2020 Subaru BRZ Audio Question

[Alistia]

Hello All,

I was reviewing some of the posted topics and I was unable to find one that related to the factory HU regarding the stock audio settings.

Is there any way without running new wires or upgrading speakers (hidden menu, menu only accessible while car is not on and driving etc) - of getting a better EQ setup? The 2020 HU seems to only have +/- 10 levels of change for bass, treble, and mid... for some reason this seems exceedingly limited... or is it just me?

Anything specific for the 2020's?

Thanks!

[soundman98]

it's a typical oem radio. there's no other options.

[Alistia]

Would it help to replace the rear speakers? They are ultra painful haha. Can the OEM Amp in the rear be replaced without running wires and using factory harness (w/ or w/o a crutchfield harness etc)?

[soundman98]

nope and nope.

this car is not very audio-addition friendly. it requires full commitment.

[Kerrija]

Originally Posted by Alistia

Would it help to replace the rear speakers? They are ultra painful haha. Can the OEM Amp in the rear be replaced without running wires and using factory harness (w/ or w/o a crutchfield harness etc)?

The rear speakers are so small anyways and won't make much difference. You could replace the stock amp and speakers in the doors to help some. I replaced the stock amp with an Alpine unit that fits in the stock area. The door and the front deck speakers are linked off the same wiring from the amp. So I replaced both the door and the front speakers. I just left the rears as they really aren't that loud and it's hard to make out just how bad they really are when the fronts sound much better. Someday I'll get around to replacing them.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP....html?tp=72998

Also of note the door speakers and the front deck speakers are 2 ohm speakers. Most common speakers are 4 ohm so once you start replacing speakers you're looking at replacing the amp of course. So that's part of the main reason for leaving the rears and just replacing the front and door speakers.

[LimitedSlip]

FYI: Here is a link to a post explaining the front speaker / amp wiring prior to 2020.

We haven't seen a definitive diagram for the 2020 models yet.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by LimitedSlip

FYI: Here is a link to a post explaining the front speaker / amp wiring prior to 2020.

We haven't seen a definitive diagram for the 2020 models yet.

from the descriptions so far, the harmon kardon radio just simply bypasses the amp--i don't believe it has an amp-trigger wire. but all other connections are the same.

[Alistia]

Originally Posted by Kerrija

The rear speakers are so small anyways and won't make much difference. You could replace the stock amp and speakers in the doors to help some. I replaced the stock amp with an Alpine unit that fits in the stock area. The door and the front deck speakers are linked off the same wiring from the amp. So I replaced both the door and the front speakers. I just left the rears as they really aren't that loud and it's hard to make out just how bad they really are when the fronts sound much better. Someday I'll get around to replacing them.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP....html?tp=72998

Also of note the door speakers and the front deck speakers are 2 ohm speakers. Most common speakers are 4 ohm so once you start replacing speakers you're looking at replacing the amp of course. So that's part of the main reason for leaving the rears and just replacing the front and door speakers.

Does replacing the stock amp and keeping the stock speakers, add anything of value? I just want a little more kick but not enough to go popping the doors off quite yet haha.

[Alistia]

Originally Posted by soundman98

from the descriptions so far, the harmon kardon radio just simply bypasses the amp--i don't believe it has an amp-trigger wire. but all other connections are the same.

Wait - does this mean the 2020 BRZ doesn't utilize the amp at all.. why bother leaving it in the car? If this is so - I assume buying a new amp and using the factory wiring with the OEM wire mod on the forum would be useless?

[Kerrija]

Originally Posted by Alistia

Does replacing the stock amp and keeping the stock speakers, add anything of value? I just want a little more kick but not enough to go popping the doors off quite yet haha.

It's actually best to replace the door speakers as they are the largest ones in the car that produce the most amount of volume. Getting the door card off isn't as hard as it looks in fact it was way easier than expected. But you really should just take the plunge and do both the speakers and the amp for the best sound.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Alistia

Wait - does this mean the 2020 BRZ doesn't utilize the amp at all.. why bother leaving it in the car? If this is so - I assume buying a new amp and using the factory wiring with the OEM wire mod on the forum would be useless?

unfortunately, the 2020's became available right at the same time as everything started getting locked down.

i really don't have enough info to know if it's all 2020's or just some. i know that the 2020 hakone edition's with the harmon kardon radio's that were installed in port were where the problem was first discovered--because they don't have an amp trigger, the door speakers weren't working. in port, they're supposed to install a bypass harness on one amp connection, and then unplug the other power connection to the amp to reduce parasitic draw.

no one with a volt meter has gotten their hands on one to get more thorough measurements, so that's pretty much all the information i know about at this time.

i would recommend looking into adding a subwoofer in the trunk. jl audio makes a decent model. it's more work, but haphazardly trying to make do with the oem setup is compounding compromises of lesser quality that just barely offer any advantage in the first place.

[dragoontwo]

Originally Posted by soundman98

no one with a volt meter has gotten their hands on one to get more thorough measurements, so that's pretty much all the information i know about at this time.

I have a 2020 BRZ and a multimeter. What measurements do you want?

The factory amp in mine is not bypassed, and the front speakers do appear to work. I have a Toyota plug that I could make a bypass with to test if you'd like.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by dragoontwo

I have a 2020 BRZ and a multimeter. What measurements do you want?

The factory amp in mine is not bypassed, and the front speakers do appear to work. I have a Toyota plug that I could make a bypass with to test if you'd like.

ok, then it's a different variant of head unit, which doesn't completely help. that would mean the 2020 'standard' audio system you have is identical to previous generations.

high level audio signal out of the radio, front channel splits between dash and amp. like i said earlier, there's just not a ton of simple fixes.