[Soundman22]

I think it is going to get harder and harder for aftermarket to make kits to install different decks in the car. The systems are such a main part of the car, it would be hard to just remove it. There are many settings for the car that you access on the touch screen. The reasons I would always upgrade the stereo is to get more options, like Bluetooth, USB, and MP3 support. This has all of that. The stereo does sound really good from the factory. I personally would like to see a sub in the back for some more low end. I do think maybe replacing the factory speakers would help a little. I do a lot with sound for my job and I will say, it sounds good.

 

[Soundman22]

It is true that aftermarket decks have a lot more options for tuning your system than a factory system. The one thing to remember with a factory system is that some guy already did most of the eq for those speakers and that is set in the programing of the deck. With aftermarket they leave that open so that you can tune it for whatever speakers you use. After rocking the ST stereo for a few months now, it really does sound good.

If it was my car I would disconnect the rear speakers and wire that to the speaker level input on a mono sub amp, and put a 8" sub in a sealed box, tune the sub with the amp. Many amps today have good eq and filter options for the sub. I think this would really finish off the system. I personally don't use rear speakers in a car, only front. When music is mixed in the studio, they mix on a stereo set of speakers in front of them. With the rear speakers on, you can get some odd phasing problems. Most people never hear this, but drives me crazy on some songs.