[Alex W Os]

For fun what are the anonymous rating sites you posted, and why are their numbers trustworthy?

Seicane Consumer Verified Ratings & Reviews

Find the best stores, Read Real Customer Ratings and Write Reviews

www.resellerratings.com

Seicane is rated "Poor" with 1.8 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with Seicane's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 87 customers have already said.

au.trustpilot.com

It's the web, who knows who and what to trust ultimately - including you and I. haha

All the best my friend, enjoy your Forester.

 

[Kevin]

As the thread has gone international I have moved it.

 

[551602]

Seicane Consumer Verified Ratings & Reviews

Find the best stores, Read Real Customer Ratings and Write Reviews

www.resellerratings.com

Seicane is rated "Poor" with 1.8 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with Seicane's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 87 customers have already said.

au.trustpilot.com

It's the web, who knows who and what to trust ultimately - including you and I. haha

All the best my friend, enjoy your Forester.

I know of what you speak. Internet ratings and reviews are a subject all to themselves. Buy what you feel comfortable with, I was only sharing my opinion and experience with the unit I installed. If you want a name brand unit with consumer support in your market don't buy one of these. If you just want solid tech and can install and troubleshoot yourself I think the Seicane units are brilliant. I read enough of the reviews to realize there were mainly two types of reviewers...Just looked at the reseller rating site you linked to and yup once again confirms my take.
Unless you are willing to pay for rushed shipping you have to accept that it might take a week or two longer to arrive. You also have to realize that it is a Chinese company and that English is not their native language. They will go out of their way to try and answer any questions but there can be communication issues. Still what I got for the price paid was remarkable in my books. Two key features for me rarely reviewed are performance in temperature extremes, and daytime visibility of the screen. All I can tell you is that it works fine in super cold and very hot weather and that the resolution and the design quality of the large screen allow it to be seen in bright daylight. The sound quality is also quite good. I just hope you are as happy with whatever you buy as I have been with the Seicane

 

[kennova]

Hey mate, is yours a premium model?

Yes it is 2011 Forester 2.5X Premium. Has ALL the buttons on the steering Wheel including the Handsfree ones. They all work,

 

[RIPaXe]

Yes it is 2011 Forester 2.5X Premium. Has ALL the buttons on the steering Wheel including the Handsfree ones. They all work,

That’s awesome mate. I’m looking at the Sony xav3000 or something like that, and have the exact same car. Any chance you could send through the gear you needed to get it all connected?

 

[kennova]

That’s awesome mate. I’m looking at the Sony xav3000 or something like that, and have the exact same car. Any chance you could send through the gear you needed to get it all connected?

Sorry it took so long to reply. Busy month

I used the iDatalink RR ADS-MRR
Maestro HRN-RR-SU1 harness
And a ACC-USB-SU1 USB Adapter

Really just follow the guides on iDatalink - Maestro - Search

I then also bought a full replacement JDM dash bezel that fits the standard double din radio. This makes it look factory.
I didn't buy it from here, but this is what I'm talking about.

JDM Subaru AV Panel - Gloss Black And Silver

With this unit you can now install aftermarket double DIN radios without the need of cheap looking dash adapter kits.

iatuning.com

 

[whatthe2070]

@RIPaXe Thanks mate. Wasn't especially cheap if I'm honest due to the custom harnesses which were $245 AUD. The fascia kit was $37 and the head unit you can pick up for about $350 at the moment. Obviously I did all the installation which cut out that cost.

For me, it's an easy expense to justify because it improves the driving experience so much with maps and general usability. Listening to music in the car is also a big deal for me and this improves that experience so much more as well. Since writing the above post I have installed an additional Alpine 5-channel amplifier and 12" Kicker sub. It's sounding verrrry nice!

Hey Mate,

How'd you go with the amp and subwoofer install?

My HK unit has legit just died (does not turn on at all) so i'll be starting the process on replacing and contemplating a hidden sub under the driver seat.

Couple of questions around your amp and sub install:

Did you replace the HK amp with the 5CH amp?

Did you need to run new power / preout cabling, or were you able to use what was going into the HK amp?

I'll post my progress on this thread as I go for fellow AU owners in the same situation.

Cheers dude!

-Alex

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

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['07 FSXT Member Journal] ['03 X Member Journal]

 

[Alex W Os]

Hey Mate,

How'd you go with the amp and subwoofer install?

My HK unit has legit just died (does not turn on at all) so i'll be starting the process on replacing and contemplating a hidden sub under the driver seat.

Couple of questions around your amp and sub install:

Did you replace the HK amp with the 5CH amp?

Did you need to run new power / preout cabling, or were you able to use what was going into the HK amp?

I'll post my progress on this thread as I go for fellow AU owners in the same situation.

Cheers dude!

-Alex

Hey Pal,

Well given that the HK system has 8 speakers (all of which I wanted to retain), I had to install a new amp and retain the existing one.

I retained the factory amp and run the four tweeters out of that. I then installed the 5 channel amp under the rear portion of the front passenger seat. It slightly encroaches on the rear left passenger foot well but it's pretty well obscured by the floor mat + my car is rarely full of passengers so not a problem for me. I re-wired the four woofers + run the sub-woofer through the new 5-channel amp. Yes, I did run new power to the battery and all cabling under the car's panels. It's all tuned and sounding really good!

The factory amp is a bit of a pain. It clearly wasn't installed with future mods in mind. I had to do a bit of wire tracing and found that some wire colours changed behind panels before continuing on to the relevant speaker. I made a wiring chart - hopefully you find it useful. If your wires are the same as mine were (pictured below), it should all work out.

Amp:

https://www.alpine.com.au/shop/amplifiers-processors/s-series-amplifiers/s-a55v/

Sub:

43VCWR122 – 12″ Ported Enclosure 500 Watts RMS 2 Ohm – Kicker Australia

www.kicker.com.au

This alpine amp has the option of a bass control knob which I also installed for a bit of fun.

Hopefully that helps. The premium model definitely wasn't designed with upgrades in mind but are all very possible if you can be bothered and open to some trial and error. I had help from my brother who is pretty handy at these sort of things (although isn't by any means qualified in this field).

I think my next step is to install some sound deadening in the doors.

Cheers

Alex

 

[Panamanian]

I know of what you speak. Internet ratings and reviews are a subject all to themselves. Buy what you feel comfortable with, I was only sharing my opinion and experience with the unit I installed. If you want a name brand unit with consumer support in your market don't buy one of these. If you just want solid tech and can install and troubleshoot yourself I think the Seicane units are brilliant. I read enough of the reviews to realize there were mainly two types of reviewers...Just looked at the reseller rating site you linked to and yup once again confirms my take.
Unless you are willing to pay for rushed shipping you have to accept that it might take a week or two longer to arrive. You also have to realize that it is a Chinese company and that English is not their native language. They will go out of their way to try and answer any questions but there can be communication issues. Still what I got for the price paid was remarkable in my books. Two key features for me rarely reviewed are performance in temperature extremes, and daytime visibility of the screen. All I can tell you is that it works fine in super cold and very hot weather and that the resolution and the design quality of the large screen allow it to be seen in bright daylight. The sound quality is also quite good. I just hope you are as happy with whatever you buy as I have been with the Seicane

Hello mate, how it your seicane headunit working? I have 2 brands (dasaita, or seicane), but my main goal is realiabily. Is it working properly? thanks in advance

 

[551602]

Yup. No problems whatsoever, and has worked fine in -20 C conditions and 30+ hot summer temps. Newer units are probably better still. Its a great upgrade to the car and the size and clarity of the screen are fantastic.Improves the overall look of the dash in my opinion, and if you use another interface such as AGAMA car launcher you can make it look like an OE or better system. If you want to save some money buy one the remaining last gen units without the latest and greatest Android or Processing chip. I paid $129 Cnd which included shipping from a vendor on Aliexpress

Here is an example of someone selling different versions. Here is what I think is the great deal

97.92US $ 52% OFF|Seicane Android Car Radio For Subaru Forester 3 2007-2013 For Subaru Impreza 2007-2011 Gps Audio Head Unit Multimedia Player - Car Multimedia Player - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Otherwise you can also buy directly from the Seicane website but the deals are not quite as good, and you don't get the same buyer protections as on Aliexpress

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Subaru Forester Touch Screen Radio bluetooth touchscreen GPS navigation System upgrade replacement

With Android 10, 8-core CPU, this for 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Subaru Forester radio system is super fast to response. It supports Carplay, FM/AM radio, WIFI.

www.seicane.com

Personally for these I don't think you really need more than 2GB RAM, but I don't use it to stream movies, or run 10 applications at a time. Boot time is super fast already. If you buy one I doubt you will regret it.

 

[551602]

Here is probably the one to get and it is being sold by Seicane on Aliexpress
Its got good specs and more recent apps in terms of design. Just remember these units do not have a CD player if that matters to you

125.44US $ 36% OFF|Seicane 9" Android 10.0 2din Car Multimedia Player For 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Subaru Forester Support Steering Wheel Control - Car Multimedia Player - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[mronjan]

Alex

I also have a Forester XT premium 2013 and am considering a head unit upgrade similar to yours. A question: The Metra 71-1761 harness connects to the powered output (not the pre-amp) from the Sony to the OEM HK amplifier input. This would normally be a no no. How come it works in your case?

Regards

Miron