FIXONICBefore you begin
I upgraded the factory Harman Kardon speakers to the Kicker KS60 2-way speakers in the rear doors of the vehicle — but you can use this guide to install any aftermarket speakers you'd like.
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2010-2014 Subaru Legacy Rear Door Speaker Replacement
I upgraded the factory Harman Kardon speakers...
iFixit Library 2010-2014 Subaru Legacy
Moderate
No estimate
Guide 24384
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This attributed iFixit guide is displayed through Fixonic's recorded commercial API permission. iFixit remains the independent source and author of the procedure.
Repair step
- Lift the hood of your Subaru so you can access the battery.
- Use a 10 mm hex wrench to loosen the black Ground terminal screw.
- Lift the terminal up and off the battery lead, taking care not to touch the Positive terminal.
- Move the ground terminal out of the way so that it has no chance of accidentally reconnecting, or touching the Positive terminal.
Repair step
- Use a spudger or a flat-blade screwdriver to unlatch the plastic screw cover residing within the door pull handle.
- Move the plastic cover out of the way so that the Phillips screw is fully revealed.
- Use a #2 Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the screw residing underneath the plastic cover.
Repair step
- Use a spudger or a flat-blade screwdriver to unlatch the plastic screw cover residing within the door arm rest.
- Move the plastic cover out of the way so that the Phillips screw is fully revealed.
- Use a #2 Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the screw residing underneath the plastic cover.
Repair step
- There are several retaining clips holding the door panel in place. Their locations are roughly outlined by the red circles.
- You’ll find a notch in the door panel on the bottom of the door. This is where you should insert your door panel pry tool. You can also use a couple of flat-blade screwdrivers or a paint scraper in lieu of of a door panel pry tool, but you may accidentally damage your door panel’s paint.
Repair step
- Insert the door panel pry tool into the notch found on the bottom of the door panel.
- Once fully inserted, pull towards you in order to disconnect the first retaining clip.
- The door panel should now be slightly looser on the bottom. Re-insert the pry tool on the bottom-right of the panel, and pull toward you to disconnect the second retaining clip.
Repair step
Repair step
Repair step
- Two cables operate the door lock and door pull handle — a blue cable for the door lock, and a black one for the door pull handle. Each cable has a plastic sleeve that needs to be disconnected, as well as a metal cable ball that has to be de-routed from the door handle.
- Firmly grip the plastic blue sleeve and disconnect it by pulling it perpendicularly away from the plastic bracket.
- Lift the sleeve upwards so that the metal ball at the end of the cable is removed from its housing.
- Pull the entire cable away from the door panel.
Repair step
Repair step
- There is one more connector on the bottom of the door panel that needs to be disconnected.
- Depress the white plastic tab that resides on top of the connector.
- With the plastic tab depressed, pull the connector away from its socket.
Repair step
- The speaker is connected on the back with speaker wire, so do not yank it out of its housing once you remove the screws.
- Use a #2 Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the three Phillips retaining screws.
- Gently pull the speaker an inch or two from the door in order to expose the wire and connector on the back of the speaker.
Repair step
Repair step
- I also knew I would not ever return to the factory speakers, so this was a simple choice for me.
- Use a pair of wire cutters to cut the factory speaker connector from the rest of the speaker wiring. Leave a bit of wire on the connector side, should you ever need to put it back onto the wires.
Repair step
- Strip each wire using the "16 gauge" setting on the wire strippers by clamping down on the wire with the strippers, and then pulling the strippers perpendicularly away from the wire.
- Crimp one side of a butt connector to one of the two wires.
Repair step
- Trim the new speaker wire (that should've come with the speakers) to appropriate length. I usually leave about six inches of wire from the spade terminals so that they can be easily stripped.
- Strip the new speaker wire ends in the same fashion as the door speaker wire.
- Connect the other side of each butt connector to the new speaker wire:
- Red to black-gray
- White to gray
Repair step
- A low-cost alternative is either rubber or foam weather stripping tape.
- Cut an approximately 1" wide strip of Dynamat and press it into both sides of the speaker opening.
- Work your way around with more strips up until all of the speaker opening is covered in Dynamat or weather stripping tape.
Repair step
- Center the speaker in the speaker opening, and press it firmly against the door so it doesn't move out of place.
- Use a drill tip or another sharp, slender object to mark the top speaker hole -- but do not drill the hole just yet!
Repair step
- Move the speaker out of the way. If you used Dynamat, it will be fairly evident where the top mounting hole was marked.
- Use a drill (with a bit one size smaller than the screw diameter) to drill the top mounting hole.
Repair step
Repair step
- Use a #2 Phillips screwdriver to hand tighten the top mounted screw. Do not use a drill or power driver for this task -- you'll have a bad time if you strip the hole.
Repair step
- Use a drill bit to mark the second, third, and fourth holes.
- Alternatively, you can just mark the holes first, take the speaker off once more, drill the pilot holes, and remount the speaker with all four screws. Just make sure to hand-tighten every screw, instead of using a powered driver.