A repeat client from Towson, Maryland, came to Westminster Speed & Sound (WSS) with his brand-spanking-new 2016 Subaru Legacy. We had worked on his last Subaru Legacy stereo, improving the sound quality of his audio system, and now he wanted to improve it in his new car.
Initial Consultation Reveals Legacy Weak-Points
In typical fashion for WSS, we sat in the vehicle together and listened to his stock sound system. It had the upgraded 12-speaker Harman/Kardon system with factory navigation. While the vehicle had decent output, the sound quality was sorely lacking. It had no real low end, and the midrange and treble were weak, sounding almost lifeless. We listened as he explained what he liked about the stereo system and, more importantly, what he didn’t like.
It was pretty evident that we were on the same page from an upgrade perspective. Once we were done with listening in the vehicle, we went into our sound room with the client and listened to different speakers, seeing which ones he liked the best.
Once we were finished with our consultation, we worked up a proposal that we thought best suited his needs. He liked our idea, so we set an installation appointment.
Dedication To Vehicle Care
As usual for WSS, we went to extreme lengths to protect the vehicle and the interior parts while it was in our care. As you can see in the picture, we even have dedicated shelving to hold door panels and interior trim pieces to protect them from damage while they are removed from the vehicle.
Audison Amp Handles Double-Duty Of Amplification And Processing
For this upgrade, our main goal was maximizing the sound quality improvement for the money while keeping everything completely hidden. We chose to add a new set of front speakers while keeping the factory-installed speakers in the rear door along with the subwoofer in the rear deck. The whole system would be powered by an Audison AP8.9Bit amplifier.
To say that this amp is unique would be an understatement. It combines eight channels of amplification, along with a nine-channel DSP in a chassis smaller than most paperback books. Even better, it is hand-assembled in Italy.
We took the musical signal coming out of the Harman/Kardon amplifier and, using the integrated DSP, stripped the music of any equalization Subaru had added. They do this to try to get their inexpensive speakers to sound better. Unfortunately, adding better front speakers will have a negative effect on the color of the sound. Our approach also gives us the ability to sum the music back to a full range signal so we can choose the crossover points that we feel would maximize the sound quality. We chose to use four of the channels to power the front left and right woofer and tweeter, two channels to power the rear door speakers, and the last two channels to bridge the factory subwoofer.
Audiofrog Front Speakers Reveal Much More Musical Detail
When it came time to upgrade the front speakers, we chose the Audiofrog GS series components – their GS60 6.5” woofer and their GS10 1” tweeter. We mounted the speakers behind the factory grilles on custom composite speaker adapters that we make in-house. We applied Hushmat damping material to the front doors to eliminate any possibility of vibrations that may be caused from the upgraded speakers. It also lowers the road noise coming in through the doors, making the interior of the vehicle quieter.
Final Tuning Turns A Good Sounding Car Into A GREAT Sounding Car
Once the system was completely installed, our team hooked up our laptop to the Audison amp and started the process of fine-tuning the integrated sound processor. We optimized the crossover points, output levels, nine-band parametric equalizer and digital delay for all of the speakers. The result was incredible. The sound in this Legacy came alive, making you want to listen to it for extended periods of time. The added power gave the factory subwoofer the low end that the system needed, and the upgraded speakers and fine-tuning brought out all of the nuances in the music.
Client Loves The Subaru Legacy Stereo Upgrades
When the client came to pick up his vehicle, he couldn’t believe the improvement in sound quality. His exact words were “I love It!” And that was music to our ears.
When you are ready to upgrade the audio system in your vehicle, we invite you to contact us at Westminster Speed & Sound here in Westminster, Maryland. Let’s set up an audio consultation and get together with you and your vehicle. Our team will design and install a solution that will best fit your needs.
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