[yzvessel1]

I have 2014 Forester Premium, and currently have a Pioneer CarPlay headunit installed. I’m going to be removing it this week because I don’t find much use for CarPlay, given I can mount my phone and achieve that same results.

However, I do enjoy the upgrade audio quality. My thoughts are to either go back my factory unit and possibly upgrade my speakers, or get a less expensive Bluetooth only headunit to achieve better audio.

Does anyone know what might end up being more effective. The only reason I got rid of the factory unit was I wanted to achieve some better audio.

Sorry if this question has been posted elsewhere. I appreciate the help.

 

[rdclark]

It seems likely your Pioneer sounds better than the Clarion you replaced. I don't understand what you gain by removing it; restoring the Clarion would be a downgrade.* You don't have to use the Carplay feature; does the Pioneer not still do everything else the Clarion did, plus sound better? Just don't activate Carplay.

If you're still using the original speakers, however, you should be able to get another big boost in audio quality via an upgrade. The Kicker upgrades sold by Subaru are well liked by many, and have the benefit of being easy to install as direct replacements both in the doors and in the dash. Other brands will require the use of adapter brackets, but may offer audio quality more to your liking.

*Any aftermarket Pioneer with Carplay is likely have better (cleaner, more powerful) amplification and better Bluetooth implementation than the junk Clarion units that came in our 2014-2015 Premiums.

 

[Nasarog]

Leave the pioneer, upgrade the speakers, add a subwoofer and some bass. You're set!

 

[yzvessel1]

It seems likely your Pioneer sounds better than the Clarion you replaced. I don't understand what you gain by removing it; restoring the Clarion would be a downgrade.* You don't have to use the Carplay feature; does the Pioneer not still do everything else the Clarion did, plus sound better? Just don't activate Carplay.

If you're still using the original speakers, however, you should be able to get another big boost in audio quality via an upgrade. The Kicker upgrades sold by Subaru are well liked by many, and have the benefit of being easy to install as direct replacements both in the doors and in the dash. Other brands will require the use of adapter brackets, but may offer audio quality more to your liking.

*Any aftermarket Pioneer with Carplay is likely have better (cleaner, more powerful) amplification and better Bluetooth implementation than the junk Clarion units that came in our 2014-2015 Premiums.

That’s a good point. The idea was to “downgrade” to a non-CarPlay pioneer model - saves some money to allocate over to a speaker upgrade.

The idea of using clarion again was only if a “speaker only” upgrade would also do the trick.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[subaru3169]

It's simply better to replace both headunit and speakers for improved audio imo.