Audio Upgrade

[stubaroo]

I am looking for a wee bit of advice, from anyone in the know about upgrading from the standard Subaru stereo.

I have £200, maybe £300 at a push to spend on upgrading the sounds in the car. I still have the standard set up, which you all know is pretty garbage. Now I really don't have a clue how to make the most of the money I have available.

Is it better/cheaper to buy stuff online and fit them yourself, compared with letting a company do the whole thing, like Halfords or another specialist?

I live in Glenrothes by the way.

What do I want? Well I mostly have CD's but I am going to get me a USB flash drive and start downloading music, so I guess I am looking for a car stereo that will allow me to do that. I also like the the radio so that is essential. Do you get DAB radio's built in to car stereo's? Slap me if I am just being stupid!!

Also I already have a hands free parrot thingy that currently works through the stereo. Will this still work through the new stereo?

Are the standard speakers worth upgrading? If this is a must then I basically have £300 to cover both stereo and speakers.

Remember, I ain't looking to win any competitions with the new sounds, just looking to get a wee bit quality sounds in the car (other than the lovely burble), or certainly better than what I have right now, surely that ain't going to be too difficult.

I would like to gather some opinions/knowledge before I just plump for........ 'x' head unit and 'y' speakers.

Any help very much appreciated.

[sti_steve]

I'll be interested in the replies here too. Currently looking to upgrade the speakers and HU to get the best out the new speakers. Also bought a sub and amp from a member on here which has got the ball rolling. I've read the front door speakers are the 17cm speakers and have been having a look at a few but not wanting to spend too much. Been advised to upgrade the speaker wires.

Not wanting to hijack your thread mate but it looks like we are interested in the same answers

[colzo]

IMO the speakers are more important than the stereo. The rear doors on a blob saloon are a bit of a nightmare for fitting larger speakers plus the positioning of them is not great. Go for a good set of components up front and a small amp. You will have to fit adaptors (MDF) to fit these and be careful that the windows can still pass the magnet when fitting larger speakers. If you are buying online go into Halfrauds first and have a listen to their selection. I have an Alpine HU thats made for iPod (displays artwork etc) so it has no CD player only radio and iPod/USB connection and Infinity speakers. I reckon with £500 you could a great professional install or DIY with your budget.

[scooby222]

with newage cars you really need to upgrade both headunit and speakers. 300 quid should get you decent speakers and hu then either fit yourself or go to a decent car stereo place and they should put it all together for 50 quid. id try somewhere decent locally and tell ythem your budget.-dont get halfords to do it if you can avoid it. and the parrot should work fine with any decent hu

[mystery machine]

Hi Stu,

With some cars, the HU is the weak link, with others it's speakers and sometimes both are equally as dire. Based on my own experience over the years replacing car stereos, and the marked improvement in sound quality I gained after replacing my Scooby's HU with a £90 JVC item, I would say that the head unit is by far Scooby's the weak link! The stock speakers don't actually sound *too* bad, given a decent signal. This is all subjective, mind - a real car hi-fi enthusiast I'm sure wouldn't think twice about binning the stock speakers.

Having said all that, with a decent budget of £300 you probably want to replace at least the front speakers (but certainly replace that awful HU).

My stereo takes a USB stick. Have to say that this is a great way of listening to music in the car. You can carry about a keich-load of tracks without the hassle of swapping CDs, etc. Stick it on random play and be amazed at all the tunes you forgot you even had in your collection Really easy to take the stick into the house and add new tracks too. One thing to watch for - the more tracks/folders you have on your mem stick, the longer it's likely to take the HU to mount it. My guess is that some HUs will be quicker than others in this respect. If you decide to go down the USB stick route, it might be worth taking a largish USB stick (4-16G) full of tracks into the store, sticking it into various HUs and seeing how long it takes to load.

Regarding fitment of the HU:

You're probably aware that you'll need a wiring harness adaptor. This will convert the Scooby pinout of your car's wiring terminal to the ISO pinout that will be at the end of the cable that comes with your new stereo. It's actually possible to do the job without this adaptor, but for the small cost (less than £15), I'd just buy the adaptor. Also, depending on which HU you buy, you will probably need a little plug to convert the banana-style antenna plug in your Scooby to an RF-type plug - Halfords sell them for under a fiver.

Here are some instructions for removing the old HU:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1261005

Fairly straightforward as you can see - first you need to remove the plastic gear lever surround (pull up underneath the edge of the gear lever gaiter) and then remove the heater/stereo surround to access the screws that hold the stereo in place. If you take your time, it's perfectly possible to do all this without marking or breaking any of the centre console plastics. I wouldn't worry if it takes you longer than the guy's estimation of 20 mins, BTW - better slow & careful than sorry

IIRC your new HU is simply screwed between the two plates that hold the stock stereo in place. If you buy a normal DIN-sized stereo, you'll probably also want to buy a blanking tray to cover the gap that's left after removing the stock double-DIN stereo (I bought one from the renowned 'Skidz' in Falkirk).

I stuck with the stock speakers, but replacements would no doubt enhance things further - I'm sure others can advise on fitting.

Tam.

Edit: Added link to HU removal instructions.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Mystery Machine

[sti_steve]

Brilliant post MM - thanks for that.

Would adding a sub and amp to the existing setup with a new HU improve things further? I'm not looking for any awards in ICE but sometimes I would like to have a decent sound at a decent level

I could always add front and rear speakers if/when required I suppose.

[stubaroo]

Thanks for all the reply's there people.

Tam (Mystery Machine), most excellent reply, thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts down.

I am now wondering if this is a task that a noob like myself could actually pull off. Bring on the 'how to' guides.

I will now go and sample some HU's and speakers and see what is what. I have just ordered an 8GB USB flash stick, so I will load that up with Abba and Kylie Minogue's greatest hits and take that with me to see how fast the tracks load up.

[thefastone]

Dude, the only thing that I'm going to say here, is if you can REPLACE YOUR DOUBLE DIN UNIT WITH ANOTHER DOUBLE DIN UNIT! I'd kill for a double DIN unit for my car, and My car only came with a single DIN, and its a good bit more work to get it to fit...

ive never understood the need to replace double DIN with Single DIN units when they are so restrictive....

Oh, and buy online, you'll never get a good deal from a shop, no matter how good a deal it looks like, you'll get it cheaper online...

Try: http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/

And: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/index.php?cPath=2071

Edited March 18, 2009 by thefastone

[mystery machine]

I had no problems replacing my double-DIN with a single-DIN - as long as you have a blanking tray to take up the other DIN it's a cinch.

[mystery machine]

Brilliant post MM - thanks for that.

You're very welcome, Steve

Would adding a sub and amp to the existing setup with a new HU improve things further? I'm not looking for any awards in ICE but sometimes I would like to have a decent sound at a decent level

I could always add front and rear speakers if/when required I suppose.

Is your amp multi-channel, i.e. is it capable of powering your door speakers, or is it just for the sub?

If it's capable of powering your door speakers, then IMO it only really makes sense to wire it in if you're going to be replacing the stock speakers with higher power-handling items. An outboard amp would be overkill (perhaps literally) if you're using the stock speakers.

If on the other hand your amp is for powering the sub only, then what you're suggesting is adding a powered subwoofer to a "new HU + stock door speakers" setup. Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but you'll certainly have a more powerful bass after wiring-in the subwoofer! The question is whether or not this is what you really want. Given the limited capablilities of the stock speakers compared with your subwoofer, you'll likely end up with a very out-of-balance and bass-heavy sound. I actually had this very same setup myself many years ago (in a different car) and in retrospect it wasn't a great sound at all! It's the kind of thing that the techno fanatics used to love, because it's a quick and easy route to chest-thumping bass that can be heard three streets away... but hi-fi it is not

So it depends on what you're after, but if I were you I'd hang back on installing that subwoofer until you've upgraded your head unit and speakers (if not at the same time, then in that order). You might even find after you've done that that you no longer feel it necessary to wire in a subwoofer.

Another option is to unplug your rear door speakers and have a parcel new shelf made with two fairly large full-range speakers to take their place. It's amazing how much bass a setup like this can produce, as well as improving the mid-range and top-end at the same time - without taking up as much space or weighing as much as a sub.

Tam.

[mystery machine]

Thanks for all the reply's there people.

Tam (Mystery Machine), most excellent reply, thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts down.

I am now wondering if this is a task that a noob like myself could actually pull off. Bring on the 'how to' guides.

I will now go and sample some HU's and speakers and see what is what. I have just ordered an 8GB USB flash stick, so I will load that up with Abba and Kylie Minogue's greatest hits and take that with me to see how fast the tracks load up.

You're most welcome, Stu

Regarding stock speakers again - one thing I will say is that while the general sound quality of the stock items isn't too bad (IMHO - as far as cheap stock car speakers go), they aren't capable of handling much low-end at higher volumes. It isn't too much of a problem for the styles of music I listen to (mostly guitar-based stuff), but if you're into modern electronic dance music that has a pumping bass drum, then you're almost certainly going to want drivers with a higher power handling. Funny you mention Kylie, because some of her stuff features that real cone-ripping bass drum! (I know this because my wife listens to her - honest ). Should be OK with ABBA, mind

[mystery machine]

Here's a step-by-step guide to removing the HU:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1261005

[mystery machine]

P.S. Depending on which HU you buy, you will probably also need a little plug to convert the banana-style antenna plug in your Scooby to an RF-type plug - Halfords sell them for under a fiver (have edited post above to include this info).

[thefastone]

I had no problems replacing my double-DIN with a single-DIN - as long as you have a blanking tray to take up the other DIN it's a cinch.

Didn't say it would be a problem to do it or even difficult, I just think its just daft, when you can probably a get much better double DIN unit that's made for the gap...

[psyweb]

Been reading the thread, and it's all good stuff.

I'm looking to upgrade the standard Double Din in my Blobeye too, but any ideas on make/model?

In an ideal world I'd like Sat Nav built into the unit, so I think we're looking at £700 + (?). I'd get a pro in to do it and probably take their advice on Speakers too.

Psy

[mystery machine]

Didn't say it would be a problem to do it or even difficult, I just think its just daft, when you can probably a get much better double DIN unit that's made for the gap...

No problem, thefastone. Just when you said that "its a good bit more work to get [a single-DIN] to fit", I wanted to share my experience of fitting a single-DIN + tray, which was that it wasn't much more work at all

But it's a good point you raise - the larger 'user interfaces' on the double-DIN units make more sense and you could argue they look better in the dash too. Just happened that, in the price range I was looking at, most of the HUs with the features I wanted were single-DIN. The new tray that sits in the gap is a handy wee cubby hole too

[thefastone]

Some double DIN units the SAT NAV is an add on, some its built in, so I'd be careful to check, but in that case, you can always just get teh sat nav add on later on... but if you think about it this way how much are you for a Standalone satnav? Tom Tom's website list them between £130-£440 and then you have this unit stuck to your windscreen, and in a lot of cases, its a distraction, and I'd love to see some people getting stopped by the police and given fines at the least for placing theses units in their line of sight...

Double DIN unit, takes away that problem. and chaning the head unit is not the hardest thing to be honest, as long as you know how to do it... you can always get a mate to change it for you...?

[higgy]

Give me ring bud.

higgy

[mystery machine]

In an ideal world I'd like Sat Nav built into the unit, so I think we're looking at £700 + (?). I'd get a pro in to do it and probably take their advice on Speakers too.

Sounds interesting. I reckon if you're spending that much on a nice new HU you will want some nice new speakers to go with it too

I'd like Sat Nav in my stereo equipment too... perhaps it could tell me where my fecking Lynyrd Skynyrd 'Best Of' CD has got to...

[thefastone]

I'd kill for a double DIN unit for my car, and My car only came with a single DIN, and its a good bit more work to get it to fit...

No problem, thefastone. Just when you said that "its a good bit more work to get [a single-DIN] to fit", I wanted to share my experience of fitting a single-DIN + tray, which was that it wasn't much more work at all

But it's a good point you raise - the larger 'user interfaces' on the double-DIN units make more sense and you could argue they look better in the dash too. Just happened that, in the price range I was looking at, most of the HUs with the features I wanted were single-DIN. The new tray that sits in the gap is a handy wee cubby hole too

Nah perhaps I should have separated the sentence a bit, I drive a classic, it has a single DIN unit, and I'd Love to put in a Double DIN. THATS more work to do, as it involves cutting the fascia...

Going the other way it much easier...

[mystery machine]

Crivvens, higgy - it's like the 'bridge' on the Starship Enterprise!

Gotta love those STi dash-top dials

[mystery machine]

I drive a classic, it has a single DIN unit, and I'd Love to put in a Double DIN. THATS more work to do, as it involves cutting the fascia...

With you now, mate