Subwoofer now available

[go2brz]

I paid $619.00 for the Kicker (factory) installed.

I saw it online at a Subaru parts website for $529.00 plus shipping. So the installed price is actually a very good deal, considering that dealers charge about $100 per hour on average, and more in some places.

[go2brz]

The EQ in this head unit allows for full adjustment of bass. This is not a "full on" bass unit. I would assume the Impreza problem was because of the shortcomings of the head unit as far as tone control.

Another important factor is to move the fader towards the rear about 20 percent. The system hooks into the front end speakers and this is why someone mentioned that is "all or nothing" on the bass. Move the fader and set up a few EQ's and you will find that it is an excellent sounding system for the money spent.

[cnk]

You do realize that you can just edit your post to add information instead of posting multiple times like that right?

[go2brz]

It adds everything that the OEM system adds but does not change any of the existing speakers. You mentioned tweeters being changed out on the OEM. IMO the tweeters and high end are fine and clear. It was the sound balance that could never be obtained in the stock system, because bass was being sent to all the speakers except the tweeters. Dual cone or dual speakers (as in speakers that have a separate tweeter mounted across the frame of the main speaker) usually have their own crossover internally. My experience with the factory "Kicker" system w/crossover is that every speaker is now only asked to reproduce the frequencies that they are designed for and therefore the entire system performs better.

[go2brz]

You do realize that you can just edit your post to add information instead of posting multiple times like that right?

I was just using the quick reply to previous posts, but forgot that the original post would not show. In the future, I will make sure to add the post in quotes that I had replied to. Sorry to bother you.

[Xeerohour]

Originally Posted by go2brz

I am an audiophile and need my car to have a complete system that meets at least certain criteria.

I definitely feel you on the need for a bit more bass, but I personally am pretty underwhelmed with the tweeters up front.

Very glad it makes you happy, but do you really feel that the front tweeters are noticeably better?

[go2brz]

Honestly all the factory speakers could be upgraded. The tweeters are not the best as few factory speakers are. But with the crossover they are not so in your face as before because of better sound balance. I just wanted to make the system work like it should. Those who want to spend the money, can of course make it even better.

[shiro]

I wouldn't buy this. Personally there are better concepts and designs already out or in production. The box isn't the best looking either. Also, this sub doesn't compare to the OEM Audio Plus system. As they say, you pay for what you get. That was my two cents :P

[KevinBRZ]

Originally Posted by go2brz

Ordered one today. It will be at the dealer on next Tuesday. Should have it installed by Thursday. I will report on the results.

How heavy was everything? Can you see a model on the subwoofer? It looks like the cheap ES series based on it's wattage and those are only $100 by themselves.

[4azcats]

I had my local Subaru dealer install the 10 inch Kicker subwoofer 2 days ago. My experience, like go2brz's, is that it is an improvement, but now the bass seems to overwhelm the other frequencies, especially on newer songs that have a lot of bass. I like the music to sound crisp with good highs and some bass, but I am not interested in being heard 2 blocks away! I typically listen to an IPod/IPhone through the USB port. I have turned the lower frequencies on the EQ (100 and 160 Hz) down all the way and that helps somewhat. Also discovered that the subwoofer is in the front of the car, using the fader controls, so turning the fader back to the R2 or R3 setting on the fader helps decrease the bass. I may have go with 2-3 different EQ settings and switch from song to song, but that gets to be tedious.

Not sure what else I can do using the EQ and other settings on the stock head unit. I know there are some suggested EQ settings on this site and others but those appear to be for the factory system without the subwoofer. I don't plan on upgrading the stereo further and the addition of the subwoofer does definitely decrease the door rattle from the front door speakers. Any ideas for tuning things up further would be appreciated. Interested in hearing from anyone who has had the Kicker accessory sub added.

By the way, the installed cost of the Kicker sub was 773 (599 for the sub, 115 labor and about 50 tax). Only 1 Subaru dealer in my town so no chance to shop around.

[Admiral Ballsy]

Originally Posted by 4azcats

now the bass seems to overwhelm the other frequencies

I agree. I bought one last week, installed it today. It's a nice piece, the install is very clean. It appears to be bag-molded plastic, the amp is class D and it's gotta be a Nd magnet speaker - the whole thing can't weigh any more than ten pounds. And it has plenty of output. But it's too damned loud relative to the rest of the system, and the amp has no gain adjustment, not even anything internal.

I think I'll try rewiring the harness so that the subwoofer is fed from the rear outputs, then fade to the front. Otherwise, I suspect I'll sell it.

[mmontes]

Does anybody know where i could get just that harness??

[mmontes]

thats all i want

[Admiral Ballsy]

Including the crossover? I doubt it's sold as a piece part; it wouldn't be too hard (albeit tedius) to make one however. The connectors are 'known', so they could be purchased, and the crossover is just four simple first-order (-6dB/decade) highpass filters - four resistors, four (I suspect) NP electrolytic capacitors. If someone was willing to cut the shrink tubing off of theirs, the values could be read - wouldn't be too hard to fab one up on a piece of breadboard.

I gotta say I don't exactly understand how it works, though. There are six conductors in the run to the box itself - battery power and ground, and four signal wires. Apparently the amp uses the presence or absence of signal to determine power state.

But the signal leads are taken in a strange way - one set of leads are piggybacked into the front speaker contacts at the head unit, OK fine. But the other set is piggybacked on the 'to front speaker' connector - post crossover. How that's not trimming off the bass, I cannot fathom, unless the amp has a +6dB/decade compensating slope.

Back to my original problem, I tried going off the rear speaker output, figuring I could fade between front and sub (since there's never anyone in the back seat), but apparently there's a pretty steep highpass crossover inside the head unit - there's no low end on the rear outputs, at the head unit.

So I'm back to playing around with EQ curves. I opened up the amp, and there's no clear way to do any trimming (it's all SMD stuff). I guess an L-pad in the trunk would work.