Tips on upgrading 97 Avalon stereo appreciated

[sickwilly]

I seek any advice on how to get my car sounding better, without breaking the bank.

I have recently bought a 97 Avalon. It has the 3 disc changer that does not work, and it sounds like crap. The previous owner put in JBL speakers into the doors (4 inch) and they sound terrible, and for lack of a better explanation, hollow. The previous owner thinks this is because the stock stereo unit does not have enough power to push these speakers.

My set up also has the little tweeters in the front door.

When I stick my head in the trunk area, there seems to be a possible cut out for one speaker in the rear deck. I question if this is where the subwoofer was on some Avalons.

I plan to purchase a new stereo unit (thinking in the $100 to $150 range) and will likely pay to have it installed. I am also thinking of a new amp, as well as wondering about a subwoofer. I have a couple of extra Yamaha 18X2 amps laying around I could use. I am hoping to get the JBL’s that were installed sounding better, but if need be will replace them too.

In terms of stores, around here we have Tweeter, Circuit City, and Best Buy to choose from. I looked at Crutchfield, but their website suggests it’s a harder than average install.

I do not plan to get as radical as some do in their car stereos, because typically I have kids in the back of my car. I will also install my XM Skyfi at the same time.

Any thoughts or recommendations will be appreciated.

[contourdrvr1]

first of all changing the factory radio will require a lot of work because you need to rewire your complete system all around and by this i mean rewiring the front and rear door speakers as well as runing new power and ground wires because everything runs through the amp and there is no way of bypassing the amp trust me i know i also own a 97 avalon that i had the radio replaced and these are the things they had to do to get it working. If you just take out the original and try to cut and splice into the factory connector it will now work i did that and almost fried the factory amp. If you have anymore questions e-mail me at c_vas@yahoo.com.

[sickwilly]

As I go out and price this, then, I will have them quote me on totally rewiring the whole set up.

Did your sound improve greatly, and in the end do you think it was worth doing?