Gen 3 Sound System Upgrade

[eddie926]

Was bored, so thought I'd post something :-)

I've been living with the new sound system in my XLE for a couple of months now, and am very happy with it, so thought I'd share some thoughts for anyone that's contemplating an upgrade to their factory system.

DISCLAIMER:
This is aimed at folks that want to do "drop in" upgrades and get the most bang for their buck, not folks wanting a "killer" stereo with earth pounding bass.

I've done stereo installs on my '95 LE, and my '95 V6 XLE. I did each install in phases. On the LE, I did speakers first, then head unit. On the XLE I did the head unit first, and then speakers.

My goal on both cars was to get the best sound I could with drop in replacements. I didn't WANT to install a subwoofer or external amp if I could avoid it. I wanted to keep it simple, use the factory wiring, and keep all my trunk space if possible.

XLE
The XLE had the "premium" factory sound system, with am/fm/cassette, 6.5" door speakers, tweeters in the door handles, rear deck 6X9s, and external amp under the passenger seat. The 6.5s and 6X9s were in good condition, but my door handle tweeters were fried.

My new system includes a JVC KW-XG700 head unit, Boston Acoustics S65 6.75"s in the doors, Polk Audio DB1000 tweeters in the door handles, and Boston Acoustic s95 6X9s in the rear deck.

I replaced the head unit first and lived with the factory speakers for several weeks. IMO, if you only do one thing, replacing the factory HU provides THE BIGGEST BANG FOR THE BUCK. I was VERY surprised at how good the factory speakers sounded with the new HU.

Speakers - I wanted 6X9s for the rear if possible, and 6.5"s or 6.75"s for the doors, and I wanted to closely power match them to the 20W RMS internal amp on my HU. Most 6X9s I looked at required more power. The Boston Acoustics were only rated at 2-35W RMS and had great reviews on Crutchfield.com

I installed the 6.75s in the doors first, and lived with the fried tweets and factory 6x9s for awhile. There was a definite improvement in clarity over the factory door speakers, and I had decent bass from the factory 6X9s. This was a very nice system at this point.

I replaced the fried tweeters next. This resulted in a big improvement in the high end and sound staging. The door handle location is high enough to make a noticeable difference over what you hear from the lower door speakers. I'm sure it would be even better if I had custom mounted them up higher, but I wanted to stay with the factory location.

Lastly, I installed the new 6X9s in the rear deck. At first I was REALLY disappointed. I initially had less bass with the new speakers than I had with the factory 6X9s. For the first few days, I seriously considered sending the new 6X9s back, and re-installing the factory 6X9s. However, after a couple of weeks the new 6X9s have "broken in" nicely, and now they REALLY ROCK.

This has turned out to be a GREAT system. PLENTY of bass, etc. and really rocks with just the 20W RMS amp from the HU :-)

LE
In contrast to the XLE, when I did the LE install, I replaced the factory speakers first. I installed Polk Audio 6.5s all around. What a HUGE disappointment!!! The PAs were WAAAY underpowered with the factory HU. Overall clarity and high end improved, but I lost a huge amount of bass going from the factory speakers to the PAs with the factory HU. When I installed the new head unit, things sounded MUUUCCHHH better, but the Polks are still underpowered and don't provide as much bass as the factory speakers. This system needs an external amp, or better power matched speakers, or rear 6x9s, etc., to make it as good as the new system in the XLE.

Summary:
This is just my personal opinion. Some of the stereo "experts" out there may disagree. However, IMO, if you want great sound, but don't want to install an external amp or sub, or can't afford to......

1) #1 bang for the buck = replace your factory HU first. It's the easiest thing in the system to replace and you may be pleasantly surprised at how good the factory speakers sound with a decent HU. If it's still not enough, you would have had to have replaced it eventually anyways.

2) If you decide to replace speakers and you don't want to install an external amp, buy speakers that are rated as close to your HU's RMS power rating as you can get. If your HU is rated at 20W RMS, and you install speakers that are rated to 50-100W RMS, I guarantee you'll be disappointed (unless you don't care about bass). The 2-35W RMS Boston Acoustics work REALLY well with my 20W amp. I'm not trying to promote BA, just the low power requirement aspect.

3) #2 bank for the buck = replace your door speakers. It's the next easiest thing to do, you'll get improved clarity, etc., and will have good overall sound with the bass supplied by the factory 6X9s in the back.

4) #3 bang for the buck = add separate tweeters up front for improved high end and sound staging. Easy to do in the XLE. Not as easy in other models.

5) #4 bang for the buck = if you replace the rear deck speakers GET 6X9s!!!! For a given amount of power, 6X9s will give you more bass than 6.5s or 6.75s.

[blackhawk]

nice man thanks

[WhiteRabbit]

wow, that was long...

[Black95Cam]

bleh too much to read, but nice write up... one of my favorite saying is, you get what you paid for..

[eddie926]

OK, I cut the fat and reduced my "essay" by 40%.

[Curry]

One thing I'd add. If you already plan on getting a sub and amp. Don't even bother with 6x9's. Build up a nice front stage with tweeters and mids. Then add your sub + amp.

[eddie926]

Originally Posted by Curry

One thing I'd add. If you already plan on getting a sub and amp. Don't even bother with 6x9's. Build up a nice front stage with tweeters and mids. Then add your sub + amp.

Yeah, if you're PLANNING to get a sub and amp, then most of what I said goes out the window. As I said in my disclaimer, my notes were specifically aimed at folks who DON'T want to do that.

[Black95Cam]

it thought most if not all gen 3/3.5 come with rear 6x9?

[eddie926]

Originally Posted by Black95Cam

it thought most if not all gen 3/3.5 come with rear 6x9?

U.S. models do, at least the LE and XLE. Guess I'm not sure about the base model. I'm under the impression that the Australian models don't come with 6X9s.

Anyway, some people when adding a sub, prefer to only have bass coming from the back and want all their mids and highs coming from the front for more accurate sound staging, so they don't put ANY speakers in the rear deck.

Some people, when replacing the rear deck speakers, put in something smaller than 6x9s. Sometimes that's intentional because they're adding a sub and don't need to generate a lot of bass from their deck speakers. Sometimes they go smaller because they've shopped someplace like Crutchfield.com whose "outfit my car" utility says that 6X9s don't fit in the Camry.

[BlueFusion6851]

^The 6x9 fitment is just due to the fact that Toyota uses only 3 mounting holes versus 4, they sell adapters for that on Crutchfield. Or if you want 6.5 or 6.75 they sell adapters
for that as well.

[ROBS]

Originally Posted by BlueFusion6851

^The 6x9 fitment is just due to the fact that Toyota uses only 3 mounting holes versus 4, they sell adapters for that on Crutchfield. Or if you want 6.5 or 6.75 they sell adapters
for that as well.

Is there enough meat on the rear deck to just drill new holes for the aftermarket 6x9's rather than using adapters?

[Curry]

I was able to drill the rear deck to install some 6 x 9's BUT its a pain in the ass.

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by ROBS

Is there enough meat on the rear deck to just drill new holes for the aftermarket 6x9's rather than using adapters?

Should work fine. The only issue I had putting 6x9s in was trying to turn the screws because the sloping window doesn't allow much room for a screwdriver.

I ended up using a Phillips bit on a 1/4" ratchet.

[Black95Cam]

Originally Posted by eddie926

Anyway, some people when adding a sub, prefer to only have bass coming from the back and want all their mids and highs coming from the front for more accurate sound staging, so they don't put ANY speakers in the rear deck.

Some people, when replacing the rear deck speakers, put in something smaller than 6x9s. Sometimes that's intentional because they're adding a sub and don't need to generate a lot of bass from their deck speakers. Sometimes they go smaller because they've shopped someplace like Crutchfield.com whose "outfit my car" utility says that 6X9s don't fit in the Camry.

yeah i know.. just wasnt sure about if all Camry have 6x9.. right now, i dont have 6x9. i have kenwood 2 way up front and a set of planet audio tweeters in the back. contemplating if i should added a set of tweeter up top near the door handle somewhere.

[eddie926]

Originally Posted by Black95Cam

yeah i know.. just wasnt sure about if all Camry have 6x9.. right now, i dont have 6x9. i have kenwood 2 way up front and a set of planet audio tweeters in the back. contemplating if i should added a set of tweeter up top near the door handle somewhere.

It made a big difference in my system when I replaced the fried tweeters in my door handles. Prior to that, I only had the Boston coaxes in the lower doors, so all the highs were firing into my shins.

I wish mine were mounted a little closer to ear level, but the door handle install was too easy to pass on, and kept the stock look. If I was custom mounting a pair, I think I'd look into mounting them to that triangular plastic cover that's in the A pillar opposite the side view mirror.