Aftermarket Stereo Install

I’ve been digging around in earnest since yesterday for info on installing an aftermarket head unit. I’ve got a ‘13 3.6R Limited with the non-nav HK stereo. I’m finding that it seriously blows. What is it with Subaru and crap radios? Anyway, I’m not sure the exact model or head unit I have; I’ll have to go look at it later since the car’s out in the parking lot.

 

I’m having some difficulty really nailing info down, but I think I’ve got most of what I need besides a few questions. I’d like to levelset myself to make sure before I go much further down the rabbit hole. I’ve not really found a definitive source of info for this stuff all in one place and some of the info is contradictory. I think. Might be just me...

 

Note: I would like to keep as much of the original equipment the car has now as I can in terms of ports and things.

 

* It looks like I should be able to use most any double DIN radio as long as I get an adapter plate.

 

* Crutchfield seems to be offering all the harnesses and whatnot I’d need to make this work.

 

* The SWC controller they sell at Crutchfield sounds like what I’m going to need to keep the steering whee buttons working.

 

* Most of the stereos I’ve seen have a microphone you’ve got to mount someplace for phone calls. I’d like to use the factory one, but it seems it’s weird. The factory mic in the roof has an amplifier built right into it and if I can’t figure out some way to attenuate it, it’s going to come in super hot and be all blown out once the head unit does it’s own amplification. I was thinking about either building a passive attenuator and putting it between the head unit and the mic to pull the signal down a bunch or even putting a mic of the same type as the head unit expects (I’m assuming some kind of condenser mic) in place of the factory one and reusing some of the wiring for the factory mic. I haven’t yet seen anybody solve this problem satisfactorily, but it doesn’t seem too awful.

 

* I’m fuzzy on how the HK system works. I hear there’s an amp someplace. I know the HK system has a different connector or something. Does the amp power all the speakers and you route line-level signals to it along with an enable line, or is the amp just for the sub? Also, is there just the one subwoofer, the one on the rear parcel shelf? I saw something about there being something maybe under a seat.

 

* I did find ae64.com and read all kinds of useful stuff there, but one of the sections not yet filled in there is the section for my car. Figures I’d be the lucky one.

 

* Crutchfield’s kits don’t seem to include provisions for keeping the factory USB and Aux ports. It looks like ae64.com carries harnesses I could use for that. Does this seem consistent with what people are seeing?

 

Anything you fine folks can add or clarify would be grand.

Edited August 13, 2019 by SchwarzeEwigkt

* I’m fuzzy on how the HK system works. I hear there’s an amp someplace. I know the HK system has a different connector or something. Does the amp power all the speakers and you route line-level signals to it along with an enable line, or is the amp just for the sub? Also, is there just the one subwoofer, the one on the rear parcel shelf? I saw something about there being something maybe under a seat.

 

Lots of good questions, and very few I know the answer to. I have the HK system, and the amp (under the passenger seat) does power all speakers in the car, including the single subwoofer on the rear parcel shelf.

 

Good luck!

Crutchfield is the answer here. I have a 2010 Legacy GT with the HK system.

 

I attached what I ordered below. I highly recommend you pay the $30 and have Crutchfield do the harness. There are about 40 wires to connect. I got mine it was plug and play. No wiring at all. There is a sub harness to keep the factory USB port. I opted not to do that. I used the head units USB

 

The Maestro RR is the key to the whole thing. It keeps all the steering wheel controls and lets you user customize them. It displays ECM data and check engine codes, tire pressures. all kinds of stuff.

 

On the audio side it maintains the HK amp and subwoofer. Allows you set crossover points to your liking. I used the mic that came with the JVC head unit. You can see if crutchfield has a way to integrate the factory one.

 

Best $600 I ever spent

 

This is the gauge display from my old car to give you an idea. If you want I can snap a couple photos of the GT tomorrow.

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2010-legacy-base-idatalink-maestro-rr-and-jvc-kwm740bt-277047.html

Edited August 14, 2019 by poconoracing

Try http://www.the12v.com for wiring and other information

Crutchfield is the answer here. I have a 2010 Legacy GT with the HK system.

 

I attached what I ordered below. I highly recommend you pay the $30 and have Crutchfield do the harness. There are about 40 wires to connect. I got mine it was plug and play. No wiring at all. There is a sub harness to keep the factory USB port. I opted not to do that. I used the head units USB

 

The Maestro RR is the key to the whole thing. It keeps all the steering wheel controls and lets you user customize them. It displays ECM data and check engine codes, tire pressures. all kinds of stuff.

 

On the audio side it maintains the HK amp and subwoofer. Allows you set crossover points to your liking. I used the mic that came with the JVC head unit. You can see if crutchfield has a way to integrate the factory one.

 

Best $600 I ever spent

 

This is the gauge display from my old car to give you an idea. If you want I can snap a couple photos of the GT tomorrow.

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2010-legacy-base-idatalink-maestro-rr-and-jvc-kwm740bt-277047.html

 

 

 

Hmm. I had run across another head unit they paired with the Maestro thingy. I remember seeing that it did all that engine monitoring stuff, which might be nice. Especially if it reads codes and stuff. I’ve got a reader that’s halfway decent, but it’d be nice not to have to dig it out. I’m assuming that there’s an app on the head unit that talks to the Maestro thing to get the ECU data. Is that what that picture is of? Sounds kind of neat, especially when it comes time to diagnostics.

 

I had been looking at one of the Sony head units and was gravitating toward that since the SWC interface unit they paired it with (Axxess?) was *far* cheaper for the whole combo. Might be you get what you pay for here. I’ll definitely want to look into the sub-harness to maintain the USB and aux. I’m kind of done with having cables draping all over the place. Either way, this one has CarPlay, which I’ll definitely use given my proclivity for iThingies.

 

I’ll have to swing by some places that have head units like this and see if they’ve got one I can mess around with.

 

 

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I think this is the second harness. I opted not to do it.

 

https://maestro.idatalink.com/accessories/category/product_id/791/project/rr

 

I'll go snap a few pics of the Maestro functions in the GT

 

The first is one of the two gauge panels - I picked the PIDs. It'll show boost and exhaust temp as well as coolant and system voltage

 

The second one is the system status - the check engine would be shown here is it was on. If its on you can hit it and it will show the set DTC and give you the option to clear it. Handy if you throw the money light on a trip and need to see if service can wait. It shows the tires pressures and the doors that are open.

 

It's dark here so sorry for the poor picture quality

Edited August 16, 2019 by poconoracing
added pic

So, are those legit tire pressures? I didn't think the ecu had that data available to share! Nice!

They are legit - even change as the tires warm up.

 

If you look close at the pic 3 of the 4 are blank. It has this weird thing where it wont show the pressures after the car sat a while. I assume the TPMS sensors in the wheels go to sleep after a time to save the batteries.

 

As soon as you get rolling +20mph or so they all come to life.

Hey, that’s pretty cool.

 

I went to Best Buy the other day to mess around with these and see which one I like the interfaces on the best. The Panasonics seemed to be the easiest to get around in, with the JVC’s next. Didn’t try the Kenwoods.

 

I was really surprised at how crappy the interface on the Sonys was. It was fast and responsive, but it was terribly designed and looked like crap.

 

I did hear back from Crutchfield about maintaining the USB port and using the factory mic. He said the USB port can be maintained and suggested a harness to do it, but he said people often have connectivity problems with CarPlay when they do that and that it’s be better to connect directly to the head unit. I wonder what’s up with that. He also said using the factory mic in our cars is a no go and you really have to use the provided one. I might just move or remove the factory mic and mount it up there in the panel and route the cable through the trim.

 

I guess at this point I just need to assess exactly what I want, pick stuff out, and start saving my pennies.

 

 

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I have the same car, a '13 3.6 with non nav HK stereo. I installed the Alpine INE-W960 navigation head unit but kept the factory amp and speakers for now. That will change soon.

 

Definitely go with Crutchfield. They will supply you with all the necessary wire harnesses and and XM antenna adapter to do the install and also with the master sheet explaining exactly how to disassemble the dash and doors if you are replacing speakers. The only problem I had is the Axxess steering wheel control adapter did not work. I tried two of them and with the help of Crutchfield support, they still did not work in my car. For the phone mic, I ran it to the stock location in the overhead console. Just unscrew the factory mic and put it aside and with a little double sided tape, I put the Alpine mic in its place.

 

My future plans are to install 2 sets of Diamond Audio component speakers, 2 Alpine PDX amps and 2 Solo Baric 12" subs. I have all this from my previous car and have been too lazy lately to install it.

I have the same car, a '13 3.6 with non nav HK stereo. I installed the Alpine INE-W960 navigation head unit but kept the factory amp and speakers for now. That will change soon.

 

Definitely go with Crutchfield. They will supply you with all the necessary wire harnesses and and XM antenna adapter to do the install and also with the master sheet explaining exactly how to disassemble the dash and doors if you are replacing speakers. The only problem I had is the Axxess steering wheel control adapter did not work. I tried two of them and with the help of Crutchfield support, they still did not work in my car. For the phone mic, I ran it to the stock location in the overhead console. Just unscrew the factory mic and put it aside and with a little double sided tape, I put the Alpine mic in its place.

 

My future plans are to install 2 sets of Diamond Audio component speakers, 2 Alpine PDX amps and 2 Solo Baric 12" subs. I have all this from my previous car and have been too lazy lately to install it.

 

 

 

Cool. I was planning on doing a iDatalink Maestro box anyway, which adapts the steering wheel controls among other things. I had read bad things about the Axxess box anyway. You having trouble with it just makes it even more obvious that I should avoid it.

 

 

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Anyone that is using the Idata link having trouble with radio reception?

 

 

Yes I know it's powered antenna. yes the correct wire is connected. It worked fine with the Pioneer I installed years ago.

This thread is very timely. I decided to drive the GT to work today and quickly noted how much the non-Nav HK stereo sucks stanky balls. I have been driving my Lexus GX470 with the stock Mark Levinson system in it almost exclusively for the last year and it blows the Subaru system clean out of the water.

 

I always said I would never bother changing the HU in the GT, and now it's apparent that this mod is a must do.

Anyone that is using the Idata link having trouble with radio reception?

 

 

Yes I know it's powered antenna. yes the correct wire is connected. It worked fine with the Pioneer I installed years ago.

 

I have not had any issues with FM reception with the Maestro RR & the JVC Head unit in either of the two installations I've used it. One was a 2010 without the HK system and one was a 2010 with the HK system. In both cases Crutchfield did the wiring harnesses for me.

This thread is very timely. I decided to drive the GT to work today and quickly noted how much the non-Nav HK stereo sucks stanky balls. I have been driving my Lexus GX470 with the stock Mark Levinson system in it almost exclusively for the last year and it blows the Subaru system clean out of the water.

 

I always said I would never bother changing the HU in the GT, and now it's apparent that this mod is a must do.

 

 

 

Yeah. The interface is awful and it’s super grumpy. I mean, it does work more or less. I guess. But it sucks!

 

 

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I’m going to be getting a new stereo pretty soon, it turns out. Is there interest in me documenting this process, like notes and pictures? If people feel like it’ll actually get used, I’ll write something up and post it someplace. I’m planning to get one along with the Maestro box, hooking up the ODBII integration, installing a new USB port for CarPlay, and seeing about installing the new mic in the factory location.

 

What do you think? Do you guys particularly care?

 

 

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YES! i keep going back and forth on replacing the head unit, feel like i will one of these days, and some pictures would be excellent.

I’m going to be getting a new stereo pretty soon, it turns out. Is there interest in me documenting this process, like notes and pictures? If people feel like it’ll actually get used, I’ll write something up and post it someplace. I’m planning to get one along with the Maestro box, hooking up the ODBII integration, installing a new USB port for CarPlay, and seeing about installing the new mic in the factory location.

 

What do you think? Do you guys particularly care?

 

 

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Yes please. I will shamelessly benefit from your work, as I have from everyone else on this forum.

Yes pls do!

 

There are also a few excellent existing threads here about headunit installs, usually for the android units. YuEnMaiMai I think has one?

 

Brunzo has what looks like a kick ass full active system full of $$$ Audison stuff.

Okay then. I’ll make sure to take pictures and notes as I go and then write up a thing.

 

 

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Awesome, looking forward!

Did you get around to this yet? You posted a while ago so I'm assuming you did, but fi you haven't and still have Q's, hit me up. I installed my Pioneer 4200nex a few years ago, plus Amp and Sub with no prior experience with great success. Super clean install that included a back-up cam with a constant power relay (really overkill), the steering control switches, parking brake chip, and tapping into the factory aux jack. Last week I upgraded to the Pioneer 8500nex because it upgraded a few things about the unit, as well as added built-in Nav. Removed the whole dash to route the GPS antenna to keep things clean.

Did you get around to this yet? You posted a while ago so I'm assuming you did, but fi you haven't and still have Q's, hit me up. I installed my Pioneer 4200nex a few years ago, plus Amp and Sub with no prior experience with great success. Super clean install that included a back-up cam with a constant power relay (really overkill), the steering control switches, parking brake chip, and tapping into the factory aux jack. Last week I upgraded to the Pioneer 8500nex because it upgraded a few things about the unit, as well as added built-in Nav. Removed the whole dash to route the GPS antenna to keep things clean.

 

Yes,..

 

I was able to rewire the connections to from the harness to the radio for a cleaner look and took it to an car audio shop to check polarity using their speaker "pop" tool.

 

They found that one of my rear doors and one of my front tweeters was out of polarity. Once I did the quick rewire to switch them around, all is good.

 

Im ok with the Pioneer, but the display isnt all too great as its to washed out in sunlight as the oem location is high on the dash. I bought a 10/2" Android radio that has an IPS screen and 1400 x (?) so the brightness and clarity will be better for Waze and Google maps. I like that I can add a bunch of apps and run Torque and other items on a much larger screen.

 

I will post pics when I get it in the mail and install it.

I haven’t done anything yet. My wife was planning to get it for me for a birthday gift, but a bunch of crap broke around the house all at once, so we’ve put it off for now. I’m still planning to document my install, though.

 

 

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I did this in February of 2019. I cant find the thread right now but i had navigation with h/k. I had it installed by a pro but they said it was very straightforward with no splicing. I got a Kenwood DDX6706, I have the maestro rr so I have a coolant gauge and basically it works the same as stock. Everything from the steering wheel controls all the way to the usb hook up in the center.

 

You can PM me and i'll send pics and info as I asked for a complete installation from the store.