This is a complete walk through for installing new speakers into 2009 & 2010 (or newer) Subaru Foresters. If you are like me, you will have realized shortly after purchase, that even the premium sound system in the Forester is just plain awful. Bass is muddy and everything rattles to hell when it hits, and the tweeters are pretty harsh. When its turned up past 30 it sounds like junk. My first mod to my Forester was to replace the factory speakers with much nicer aftermarket ones. (a lot of the concepts in this guide can transfer to other cars and older subaru’s) You will learn… Where to run wires How to add an aftermarket amplifier to the factory car stereo How to install car speakers that don’t quite fit (drilling holes, etc) How to mount aftermarket tweeters How to remove car door cards / interior panels How to sound deaden and eliminate rattles from the front car doors Detailed photos will accompany all steps. Items Required Car Amplifier installation kit – find one with well shielded cables (especially power and ground cables). 4 gauge is optimal for the power and ground. Double Sided Foam Tape (mounting tape) – help with sound deadening CLD Tiles (I bought these & highly recommend them) – optional, but help eliminate noise through front car doors & improve sound quality Weather stripping (see pictures at that step) to help eliminate rattles Extra speaker wire, I cannot remember how much extra I needed, but buying 40 feet of something decent while you buy your amp kit online would save you a lot of money compared to walmart or best buy. 2 Channel Amp (I bought this TXA 3004 4 Channel Amplifier ) – just make sure you pick one that fits your speakers RMS rating. I picked one that would fit fine underneath the passenger’s seat. I also picked one with 4 channels so that I could later add a sub woofer bridging channels 3 & 4 Component Speakers (I bought these Alpine Type-X SPX-17REF and i highly recommend them.) Phillips & Flathead screw drivers Panel Popper or putty knife Electrical tape Wire strippers are highly recommended High to Low line level converter (Such as this: 2-Channel Adjustable Lineout Converter ) – allows us to use the factory head units signal for the amp.

Possibly required

1. Speaker Spacer (in the case your speakers are too deep and contact the glass)
2. Machine Screws (for attaching speaker to car door with new holes)
3. Drill (for drilling new holes)

Step 1 – Locate where your main power cord will run

(pic from engine bay & from above gas pedal)

From the engine bay you must remove a rubber stopper, and from inside, above the gas pedal, you must remove a piece of insulation with the same shape. Run your power wire included in your amp install kit through this hole from the battery (do not connect yet!) and leave all the excess on the floor on the drivers side of the car. Always have your negative lead on the battery disconnected while you are working with wiring.. You don’t want to accidentally short out through the cars chassis if any positives touch it.

You should try to cut a hole in the rubber stopper and run the cord directly through it to prevent it from contacting the metal chassis. The metal could eventually cut through the insulation and that would be very bad! (continued after the jump)

Step 2 – Remove interior panels for stereo access and running wires

This PDF will assist you in removing the interior plastics. You may want to use more tape / protection than I am in this photo:

This picture shows the general idea of where the power cord will run:

Once the stereo has been removed, place it aside and take a look at the bundle of wires in the image below. We need to cut the front right and front left + & – speaker wires.

Here is a 2009 Forester Speaker / Stereo wire diagram: Battery BLUE/RED (+) RADIO HARNESS Accessory YELLOW/RED (+) RADIO HARNESS Ground BLACK (-) RADIO HARNESS Illumination VIOLET (+) RADIO HARNESS Dimmer BLACK/WHITE (-) RADIO HARNESS Power Antenna YELLOW/BLACK (+) RADIO HARNESS LF Speaker (+) BROWN LF Speaker (-) BROWN/WHITE RF Speaker (+) BLUE/WHITE RF Speaker (-) BLUE/YELLOW LR Speaker (+) WHITE/BLACK LR Speaker (-) RED/YELLOW RR Speaker (+) GRAY RR Speaker (-) GRAY/RED

The short ends of the wires we have cut run out of the stereo. We will splice from these and run them to the amplifier. The output from the amplifier will come back up here and re-connect to the other side of what we have cut. This lets us use the car’s factory speaker wiring so we can avoid running new cords through the vehicle’s doors which would be a PITA. Always apply electrical tape to insulate the wires and to prevent them from working loose. Image of wires running under center console below. Top of picture is toward head unit.

Step 3 – hook up line level converter

Lets back up for a second. The output from the stereo cannot connect directly to our amplifier. Its voltage is too high. First we need to convert it to a line level signal using item #12 on my list above. The output from the converter will run to the input on the amplifier. If you are using an aftermarket stereo, it probably has low level outputs in the form of RCA jacks, in that case you wouldn’t need this step. Instructions on the high->low line level converter are very straight forward. Image below:

Step 4 – Ground the amp

Now that we have our interior torn apart and our speaker wires run to and from the amp, we should ground the amp. Under the center console, you will find many large bolts, these make for a decent ground. remove and then re-fit a bolt with your ground wire attached. You may attach the ground wire to your amp as well.

Step 5 – hook up the remote turn on wire

We need a remote wire to tell the amplifier to turn on. The amplifier has a power port on it probably labeled “remote”. You must attach this to something that gets power while the car’s key is in the “accessory” position, as well as “on” or “running” position. From the wiring explanation above we see that the YELLOW/RED wire has power during these times. Peel back the wires casing and wrap the remote wire around it so that it is making good contact, then use electrical tape to seal it back up. This will make the amp turn on when the key is in the accessory and running position, and shut off when the car is off.

Testing Equipment – this may be done at any time but this seems like a good spot for a picture of it

You may want to test and see that your amp works, even with your stock speakers connected. Connect all proper wires and see if music plays.

Step 6 – Removing Subaru Forester Door Panels

1). Put the windows down.

2). Disconnect the negative terminal from the battery.

3). Removing the triangular plastic “placeholder” for the optional OEM tweeter. Just pry it straight out. Unplug the factory tweeter wire from the holder.

4). Remove the puddle light. There is a fitment in the back for a Flathead screw driver, just pry it and it will pop out. Unplug and set aside. Careful the bulb gets hot.

5). Remove two little plastic tabs (hides the screws), one in the plastic bezel behind the door opening lever, the other down in the arm rest. Remove the screws behind the plastic tabs.

6). Pry the window switch bezel straight up starting from the front. There are three catches, front, center, and rear. After the bezel comes loose, unplug the harness(s). On the drivers side I found it easier to just unscrew the buttons from the trim and let it hang while I did work. The plugs were to hard to undo. There are two screws behind this armrest trim that connect the panel to the door. Remove those screws as well.

7). Here is where the “panel popper” would be handy. A medium width putty knife will also work. But whatever you use, just start at the bottom open edge of the door and find the first friction clip. Pry straight backward until you hear the clip release. Then you should have enough room under the panel to slide your tool or your fingers toward the front of the door until you find the next clip. Continue with the bottom, front side and back side until all the friction clips are released. Lift the panel straight up and pull it away from the door slightly.

8). Rest the panel on a stool or other surface about level with the bottom of the door, anything that will keep stress off of the cables that operate the door latch.

Step 7 – Remove old speakers

Unscrew the 3 screws holding the old speaker in place, you can just unplug the factory tweeter and leave it there to look pretty. No use removing it.
The holes will probably not match up with your new speakers so you will need to drill holes.

Step 8 – See if your new speakers fit in the holes

Good thing you have your windows rolled ALL THE WAY down. You need to see if your speaker is deep enough to touch the glass…If your speaker makes contact with the glass, you will need to purchase speaker spacers, as seen in one of my photos below. Your holes may also not line up, if this is the case you will need to drill new ones in the metal on the door. Its actually a lot easier and less scary than it may sound.
Below, I have taped a speaker spacer (1/2 inch) to where I will be mounting the speaker. This mounting tape will be permanent to prevent the spacer from rattling against the metal. It also helps us drill our holes. When drilling take caution to make sure you do not poke through hard and hit the glass. Put the window up for this drilling situation.

This has turned out to be a great drill BTW. Hitachi makes a great product, and despite being 12V its had more than enough power to get through anything I have needed it to do, with ease.

Step 9 – Apply CLD tiles as indicated by manufacturer

CLD tiles will reduce the door metal from vibrating and potentially causing rattles. It will also help reduce road noise by a bit and will help with bass output.

Step 10 – Attach wire extension to speakers

Once the speaker is in place, it will be very hard to attach and wiring to it. Take this time to apply about 1 foot of speaker wire to the terminals so that we have something to work with while the speaker is screwed into place. Tape the wires so that they do not work loose in the future.

Step 11 – attach speaker to door

Once the holes are drilled, attach the new speaker with some machine screws. You will need to reach through another hole in the door to hold the nut while you tighten the screw from the outside. There’s plenty of room to do this, You’ll have to peel back some of that plastic to get access but its easy. Stick the plastic back up after you are done working.

Step 12 – Mount crossover and hook up wires as indicated by manufacturer

I found this to be a good place to mount the crossover as the door panel went back on without making any contact with it. It required drilling more holes and lining the back with mounting tape to prevent rattles. This was attached with machine screws as well.

Step 13 – Mounting the tweeter

Find one of these fancy drill bits that matches the diameter of your tweeter’s flush mount kit. (my alpine tweeters came with a flush mount kit). This drill bit is for 1 & 3/4 inches, however my tweeter kit was ever so slightly larger so I had to use a box knife to slowly trim the circle larger until it would slide in, but so that the hole was tight enough that it would hold it there on its own (no glue / tape needed). For my flush mounted kit I needed a flat area in the plastic to make it look good, this area turns out to be fine, but less than optimal position for the tweeter. I’d recommend something a little bit more forward toward the woofer. If you are not getting an aftermarket tweeter, you can certainly wire your factory tweeter into the crossover however I found the factory one to be a bit harsh and hissy. I’m disappointed with the alpine ones as well and may start looking for something better and larger in the future.

End result: A pretty good looking mounted tweeter.

Step 14 – Killing the rattles in a Subaru Forester

Where I chose to mount the tweeter turned out to be directly in the middle of this thing. I have no idea what it is for, but it was rattling. I shoved some double sided tape between it and the plastic and it solved the problem perfectly.

You will also notice this pesky plastic thing inside the door that rattles as well, I attempted to do the double sided tape on it as well but i could STILL head it rattling, I threw it away and haven’t looked back.

Then there are the friction clips, these damn things rattled like crazy and only stopped when I put my body weight’s worth of pressure against the door. Shove some double sided tape in the holes and slide the clip back into its place and it will have a really quiet and snug fit. Do this to ALL of the clips.

I forgot to take more pictures of this step, but along the outside where the friction clips connect, you can place this weather stripping to add padding between the door card and the actual door, to help prevent rattles even more. You can put in anywhere you suspect it will help. This stuff was actually a little too thick, I’d recomend 5/16″ instead.

Make sure you tape down any excess wires. They will rattle against other stuff over bumps if you don’t.

And there you have it, re-install your door panels after testing that everything works, and you’re all set. If your bass sounds funny, or better on either side but bad when coming out of both, switch the polarity on one of them and they should sound better together.

Your door panel rattles should be completely gone.

Have a nice day and enjoy your new sound system!