Speakers in a MY08 GT Spec.B

[slackboy72]

Thinking of upgrading my speakers to something a bit better quality. Will keep the McIntosh unit.
Unfortunately I have no idea of how many speakers I have. I've counted 4 grilles in each front door and 1 in each rear door. Additionally I see 1 in the dash and 1 in the rear parcel.
I hear there's supposed to be 14 of them. I can't see it.
So what am I missing and what sizes are they? Anyone know?

[garbo41610]

There are 14:
2 x 4ways in the front
2 x 2ways in the rear
front centre channel
subwoofer

Your best bet will be to replace the front 4 way splits with an efficient 2 way speaker (decent does not mean Alpines or Pioneer or Kenwood etc) and some sound deadener (dynamat or the like). You want an efficient speaker to make the most of what little power the OEM amp outputs. That will give you a pretty decent platform to start from.

As for speaker brands to look at; Crescendo, DLS, Seas, Focal, Morel

As for budget; $300-$450 will net you a very nice set of splits and another $200 will get you enough sound deadening.

Where are you from? That way a decent installer can be recommended.

[slackboy72]

Well I had a budget of $1200-$1500 in mind.
I liked the Boston Acoustics on my old crummydore so I thought they would be a good starting point (SR60s and SR65s).
I don't however want crossovers or amps all over the place. I'd like to keep it 'looking' as stock as possible (hence why I'd want to keep the Mcintosh head unit).

[garbo41610]

Aftermarket amps can be located under seats, crossovers will generally be tucked away underneath dash boards, under seats, anywhere really. Boston Acoustics are ok, there are much better speakers out there for the same money though. Will you be looking at upgrading the subwoofer too???

[slackboy72]

Yeah, but don't want a box in the boot.
Basically I want to know what size speakers I have that I can replace.

[garbo41610]

A set of 6.5" splits will suffice. A new baffle will need to be made up to ensure the new speaker has something to mount to properly.

[garbo41610]

You can also look into installing an 8" free air sub into the parcel tray. Take a look at Mihai's install. He did a great job utilising factory mounts.

Here are some photos of the install in my old GT sedan. It was done by FHRX, I have a shockingly bad back so I couldn't do it myself, the results were fantastic even utilising the OEM sub. There was a lot more mid bass response thanks to the deadening (the beast of a midrange driver helped too). You can also see where the new 1" tweeter is mounted at the top of the door (not the A sail obviously). Also, there is a pic of the new baffle that was made for the midrange. Using the outline of the OEM mid is the way to go, that way you can use the factory screw holes in the doors so there is no damage to the door frames and then screw the new midrange into the baffle.

[jp928]

I have now replaced the std HU in an 05 Outback, and the current 08 GTB, without touching the speakers. GTB had a Mcintoss, but just swapping in the JVC DV-6105 hu produces much better ambience, clarity, sharpness, the works, without even using loudness (which the Mc doesnt have!). ~$400 for the jdm double din facia + the HU, and a harness to connect speakers to the Mc connector under the pax seat. I havent even fitted/connected the existing sub, and aI dont miss it a bit.
Unless you have a much bigger budget, speaker changes are a waste IMHO.
jp 08 gtb 6mt wagon

[garbo41610]

harness to connect speakers to the Mc connector under the pax seat

Harness to connect to the Mac cable under the passenger seat??? I've never heard of it? Interesting.

Unless you have a much bigger budget, speaker changes are a waste IMHO.

You don't need a huge budget to upgrade the speakers, My splits were on sale for $220 and the install was $500 including the dynamat which I was happy to pay FHRX as for my money they are the best installers in NSW if not Australia. All up $700ish dollars for a good sounding front stage is very little to pay. It's when you start adding aftermarket amplifiers, subs, new head units, processors etc that stereo's start costing the earth. I should know, I have had a number of incarnations of stereo's worth well over $3,500.00 that I installed myself with help here and there.

Obviously, if my back was up to it at the time I would have done the install myself, to a similar standard of work, and saved myself an extra couple hundred dollars but I didn't regret it for one second afterwards.

I do agree however that with the OEM speakers (however terrible they may be) that a new head unit will provide a much cleaner signal due to the H/U signal not being as heavily equalised. Upgrade your fronts and you will get even better gains in SQ.

[jp928]

SVXDC (Dave carter) on legacygt.com will build you a harness for almost anything Subaru . You might need to give him a pic of the connectors or some wire colours, then he can do most things. Cost me $35 IIRC. Aerpro do a Suby harness plug with unterminated wires for any other HU to suby, for non Mcintoss units. I was just trying to say I think the Mc HU is pretty poor for what its supposed to be, compared to many HU available now, and I think its more the limiting factor than speakers. Adding sound deadening etc will always improve things, but the original HU output will be the critical thing.
jp 08 gtb 6mt wagon.

[cooter1]

alot of people say the dynamat is the first thing you should do when upgrading. Is this really worth it and what does it actually do?

[Kekotic]

alot of people say the dynamat is the first thing you should do when upgrading. Is this really worth it and what does it actually do?

Protects your car from Dinosaur attacks

[garbo41610]

alot of people say the dynamat is the first thing you should do when upgrading. Is this really worth it and what does it actually do?

It stops rattles and raises the resonant frequency of the doors to maximize the amp and speakers outputs and helps make your doors into a more sealed "enclosure" by sealing up service holes etc.

Basically, you hear a lot more detail and if done right gives you a lot... I mean a LOT more midbass.

[slackboy72]

Well I saw a guy today and told him I just wanted to replace the speakers and keep the HU without adding amps and crossovers. He recommended adding Polk 2 way splits in the front and a 8" Polk sub with a custom fibreglass/wood enclosure attached to the parcel tray to make the sub more efficient/effective. All up he didn't recommend me spending more than $700 as he reckons that the Mc speakers are reasonably better than your standard stock speakers.
So what are Polk like?

[andy85]

For your budget.. IMO id spend it on a good 2way, sound deadening and a small amp like Arc's XXD series. That way everything still looks stock.