I called Toyota and got a part # for the amp in my '97 Avalon. They
couldn't give me any specs tho. Does anyone know the wattage, maker,
etc of this amp? The P/N is #86280 - AC010.
I'm upgrading my headunit and front speakers and trying to decide whether I should use or replace the amp.
I don't know the maker, but it is a 170 watt Peak amp, and an aftermarket headunit will put out that much or more. You will need to make your own series of wires to run down to where the amp is (the factory ones are for a non-amplified headunit and cannot carry the current without the risk of a dash fire...that and really crappy sound). You will also need to find a wiring diagram for the Avalon.
You will need to take the plug from the output side of the factory amp and manually cut each wire and connect it to the new wires from the new headunit. There is not much slack before these wires disappear into the frame of the car, but it can be done. It took me almost a full saturday to put a new headunit into my mom's Avalon.
Unfortunately with the Avalons, all models had an external amplifier. Had even the most basic model come with a self-amplifying headunit there would have been an amplifier bypass plug that you could buy a wiring harness for.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
OR... you could do the extreamely simple way and just buy a decent 2 channel amp to power the front speakers. Or just a weak 4-channel to all of the speakers and put it under a seat or in the trunk. Doing all that worthless wiring just to have that crappy weak external amp hooked up is pointless when you could spend much less time putting in a nice amp somewhere else. Also i feel sry for you gideon1331 for taking up a whoel saturday to do that. I installed my headunit in about 20 mins?! You will still have good sound form that amp, im not syaing its terrible, but its definatly not worth the time it takes to use it.
The time spent was manually bypassing the factory amp, not wiring it so that it could be used. Since the Avalon was only offered with a stereo system with an external amplifier, they did not include an amp-bypass plug in the dash (which is the same as the normal Toyota pre-amplified headunit connector). At least in the 95 Avalon, the only way to use a non-Toyota headunit is to manually splice into each wire on the output side of the factory amp, that is unless you run wires to another amp somewhere in the car, and new wires from that amp into the doors.
However, with a '97 Avalon I would STRONGLY advise against an amplifier other than the one included in an aftermarket headunit, as the speakers are all 4", and even good aftermarket 4" speakers can't handle much more than the average headunit will put out.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
Mine had a factory by-pass wiring. all you had to was not use the wires running into the old headunit and plug straight into the speakers. But the I guess that is possible. Im not really aware of the older setups. As for not amping 4" speakers, Some can handle alot of power actually, and sound really good. They can handle just as much as most normal sized speakers. You just cant get average aftermarket. Regardless, you could amp the old stock ones if you wanted. You just can't turn the gain up much on the amp. basically any speaker is better than stock though.
If Toyota added a bypass harness to newer models mad props to them...let me tell you it was a pain in the ass to get an aftermarket headunit in my mom's car (which was mine for about a year and a half). I had a CD player that plugged into the factory unit, but it was from a 93 Previa and didnt like burnt CD's.
I am suprised by what the stock Avalon speakers can handle. I bought some $150/pair JBL's from Crutchfield and installed them, but they couldn't hold a candle to the stock speakers. The headunit I put in that car was 18w RMS and the JBL's were distorted at even medium volume.
I say put in the headunit and see if you like it with the stock speakers, if not, get some really good aftermarket 4" ones and see if they are an improvement.
If you are lucky enough to have a bypass plug in your dash it will be very easy.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
There is a huge write up on this site for the bypass if it does infact work on your car, which im assuming it does. If not i can always tell you how to do it.
Wow man 150 for JBL. Not bashing on them or anything but crutchfield always over prices there stuff. Not to mention you can get some good speakers for 150. JBL is good but that is what the factory premium speakers are. The only reason the new speaker you bought probably didnt sound as good is because that amp was specially designed just for those stock speakers, so its set and honed to them.
All and all a speaker change would be good, in additon to a new headunit. Maybe even comps, with a new, bigger hole, for some larger speakers. BTW a different amp would help the sound dramatically as well.
got a 98 avalon and they make a harness and all i did was plug it into my aftermarket HU, sounds nice to me, i actually have to turn everything down b/c its too loud. harness can be found at CC or BB
Wow man 150 for JBL. Not bashing on them or anything but crutchfield always over prices there stuff. Not to mention you can get some good speakers for 150. JBL is good but that is what the factory premium speakers are. The only reason the new speaker you bought probably didnt sound as good is because that amp was specially designed just for those stock speakers, so its set and honed to them.
I know Crutchfield is more expensive than other places, but they gave me the wiring harnesses for the speakers, which negated any increase in price. I got those speakers because they were the most expensive 4" speakers at the time, and I had the money to blow...boy those days are over. They wern't sounding distorted with the factory system, but with the aftermarket headunit (18w RMS / 45w peak), and those JBL's were supposidly rated for 50w RMS. The factory speakers sounded much better with that new headunit and they are only rated for 15w RMS. Also, the JBL system wasn't an option on the Avalon (at least not that year). You either got the 4 4" speakers, the same with seperate tweeters, or the second setup with a small excuse for a sub. All models got the same 170w amp.
Also, with the speaker setup in the 95-99 Avalons you arn't going to be enlarging the hole. There is just simply not enough room in the door mounts to do that, not to mention that they have specially made speaker boxes to make the 4" speakers sound like they have somewhat good bass.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
Last edited by gideon1331; 04-24-2006 at 09:19 PM.
The reason your JBL's didnt soudn good is because they were uinderpowered. They didnt have enough power to move enough with the weak headunit. They need an aftermarket amp to go along with them, to make them really shine.
And you could always make kickers and put a comp set in. And with enough money anything is possible, even bigger speakers.
The reason your JBL's didnt soudn good is because they were uinderpowered. They didnt have enough power to move enough with the weak headunit. They need an aftermarket amp to go along with them, to make them really shine.
And you could always make kickers and put a comp set in. And with enough money anything is possible, even bigger speakers.
BTW my JBL system had 6.5" and 6x9's
What year Avalon do you have? The 00-04's have a similar setup but with vastly improved speakers. The 95-99 Avalons only offered 4" speakers, as that was all that the door design would allow. I would love to be able to fit the size speakers you have into my mom's Avalon, as it will most likely be mine again sometime soon, but theres no chance of that happening.
I doubt that the JBL's were underpowered...they were overextending themselves even at low volumes, and would crackle from too much movement when the volume was at a moderate level...this could be seen when to door panel was off...I was quite disappointed. I have some 4" Bleaupunkt's (sp?) in the front of my Corolla that are rated for 35w RMS that have less of a problem in the department that the JBL's did...although I make them crackle enough that I doubt they will last too much longer....I think my ears must hate me by now.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
What year Avalon do you have? The 00-04's have a similar setup but with vastly improved speakers. The 95-99 Avalons only offered 4" speakers, as that was all that the door design would allow. I would love to be able to fit the size speakers you have into my mom's Avalon, as it will most likely be mine again sometime soon, but theres no chance of that happening.
I doubt that the JBL's were underpowered...they were overextending themselves even at low volumes, and would crackle from too much movement when the volume was at a moderate level...this could be seen when to door panel was off...I was quite disappointed. I have some 4" Bleaupunkt's (sp?) in the front of my Corolla that are rated for 35w RMS that have less of a problem in the department that the JBL's did...although I make them crackle enough that I doubt they will last too much longer....I think my ears must hate me by now.
Have a camry not an Avalon, sry should have said that from the beginning. There are some good 4" speakers though. You just need a good amp to power them and hone out bad freq. There is always a way to fit bigger speakers.. such as a baffle.. for just ass rigging it if you know what your doing though. You could easily fit 5.25" speakers in a 4" area.
Your JBl's may have been grounding bad or something then or they just sucked, which isnt usually the case with those. They had to be underpowered if you were powering them with a headunit, and if there continuous (RMS) power was 50w. Different receiever different sound of different speakers... if that makes any sense to you haha.
does anyone have a wiring diagram on the 97 avalon, theres 2 plugs behind the radio and im wondering if one of the plugs has the 8 speaker wires...HELP!
One plug runs to the factory amplifier, while the other runs to the trunk (or as some people have pointed out, a couple other locations) for the optional cd-changer. If you want to get the 8 speaker wires you need to splice into them on the output side of the factory amp...and they give you no slack to work with.
__________________
Toyotas in the family/next of kin:
1982 Corolla Wagon, 1989 Corolla DX, 1991 Previa LE, 1993 Previa LE,
1993 Pickup, 1994 Corolla DX, 1995 Avalon XL, 1996 Camry XLE, 1998 Avalon XL,
1998 Sienna CE, 1999 Camry XL, 2000 Camry XLE, 2002 Tundra, 2003 Tundra,
2003 ES 300, 2004 Camry XLE, 2005 Tacoma
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