2009 Subaru Legacy Limited Audio Issues

pilot1226

Hiya,

Our 2009 Legacy 2.5i Limted is having some audio issues.

We've narrowed down the general area to the front passenger side using the balance and fader options on our stereo...

It sounds twangy. When you lower the bass, the issue seems to go away. When you lower the middle, the issue seems to go away slightly more. To be more descriptive, I guess it sounds like the bass isn't coming through as clear? The other issue is that it's intermittent - seems to come and go, sometimes depending on the song. I first thought it could be poor reception - but it's happening for CD's too.

Since the car is new, I anticipate this being covered under warranty, but I'm slightly concerned that they will try to shift the blame onto us for operating at too high a volume, etc. I know for certain that the audio "volume" has not been past 12 or 13, and the Bass, Middle, and Treble are all at 0, 0, and -1 respectively.

I just wanted to poke around on the forums to see if anyone else was having similar issues. Until then, driving with the audio balance to the left!

robsis

No issues like that at all on our 09 Limited....We love the HK audio system! I would think that it would be covered under their warranty.

Good luck with the dealer.

Robert

Tornadoebrain

I've not had a bit of problem with the audio in my '09 Legacy Limited. I regularly drive with the volume in the 15-20 range, the high and midrange at +2 each, and bass is at +4, with no problems whatsoever. Well, occasionally, if there's something in the door pocket, I'll get a rattle, but that's it.

I too would expect the warranty to cover any problem with the audio.

Good luck

letmeout

I've had my 09 Legacy 4wks now and have the problem. At first I thought i had the base too high but i didn't.

Interesting...

cptplt

when you next bring it in to the dealer just tell them your speakers don't sound right. I had speakers on my 02 WRX and 98 Legacy replaced under warranty. as long as the techs can hear the problem it shouldn't be an issue unless your dealer is a PITA.

marekk

I have the 09 for the second week now, and I noticed that the rear speakers - next to the back seats - do not have ANY bass, I mean NON. It is clear when you make fader to put all your music signal all the way to the rear speakers; they sound very thin with just a high tones... It is not a big deal, since when fader is at 0 (and I listen this way) it all sounds very good with bass coming from the front speakers and the sub, but - my QUESTION 1 is: Is this normal, or should the rear ones have SOME bass..?
QUestion #2: All over the Subaru printed info states that the 09 Special Edition has 9 speaker Harman Kardon, but I see ONLY 7.... Two high tones front, 2 low tones front, 2 rear (puny sounding ones), and the sub - all together 7... WHERE are the missing 2 ?

(did I mentioned that I LOVE the sound despite the questions above..?)

ateixeira

I bet the soltered connected cracked at the back of the speaker.

If you can access them easily, you can probably fix it with a soltering iron just by touching it lightly. That'll melt it and fix the crack.

Oddly enough it was my clock, on a 98 Forester, that did that.

marekk

I have the 09 for the second week now, and I noticed that the rear speakers - next to the back seats - do not have ANY bass, I mean NON. It is clear when you make fader to put all your music signal all the way to the rear speakers; they sound very thin with just a high tones... It is not a big deal, since when fader is at 0 (and I listen this way) it all sounds very good with bass coming from the front speakers and the sub, but - my QUESTION 1 is: Is this normal, or should the rear ones have SOME bass..?
QUestion #2: All over the Subaru printed info states that the 09 Special Edition has 9 speaker Harman Kardon, but I see ONLY 7.... Two high tones front, 2 low tones front, 2 rear (puny sounding ones), and the sub - all together 7... WHERE are the missing 2 ?

(did I mentioned that I LOVE the sound despite the questions above..?)

red927

According to cars101, the rear door speakers are a combo 25mm tweeter and a 100mm woofer.

sanka

I had the same problem. Bought my '09 with 25k miles on it right at the end of the year. I'm sort of a stereo nerd, so right away I knew something was wrong with the rear subwoofer. It didn't work at all at low volume, and only intermittently clattered at higher volume. Blown voice coil, I've heard it a million times.

Convincing the repair people was the problem. I told them about it when I dropped it off, then called back later and they still said it was fine. I sighed, and went down there at lunch, and showed them how it didn't work. You can physically see and feel that the speaker doesn't move, but they didn't think anything was wrong.

Sigh

So I put in a CD with a lot of bass, faded everything to the rear and cranked it up. All you could hear then was tinny vocals out the doors and crackling voice coil clapping in the sub. They finally admitted something was wrong.

It took them a long time to replace the sub, I even got a loaner out of it for a day, but they got a new subwoofer in, and it works just fine. It's actually a fairly decent factory speaker system.

ateixeira

I'm surprised an audiophile like you hasn't replaced the OEM speakers.

marekk

And - what is "OEM speakers"? and - why it would be beneficial (sound-wise) to replace them..?

ateixeira

Original Equipment from the Manufacturer.

The aftermarket generally has much better stuff.

marekk

Thanks, but - actually - the original speakers (Harman-Kardon) are pretty good in this Outback - for a very first time I feel like leaving them in. And the sound is so good that it makes me interested in this audio system, so I'd like to know more about it than a bare minimum on Outback site, manual, etc. Do you know how or where it is possible to obtain some detail info on it?

ateixeira

It won't be easy - Subaru is not usually forthcoming about suppliers, in fact they tend to want to brand them as Subaru goods.

Good to hear the OE stuff has improved. My 98 Forester had cheap paper dual-cone speakers. Premium sound was 2-way, but only slightly better really.

pilot1226

It's been a long time since I stopped by the forums, whoops! Just an update, for the original issue, a tinny, twangy sound regarding bass from the front passenger side speaker.

I had the car serviced 2 or 3 times since my original post, and each time the dealer I use for service (Northern NJ, I won't name the business) says that they can't duplicate the problem. It seemed to happen more in cold weather, but over the last six months or so, I haven't noticed the issue repeating itself.

I didn't go out of my way to keep things in or out of my door pocket, but I suppose it's possible there could have been a vibration resonating with junk inside it. The issue appears to be okay now, and aside from issues with my TPMS, everything on the car appears to be running great, coming up on 18 months over ownership.

If all goes well, we'll probably look to purchase an Outback or a Tribeca in another year or two, but I am starting to hate my relationship with my dealer's service department. Unfortunately, since Subaru is more of a niche market, I'd have to drive an hour to get to the next dealer.

ateixeira

Well, FWIW the Magnussen-Moss warranty act says you can get service from a non-dealership, as long as it meets Subaru's specs. What about a good indy mechanic?

pilot1226

Oh sure. I get my Nissan Sentra serviced at the local Meineke for the routine oil changes and tire rotations. I have been toying with the idea of having them do my yearly maintenance, etc.

I suppose because the Subaru is "new" I just feel that the dealer knows my car better than anyone else, and I have heard of some horror stories from the local neighborhood Jiffy Lube.

I think as the car ages I'll probably switch to another place, especially now because I'm getting so frustrated with their customer service, but we'll see.

The real thing I need to think about, though I don't want to digress too much on this thread, is if I really, truly need a "brake flush", "battery service", "oil flush", "fuel system package" etc, or if these are things that aren't truly necessary.

I know there's a few people on the forum that are very emphatic about flushing your brake system every 2 years because it's hydrogoric or whatever it's called and absorbs the moisture very easily.

xwesx

They are usually unnecessary. A brake fluid flush every 3 years is a good idea, though.

ateixeira

I hear ya. One Outback owner said Jiffy Lube drained his transmission fluid instead of the engine oil, then proceeded to overfill the engine oil.

TWO mistakes.

mcrabbitt

I have the '09 GT and I wondered where the last 2 speakers were too. I called the dealership and they said the rear speakers in the door are both regular speakers and tweeters.....all in the same encasing. So each back door speaker counts as 2....which is crap if you ask me.

ateixeira

That's a single two-way speaker, I agree.

pilot1226

Back on track with the audio issues ---

It's starting to happen again, of course, now that it's officially out of warranty (36th month!)...

So, I'm wondering how hard it is to pop out the front speaker (pretty sure it's the one on the door near the floor that's built around the door storage flap) and basically check the connections.