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Thread: Good audio for my old Subie, without breaking the bank!

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    "FNG" 7cjbill2's Avatar
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    Good audio for my old Subie, without breaking the bank!

    Head Unit: Dual XHD6425 - I chose this because of it's AUX port and it is an HD Radio. I can use Pandora from my BlackBerry if I want (through the AUX) or Sirius/XM if I ever decide to re-subscribe. However, those of you that have NOT heard HD Radio yet, if you can get some good stations in your area, it's worth it in my opinion. I listen to the public classical station mostly, however, another local station has a sub-channel that is all 80's music that I enjoy. I can't say I have much use for the CD player, but it's there just in the case that I need it. I picked up this radio off of eBay for $29.99 shipped as a mfg.'er re-furb, and it has worked flawlessly for over a year.

    Front Speakers: Lanzar MX6C 6.5" 2-way Component - I was able to mount these with slight modifications to my stock front speaker rings, and attach the tweeters behind the A-pillar grill locations with 3M tape. These come with passive crossovers already, although not great of quality, they work just fine for my car. Warning, though, the tweeters are VERY BRIGHT...you may have to tone them down to your preferences, but they sound great to my ears and in my car. I picked these up also off of eBay for around $42 shipped. Nice surprise, definitely happy with them!

    Rear Speakers: Aura 6" Neodymium Woofer - I orignally installed a set of 3-way 5.25" Lanzars, but after living with them for a month realized the 3-way didn't give me the fill I wanted. I didn't really care about the sound quality for the rear passengers (if there ever are any), so out they came and replaced with the Auras. These are a GREAT speaker, a LOT more bass and extension than you'd think from just looking at the specs. These also were able to mount in the OEM door cutouts without much modification, just some silicone and screws. It is a paper cone, which some don't like, but they were using paper cones in car speakers for a long time and they held up for years, so I wasn't too worried. I installed these with a set of 5k 8-ohm treble blockers. I'm happy with their sound. I picked these up at Parts Express for around $15/each, and blockers on eBay from "the_emuman."

    Subwoofer: Vibe Fli 10" subwoofer w/ integrated amp - Definitely needed a sub, no matter what. I settled on this unit because it's compact, has the amp integrated, ported, and sounds GREAT. It sits nicely in the back of the wagon, and I left some slack in the wires (but tucked them down behind the rear seat) in case I have to move it out of the way to haul some stuff like boxes or my bicycle or other things I may buy while out shopping. Wired up all the way to the battery, comes with EVERYTHING you need to install it. Another pleasant surprise. This was purchased from SonicElectronix for about $100 at the time, the most expensive system piece.

    Accessories: Probably goes without saying, but purchase the Metra dash kit with "pocket" and also the Metra wiring harness adapter. Please, guys, if you're going to spend the time doing something like this yourself, go ahead and SOLDER all of your splices, don't use butt connectors. It takes probably an extra 30 minutes in what is probably a good 3-4 hour job from start to finish, so you're not saving all that much by cutting corners.

    Overall impressions? I'm EXTREMELY happy with it. This is probably the LEAST I've ever spent on a system for a vehicle (hey, my car's a 1999, not going to spend a fortune on it) and the most satisfying build and "bang for the buck" that I ever did when it comes to car audio. I've had several people in my car that remarked, "D*mn, this system sounds far better than what's in my 20xx <insert model here>." I take that as a complement, and it makes me happy! I had my car at the car audio shop recently to get a remote start installed, and the owner/installer complemented me saying "I didn't think those parts could ever sound so good together!" That, coming from a professional, who designs and builds very high-end custom car audio systems. W00t!

    I'd say all-in-all I have about $300 invested in EVERYTHING, and about 6-7 hours of my time start to finish. Sorry about no pics, but felt about leaving them out rather than inserting stock photos. Besides, it's all about how creative and economical YOU can be, not doing exactly what someone else did!

    Future? Have a couple of 2-ch Lightning BOLT amps that I thought of installing under the front seats to run my front/rear speakers, but that's some additional work that I'm really not up to doing at the moment. Maybe someday, though.
    The Five Vehicles Every Man Needs
    2004 GMC Sierra Denali ----------------> obligatory truck
    1999 Subaru Legacy Outback ---------------> daily driver
    1988 Merkur XR4Ti -------------------------------> fun car
    1969 Chrysler 300 Convertible -------------------> old car
    1932 3-window Coupe "Forderati" -----------> project car

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    SLi Lurker Neatfellen's Avatar
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    Re: Good audio for my old Subie, without breaking the bank!

    very nice
    1991 Honda Accord EX (263k-267K) Totaled by Deer
    1995 Honda Civic LX (91K-130K) Sold, to many issues.
    2001 GT BE 5 speed MT (123K-137k) Sold
    2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited 5MT 117k I joined the Turbo'd side
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