I just got a nice alpine unit for my rex for christmas that is going to be installed by circuit city because it was paid for. However, I do not want to pay 80 bucks for them to install my front and rear speakers...my problem is this....How do I remove the door panels so that I can install the speakers myself....they are 6 1/2 infinity reference 625i ....if that makes a difference....Thanks and I hope someone can help me out
wrx 2002 sedan

 

Pay the money its worth it!!!!!!!!!! The warranty you get and the fact that you dont have to worry about screwin you sh*t up is a good thing cause if they do they pay for it which is sweet!!!!!!

 

door panals are a snap, detailed instructions here: http://subaruparts.com/install/2002ispeakerupgrade.pdf

 

I appreciate the responses....thanks a lot

 

I'll be sure to look out for that....Crappy thing is that now I'm waiting for the new alpine unit to come out....it looks ridiculous and it's supposed to be available sometime in march....It's the cda-9815....I found it on crutchfield ....looks pretty nice

 

I just installed the Infinity Reference coaxial 6.5" 652i's in my WRX a week or two ago and the Reference coaxial 4" 452i's in my rear doors on Tuesday night. I started off with the upgraded factory system, so I had a decent set of adapters already made. If you install them yourself, you'll need to make some spacers or modify the upgraded stock ring if you have one. The rainguard on the stock ring is too shallow for the 652i to fit, so I had to take a saw and cut part of the rainguard away. It was a bit of a pain, but it could've been worse. Oh, you'll probably want to get a speaker harness adapter too. Circuit City sells some that work, but they don't have a listing for the '02+ WRX in their catalog. Ask for the T-shaped adapter they sell for Toyotas. I don't remember the Metra part number. They sell them for about $7 per pair of them.

The rear speakers went in without a hitch. Unfortunately, the tweeter sticks out too far and doesn't allow ya to get the door panel on all the way. I still haven't decided how I want to fix that. I'll probably just end up shaving the inside of the door panel with a Dremel. If that doesn't get me enough room, then I'm gonna have to mod the rear mounting buckets.

The front speakers sounded like crap on the stock head unit at first. I found out I had a couple of things going on:

1. The capacitor they have wired/glued on there came unglued at some point and was vibrating against the metal frame of the speaker. I fixed it up with some RTV. No rattle from that speaker anymore. RTV is groovy stuff.

2. The other problem I had was that one of the white clips that holds the front passenger door panel onto the door didn't come out and remained stuck in the door. I pried it out and replaced the clip back in the door panel. Made sure all of my speaker mounting screws were good and tight and put my door panels back on.

They still don't sound great, though, though they are getting better fixing the problems above and after cranking on them a bit to break them in. I'm going to put in an Alpine MP3 deck sometime within the next few weeks. The power output and internal crossover on Alpine decks should be adequate for my taste on these speakers.

The thing about the door handle bezel is true. Especially in the winter months around here in WI, the plastic gets pretty brittle. I broke the passenger side one when I was installing my speakers. A new one can be had for $8.04 from your dealership, though. Mine had them in stock even. Not a big deal if ya do break one. I left mine off on my rear doors because I know that I'm going to be taking the door panels off again to try to fix my space issue with my rear speakers.

 

Do you need the speaker spacers to mount aftermarket speakers? What is the Subaru part# for the spacer kit?

nismo240

 

You probably don't need spacers if your happen to have speakers that have the correct hole pattern and spacing to fit the factory mounts. Chances of that are pretty slim, I think, because of the odd size. You will almost universally need some sort of spacer, stock or custom, to mount aftermarket speakers. Depending on the speaker, sometimes you can get away with using the stock spacer. I'm not sure of the Subaru P/N for the upgraded kit. I'm not even sure you can get the spacer kit separate from the upgraded speakers as they normally come as a package. Your dealer's parts dept. should be able to find the P/N for you if it's available. You'd probably be better off having an install shop make up a set of spacers for you, and maybe could do it cheaper rather than buying the Subaru parts and then modding them to work. If you're comfortable with using power tools and have them at your disposal and don't mind doing the work yourself, you can make some spacers of you own. That's a nice route to go, because that way if you ever decide to go back to stock configuration, it's an easy swap to go back since you'd still have the unmodified stock parts. A drill, jigsaw, and/or Dremel are about all you'd really need for tools. Fairly basic. If you don't have them or know someone who does, Home Depot will rent them out if you don't want to spend the money on tools. As far as spacer material goes, Home Depot, or a store like it, is a good place to get that as well. Sounds like most people are using Medium Density Fiber (MDF) board or using a sheet of plastic. Either should be available in various thicknesses.

 

I'm really surprised that you are unhappy with your infinity speakers (625i's)...I've read so many good reviews .....I'm putting those in the rear and I bought 2-way reference components for for the front (605cs's)....i don't know whether or not the tweeters for the 625i's are in any way different from the components I'm putting in, but i'll let you know what happens.....I just ordered my alpine unit today and I should be getting it sometime this week.....

On another note, I'm glad I got the unit now because I just took the car out in the blizzard, I live in ny by the way, and my radio didn't work.....it was almost frozen or stuck.....thanks for the replies and information....i'll let you know how all ends up!!!

 

Oh, I'm not unhappy with the Infinity speakers by any means. They're pretty darn good actually. It's my stock head unit's power output, S/N ratio, and total harmonic distortion that I don't like, which is why instead of getting different speakers I'm replacing the head unit with the Alpine unit as soon as funds are available.

 

Dude... My 92 Accord sounds 5x better than the stock wrx stereo system.. That amplifier is a piece of ****... I cant believe how much a piece it is... What you actually need for those speakers is a nice amp (JL 300x4) and a nice HU like an alpine. YOu will be amazed. A lot of people dont realize how much you really need an external amp for your speakers. HU's still just cant cut it.

P.S. Dont turn up the stock HU too loud with those speakers, You could blow them from the distortion the POS creates.. Distortion can kill just as bad as wattage. =]