Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

I don't know if anyone can hit the $250 target anymore due to inflation. Probably more like the $300 upgrade nowadays.

Did the Subaru Kicker tweeters first back in 2019 @ $99
Picked up a set of Kicker CS for $98 on sale https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20646CC693/Kicker-46CSC6934.html?tp=91
I have an access cab so I did not choose to do the rear door upgrade with the stock head unit, since there is almost non-existent power going out to those speakers. Instead, I faded the the speaker to a front seat bias. Crutchfield does have the 6.5" on sale for $68. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20646CC654/Kicker-46CSC654.html?tp=78072

I did forget to replace a couple of triangle door panel clips, so I'll be buying a bag of those on Amazon. If anyone needs any, I doubt I'll be burning through 15 clips so let me know if you made the same mistake and I'll mail clips out when I have them.

 

absolutely possible. here's a nice setup i came up with real quick. this keeps all of the factory connections. with some willingness to do some more wiring on aftermarket plugs, there's additional possibilities in component sets setups that will still utilize the factory wiring, and still fall under the $250 mark.

door opening and wire adapters, $22

$20 DKMUS 6" x 9" Front Door Speaker Mount Adapter for Subaru Forester Impreza Toyota 4Runner Avalon Highlander Tacoma Prius Sequoia Tundra with Wiring Harness

https://www.amazon.com/DKMUS-Speaker-Adapter-4Runner-Highlander/dp/B0B6RKHBMF

door woofers, $96

$96 PowerBass OE-690D - 6"x9" 3-Way Speakers 100Wrms / 300Wmax (2-Ohm) - Pair

https://www.amazon.com/Powerbass-OE-690D-midbass-Replacement-Speaker/dp/B088R3XQCT

ds18 tweeters, $60

$65 DS18 PRO-ST 1.9" Replacement Upgrade Bullet Compression Tweeters with Crossovers- Car OEM Tweeter Upgrade Kit for Many Subaru/Toyota Models - Replacement for H631SFJ101 and H631SFJ100 (Pair) (Renewed)

https://www.amazon.com/DS18-Replacement-Compression-Tweeters-Crossovers/dp/B0CRH4KW52

just the front, which is where most of the improvement is anyways: $178

 

Anyone try this set out ? Wondering if the 3" mid/tweeter coax would fit in the dash. Not looking to trim anything.

$192 Alpine S2-S69C - Next-Generation S-Series 6x9 Component Speaker Set

https://www.amazon.com/Alpine-S2-S6...eakers&qid=1710038347&sprefix=,aps,151&sr=8-5

 

Just installed the kicker key.. I thought successfully. No sound coming out of my car. 2021 non jbl. Red wolf harness

Which side of the amp is supposed to plug Into the headunit? Side with dip switches or the side with smaller harness.

Also I may have forgotten to press that little button don't remember what it's called. Is that an issue?

 

Mines sitting on the table waiting to be installed. I ordered it before I was ready for it because it was on sale. In two weeks, at the most, I should have my taco back from the body shop so I can install it then. I really hope that you’ve got yours working by then. Where did you buy yours from?

 

Amazon. Same price as crutchfield. I think the issue is I didn't color match wires, I matched them sequentially so my grays and whites were flipped. I am getting power to the amp but I'm getting a red error code which could mean alot of things. I flipped the wires on male to male end, but not the side with power cables yet. I am scavenging my garage for 2 more buttconnectors.. lol

Edit: can't do anything more tonight. All hardware stores are closed and I need two more butt connectors. Pulled the fuse to ensure the power wire isn't live for now. Tucked it all away. If flipping those last 2 wires doesn't fix it, idk what else to do

Edit 2: oh my goodness. I found a treasure trove of them in an old box. Update soon

 

Okay final update for the night. I got a green light! I color matched all the speaker wires, hooked it all up, and started the car. Initially it was red, then sat on green... then quickly flashed red and then no more light. All while still receiving no sound.

Any other ideas?

https://youtube.com/shorts/NFL9_TZnBVw?si=fn9lFzp1O0_Hl101

 

Read your other post(s) down below.
What "Red Wolf" harness did you buy / install?

I am waiting for a sunny warm weekend day to do mine. I already sound-deadened the front doors. The back doors and speaker swap is next, then the amp. But since I have a 2018, I have a different harness than you. I already made the T-harness from two Metra harnesses by following instructions elsewhere on TW...

 

Yea I couldn't use the metra harness. This is what I used. Got everything fixed up today, working fine. Just need some quiet place to do the auto eq tune, apparently everyone is out everywhere today making fucking noise or driving by, and don't have a garage that I can park in lol.

My issue was I didn't not realize all 4 color wires on harness and kicker key needed to be spliced individually together. That was not obvious to me, so I only connected greens to greens, purples to purples, whites to whites and grays to grays. Had no idea I needed too split the wires further by pulling them apart to separate green w/ black line from green, and then splice those together. And then do same for solid green to solid green, splice those together (seperately)

All in all i went from 8 butt connectors (4 each side of key) to 16 total

 

So you mixed + and -?

 

Mixed? No. When I saw 4 diff color wires on the redwolf harness and 4 more matching colors on kicker key, I just matched em up 1:1 with 4 butt connectors on each side of the key (8 total)

What i did NOT realize, or did not necessarily read anywhere in explicit detail, is that each color of wire (green purple white gray), both on the kicker key and red wolf harness, there are two wires on the same strand of colors, not just one. One being the solid color, and the other the same color but with a black line down the middle. So, next I disassembled my harness carefully, identified which wires had solid black lines on them between the kicker and red wolf harness, and color matched once again but with that info in hand this time. So 4 butt connectors before (4 each side) turned into 8 (purple x2, green x2, white x2, gray x2) making 16 total.

I was basically youtubing everything and scouring this forum for explicit details for this install with barely any experience in any of it . I started this project on a whim that "boy this looks super easy ppl are giving super easy install steps" blah blah but I didn't have the basic information or understanding of how this stuff works. Now I have some experience and learned some lessons along the way for my next potential endeavor

BTW I just tuned the key and holy shit night and day difference. I need to finish sound deadening the doors and cab now when I get more free time

 

So you combined each + and - into a single butt connector, essentially shorting out each speaker input and output... That would do it.

 

At least he was consistent with each speaker

 

Just shows how much confidence this forum can give someone like me. A year ago I would have paid someone to do all that work for me. But you start reading threads and how to guides that seem simple enough, you overlook something that might be "common knowledge" to most, but for someone like me who is literally following the advice of strangers in old and new posts, with different harnesses and different headunits, then watching vague YouTube videos for confirmation on what I read... I'm just glad I got there in the end and didn't electrocute myself, or fry anything, during my install.

I had never touched the positive end of my battery before, so running the power line through the firewall was the most nerve racking part.

 

BTW I adjusted my gains to 9:00 L / 11:00 R

30-35 is SO INSANELY LOUD and I couldn't be happier. I'm a metal head, and the new Imminence album came out today, so I drove around aimlessly this evening just listening to the album with my new toy at like 30 volume. Going to see them April 30th too

 

Is there a reason why i couldn't just run 4x of the

$85 46CSC674 CS-Series CSC67 6.75" (165mm) Coaxial Speakers, 4-Ohm (Pair)

46CSC674 speakers all the way around? My plan is to throw my sub behind the rear seat, and grab the DS18 tweeters, as well as a future amp with soundproofing in the doors.

 

you can definitely do that, biggest difference is that they're sort of cheap speakers, and many other component sets will have better bass, as well as better tweeters.

the biggest problem with upgrading piece-meal is that the stock setup is rated only for the basics. once you start rocking out at all, either by improving the door speakers with the factory radio, or improving the radio enough to make you want to turn it up, whatever stock gear is left starts falling drastically behind, leaving you immediately regretting upgrading only part of it.

it's fine if you just want a little more clarity, but i like loudness as well...

 

To Anyone: I am thinking of putting component speakers in the front (2019 x-cab, stock head unit non JBL) with an amp. Not knowing a lot about car audio, should I be adding midrange speakers in the rear or coaxial speakers. Why I am asking is that if I add coaxial then I will have 4 tweeters in the car, will this make it sound to High Pitched ? Thank you in advance.

 

you could also not run rear speakers, allowing better funds to go into the front speakers, and narrowing the focus of the system to something more akin to sitting in front of plain old stereo speakers.

they're all acceptable options, it really comes down to each individuals goals.

a coaxial in the rear can provide a fuller sound for more occupants, and offer to surround the front occupants with equal sound.

a midrange in the rear can offer to boost the lower midrange frequencies that are tougher to amplify, but can pull the acoustic image downwards to make it sound like everything is happening at foot level.

or no rear speakers, tends to work better for the staging concept of creating a phantom band on the hood of the vehicle, where if you close your eyes, you can individually place each instrument and singer as if you were sitting front row at a private concert.

 

@soundman98 wow you taught me some things i didnt know,,, thank you,,, now i am looking at it differently,,, and have more things to think about,,,, this is good