Upgrade stereo on 2004 Forester XT

[HJ]

I will be purchasing a new 2004 Forester XT in a couple of days but I am not happy with the factory stereo system. I would like to replace the in-dash cd player with an aftermarket MP3/cd player and upgraded speakers.

Has anyone upgraded their factory stereo system without too many interior modifications ? If so, what components did you use ?

Any information with respect to recommended components and/or installers in Toronto, Ontario would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Mark Bergman]

I upgraded my 2002 Outback fairly painlessly. Crutchfield.com is a great resource. I put in an inexpensive Blaupunkt that has a much better tuner than the factory. you may also want to upgrade your antenna if FM is important to you.

 

[HJ]

Thanks for the reply. Any idea about speaker upgrades ?

 

[Jkpoulos7]

Thanks for the reply. Any idea about speaker upgrades ?

Do the head unit first. I think the speakers sound MUCH better with a higher quality head unit (AIWA CDCx227). Plus the door panel has to be removed to swap speakers making it more complicated.

 

[HJ]

I was thinking of replacing the head unit and speakers at the same time in order to run high quality speaker, power, and ground cables in my new system.