Sound System quality is bad?

[LanceLane174]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I have never heard a Subaru sound system yet that was more than just OK. Even the top trim one in My wife's Outback sound hollow and twangy.

Then you need to reset the sound on it. And what do you listen to? If it is satellite radio that is always going to be shit. If you use a good source on your phone and set your phones eq to something good and turn the Bluetooth all the way up I think the Harmon Kardon in the legacy and Forester sounds great. And I have spent over 1000 on stereo equipment in cars before. So it isn't like I don't have a good ear.

[eyeballs]

The premium system definitely isn't good, and that's not including the rattle from my drivers door speaker. I wish there was a stand alone factory upgrade option like I had on my '21 crosstrek.

[LanceLane174]

The upgrade on Crosstrek is only 4 kicker speakers and an amp. You can get someone to do that for you for way less than Subaru would have charged. Hell, best buy can even do that for you.

[Fingat]

Its not too bad, adj the settings and ran an EQ on my phone. Not as good all around as the bose in my 3, but better than the systems in my premium wrx's.

[Echosect]

Originally Posted by timurrrr

I also didn't like how the sound system sounds with the default sound settings, but having spent just a couple of minutes with it I found the quality to improve slightly after I reduced treble a bit in the EQ and moved the "fade" slightly towards the rear.

That treble on default is high, First thing i turned down. Overall, I believe the system is not bad at all. Everything else about the car feels great and has a good balance for what i paid. Perfecting the audio in a car has always been in the hands of the owner anyway, And they do say this car is designed to be personalized.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by nevermore_

I've set it to 'High' and the auto-adjust feature is off.

I use Spotify as well, but I have a bunch of playlists downloaded to my phone at the highest quality so it isn't actually streaming the audio over the data connection.

[BigTuna]

I can't imagine there was much money or design priority put on the audio system. Its an affordable, RWD sports car after all.

[Quagmire]

So is there an amp in the trunk of the limited trim?

[dragoontwo]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

So is there an amp in the trunk of the limited trim?

The BRZ? Yes.

[eyeballs]

Originally Posted by LanceLane174

The upgrade on Crosstrek is only 4 kicker speakers and an amp.

Actually I'm pretty sure it was only the 2 front door speakers and the amp. Either way, I'm not super picky about audio and having a halfway decent option that's already installed in the car when I pick it up is nice to have. I didn't want the extra safety monitoring stuff and bigger wheels, otherwise I would've gotten the limited.

[DeathEvil]

Honestly, I have the premium trim and think the audio is badass lol At first just through Bluetooth it was pretty unimpressive, but then connected to android auto, and boom audio was kicking ass.

[slipstream8]

I got a test drive in a new Limited. The midrange is just fine listening to local radio stations--better than my 2017 Limited PP with the stock system. The treble was a little tinny, but I didn't play around with the EQ. It's no Mark Levinson, but I think it's totally fine for OEM audio on a $30,000 car.

[suhhh]

Honestly the Limited audio system is more than enough for me. I'm not an audiophile by any sorts but I love to play music and even at higher volumes it sounds crisp enough for me

[tenderization]

My initial impression is that it does sound a bit dull, even compared to my base VA WRX with a Pioneer headunit (stock speakers). Doesn't bother me enough that I'm itching to EQ or anything yet, the first priority is breaking the car in and seeing how much I hate ASC...