sound and entertainment systems

General talk about the Subaru Baja.

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mgd_only
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sound and entertainment systems

Post by mgd_only »

So this being my first post here is some background. I plan on getting a Baja, namely an '05 turbo model. I have been lead to believe that is the best turbo model but as of yet i'm not entirely convinced this is true. I live in Iowa currently and with all that comes with living in Iowa "snow and gravel roads". So the purpose of this vehicle is to run thru the snow, entertain me and my kid "Kyra" shes five now by the way. Being fun to drive is a must as well considering i've spoiled myself with the cars i've owned, i.e. 87 mr2 "rear wheel drive mid engine 52/48 wt. dist. and under 2100 lbs 5spd manual. Ok ok i tend to be easily distracted by my own thoughts often you'll get used to this as i do it always, Oh shiny object. Anyway back on topic So speed & sound are what i'm after well looks as well the whole pacage i guess. So mods wise i'd like pictures of what everyone has done. Only quality mods thou. ok i hope my ramblings have made sense to everyone. and happy new year!!!
FUBARU
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by FUBARU »

theres an entire 20+ page thread dedicated to pics of mods on this forum as well as nasioc baja forum...
they've helped me hone in some of my ideas and what not.

as far as audio, what i've gathered is that the door size speaker holes are quite shallow, so you have to cut a little (no big deal) to get some speakers to fit. or something like that....


subwoofers, you're SOL unless you want to A) take away the use of the switchback, or B) put em in under the front seat(s).

Then Head Unit, im sure any double din nav touchscreen w/e that you want to put in will be fine....

Coming from an mr2 mk1, i gather that you dont care too much for space. lol
I'm also in the market for a baja, I've had 4 deals fall through on me, and i'm about fed up with trying to get mine.... 2005 turbo as well.
Im coming from an 04 rsx if that matters.... although an 89 SC mr2 mk1 is on my all time list. those are my favorite cars.
YBajaSteve
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by YBajaSteve »

FUBARU wrote:theres an entire 20+ page thread dedicated to pics of mods on this forum as well as nasioc baja forum...
they've helped me hone in some of my ideas and what not.

as far as audio, what i've gathered is that the door size speaker holes are quite shallow, so you have to cut a little (no big deal) to get some speakers to fit. or something like that....


subwoofers, you're SOL unless you want to A) take away the use of the switchback, or B) put em in under the front seat(s).

Then Head Unit, im sure any double din nav touchscreen w/e that you want to put in will be fine....
agree agree.

First off, Welcome to the site!

The doors are shallow, so you do need to make sure you dont have really deep speakers. I would also suggest running completely new wiring to the speakers, as a few guys, including myself, have had problems, namely, speakers going in and out, randomly, leading me to run completely new wire to make sure I wouldnt have the problem with new speakers. Also, the Baja's are notorious for wind noise coming thru the doors, near the tweeter area. there is a newly found fix for it, but I dont know how long it stays fixed. So sound deadening is a good idea if you want to really have nice sound in the vehicle.

The double DIN is a great for any type of screen.

As far as visual mods, thats pretty much unavailable from your standard vendors. Youre going to have to be custom designing things if you want cool body kits or aftermarket tail lights or headlights or anything the "street racer" world is known for.

Performance Mods are vast tho, with the turbo engine. and again, the Baja forum on NASIOC.com is ripe with tons of info on turbo engine perfomance information.

The Baja will do great in the snow tho, that I can almost guarantee you, assuming you have decent tires.

Image

and yes, the Baja is fun to drive, more so because you get so many looks in it, not many people are familiar with Bajas!

*************on a side note, Could you both add a location to your profiles please.. Just a State or Region would be great. Thanks!!!
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Check out more pics!<<<<<< Cardomain Page. *******SOLD THE BAJA*********** But im still around, PM me if urgent!
FUBARU
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by FUBARU »

updated. your baja is one of my all time favorites steve!
I actually love the yellow/silver, but no turbo :(
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mgd_only
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by mgd_only »

Thanks for the info guys. And yeah i'm used to no speaker space so that'll be easy whats the thread name by the way for the 20+ page extravaganza of mods that were mentioned so i can use the search button to find them?
speedymatt
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by speedymatt »

the one on here is in the anything baja folder. its a sticky "baja pics" usually mods are listed with pics.

The other is on the NASIOC site. Us baja folks have a small spot there and again the thread is labeled pics and mods. also cardomain is a good source for pictures.
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by moonzie »

Hello and welcome!

I would agree the `05 and `06 turbo models are the best you can buy. I've got an `04 turbo that's a little bit qwerky with the 4EAT but it's oddities are very minor. I've also got 144k miles and my turbocharger seals are bad so it smokes a bit - waiting for a semi-warm day to replace it with another I bought for cheap!

I've modded the hell out of my sound system. The only thing left stock is some of the system wiring!

Couple of suggestions:

- All doors are 6.5". As long as you go with something that has mounting depth 2" or less you'll be fine; anything more than that and your windows will hit the magnets when you roll them down. I've got Infinity Ref 6020cs fronts and 6022i rears. The highs can easily become shrill if you don't tame them down with some careful EQ and tuning)

- I've put my switchback door in storage and custom built a sealed enclosure to fit the back seat area. I drew up dimensions and they're posted somewhere either on NASIOC Baja forum or here. Some old school Pioneer IMPP silver-cones running on an old school RF puts out 800w rms. It's a bit overkill but.. well you know. :mrgreen:

- See this link - my setup is posted here along with another guy's JL sub setup (also nice) http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... 524&page=2

- Dynamat is a PITA to install but totally worth it - I did my entire cabin area except for the hatch - and I need to do that area one of these days. If nothing else, I found the greatest benefit was from doing my doors. I've heard coating wheel wells works wonders too.
YBajaSteve
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by YBajaSteve »

in my opinion, you arent going to see a bunch of crazy visual mods. there just isnt much you can do, visually. Paint, Rims, blacked out headlights, mesh behind the grill, roof basket, misc exterior lighting upgrades, a few hand made tubular bumpers floating around and that about sums up the exterior visual mods. interior, you could paint random plastic pieces, do some nice stereo work, change the dash lights to a different color, do some custom upholstery, and hmm, thats about it. not many pics of any of these things really, its all basic stuff.

Oh yeah, cant forget bed covers and toppers. Theres a few different brands of those floating around....

Theres like two guys around with a small 2" body lift kit. looks nice tho, you can find pics of that.

Theres lots of performance options, but people dont take as many pics of the engine bay, as they do of just talking about it, so there arent any pics of that either. You wouldnt really see a whole lot anyways. you could upgrade brakes to drilled and slotted, some nice exhaust or intake, and the list goes on....

And i cant forget, one of us has a snorkel on his truck, but i dont think hes ever used it!! :D Just playing Snorkled, your truck is really nice.

But the sticky on the top of this forum has tons of pics and ideas. http://scoobytruck.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=202
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Check out more pics!<<<<<< Cardomain Page. *******SOLD THE BAJA*********** But im still around, PM me if urgent!
Emsanon
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by Emsanon »

I replaced all my stock speakers with Focal Access 165 CA1. I then added an Alpine MRP-M500 Sub Amp which is located under my passenger front seat. And theeeennn, a 10.5 inch Sub woofer in the back end of the Baja. I have enough wiring to move it wherever I need it in the back and it's also easy to unhook if I need the whole back end. Just remove the two wires and TADA!! Hmmm, that's about it on my side. [smilie=beadygrinner.gif]
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Buck Rogers
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by Buck Rogers »

Welcome, always good to read from new members. I did the tweeter upgrade and the factory sub under the seat. Not bad for the $, but then again I am not that critical a music listener :| . Mines not a turbo, but it is a MT, I bought it more for the truckness and fun drivablity. They are a blast in the snow , WITH GOOD TIRES, you can go almost anywhere. Haven't been stuck yet, and Ive dragged bottom many times. :lol:
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by sbradley »

Bought my '06 Turbo last Saturday and have an appointment this Saturday to completely replace stock stereo which is one of the worst sounding units I have ever come across.
Will be using a Kenwood double-din head unit with Sirius, Exile 4x50 amp, Alpine R components in the front, Alpine coax in the rear. Can hardly wait.
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by Danfzzl »

[quote= I would also suggest running completely new wiring to the speakers, as a few guys, including myself, have had problems, namely, speakers going in and out, randomly, leading me to run completely new wire to make sure I wouldn't have the problem with new speakers. [/quote]

hey man I've had the same problems with speakers going out... but they started dropping out as soon as the temperature dropped below freezing. and i was loosing speakers one by one until i had one left working. but now that its 50+ degrees they are starting to work one by one again. although i plan on completely overhauling my sound system, speakers, wires, head unit, etc. i was just wondering if your speakers started dieing when it got cold out as well and if that's the problem.
Dan
http://theravensedge.com/
Baja Mods: Class 1 hitch, Dash light conversion to blue, Ozzbros bed cover, 2 Hella 500 Fog lights Mounted on front bumped bracket
YBajaSteve
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by YBajaSteve »

well i never noticed it change depending on temp, and i know i was down to one speaker in the summer time, but if that IS the case, temperature wise, i wonder if something is contracting or expanding and causing a short somewhere, kinda like how on impreza's the cruise control cable gets hot sitting in traffic and will start pulling on the throttle... interesting. but yeah, no problems now that Ive rewired.
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BajaCanuck
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by BajaCanuck »

Hey Y'all,

I've been looking at options for upping my audio setup as well. So far all I've done is swap out the factory deck for a mild improvement I had hanging around, but I have higher aspirations :).

Since I work in a car electronics shop, I'm at a bit of an advantage in scouting out options. As far as a sub goes, I found I was able to drop a Kenwood powered and enclosed sub (http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertain ... s/KSC-SW10) behind the back seat. The nice thing is that, as long as I leave a length of wire, I can move the whole thing out of the way when using the switchback. Not a perfect solution, but workable.

Being un-turboed, I'm stuck with the base audio system. That means I need to look at placement options for tweeters. I do like them at the mirrors, so I may hit a scrap yard for some factory mounts. Anyone have rants or raves about the factory tweeters themselves?
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motojak
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Re: sound and entertainment systems

Post by motojak »

Finally got around to getting a new car audio setup. Went with the Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD head unit, Polk Audio DB6501 for the front doors and DB651s for the rear. Also bought an amp to power the speakers and that is what my question concerns(haven't installed anything yet btw). The amp is the polk PA500.4 and before I even bought it I knew it might be a little big for the car but really wanted it so i'm going to try it. Where are you all mounting your amps? My plan was to do it under front passenger seat but I do not think that its going to work there. Also redoing all speaker wire in car. Any tips or heads up on problems anybody ran into when installing would be most appreciated.
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