Daskuppler Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 Hello Everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my wife's audio system in her '14 Forester. The stock Clarion head unit is having Bluetooth issues despite having current firmware. It sounds terrible anyway. We are an Android family so I've been looking at double din Android Auto ready units and pretty much settled on this: Kenwood DDX9906XR eXcelon but I'm open to comparable options if anyone has experience elsewhere. The speakers are where in struggling. I had intended to go with the Alpine Type R but then saw they were dropping out at about 50hz. I don't plan to put a sub in the car as it is a camping car and we have dogs so I'm not willing to sacrifice the space. Focal seems to have a good set as well. I'm only planning on the front speakers initially. I do plan on putting a 4 channel amp in, I was looking at the Alpine pdx line but, again, I'm open to suggestions. I also read, on another forum, that most people are installing the Kicker upgrade kit because of an apparent need to modify the mounting brackets and wiring harness. What is involved in that? I'm more than capable of fabricating and modifying things, I'm just curious if anyone has any experience. Lastly, is everyone sticking with the 6x9 and how hard are the corner dash speakers to replace? Cheers, Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 I like to check crutchfield.com as a good source of what's needed and things that will fit. Consider using an interface harness (Metra) as cutting wires on the factory harness scares me. If you need wiring pinouts go here https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36208128&postcount=9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyman03 Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 From what I'm reading the dash speakers are simple to get out - pry up on the grille and use a small handled philips screwdriver to remove. https://www.crutchfield.com/car/outfitmycar/mycar.aspx has a good picture breakdown on what it all looks like one thing to keep in mind is the speaker rating vs deck output. That kenwood deck says its rated at 22w RMS (optimal area) and 50w peak (the ballpark where it will clip), you might find yourself adding that amp in a bit sooner than you think. (Granted, I just did a quick "Alpine Type R 6 1/2" " search) Alpine speakers tend to want power to really sound good. They RMS at around 100w per speaker - I'm sure they'll sound ok with the deck power but if you intend to really open them up (and not clip your deck), you'll want an amp. othwerwise you'll find yourself 1/2 way up the volume and it'll sound bad. I'm going through this in my DD; I put a set of Skar 6.5" components on a alpine deck and it clips bad. (and they're 80wRMS) All that said - On my wife's '09, simply replacing the deck really made the stock speakers sound loads better. -Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted October 20, 2019 Author Share Posted October 20, 2019 On 10/17/2019 at 10:09 PM, crazyman03 said: From what I'm reading the dash speakers are simple to get out - pry up on the grille and use a small handled philips screwdriver to remove. https://www.crutchfield.com/car/outfitmycar/mycar.aspx has a good picture breakdown on what it all looks like one thing to keep in mind is the speaker rating vs deck output. That kenwood deck says its rated at 22w RMS (optimal area) and 50w peak (the ballpark where it will clip), you might find yourself adding that amp in a bit sooner than you think. (Granted, I just did a quick "Alpine Type R 6 1/2" " search) Alpine speakers tend to want power to really sound good. They RMS at around 100w per speaker - I'm sure they'll sound ok with the deck power but if you intend to really open them up (and not clip your deck), you'll want an amp. othwerwise you'll find yourself 1/2 way up the volume and it'll sound bad. I'm going through this in my DD; I put a set of Skar 6.5" components on a alpine deck and it clips bad. (and they're 80wRMS) All that said - On my wife's '09, simply replacing the deck really made the stock speakers sound loads better. -Justin Thank you for the suggestions. I plan on installed the amp when the deck is out so I don't have to pull it again to connect it. I'm looking for a 4 channel with in the ball park of 100RMS, I'll be sure to match the amp output with what the speaker wants. Initially the plan was to just replace the deck and do the speakers and such later, but the deck looks like kind of a pain to remove so I figured I'd do it all at once. I originally did just the deck in my car and it made a huge difference. I put in some cheaper Alpine Type S speakers in my front doors and they do alright. They could use more power but I don't drive it much. Thank you for the crutchfield link, I'll check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted October 20, 2019 Author Share Posted October 20, 2019 On 10/17/2019 at 7:01 PM, Mike104 said: I like to check crutchfield.com as a good source of what's needed and things that will fit. Consider using an interface harness (Metra) as cutting wires on the factory harness scares me. If you need wiring pinouts go here https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36208128&postcount=9 Thank you for the link, I'll check it all out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 Here's an update: I ended up going with a Kenwood Xcelon DDX906s, an Infinity Kappa four amp (100 watts RMS per channel), and a pair of Infinity REF-96320cx speakers for the front doors. I was planning on placing the amp under either the driver or passenger seat. I saw a YouTube video of a an install for a sub where the power cable was run on the driver side under the door kick panel trim which looked pretty simple. However, the install was on a Forester which already had a factory amp so the RCA and remote wires had already been run. Where is my best path to run these wires? Should I pull the center console, or route the same way as the power cable and take the speaker wires, remote, ground, and everything else above the pedals? The car is relatively new to us so I'm not terribly familiar with pathways in the car. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyman03 Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Amp installs are fairly simple. For the Positive (I also run RCAs this side) run I typically run down the Driver side just inside the lip under the pop panel/carpet.There typically is a rubber grommet pass through on the firewall behind/under the steering column. for the NEG, pull one of the bolts for either the seat or seatbelts and lock it down there. (clean up any paint if applicable) -Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 1 minute ago, crazyman03 said: Amp installs are fairly simple. For the Positive (I also run RCAs this side) run I typically run down the Driver side just inside the lip under the pop panel/carpet.There typically is a rubber grommet pass through on the firewall behind/under the steering column. for the NEG, pull one of the bolts for either the seat or seatbelts and lock it down there. (clean up any paint if applicable) -Justin Justin, That was my plan for amp power. The amp is for speakers so I need to get 4 pairs of speaker wire and the control wire back to the head unit. Will it all fit in the same pathway as the RCA and amp power or do I need to run a different path, maybe around the passenger side? I took the easy route and purchased Crutchfield's kit with it all in a sleeve Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyman03 Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Ah. Typically I dont have issues running wire down the side. You can pull the side down a bit if you feel its tight - should have enough room. Easiest route would be to run both your fronts forward and cut the right channel across the dashboard. I'd do the rears a similar way except I'd run across either under the bottom of the back seat or behind the hinge of the back of the seat. -Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 Just now, crazyman03 said: Ah. Typically I dont have issues running wire down the side. You can pull the side down a bit if you feel its tight - should have enough room. Easiest route would be to run both your fronts forward and cut the right channel across the dashboard. I'd do the rears a similar way except I'd run across either under the bottom of the back seat or behind the hinge of the back of the seat. -Justin Can I use stock wire or will I need to run new wire? The system won't be maxed out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyman03 Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 I typically run new wire so that If i decide to pull everything and go back to stock I'm not ripping the dash apart to make the radio work again with the stock unit Theres also the argument of the wire in the car being 12-14GA. But usually it boils down to ^ -Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 I got everything but none of it came with wiring diagrams. Does anyone have any for a 2014 Forester 2.5 Premium non navigation? Looking for wiring diagrams for headunit and Maestro module. Any input greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 I was able to locate some wiring diagrams from Maestro. I think I have it all wired correctly (I cut off the RCA connections for the speakers from the SU1 harness and connected them to the wires coming from the amp, I matched colors for the rest of the wires from the HU harness and the SU1 harness. I connected the green and black plugs from the SU1 harness to the maestro device. I cut the power connector (Red, Yellow, Black) off and connected it to the HU harness. My one question, unless any of the above is wrong, is what do I do with the wires coming from the OBDII harness? There is a pink plug with a purple and white wire paired with a gray/brown wire (the pruople/white wire is labeled rev in manual transmission which I'm assuming is not used in an auto. The other plug is black and has a red and yellow wire connected to it. Does this splice into the same yellow and red used for power on the HU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 check here for a factory service manual that should include the wiring diagrams: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Forester/ you really should have invested in an adapter harness rather than cutting the factory wiring, but too late now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 4 minutes ago, heartless said: check here for a factory service manual that should include the wiring diagrams: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Forester/ you really should have invested in an adapter harness rather than cutting the factory wiring, but too late now. I didn't cut the factory wiring harness, I cut the SU1 harness per the instructions from Maestro. Thank you for the information, I'll look at it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 Pin out info here https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36208128&postcount=9 A good resource is ae64.com for Subaru radio wiring info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 13, 2019 Author Share Posted December 13, 2019 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Mike104 said: Pin out info here https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36208128&postcount=9 A good resource is ae64.com for Subaru radio wiring info Thank you. I got almost everything up and running. The rearview camera doesn't pull up on the head unit and the OBDII shave Sean to be working. I'll have to call Crutchfield again tomorrow and figure it there OBDII and camera stuff. The speakers are in, they sound fantastic. I'm putting the amp in tomorrow so they should sound even better then. Edited December 13, 2019 by Daskuppler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 A few questions: Rear speakers have incredibly low volume even with gain turned up on amp (eventually the tweeters start to hiss so I turned it all the way down again) Rear view camera does not show on the head unit Android Auto does not work because it does not recognize an engaged parking brake (my understanding for this is that it is missing a ground, I verified the wires are connected appropriately, can I just run the parking switch wire from the head unit direct to ground or a black/negative wire? Screen mirroring doesn't work at all. Thanks for any input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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