New Speakers and still not good

[YSquared]

Recently bought my first Toyota ... a '97 Avalon XL. Great car! Bought from a CA retired couple, original owners who babied it. Still runs and looks new at 163K. All maintenance receipts in hand and even had the original window sticker for $24K.

It has the OEM stereo head unit, single CD, and 4 speaker set-up. Terrible sound with no bass or midrange with the paper cone OEM speakers. It has this "bonging" tinny sound when trying to adjust up the bass with the push-pull, bass-treble button.

Haven't looked behind the glove box yet to see if the has the factory amp. I went through the new speaker install listed here. Thanks to all who contributed making this an easy job. Installed the Polk 4" (DXI400) in front, and the 5.25" (DXI525) in back. Dremeled, foam taped, and phased as per the instruction here.

Still no Love with the sound. I still got this bonging bass, tinny sound to the speakers when adjusting up the bass on the HU. This is the first time I've installed speakers into a "speaker enclosure," (the plastic box mounted on each door with a bass port hole). I'm thinking this is the problem.

Has any one abandoned these enclosures and used an adapter as here ... www.car-speaker-adapters.com. Seems to me the bigger the door cavity the better the sound, but that's old school knowledge. Any comments?

I'm trying to do this upgrade in steps because of the ol' budget. Thought I'd start with speakers first, see how much it helped, then move onto other items. Would hate to lay out the money for a new HU and still have the poor sound to deal with. Any insights would be appreciated.

If there is an OEM amp behind the glove box and I abandon it going directly to the new speakers with a harness would that help?

Eventually I'll install a self powered subwoofer under the rear deck where the original upgraded system would have placed it. I'd like to get the door speakers dialed in before investing more money on ther items

Here are my alternatives at this point with cheapest fix first ...

- Leave as is, and bypass the OEM amp (if there is one).
- Abandon the door speaker enclosures and re-install speakers with adapters.
- Buy and install a self powered subwoofer.
- Buy and install a new head unit

Of course I could just let a professional do this , but it wouldn't be as much fun.

[Chunkywolf]

If it's only making this sound when adjusting something on the head unit, I'd probably assume it to be the head unit.

[YSquared]

Thanks for the response. The bass - treble button on the original head unit doesn't give much control over those features, but you'd think there'd be an appreciable difference with the new speakers. I guess I could just bite the bullet on a new HU, and if the problem still exists I'd know it's the plastic speaker enclosures in the doors.

[Zembonez]

You aren't going to get much out of the OEM head unit. Those 90s audio systems weren't too grand and it sounds like yours has a problem. If it has an amp, you don't want to bypass it (or you'll have NO sound). Removing the speaker enclosures will actually make them sound worse. They are there to improve sound quality.

Sounds like you are aftermarket head unit bound.

[Chunkywolf]

If you replace the head unit, you can then remove the amp, and wire the speakers directly. But the stock head unit has no power amp, therefore, w/o the amp, you've got no sound.

(just trying to clarify what Zembonez said)

[deadrx7conv]

Tiny speakers won't give bass.
Time to upgrade to a real head unit and an amplified subwoofer.
Crossover your 4" and 5" speakers to save them from bass.

[YSquared]

Thanks for the insights. I've ordered a new Pioneer AVH-P3200 (with the 5" screen) and will do the install soon. I'll report back here on the results.

Please confirm ... if I have the 4 speaker OEM setup in the '97 XL, then there's NO OEM AMP behind the glove box? I don't want to have to pull the glovebox door just to confirm, but will want to bypass if it's there.

[Chunkywolf]

Actually, from what I have read on it, you are correct in that the 4 speaker system does not have an amp. You should have a small 6 pin connector and a 10 pin connector connected to the stock head unit.(Not all of the pins in each connector are occupied, but if you have these plugs, you do not have an amp)

[YSquared]

Awesome ... Thanks. After more research here it seems I might be able to tuck into the front passenger foot well to see if the amp is located under the dash without removing the glove box door.

Here's where the confusion on the 4 speaker setup is from ... www.toyotanation.com/forum/t164495.html