Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

It sounded nice and clear but I noticed I had to turn the volume up more. Fixed that issue by adding an amp. Going to add some sound deadening when the weather gets warmer

 

awesome. I may look at those in the future as i have an amp now... but for now i've got the CS kickers.

 

I decided to install the rear speakers today on my lunch break. Infinity references 6.5's, 6532's I think. They are similarly a giant upgrade over stock. More importantly, there is absolutely NO sound deadening on the rear doors. I used 1.5 sheets per door between the inner and outer skin and they shut so much more solidly. I think this is going to cut a lot of road and wind noise for me.

Edit: yup, it’s a lot quieter. Most of the road noise has moved to the back wall of the cabin instead of just “everything behind me” and it rolls quieter over rough roads. I’ll tackle the back wall in the next couple weeks.

 

Stupid question. Was about to order everything, then noticed a couple posts stating speakers and tweeter in OP weren't compatible with the JBL Premium.
Could someone clarify?

Subaru Kicker Tweeters have a different connector than the JBL?
Thanks.

 

Correct the Subaru tweeters do not work on JBL systems.

 

Ordered the 6 Kicker speakers today. Will I be kicking(no pun intended) myself if I don't install any sound deadening material while I got the door panels off? $65 for the 36sqft Noico(the 24sqft in post #1 is unavailable on Amazon) may not seem like a deal breaker but I also just threw my wallet at OVTune and am feeling the pennies add up lol

 

Did the tweeter upgrade today. Still waiting on the door speakers. Massive improvement on the tweeters.

The driver's side tweeter cover was super easy to get off but for the reason the passanger side was a bitch. Ended up breaking off one of the plastic clips which fell down into the dash. Not a big deal aside from my OCD knowing that there is a tiny piece of loose plastic sitting down there lol.

 

Did you do it without taking the A pillars off? Wondering since some say do it and some say you don’t need to. I’m waiting on mine and leaning towards not pulling the A pillars off but if it’s causing too much trouble like you experienced then I might reconsider

 

I took the pillars off. The cover itself was just being really stubborn. I was really careful when taking it off and the clip still broke.

If you are worried about taking off the pillars then don't be. That was by far the easiest part.

 

Thanks! It was more of trying to skip a step if I didn’t need to

 

I used the 18 sq ft kit and have material left after doing all four doors, enough for the rear wall probably. You don’t have to cover the entire panel inside and out; according to the sound deadener showdown site 25% coverage is all that’s needed. My rough measurements of the doors gave me 40 sq ft, so you only really need about 10sq ft for the outer skins.

The front doors have some sound deadening but the rear doors have nothing. It only took me an extra 30 minutes per door to add the Noico, just get everything you can reach on the outer skin and put pieces on the large parts of the inner skin that you can get to and it’ll help a ton.

My road noise went from “all around but mostly behind me” to “definitely coming from the back wall that hasn’t been treated yet”. Noico and other sound deadeners don’t block sound but stop the door panels from resonating from the wind noise, tire noise, speakers, etc and amplifying that noise.

 

Is that for the speakers in the OP as well?

 

Correct, this thread is not for upgrades to the JBL system. The JBL system has its own amp from the factory that complicates aftermarket upgrades.

 

I went and bought the Subaru Tweeters, those come in shortly. I got a pretty good deal Cyber Monday and ended up ordering and installing : Kicker 44KSC69304 and Kicker 44KSC6704 . I was worried when I first installed them but they have broken in pretty nicely. The only thing is I'm trying to get a bit more juice to them so I can crank it.

I see a lot of people here got the Kicker key but I did the whole Crutchfield thing and they recommended the
Soundstream Stealth ST4.1000D - https://www.crutchfield.com/p_530ST410KD/Soundstream-Stealth-ST4-1000D.html
to take the full use out of my speakers. Anyone have any insight on the sound stream? Is it small enough to install in the glove box/behind head unit?

 

No experience with this amp, but havent been happy with the sound stream products clients have brought in for me to install.

The big reason people like the Key so much is the time-alignment and auto-eq setup. Also, 90w RMS is literally un-usable. Even with the less-sensitive Kicker KS line. I'm running KS myself at 50w rms and absolutely cannot turn the volume up anywhere near the limit of my amp.

 

This is the best $250 I've spent in a long time.

Video on first page couldn't have made it easier.

 

Thanks for the response Destin, you are using the Key as well?

 

I personally am not, I am running a Kicker 5-channel. But being an installer by trade, I spent a bit more on my system than this thread aims for.

I have installed Key's in 5 co-workers vehicles, and at least 20 client vehicles. Only had 1 defective unit so far.

 

I see the sound deadening stuff on Amazon is sold out. Anyone got another spot for it? Or equivalent replacement?

 

Noico?