OEM Audio Plus Reviews

Sub amp adjustment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZvJySrhY

 

thanks. I was already aware of the stand-alone sub amp adjustments. I thought you said the dsp amp was also adjustable.

 

How long did you guys wait for it to ship? I’ve been waiting for a little over two months?

 

I waited about 10 days. I do know that OEM Audio Plus is in the middle of a move at the moment. That might explain some of the delay.

 

Took about 3 months to get mine, ordered beginning of May and got it about 2 weeks ago.

Send them an email, they were very helpful in letting me know status

 

Thank you both for the reply! I did email they let me know most likely middle of August I will get a shipment confirmation! Thank you for the help !

 

Recently my DSP amp rear channels stopped working. The sub channel and front channels were fine. I contact OEM Audio Plus and they replaced the DSP amp, no cost, on my three year old system. That is customer service. That is unheard of in the electronics industry. Thank you OEM Audio Plus! You guys are awesome!

 

Alright, after reading all the reviews I finally pulled the trigger last week and bought the system 500 with the dual amps.
I currently have a DMH-WC6600 NEX headunit and I have previously installed Kicker CS front and rear speaker with the factory kicker Subaru tweeter.
I was pretty happy with the headunit and speaker upgrades but I am wanting a little more oomph and decided the truck really needed a dedicated sub to make it really complete.
Now, I have to patiently wait for mine to be manufactured and I really hope its as good as everyone says it is.

 

TLDR: Sounds fantastic. Would do it again in a heartbeat, but I’m not sure I would do it a first time again. I’d definitely do things differently.


I’m not an audiophile, but swapping between family vehicles with Meridian, B&O and ELS systems, the Tacoma JBL was annoying me. If I didn’t have a comparison in my face all the time, I wouldn’t have done anything about it. The stock JBL system sounds fine if you don’t compare. I also didn’t notice much difference at low volumes. YMMV.


Ordered the JBL replacement “Evolution” series in late April, received the first week of August. Nicely packed. No documentation whatsoever sent with it. No instructions, no packing list.


Tracked down and watched the videos I could find. Multiple times. It would have been helpful to get something that laid out the path – watch and do this first, this second and so on. I mostly got what I needed after a number of emails back and forth.


If I needed to install the system in another truck, I could probably get it done in 8-10 hours. Doing it the first time took me three times as long. It’s a pretty steep learning curve if you haven’t done anything like it before. If I knew then what I know now, I would have paid someone else to install it. Later note: I asked my helper – he said no way, couldn’t get done in 1/3 of the time even if doing it again. See, “It’s a lot easier with a helper” below.


Started with the tweeters. Had a 10mm socket wrench and a small adjustable wrench, but the clearance is tight – had to go out any buy a small wrench to fit into the space. Broke a clip on one of the passenger side A pillar covers when removing. No big deal – replacement was about $5. Wasn’t the last piece broken. Getting trim pieces in and out and not having stuff rattle or look bad after I got done was my biggest concern. I’d give myself maybe a C but I still have a couple of pieces to fix and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to buy a few more trim parts. By the glove box for the SOS install was particularly problematic, as were the wire runs along the doors.


Did the drive side door next. Bought 36sf of CLD and 36sf of CCF. Didn’t do MLV (by choice). If you don’t know what that means, read the sound deadening threads. If I had to do it again, I’m not sure I would do the CLD – rolling it in the confined spaces was a PITA. I ended up doing all 4 doors and the back wall. I ended up using about half of the CLD and I should have doubled up on the CCF because that was easy to do. First door took me about 3 hours, including sound deadening. The connecter for the power windows on this particular panel was difficult to deal with, but interestingly enough, none of the other ones were. By the time I got to the 4th door, could get one done in about 90 minutes.


Uninstalling and reinstalling the back seats and subwoofer was uneventful, reinstalling the panels was a bit more challenging.


The SOS speaker relocate was a lot of work. Minimally 3-4 hours. Even though I now know how to do it, I’m not sure I could do it a lot faster. I don’t think I would do it again. Really uncomfortable angles to deal with – picture my helper lying on the passenger seat (seat fully reclined) with his feet up by the headrest and his head under the dash. Yeah, there is probably a better way of doing it, but we didn’t see it and wanted to get done. I ended up using a zip tie to fish wires behind the dash to the passenger side and the driver footwell for the integration module. Fish tape and a bent coat hanger were too stiff. The one that I used was about 18” long and 3/8” wide and worked great. You need something like that.


Running the power wires to the battery was challenging because the working angles to cut off the nipple and getting under the dash and push them through was convoluted. I used a bit of shampoo to cut the friction and that worked pretty well.


The amp under the seat proved surprisingly difficult to deal with. Partially because the instruction video was for a manual seat and mine was different and partially because the perspective in the videos isn’t really obvious – at least it wasn’t to me. Between the SOS relocate and this, I spent at least 2 hours on the phone with the OEM A+ team with questions that day. I’m a fan – they did great and were very patient. That said, this and the SOS relocate were the biggest challenges – besides putting stuff back together again.


I have been enjoying the system for the last week. Erich Kunzel’s, “Time Warp” is pretty good at showing the range of the system and have listened to it a couple of times, but I also like hard hitting “country” (think Brothers Osborne, “Ain’t my fault” or Jason Aldeen, “She’s country”) and rock (Judas Priest, “Turbo Lover,” Metallica, “Seek and Destroy”). Female vocalists like Pink also sound great. The only song that has been disappointing is Disturber’s, “Sound of Silence.” Sounds a bit muddy – I’m guessing it’s my source.


Everyone that has listened to it agrees that it is a vast improvement.


What you need to know:

• I’d absolutely buy again, but I’d pay someone else to install
• The OEM A+ team is great if you need help, but recognize that they are a small company and have associated limitations
• The videos make it look easy. If you haven’t done something like this before, it’s not
• It’s a lot easier with a helper – I had one almost the entire time, and wouldn’t do it without one
• I’d still do CCF for thermal, but not sure if I would do CLD
• You need 10, 12 and 14mm socket wrenches, a small 10mm wrench, a set of panel tools including a clip puller, a Phillips screwdriver and something reasonably flexible to pull wires through the dash. You also need a heat gun for the shrink ties on the power wires - not sure if a hair dryer gets hot enough.
• Yellow wires = airbag. Make sure the battery is disconnected!

If you are in the middle TN area and want to give it a listen, drop me a note.

 

Since June. Always a new excuse when I call. First it was chips, then my kit was done and going to shipping "in two weeks", latest (about 4 weeks ago) is they are having to build the harnesses in house but since I have been waiting since June, "you will get yours first". So...don't hold your breath.

I am considering my options now.

 

See my review a couple of posts above, and recognize that, “they are a small company and have associated limitations.” No horror stories, but certainly delays. Like a lot of other companies, stuff is probably sitting in a cargo ship off Long Beach. I got my share of delays as well, but patience, professionalism and persistence pays off. Took longer than expected but I got all of the right stuff and it worked.

 

I ordered mine 30 days ago. I'm not even going to ask them for status until mid-December.

 

Yea no doubt they are a small company. I am just going off two recent reviews from the Subaru forum I came from that said they had missing stuff or a problem amp. Like I said, since the dealer is doing everything, they can deal with it. I am in no rush. Stock audio actually is not too bad.

 

Audio going in on the 25th. Pretty excited.

Never trust a Subaru owner

 

Anyone gone from the 450Q to the 500Q? I got the 450Q single sub without the dedicated amp. Been talking with OEM about upgrading. Price seems steep for a DSP and harness.

 

They quoted me 899 for the 64 bit DSP and new harness. Not doin it....

 

Got mine done. It's as expected with an 8" woofer. I have some tweaking to do, and it handles bass better on some songs than others, but definitely an improvement.

My max volume is 32 and was before I had the upgrade done too. Beyond that seems to be overkill and lose clarity with the stock headunit. Same before with stock speakers. So I currently have the bass knob on Max, the bass and treble all the way up on the headunit, and the amp was untouched from it's factory setting. I do plan on turning the treble and bass down a notch or two on the headunit to see if I can push to 35, maybe? I rarely have it so loud, usually around 15 or 20, if on at all. Bass across the board is handled much better at lower volume for some music.

For me, it was about simplicity. I could have easily done a custom setup thats sounds 'better", but I don't want that heartache. In my teens and 20s, I always did it. Now it's all about plug and play.

Would I recommend it? Yes. If it's in your budget. But don't expect ground shattering bass for every different style bass type song. If that is your goal, get a 10" sub/amp or bigger from someone like Rockford Fosgate/Kicker/etc. Clarity and simplicity are what you can expect from the OEM setup. You'll get glares in the rear view from either type setup at the stop lights



To anyone who's adjusted gain on the amp: noticeable improvement? Suggestions welcome. I do know some of the softness I experience across audio can be contributed to using Pandora. If I switch to stored audio on the phone, which I don't have much of anymore, it's much louder and clearer.

*Edit
There is a sticker preventing you from adjusting gain. Probably a good idea. I did adjust the bass eq a bit though. About a quarter turn. I still have thoughts of going with a 12" sub and amp though, possibly a new headunit.

 

Thats what I was quoted. Just wondering how much "better" the 500Q is over the 450 and is it worth it? Plug n Play isnt cheap.

 

no sir.....sure isn't

 

I tried searching back a bit, but didn't see what I was looking for. Does anybody have this in addition to an aftermarket HU? More specifically, a Pioneer DMH-WT7600NEX - I'm a big fan of wireless carplay, so upgrading from the stock HU is a must.

I'm not an audio junky, so a decent full plug and play system like this would be perfect. Just want to make sure everything would still be good to go with an aftermarket HU.