Hi Chaps just a quick question, will sound quality improve noticeably with just an ugraded HU or or is it a false economy, I would just like a slightly better sound, I am picking the car up on Saturday (fingers X'd) and having spent to much money already would like a bit of an improvement but don't know if just replacing the headunit is the way ahead

Oh its a MY05 STI if that makes a difference

Thanks

Tony

 

I have changed the front speakers to some Infinity 6510cs and the rears to infinity 5012i. The sound is much better with more bass but the standard head unit is not the best. Its hard to describe the output it seems kind of confused with the bass/teble and vocals seeming to merge, as I said hard to explain. The ideal scenario is to change the lot but price is an issue. If I was to choose which way round to do it again I would probably change the head unit first and then the speakers.
There is loads of excellent advice in the FAQ at the top of the ICE section.

 

I changed the 'speakers first too (05 wrx) but if I was to do it again I too would probably change the HU first.

Make sure you plan to do both at some time though...

 

I put infinity's back and front, still no bass.
I fitted a pioneer TS-WX22A, sub in the boot, it won't make your ears bleed, but it really does improve the sound.
They're not too pricey and take up very little boot space.

mo

 

I would buy a HU first, then upgrade the speakers later. Buy the best you can afford, check out ads in Max Flower and co for good prices. If you intend to use amps at a later date, try to get a HU with hi volt outputs so you won't need to replace it again.

 

yes uprating your HU will improve things slightly as the built in amp wont be pushed as hard to reach the same volume so you aviod distortion through clipping.

But in doing this you will very quickly see the next bottle neck being the standard speakers as the these wont be able to cope with the levels being sent to them.

so you will need to uprate these as well to be honest