Somehow, I ended up spending a fortune on stereo setup for my WRX sedan. It was one of those things where I started with one change and it snowballed....so I ended up with:
Kenwood excelon seperates up front and coaxials in the rear, JL 10 in a custom (
www.subee-sound.com) box, Sony (forgot the model, but its the 'good one' $400+) deck, and two MTX amps powering it all. The installer DID have to cut and/or manf. some MDF parts to get the speakers to fit.
It went in stages, over a few weeks.... at first, I just did the speakers, powered by the one amp and coming off a box that took the powered leads off the stock deck and spit out pre-amp RCA's. It sounded terrible.
Then I added the second amp and the sub and box when it came in...sounded like crap, but now shook the car like crazy....not a tight car by no means...rattles started appearing.
Ended up springing for the deck...defintely fuller sounding, but it was like the cars interior and door components couldnt handle it....
Ended up springing for Dynamat in the front doors...partail (1/2) dynamat in the rear doors and dynamatting the trunk lid. It made an AMAZING difference.
I hate to say it, but the interior of the WRX is sorta crappy...my comparison cars are a little much (sold my Saab to get a WRX, friend has a TT, uncle has s4, gf has a 02 jetta)...but they seemed to have doors shut with a little umph. and the road noise isnt as bad, etc. Anyway...after the dynamat I thought I was in a BMW or something. The doors shut with that solid sound...the road noise is half I would say...its that much better. A huge difference and worth the money.
Overall the system sounds great...got few things to iron out..some vibrations in some spots (door panels didnt quite click into place in a few spots...going to take it back to the installer). But overall I am happy. I will be paying it off for two more months, but I am happy with it. It sort of brings the car around. And I get a kick out of people that ride in it and love the performance AND the awesome sound.
Anyway, my suggestion. Do the upgrades, go bezerks if you want..but DO THE DYNAMATTING...it was probably the best upgrade so far...changes the car alot...much more refined.
-s