Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Friday March 29, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC General > Car Audio, Video & Security

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-04-2001, 10:47 PM   #1
dopey_one
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 6671
Join Date: May 2001
Location: livermore, ca, usa
Post how good is the stock wrx??

hey all, i am just wondering if i should get the premium sound upgrade in my WRX when i get it... is it really that good and are there RCA outs on the stock deck? also, is there a seperate tweeter? thanks...
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
dopey_one is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 06-04-2001, 10:57 PM   #2
Austin
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 7089
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Western Wa
Vehicle:
2016 STi

Post

The stock head unit has a wiring harness - no preouts. The upgrade just gives you beefier 6.5 in the front and 5.25 in the back, with an amplified 6.5" sub under the passenger seat. you still get the same tweets in the front door as the base audio.
Austin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2001, 08:04 AM   #3
pajono
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 3790
Join Date: Jan 2001
Vehicle:
1980 VW Rabbit
All go, no show.

Question

Austin: are you sure the upgraded rear's are 5.25", and not 4" like the stock units? I'm going to upgrade my rears soon, and would be happier fitting 5.25".

Thanks,
Paul
pajono is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2001, 05:51 PM   #4
JBPolkAudio
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 5025
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Lawrence, KS
Vehicle:
2004 STi
White

Post

The stock WRX system SUCKS!!! I mean, sucks. My girlfriend got a new 2001 civic for Xmas (spoiled) and that system sounds much better than the WRX one. You can easily fit 6.5" in front and back (the back is a little harder, cutting is involved) and they will blow the **** out of the stock system.

Don't waste your money on the premium sound upgrade. Get some nice aftermarket speakers (may I suggest polks? that are reasonably priced and a nice head unit. If you want, get and amp and a sub too. It makes the system sound 10x better. The upgrade sub (so I have been told) sounds like crap (too boomy).

~JB
JBPolkAudio is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2001, 07:11 PM   #5
Concillian
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 4414
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Dublin, CA
Vehicle:
2002 WRX Sedan
Midnight Black

Post

I would agree with Polk that the stock speakers are beyond weak.

I would disagree that it's 'easy' to replace the fronts, as a spacer/adapter needs to be made or fitted. Any car stereo installer can do it easily, but the average DIY install will come up against some hurdles.

Given the stock speakers, I would strongly advocate replacing the speakers before the head unit, at least with name brand coaxes. Components work very well in the fronts for the WRX because the door panel and wiring is already set up for it in the front.

Get a good quality line out converter (LOC) to plumb RCAs to your amp. After buying a mediocre one, and noticing bass response less than it should have been, I recently found some info on what others are considering good ones:

http://www.linkmeup.com/pl2.htm

and

http://www.soundgate.com/loc.html

The PAC line that most places will give you have a spec of 20-20000 Hz at ± 5 dB. Don't put up with that. They tend to attenuate the bass frequencies more than the mids/highs.

Note that the two listed have a ± 0.5dB output for the entire 20-20000Hz range. Nice flat response.

I can't believe that PAC can get away with selling ± 5 dB units. I assume that the PAC units are similar to the high level inputs on amps. The Audiolink one can be had mail order from Crutchfield or http://www.logjamelectronics.com/audpl2linout.html

The soundgate one can be had if you call up soundgate, they'll tell you dealers in the area.

[This message has been edited by Concillian (edited June 05, 2001).]
Concillian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2001, 07:41 PM   #6
Somber
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 5118
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Oklahoma City, OK, US
Post

I'm confused... did I get a different system than you guys?

what are you defining as "less than weak"? the lack of bass? the fact that anything over 30 starts to distort?

certainly I've heard (and had) much better, and I fully expect to shift to good aftermarket equipment soon (which is why I didn't take the premium option), but what I have is better than the majority of stock car systems I've heard recently...
Somber is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2001, 08:12 PM   #7
WRX_Rich
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 6516
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Cape Coral, FL USA
Vehicle:
2002 WRX Sedan
WR Blue Pearl

Post

I have the premium speaker & subwoofer package and am happy with it so far. After adjusting the gain and cutoff screws on the sub (under passenger seat) it sounds good, I just adjust the bass setting on the head unit for different types of music now.

I don't know why anyone would replace the head unit, it has a built-in 6 disc CD changer (that plays burned CDR's, BTW) a cassette deck, and even shows the elapsed time when playing a CD, something I haven't seen any factory cd players do.

Granted this is not an earth shattering system, but it sounds plenty good for me, and I got to finance the $250 extra or whatever I spent on it over 5 years, try that at the stereo shop!

-Rich
WRX_Rich is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2001, 10:36 PM   #8
Concillian
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 4414
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Dublin, CA
Vehicle:
2002 WRX Sedan
Midnight Black

Post

I was using weak as an expression of quality, not of output, sorry for the confusion.

How's beyond poor. As in quality. My girlfriend's new Corrola has a better sounding stock system, but I didn't get the premium package, I have no idea how that is.

I feel it is especially poor in the midbass and bass range. The speakers are very boomy and full of what I like to call "false bass."

Actually, I must give credit to the tweeters, they really aren't that bad, but the four midbass speakers are.

Power handling wise they aren't great either, but truthfully that doesn't really bother me, they seem to be pretty efficient and play reasonably loud.
Concillian is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
how good is the AT wrx tranny? AlbanianImpreza Transmission (AT/MT) & Driveline 29 01-07-2007 09:28 PM
how good is the stock coilpack/ignition? inpreza kid Normally Aspirated with bolt-on Forced Induction Powertrain 7 06-24-2004 11:56 PM
how good is the Stock WRX cd player? wagonman Car Audio, Video & Security 1 11-01-2002 02:25 PM
How good is the stock WRX suspension with good wheels and tires? SCRAPPYDO Brakes, Steering & Suspension 30 01-13-2002 01:48 AM
How good is the 02 WRX? WRX1832 New England Impreza Club Forum -- NESIC 16 02-25-2001 10:51 AM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:16 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.