I tend to spend most of my commutes listening to National Public Radio or the local public music stations without giving my Subaru’s audio system much of a thought. One day, I started hearing a buzzing from the speakers and decided to investigate. Alas, I discovered a blown speaker and had to replace it. That incident made me realize I don’t really know all that much about my Subaru’s audio system so I figured I’d blog about what I learned.
Subaru has come a long way since its early models when it comes to noise cancellation and audio quality. Subaru’s lineup ranging from the most basic Impreza all the way up to the most decked out Ascent offer excellent quality audio, although it can be upgraded with factory and aftermarket options. So, you’re wondering, what are the different parts of the audio system?
All Subarus come equipped with a standard set of speakers. They can also be upgraded from the factory with a Harmon/Kardon audio system, but the Harmon/Kardon system changes out all the audio components, not just the speakers themselves. Harmon/Kardon is actually a subsidiary of Samsung, but the stock speakers have historically been made in Japan. We find the stock speakers to be more than enough for most drivers, but the Subaru tends to have a bass-heavy audio system which we’ll dive into next.
Even in the late 1990’s, Subarus started coming equipped with a sub-woofer which allowed the audio to have a deeper bass tone to it. Usually Sub-woofers need the car to have an amplifier installed to handle the draw of power and current being sent through the electrical system, but Subaru utilized a sub-woofer with a built in amp to handle it’s power requirements. As we’ve experienced personally, the stock sub-woofer can get very loud. So loud in fact, that after we’ve upgraded our customer’s cars to a digital stereo, operating the car with the bass amplified can cause our customer’s to blow out their speakers. If you’re going to switch out your stereo, be sure to turn down that bass or upgrade the speakers along with it.
Some Subarus come equipped with a tweeter kit. The kit allows the Subaru’s audio system to reach high frequencies. Again, this comes as an option on most Subarus or can be installed with aftermarket parts.
Most Subarus don’t have any more components than those. For a more technical overview of a Subaru’s audio system, you’ll have to look at models by year. We’ll profile individual Subaru audio systems in the future, but in general each Subaru contains a set of high quality speakers, a combination amplifier/subwoofer and a set of tweeters if selected.
