Is the Subaru tweeter mod worth the $100???

Owned 4 Subaru’s for $100 it has always been worth it to my deaf ass.

 

I actually did the tweeters myself but had a local shop install the Kicker Key Amp along with a remote start device. They mentioned the AMP was an easy install (less than an hour) but I did not do that part myself.

 

I picked up a pair at half the cost and I didn’t notice any difference. Point being, Not worth it to me, even at $50

 

The Subaru Kicker tweeters are worth it. For around $100 I noticed a pretty large difference.

However it started a slippery slope. It began with tweeters and now here's the list:

JBL GTOs 6x9s
JBL GTOs 6.5s
Noico sound deadening for the whole cabin
Pioneer in line amp behind the deck
Joying Deck with Android Auto and Apple Carplay

My $100 start turned into just under $1000

 

I didn’t notice much difference when I did it in my 18 before I sold it. Then again, I’ve had many concussions.

 

Was in the same boat as you and got the tweeters in a few days ago to see what the fuss was about. Worth it to me. Noticeably more crisp and top end range.

 

Changing out 2 of 6 speakers will not dramatically change the overall sound. Yes, the Kicker tweeters are an upgrade over stock, but again, there are 4 more shitty speakers playing along with them... I installed the Kicker tweeters paired with the Kicker CS in all 4 doors running off of the Kicker Key amp, keeping the factory head unit. I also added the Kicker Hideaway 8” powered sub for good measure. For $750 it was well worth it & now sounds dramatically better.

 

I installed one of the Subaru tweeters & compared it with the oem before installing the second. Major difference between the two. Laughable even. But as @DWD484 said, there's four more shitty speakers to go.

 

I upgraded door speakers (JL audio) added an alpine amp and a big ass ported sub(JL audio) that's as wide as the cab (sits behind the back seats) excluding the head unit. After that I noticed the stock tweeters sucked, literally could barely hear them, did the tweeter mod and it's a bit better but like most said if you put in decent door speakers there's no need. May have made a difference if I did it when all else was stock.

 

I’ll road trip over and you can help with mine!

 

Have you actually seen the stock speakers? Uh, no.

They look like a grade school kid’s art project involving cardboard, with 2 nickels taped together on the end. Not that they don’t put out sound, but I prefer silk to cardboard.

 

But wait, there’s more!

My main axe these days, a 2002 Gibson ES-135...

 

Any speaker upgrade is worth it, but you will never know because the stock headunit is so underwhelming. Maybe 4x20W. So love your oem look cuz it’s crap

 

That’s because you don’t understand how they work or what they are. The stock door speakers are not a joke. They “look” wrong, because they are a modern design using more powerful magnets.

The stock dash speakers (tweeters) are actually more heavy duty in their construction than the Subaru plastic “upgrade” tweeters.

Your ignorance is showing in your post unfortunately.

 

Ya huge difference, I don’t care what they look like or are made of. They sound way clearer, crisper, and louder then the stocks. Highly suggest it if you’re thinking about it. To me it was a night and day difference with the kickers.

 

Oh? Is that why they sound like shit compared to poorly constructed subaru tweeters and ancient kicker door speaker magnets? Give me a break. Ignorance is trying to prove something people with two ears can figure out. But I’m sure all the people who have downgraded according to you are dead wrong.

 

I’m willing to talk about sound quality all day long.

the truth is, Toyota achieved something with the stock door speakers. They are lightweight, and reasonably loud and good sounding for what they are. They are not a standard construction speaker is what my point is. Comparing magnet size means nothing anymore. If you take a stock Toyota door speakers, you can’t even get a paper clip to stick to that “dime size” magnet, because it’s a neodymium magnet that is internal to the voice coil.

You can certainly upgrade your door speakers, but there’s a lot of what I call “geezer opinions” on TW that get spread around that are not based on facts.

The fact is the door Toyota speakers are a more modern design than your Kickers or your Rockfords etc. They are not super high quality sounding, but make a monumental amount of reasonable sound for a plastic speaker that weighs 2 ounces.

 

Woah, gentlemen. It's Christmas Eve. How about a little cheer here... Like most things in life, what sounds better to someone is subjective, as is what looks better. Everyone has their own preference of music, clothes, sound quality and even boob size, educated or not. It's the way of the world... When I initially upgraded my speakers, I did so without the amp or the sub. To ME, with just the 6 speaker upgrade, it did sound better than stock. The result was more vocal clarity with more pronounced bass. It made the overall sound less "muddy" while filling the cab more evenly throughout. Yet, I still wasn't satisfied. So, weeks later, after adding the amp and the sub, this is when the sound really came alive. It filled in what was lacking, in my opinion, & made every aspect of the overall sound quality better by a large margin... As I've stated, just the speakers alone did do a lot for the overall sound compared to stock. Take that for what it's worth, which probably isn't much. If you disagree & are happy with the sound of the stock speakers, awesome. Rock on!... I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

 

I did this in my prior Tacoma and thought it was a big improvement. For some reason I've dragged my feet on upgrading my now 1 year old 2019. But I did the upgrade last week and again, I'm very happy with the improved sound. Clarity and range are greatly improved. Yeah, it's $100 so the individual needs to decide if it's worth it. If all you listen to is AM talk radio it might not be worth it. But if you listen to music either FM, FM High Def, Satellite radio, a streaming service or from the audio player in your phone it does make a pretty significant difference.