I bought the 05 wagon, and being in the audio industry the sound of the mac unit was of great interest to me. I thought, and still do think, that you would have to go to the kind of trouble mo went to with his custom install b4 you would be likely to get a better sound than standard. Also having previously worked for JB HiFi- I know all to well that there are plenty of cashed up guys who threw plently of coin at their systems, with a far less impressive results.
The Mac system is actually very very good at front stage and clarity. THe emphasis on midrange clarity and detail is a thing rarely found in car systems OEM or not.
The only problem I had was the pissy 8" 'woofer' (cause it aint a sub really) in the back. I couldn't hear it until it was clipping and sounding like a dead cat in my dog's jaws
The answer my friends was found with a 12" JL sub in a JL standard slot port box.
Con: box is big.
Pro: box box = efficient speaker.
Pro: efficient speaker means more DB per Watt.
The mac amp doesn't seem to pack a massive punch, so putting a twin voice coil blah blah- isn't going to work. Scale it back, dumb it down.
I now run my system at 30 on the dial, and it gives me fuuuullll range sound, clean and clear with just enough bottom end to make the interior mirror vibe.
The sub is only around the $500 mark, the only mod to the car is to pull the 8" out and extend the speaker wires out to the new box...
Can I also recomend buying some tie down straps to go between the two metal D's the seat backs latch to to stop the mutha moving if you drive like I do...
The whole lot can be returned to original in about 10mins when you feel the need to... The sub pulls out of the load area in seconds.
Cheap flexible and nets a solid result for those not looking to spend big bucks or go the whole hog.
so I was thinking, some sound deadening, making sure the screws holding the sub aren't loose