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Old 02-18-2013, 02:48 PM   #1
snowflowmfg
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Default 2012 Impreza Premium-What HU to get?

Currently have a 2012 5 door premium impreza that i'm commuting in temporarily. The stereo is God-awful. Makes me hate listening to music. So i've gathered on here that the stock speakers are pretty good but the HU sucks. Is this true? or are the speakers worth upgrading to?

So what HU do you guys recommend to get me the sound I want, integrate steering wheel controls, maybe bluetooth, and be able to hook up aux and my sub? Can be a double din dvd or not, mostly looking for best bang for the buck. Any help is appreciated. Already not looking forward to ripping apart the hvac stuff. lol

TIA!
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Old 02-18-2013, 04:10 PM   #2
luan87us
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The stock speakers are NOT pretty good. It's decent for OEM speakers. You are right the problem lies in the HU that isn't supply enough power to those speakers. Any aftermarket HU will give you instant sound upgrade.
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Old 02-18-2013, 05:37 PM   #3
Guzzi 1
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Before you go any further, search this forum for "hidden menu". Once you turn off the crap settings it sounds much better.

After that, you have several options. It really depends on how involved you want to get. Me, I wanted plug and play. CM631UD would be the exact plug and play HU for your car. Everything works as it did originally. It too has crap default sound settings, which also can easily be changed once you know where to go.

John
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Old 02-19-2013, 09:24 PM   #4
DKsiazek
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I put a Pioneer AVH-2500BT into mine and I have not regretted one bit of it. With the harness help from SVXdc, the factory USB, AUX input, and steering wheel controls still work. It really was a plug and play event.

Also, sound quality was a HUGE jump by doing this. I still believe I will replace the speakers at some point, but it is not something that bugs me anymore.
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Old 02-20-2013, 10:43 AM   #5
Angelus911
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^How did you keep the factory USB in the armrest? I thought it was a proprietary connection and would have to be modded in order to keep that working with an aftermarket HU
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Old 02-20-2013, 02:40 PM   #6
snowflowmfg
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Sounds good. Thanks for the tips. I did the hidden menu trick and put it on through mode and the difference is night and day. Sounds ways better. I wonder if the hu upgrade will yield even more. Definitely looking to keep at least the steering wheel and bt controls. So I'm weighing out if getting the aftermarket hu is the way to go

I also want to hook up my sub. Any threads on wiring to the stock hu? or is that just a stupid idea? lol
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Old 02-20-2013, 03:22 PM   #7
luan87us
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowflowmfg View Post
Sounds good. Thanks for the tips. I did the hidden menu trick and put it on through mode and the difference is night and day. Sounds ways better. I wonder if the hu upgrade will yield even more. Definitely looking to keep at least the steering wheel and bt controls. So I'm weighing out if getting the aftermarket hu is the way to go

I also want to hook up my sub. Any threads on wiring to the stock hu? or is that just a stupid idea? lol
There're posts before about piggy backing the rear speaker wires.
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Old 02-20-2013, 10:43 PM   #8
DKsiazek
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelus911 View Post
^How did you keep the factory USB in the armrest? I thought it was a proprietary connection and would have to be modded in order to keep that working with an aftermarket HU
Working through http://ae64.com/. I purchased the three wires that plug into the Crutchfield harness which are needed for the steering wheel controls, the 16-pin aux harness for the aux in located in the center counsel, and he had the female socket for the USB harness. While it was tricky to solder a USB cord to the socket, it was possible (small soldering iron helped) and now I have all the ports the factory radio had.
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Old 02-21-2013, 06:19 AM   #9
Guzzi 1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowflowmfg View Post
Currently have a 2012 5 door premium impreza that i'm commuting in temporarily. <snip>
TIA!
Glad the settings have improved the sound. I can't figure out what they were thinking putting those settings nto the HU in the first place.

At any rate, you mention " temporarily". How temporary? If it is for a short time, why bother? (Not trying to be a jerk, just asking.)

John
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Old 02-21-2013, 10:58 PM   #10
cm2009
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If i go with a pioneer p3300bt (standard on the limited impreza) would i still need to get a steering wheel control unit?
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