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Hi all, I'm looking for some guidance regarding an audio upgrade for my new shape BRZ.

I'm currently looking into a Kenwood head unit from the UK and a 2 din OEM trim and plug and play harness from Australia made by a company called carboncarsystems which will allow me to keep my steering controls and give an OEM look but want to see what's around speaker wise to improve the sound quality. If anyone knows of something in the UK that will allow me to keep the steering controls please let me know, carboncarsystems are being a bit funny about shipping to the UK.

I've seen there's a plug and play kit made by Focal https://www.bassjunkies.com/is165toy.html which looks to be good but wondered if anyone has fitted it and can give me their opinion if it's a good option to go for? While the tweeters would be out I've seen there's space for a mid tone speaker in there which comes with a JDL kit? Is it worth finding a mid tone to go in with the tweeter? I'm also interested in changing my rear speakers, I know their 4" and there are lots of options on the market but wondered what people can recommend that are yet again plug and play. I've also seen people buying an amp to go behind the head unit, whats this all about?

I'm not keen on putting any speakers in the boot or covering the car in sound proofing materials, I'm simply after a good quality system which is noticeably better than the stock system. Budget wise I would spend £500 max but would like to spend less however I understand you obviously get what you pay for!!

Please any advise or reviews welcome, sorry to create another audio related thread but the answer I wanted wasn't on the existing ones. 

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I know that Alpine offers steering control but it will cost you a fair bit more for the head unit. 

The rear speakers are best disconnected they are a total waste of time and not necessary in such a small cabin. Don't waste your money on that.  Invest your money in better front speakers and go two way components with a crossover. Loads have fitted the Focal opton it's a good upgrade for not doing much to be fair. 

It's only really worth getting an amp if you are going to get a sub as well. In the boot is the obvious option really. Different head unit, better front speakers, disconnect the rears and run an amp on three channels, one for the sub and the other two for the front speakers. If you really want to make it sound good, consider a digital sound processor like the Audison Bit10. I junked all my audio when my car was a month old and went for  full install. Thought the stock setup was utter shite. I tried the JBL, still not good enough IMO. 

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Focals are fine if you are after cheep and cheerful option with noticeable difference to stock.

I dont think spending anothet 400-500 quid would be worthwhile for me, have other priorities (but that depends in how important its for you).

I would like to add woofer instead of spare which can be removed when I go on track. Think it would make a big difference to the music I usually listen to, but it was too expensive for imo.

If anything consider adding more sound deadening. I should have added more, may be will do at some point.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

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1 hour ago, Lauren said:

I know that Alpine offers steering control but it will cost you a fair bit more for the head unit. 

The rear speakers are best disconnected they are a total waste of time and not necessary in such a small cabin. Don't waste your money on that.  Invest your money in better front speakers and go two way components with a crossover. Loads have fitted the Focal opton it's a good upgrade for not doing much to be fair. 

It's only really worth getting an amp if you are going to get a sub as well. In the boot is the obvious option really. Different head unit, better front speakers, disconnect the rears and run an amp on three channels, one for the sub and the other two for the front speakers. If you really want to make it sound good, consider a digital sound processor like the Audison Bit10. I junked all my audio when my car was a month old and went for  full install. Thought the stock setup was utter shite. I tried the JBL, still not good enough IMO. 

Thanks Lauren! Do you know which head unit it is from Alpine that allows use of the steering controls? I've had a quick look and I cannot see anything for the 86 from Alpine.

I'll order the Focals and see how they are. Fingers crossed with the new head unit and front Focal speakers it'll be much better and I'll see how it is disconnecting the rear speakers. I can see why you ditched the stock sound setup, it is rubbish!!

1 hour ago, VAD17 said:

Focals are fine if you are after cheep and cheerful option with noticeable difference to stock.

I dont think spending anothet 400-500 quid would be worthwhile for me, have other priorities (but that depends in how important its for you).

I would like to add woofer instead of spare which can be removed when I go on track. Think it would make a big difference to the music I usually listen to, but it was too expensive for imo.

If anything consider adding more sound deadening. I should have added more, may be will do at some point.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

I understand your point, it is expensive but I'm sure it'll be worth while as I spend a lot of time in the car. I do want to do all the performance mods but when I'm sat in traffic going to work, TEIN mono sports, wheels, a TD kit and much more won't prove their worth. Although, the sound of a UEL is hard to beat!! 

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@Sighe98 actually I remember now, when I had mine done, with no steering wheel controls it would have involved an extra stalk. This means there might not actually be an option to integrate but you'd have to contact Alpine to see what is possible. Sorry, not much help, it was over five years ago that I had mine done now. 

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I second that the rear speakers are pointless.  The focal kit is a decent upgrade and does sound much better with an amp.  I ended up doing mine bit by bit until I was happy with it.  First thing I got was the focals along with some sound deadening for the doors.  Definite improvement but could tell they weren't being driven properly.  Next up was a compact amp.  4x45w rms.  Set in 2 channel mode to give 2x90w rms to front speakers.  Rears are still in but not being used.  Sounds much better and deadening helps a lot with mid bass and eliminating rattles.  Next I decided to change the head unit.  Went with an xtrons android unit.  The one recommended in a thread on here.  Improvement in sound again and it's actually quite decent.  No doubt a major brand will be slightly better but as I'm only using pre-outs there's not a lot in it.  And finally ended up getting an active subwoofer for some low end punch. Had to do some more deadening in boot and parcel shelf at this point due to rattles.  I'm now happy with it and there's no rattles unless I'm really driving the system hard.  I've spent roughly £900 all in.  That includes a front dashcam for the xtrons along with a reverse camera.  Bit more than I planned on originally but it now does everything I want it to. 

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  Are the brz harnesses the same as gt86?  If so when I installed my xtrons I had to get this harness Axxess AX-TOY28SWC to get steering wheel controls working along with reverse trigger wire for camera.  The steering controls I believe are analogue rather than Canbus so didn't need a control box.  Simply just connect the two wires together and setup on the head unit. 

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On 26/06/2018 at 10:08 PM, Sighe98 said:

Thanks Lauren! Do you know which head unit it is from Alpine that allows use of the steering controls? I've had a quick look and I cannot see anything for the 86 from Alpine.

I'll order the Focals and see how they are. Fingers crossed with the new head unit and front Focal speakers it'll be much better and I'll see how it is disconnecting the rear speakers. I can see why you ditched the stock sound setup, it is rubbish!!

 

An Alpine unit was the MY2017 Sat Nav upgrade option, and I think I'm the only person who got one!  :lol:

Now trying to find the model number is an impossible task, as you've found Alpine don't even refer to it on their site. I think its based on the INE-W997D but with buttons on the side like their Freestyle X702D-F set-up. Sorry, I know that's vague.

It works well but I find DAB reception through the sharkfin a bit patchy so I'm looking at replacing that with a small whip. Of course trying to find out what connections are up by the aerial without dropping the headlining is proving impossible.

I'm also considering the Focals at some point.

 

subar0brz-hello-086.jpg

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Oh why they couldn't fit simple turning knob for volume. Two button volume control better then touch-screen controls, but still nowhere near blind reach/use usability of classic turning knob :(. Only place where buttons work well is for steering wheel.

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4 hours ago, Ledwardio said:

An Alpine unit was the MY2017 Sat Nav upgrade option, and I think I'm the only person who got one!  :lol:

Thanks for sharing a pic of your unit, I looked at this option but my dealer advised against it saying that it made no difference and the maps wasn't great for the money! Not a great sales man!! Interesting to see that Subaru actually use Alpine to make the upgrade though.

On 6/29/2018 at 7:15 AM, mart86 said:

I second that the rear speakers are pointless.  The focal kit is a decent upgrade and does sound much better with an amp.  I ended up doing mine bit by bit until I was happy with it.  First thing I got was the focals along with some sound deadening for the doors.  Definite improvement but could tell they weren't being driven properly.  Next up was a compact amp.  4x45w rms.  Set in 2 channel mode to give 2x90w rms to front speakers.  Rears are still in but not being used.  Sounds much better and deadening helps a lot with mid bass and eliminating rattles.  Next I decided to change the head unit.  Went with an xtrons android unit.  The one recommended in a thread on here.  Improvement in sound again and it's actually quite decent.  No doubt a major brand will be slightly better but as I'm only using pre-outs there's not a lot in it.  And finally ended up getting an active subwoofer for some low end punch. Had to do some more deadening in boot and parcel shelf at this point due to rattles.  I'm now happy with it and there's no rattles unless I'm really driving the system hard.  I've spent roughly £900 all in.  That includes a front dashcam for the xtrons along with a reverse camera.  Bit more than I planned on originally but it now does everything I want it to. 

I'll defiantly get on and order the Focal upgrade, sounds like it'll be great! With the amp, does this sit below the boot floor in the spare wheel area? Lots of people have said the amp is essential and brings the most out of the upgrades but if I'm honest I don't know to much about it. I contacted Car Audio and they sent me this link with parts that should fit and work on my car, allowing me to keep full compatibility, here's the link, what do you think? http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?cat=&q=CT23SU07+CTSSU004+CT27AA130 

The GT86 and BRZ harnesses are probably the same, the Axxess AX-TOY28SWC  is the type of thing I expected to need, can I just check that your's is the new shape car with the updated interior and steering controls? Sounds like a great setup though, I'd be interesting in seeing your build! 

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13 hours ago, Sighe98 said:

Thanks for sharing a pic of your unit, I looked at this option but my dealer advised against it saying that it made no difference and the maps wasn't great for the money! Not a great sales man!! Interesting to see that Subaru actually use Alpine to make the upgrade though.

At the list price it wasn't an option for me and certainly wouldn't be worth it, but my dealer misquoted it and honoured his quote once he realised so it ended up costing about the same as if I was to go for a decent branded aftermarket unit, plus the steering wheel controls work fine with it.

By 'made no difference' did he mean sound quality? I never used the original unit so can't really comment but it sounds good to me even through the standard speakers – let's face it there's so much ambient noise from the car and road that it's never going to be audiophile quality, plus my ears are knackered :lol:

The Nav seems to work well when I've used it, the maps are clear enough for me, I just wish the voice would mix in with the music rather than cut it off. I started looking at map updates (for the future) and that's when I realised that the actual model number seemed a bit of a mystery – I'll come back to that in the future.

I've looked at a few Focal install write-ups and they look straight forward enough – I should probably pull the pin myself.

Good luck ;)

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On 02/07/2018 at 10:38 PM, Sighe98 said:

Thanks for sharing a pic of your unit, I looked at this option but my dealer advised against it saying that it made no difference and the maps wasn't great for the money! Not a great sales man!! Interesting to see that Subaru actually use Alpine to make the upgrade though.

I'll defiantly get on and order the Focal upgrade, sounds like it'll be great! With the amp, does this sit below the boot floor in the spare wheel area? Lots of people have said the amp is essential and brings the most out of the upgrades but if I'm honest I don't know to much about it. I contacted Car Audio and they sent me this link with parts that should fit and work on my car, allowing me to keep full compatibility, here's the link, what do you think? http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?cat=&q=CT23SU07+CTSSU004+CT27AA130 

The GT86 and BRZ harnesses are probably the same, the Axxess AX-TOY28SWC  is the type of thing I expected to need, can I just check that your's is the new shape car with the updated interior and steering controls? Sounds like a great setup though, I'd be interesting in seeing your build! 

Yeah new shape with steering controls.  I've just got a compact amp for the front speakers. Really small and weighs next to nothing.   It sits just underneath the head unit itself.  Really simple install as you just need an iso and reverse iso harness.  All plug and play with no splicing or cutting wires.  Doesn't need a separate power supply from battery either as it's under 15amp and will just take it straight from original wiring no problem at all.  It really depends what you want from your system.  I wanted something relatively cheap while being good enough for me.  The cabin is so small it doesn't need a lot of power.  I also didn't want to cut into any factory wires so looked at getting harnesses for everything and then cutting those if needed. 

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On 02/07/2018 at 5:34 PM, Ledwardio said:

 

An Alpine unit was the MY2017 Sat Nav upgrade option, and I think I'm the only person who got one!  :lol:

Now trying to find the model number is an impossible task, as you've found Alpine don't even refer to it on their site. I think its based on the INE-W997D but with buttons on the side like their Freestyle X702D-F set-up. Sorry, I know that's vague.

It works well but I find DAB reception through the sharkfin a bit patchy so I'm looking at replacing that with a small whip. Of course trying to find out what connections are up by the aerial without dropping the headlining is proving impossible.

I'm also considering the Focals at some point.

 

subar0brz-hello-086.jpg

Is the DAB through the sharkfin? On the toyota its through one of those rubbish stick on window aerials.  The sharkfin just does FM. 

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22 hours ago, Ledwardio said:

At the list price it wasn't an option for me and certainly wouldn't be worth it, but my dealer misquoted it and honoured his quote once he realised so it ended up costing about the same as if I was to go for a decent branded aftermarket unit, plus the steering wheel controls work fine with it.

By 'made no difference' did he mean sound quality? I never used the original unit so can't really comment but it sounds good to me even through the standard speakers – let's face it there's so much ambient noise from the car and road that it's never going to be audiophile quality, plus my ears are knackered :lol:

The Nav seems to work well when I've used it, the maps are clear enough for me, I just wish the voice would mix in with the music rather than cut it off. I started looking at map updates (for the future) and that's when I realised that the actual model number seemed a bit of a mystery – I'll come back to that in the future.

I've looked at a few Focal install write-ups and they look straight forward enough – I should probably pull the pin myself.

Good luck ;)

From what I've seen the BRZ comes with different speakers to the 86?  Haven't heard them so couldn't say whether they're better or not.  I'm guessing your alpine unit is helping a lot as a better amp will no doubt help the sound.  The standard head unit and speakers on the 86 are awful so they had to be chandelier.  If you're happy with the sound though I wouldn't bother changing it.   With mine yes the focals are better by a mile but then it's not hard with how awful the stock ones are.  But the biggest difference in quality come from sound deadening the doors.

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35 minutes ago, mart86 said:

Is the DAB through the sharkfin? On the toyota its through one of those rubbish stick on window aerials.  The sharkfin just does FM. 

Yeah its coming through the sharkfin. I went back and grumbled about the DAB reception and queries where it was getting the signal (nothing stuck on the screen) and they said it used the sharkfin on the BRZ which is powered. I spoke to someone else about it recently to see if they could tell me what connectors are up there and he suggested sticking an aerial on the window :lol:  All he could tell me from the parts diagram is that there are 3 wires coming from the sharkfin (power, FM and DAB I guess), I reckon there's only 1 way to find out for sure what connectors are on the end of them – drop the headlining :unsure:

I do find it strange that the standard BRZ head unit doesn't have DAB, but does have a DAB capable sharkfin, whereas the GT86 comes with DAB but doesn't work with the fin!

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The Focal speakers are a low cost (~£120) upgrade and instantly lift the sound of the car. They are a direct replacement with the right plugs so really couldn't be easier to install. I've hooked mine up to a Pioneer double DIN system and it sounds great. I don't think you need an amp, modern headunits are pretty pokey as it is. I also kept the stock rears connected.

Everything, including connectors, came to ~£500 and I think you'd have to spend the same again to more to notice any great gains. But then you are into amps, subs and more complex installs which I've got too old for now!

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19 minutes ago, McDude said:

The Focal speakers are a low cost (~£120) upgrade and instantly lift the sound of the car. They are a direct replacement with the right plugs so really couldn't be easier to install. I've hooked mine up to a Pioneer double DIN system and it sounds great. I don't think you need an amp, modern headunits are pretty pokey as it is. I also kept the stock rears connected.

Everything, including connectors, came to ~£500 and I think you'd have to spend the same again to more to notice any great gains. But then you are into amps, subs and more complex installs which I've got too old for now!

Not entirely true.  Most head units will put out 15w rms.  Best of the best maybe 20-25w rms.  I've never seen one rated higher but I'll hold my hand up if you can find one.  An inexpensive amp will give you 45-50w rms and allow for 4 channels to be bridged to 2 giving 90-100w rms.  The focals are rated at 60w rms so really could do with a bit more power than what a head unit can supply.  I've tried the focals with and without an amp and they've definitely got a lot more to give with an amp.  The amp I installed was plug and play anyway so no messing about with running extra cables or powering from battery. 

 

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In fairness, running said Focal speakers off the 2013- Toyota headunit, I've never run out of volume knob, except when I wanted to go all Wayne's World on the bluetooth source. The lineout on the bluetooth module is quiet compared with the CD/radio part. Interior plastics start to thrum over a certain volume anyway...

I have no doubt a separate amp could drive a bit more authority into the speakers and distort less at higher volumes, but the OEM part isn't doing badly for day-to-day.

Not suitable for this kinda thing

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Not entirely true.  Most head units will put out 15w rms.  Best of the best maybe 20-25w rms.  I've never seen one rated higher but I'll hold my hand up if you can find one.  An inexpensive amp will give you 45-50w rms and allow for 4 channels to be bridged to 2 giving 90-100w rms.  The focals are rated at 60w rms so really could do with a bit more power than what a head unit can supply.  I've tried the focals with and without an amp and they've definitely got a lot more to give with an amp.  The amp I installed was plug and play anyway so no messing about with running extra cables or powering from battery. 
 
What's the amp you used mate? Seems very simple.

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

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It's not "running out of volume adjustment". It's just that stock speakers (which still can playback even louder even with just stock headunit) at mid or loud volume levels distort sound too much. One can run more capable speakers without less forcing them beyond quality loss. I'd sometimes wish for Toyota to choose different approach to stock audio setup, instead of multispeaker one with useless rear speakers and small tweeters plain stereo setup, but of more capable & of better quality speakers.

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1 hour ago, nerdstrike said:

In fairness, running said Focal speakers off the 2013- Toyota headunit, I've never run out of volume knob, except when I wanted to go all Wayne's World on the bluetooth source. The lineout on the bluetooth module is quiet compared with the CD/radio part. Interior plastics start to thrum over a certain volume anyway...

I have no doubt a separate amp could drive a bit more authority into the speakers and distort less at higher volumes, but the OEM part isn't doing badly for day-to-day.

Not suitable for this kinda thing

This! I’d have to check but I think my Pioneer unit is 50W x 4 which would be 35W RMS. But that’s missing the point; it’s more than loud enough and sounds great. Sure you can spend more, I’m only suggesting that you don’t have to for half decent sound. My ears stopped being audiophiles a long time ago so maybe I’m not the best judge but once you’ve got the 80% benefit you can spend a lot of money chasing the last 20%

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46 minutes ago, sam534 said:

What's the amp you used mate? Seems very simple.

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk
 

The one I got was the pioneer GM-D1004. But there are others like it such as the clarion XC1410 or Sony XMS40. 

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13 minutes ago, McDude said:

This! I’d have to check but I think my Pioneer unit is 50W x 4 which would be 35W RMS. But that’s missing the point; it’s more than loud enough and sounds great. Sure you can spend more, I’m only suggesting that you don’t have to for half decent sound. My ears stopped being audiophiles a long time ago so maybe I’m not the best judge but once you’ve got the 80% benefit you can spend a lot of money chasing the last 20%

50w doesn't automatically equal 35w rms. Different manufacturers work out pmpo differently and God only knows how they come up with their figures.  My pioneer unit is 4x100w but only 4x45w rms. I get what you're saying though and if you're happy with it then leave it.  If I was happy enough with the stock system I would have left it.  Its the same as you don't need to upgrade head unit or speakers.  Adding just an amp could bring the sound quality up to a decent enough level.  It all depends on what you want to achieve and what you're happy with.  Everyone is different, has a different budget and will want to go a different way with their setup.  All you can do is offer advice and show all the ways you can go about it.  The best bang for buck would be speakers and amp at circa £200 if you're happy enough with the head unit and only use Bluetooth or CD's.  But even then I'd just start with the speakers first as they are clearly the weakest link in the system. 

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Finally got round to fitting the focal speakers and what a difference! For the money this is a no brainer! It took me all of 30 minutes to do and was very easy, plug and play in its most literal sense! 

See the comparison of the focal and stock speakers below, the difference is even visable. Wish I'd done it 7000 miles sooner when I bought the car. 

Next question is what do I do with the rear speakers and do I put a speaker in the blank next to the tweeters ... 

IMG_20180823_183614.jpg

IMG_20180823_190530.jpg

IMG_20180823_183622.jpg

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