radio/cd OE or aftermarket

[bork]

Which is more reliable? I would prefer a plug n play OE, but only if they are known to hold up. If aftermarket is better, anyone have recomendations for a unit that has a good history, and easy to install, & easy to aquire harrness adaptor for 1999 impreza L .

[lstevens76]

The only advantage the stock radios have going for them is Weatherband.  

 

For a '99 Impreza finding the adapter harness and adapter plates are as simple as hopping on Crutchfield.com and ordering them.

 

I would suspect most audio shops would carry it as well.  The harness is pretty standard for a lot of years/model subarus.  

 

As for Stereo my preference is Kenwood.  I paid around $70/$80 for my deck on Amazon with Bluetooth (mic included) AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA, etc....  

[Bushwick]

I'm a fan of Pioneer, but their newest units are rather cheap looking with lousy buttons. 

 

Basically any big name CD player with usb (get the usb option and you can charge modern phones off it, as well as run music from the phone AND you can import music onto a usb flash stick via something like Windows Media player and avoid running an ipod; the usb will act just like a CD where you can select tracks, skip, etc.) will be dependable, so Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, JVC, Alpine, and even Clarion. Most will sound better than stock, and have a huge amount of options to customize the sound. I'm a fan of high pass filters as they can protect speakers from bass signals they are NOT designed to handle. Plus most after market have RCA outputs to run an amp or 2.

 

You can find weatherband on aftermarket, so that's not an issue if you like it. As far as reliability, all of these should last at least 5 years or more. Can buy an adapter to to fit modern a radio into the factory recess if needed.