Stereo Upgrade Questions

[ILL3GALgt]

Hey guys!

I have not been on here for a while. I hope everyone is doing well! For those wondering, I went from driving a 97 Legacy GT 5M to a 2017 Legacy 2.5i. All I can say is - manual is so much more fun)

I am trying to upgrade the sound in my new subi. I listen bass music, and as you can imagine the stock stereo in the base model is not adequate. I have done a decent amount of reading and research which led to me realize how little I know. I hope you guys can help me out and answer some of the questions I still have or point me in right direction. 

My original plan was to simply add an amp with a sub, as my primary complain with the sound was insufficient amount of bass. As I started doing my research I realized I would need to get an LOC in order to hook it up to the stock HU. Looking further into LOCs, there is quite a difference in price between low end (Kicker 46KISLOC2 $29.99) and something high end (LC7i $215). Additionally, I am not very happy with the functionality of my stock HU (CB826UL), primarily the lack of CarPlay, Navigation and Screen Mirroring. I figured instead of spending the money on an LOC, I could upgrade to a nicer HU with a SUB Out. This appears to be a lot more complicated than I thought, and where I finally hit a dead in my researching ability. Sorry for that long intro, but here are my main questions/concerns:

 

1) How do you find an aftermarket HU that will retain most of my current HU functionality, and does such stereo even exists? Will the following things work - back up camera, AUX/USB ports, built-in Mic, and Radio Antenna? During my research I did find out that I can retain my steering wheel controls using an interface module (Axxess ASWC-1 or iDatalink Maestro), but I could not find any reliable information regarding the other functions I listed. 

 

2) Which SWC interface module would you recommend and would I retain all of the steering wheel buttons? Just going through different HUs, none of them seem to have voice command, so I am assuming that voice button next to the source button will no longer work as intended and I will just program it to some other function.

 

Thank you!

Edited November 8, 2022 by ILL3GALgt

[silverton]

Other than head unit functionality you're missing, your best bet might be to find the factory harmon kardon speaker upgrade.  I love the stereo in my '17 limited. bass hits hard for being OE. I looked in to head units through crutchfield but not having maintenance reminders built in is pretty much a deal breaker for me, and the pickins are SLIM.

Your other option was to get an '18.  pretty sure those have the HK head units with carplay.

[Phillyballs79]

I replaced my factory HU with an Android HU ($199 Atoto 7" A6pf on amazon) was skeptical at first but was suprised how good it was for price. Wireless carplay, SWcontrol built in no adapter necissary, just 1 wire and ground. I have the factory sub that sounded like crap until the higher wattage from this brought it to life. door sppeakers/ tweeters are twice as loud as well. cubby modification was hardest part, mine is an 08. If you have a '10+ they make the kit w vents to go right in. I had a good experience with this, lots of people hate on them. If you are not looking for reference level sound, this is almost a 1 stop solution. hope this helps.