaguru']let us know how the service was, how the install went, and how it sounds. :D[/quote] Agreed!

anyone know where i can buy just the harness that goes from the radio to the factory sub???