Currently my rolla has just the basic stock radio. I was hoping someone could advise a decent head unit with an aux input for an Ipod and a couple of 6x9s to put in the rear. I'm not looking for anything crazy loud, just clean sound. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
For single DIN headunits, I've always been partial to Pioneer Premier units.
In terms of speakers, Pioneer, Kenwood or JL Audio are good brands to check out.
Just look for the one that suits your style and budget the best.
Crutchfield is a good place to do some research and comparison shopping online.
crutchfield isn't the cheapest place to get car audio but at least when you buy head units from them, they'll give you the exact wiring harness and installation kit for any brand of head unit for free.
As for speakers, you should stick with 2 way coaxials. They'll give you the best sound as when you go 3 way or 4 way, the sound tends to drop off as you lose more surface area on the speaker when adding more tweeters. Component speakers are the way to go because you get more surface area and the separate tweeters allow you to place them anywhere of your choosing, plus component speakers come with separate crossovers for better tuning.
So for the 6x9's that you want to put in the rear, 2 ways are the best way to go.
I'm partial to Kenwood Excelons for a head unit. My X-493 has a front aux and usb input. I know this won't matter in your case since you're just going for a basic system, but the difference between the regular and Excelon kenwood head units is that the excelons are high powered and have at least 4v preamp outputs...that means cleaner sound for when hooking up a 4 channel or mono class d amp.
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Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'm gonna try and pick up some Infinity Kappas on CL for about $100 and some old Sony Xplode head unit from a friend. I plan on using all the factory wiring, and probably don't plan on ever running an amp. I just want clean sound. Right now I can't turn up my stock stereo more than 1/4 way without hearing crackling speakers.
I wouldn't get Sony for car stereos..most people will tell you they suck ahha
I got an Alpine CDA-105. Instant deeper boost and sound. I do have cheap Alpine Type S speakers on the back..stock speakers in the front.
Yeah, that's too rich for my blood. Plus I don't like Alpines integrated Ipod crap. I'm aware sony isn't great, but since all I'm really going for is function. I think it will work out for me.
For the best sound you should really concentrate on your front stage, which you get with mid-bass drivers and tweeters in the door panels and/or dashboard. Many guys with super high-end stereos don't even run rear speakers, a.k.a. "rear fill".
Be advised that mounting 6x9's in the rear may require a good bit of custom work. Stock speakers are more like 5.25" in the rear and 4" up front if I recall. I put some new Polk speakers all around in our Corolla last year, along with a Pioneer mp3/CD/iPod head unit and it sounds really nice for what it is.
I would be more inclined to trying to custom-fit 6.5" drivers up front with tweeters up higher on the door panels before going to the effort and expense of custom fitting 6x9's in the rear. Also keep in mind that round drivers generally sound and perform better than oval-shaped drivers.
Last edited by PatrickGSR94; 03-25-2010 at 02:21 PM.
Alright, well I don't really want to cut up the rear deck if I don't have to. Any suggestions as to best bang for my buck to replace all four speakers and the head unit. I just want something with an aux jack. Is there anywhere that sells packages?
Nothing wrong with Sony mate. I've used many brands of car audio over of the years and Sony has always been one of my favs.
My current set-up is a Sony Xplod head-unit, 444w Sony Xplod amp, and 2x 6.5" Sony Xplod 4-way 300w (75w RMS) front speakers.
Since you're planning on using your iPod through the head-unit, then I recommend you go for one with a USB port, opposed to just a 3.5mm AUX port. This way you can change the songs through the head-unit instead of via the iPod and also charge it while you drive. I hook my Sony Walkman MP3 player up to mine via USB all the time and it's great. You can even scroll through the songs via the head-unit so you can leave your MP3 player in the glovebox if you want.
If you're also going to put some rear fill speakers in then get some low wattage ones. There's no point spending a lot of money on the rear ones as they're just meant to provide balance, not pump out any bass etc.
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Last edited by Kiwi-Corolla; 03-25-2010 at 06:02 PM.
Reason: typo
Stock speaker in the rear are 6.5". My suggestion is Kenwood Excelons. They have great all around frequency response, are easy to mount, and sound great. Even though my head unit is just an average JVC, it really sounds good through them. They are fairly expensive though, at around $160 a set but well worth the price.
In the front I went with 3.5" Infinity Reference (their cheaper line) speakers. That is a bit smaller than stock, but it was easy on the budget, I avoided trouble with the mounting depth which can be an issue. They are make more than enough noise for me, haha.
Unfortunately the fronts are only 4" and not the easiest to make larger ones fit properly/securely. I had a set of Boston Acoustic 4" separates in the front with the tweeters mounted by the sail panels and they sounded great. In the back I had 6 1/2" eclipse 2 ways which filled nice when combined with my OLD Bazooka tube. Granted I had some amps for all of it also.
What color is your interior? Mine was grey and I have these factory parts cheap if you want to put some 6 1/2" in the back. The center of the shelf got wrecked but I saved the rest so somebody else would know where to cut out if ambitious. They are the mounts with all screws/clips etc.
To go with it (not pictured) I have the metra harness that plugs into the factory harness for power and front speakers and the second plug for rear speakers.
If you can find some front speaker brackets (pods) from an overseas model (New Zealand, Indonesia etc) then you can fit 6.5" speakers, as that's what they came out with from factory. I may be able to source you some over here if you're keen, saw some at the wreckers a few weeks ago. Otherwise you'll just have to put up with 4" speakers up front.
Here's a shot of my ones (6.5" from factory) -
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If you can find some front speaker brackets (pods) from an overseas model (New Zealand, Indonesia etc) then you can fit 6.5" speakers, as that's what they came out with from factory. I may be able to source you some over here if you're keen, saw some at the wreckers a few weeks ago. Otherwise you'll just have to put up with 4" speakers up front.
Here's a shot of my ones (6.5" from factory) -
I WISH I had known that 17 years ago, that would have been awesome. I would definitely try to hit up Kiwi corolla for this! It will make a HUGE improvement on your sound.
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