I just upgraded the speakers in my month old Venza LE and thought I’d share all the details in case anyone else is interested and can benefit from my experience, especially considering how little is available on this newer vehicle. It’s actually a pretty simple and straightforward upgrade and made a fairly significant improvement in the sound quality given the modest cost.
I’m going to split this post into a series of four posts given the size. So the plan is to discuss: (1) the Venza LE audio system, (2) the parts I utilized, (3) the installation process, and (4) the results.
First up, the Venza LE audio system. All LE trim levels share the non-JBL system and there is no factory installed upgrade available in the LE trim. I believe that the XLE can also be acquired without the JBL system upgrade, but it seems like that is not a very common configuration. If you have a non-JBL XLE this should apply to you. But if you have the JBL system this post is not for you.
The non-JBL system has a total of six speakers (two dash speakers, two front door speakers, and two rear door speakers). It has a head unit with <10 watts per channel. The system is actually shared across a number of Toyota vehicles, including the RAV4, and I believe it is manufactured by Pioneer. The dash speakers are 3 inch (housing a single 1 1/8 inch tweeter) while all of the door speakers are 6.5 inch woofers. Since all the door speakers are woofers this means the system only has tweeters up front with no high frequencies from the rear compartment, contributing to a lack of spaciousness.
All the speakers are a typical 4 ohm impedance. But, importantly, the dash and front door speakers are wired in parallel on the front channels, while the rear speakers are on a separate channel (the amp has a total of 4 channels – 2 front, 2 rear). This means that the effective impedance at the head unit for the front channel speakers drops from 4 ohms to 2 ohms which has a few important implications for the sound and performance of this system. First, it causes the front channel speakers to draw more power from the amp and they will therefore sound comparatively louder than the rear channels. This is a common complaint about Toyota sound systems – where the rear sounds relatively anemic compared to the front. Second, it potentially puts more stress on the amp. While the head unit is probably designed for a 2 ohm load, it can overstress the amp and result in excessive distortion at high volumes which can adversely impact the amp or speakers (more on this later).
The stock speakers are very cheap and it shows in the sound quality. Listening to the system there is a noticeable lack of highs and lows. The system overall is VERY midrange forward. If you listen primarily to spoken voice (eg, podcasts, audio books) it may be perfectly adequate, but for music it is definitely lacking. I did find that modifying the settings on the 3-band equalizer (wish they offered 5-bands like my Subaru) definitely helped to improve things. I found that boosting the treble and bass slightly while leaving or even reducing the midrange got the best possible sound out of the stock system. But even so it lacks detail, spaciousness, and a tight low end. Overall, the sound is a bit muddy and uninspiring.
As a result, I started to consider upgrades to improve the sound quality. The first and easiest upgrade is always just to upgrade the speakers, so I looked into some options there. I went to Crutchfield and searched for 2021 Venza options, but they do not yet have the vehicle in their system. So after doing some investigation and figuring out that the Venza system is essentially the same as the RAV4 system I started searching some RAV4 forums. On there I found that people were upgrading to the JBL Club series, the Infinity Reference series, and various Kicker (DS, CS, KS series) speakers. Regardless of the brand people were using coaxial 3.5 inch speakers in the dash and coaxial 6.5 inch speakers in the doors. This has the advantage of being the simplest change as the 3.5 inch speakers literally fit right into the existing mounts in the dash. But after further research I realized that there are some definite disadvantages with these systems. First, the dash speakers are really meant to be tweeters, whereas the 3.5 inch coaxials are full range speakers. Two sets of full range speakers will draw a lot more power from the amp (especially given that the front channel is already at 2 ohms) potentially placing more stress on the amp and distorting the speakers. Second, some of these speakers (JBL and Infinity – which are both Harman companies) are actually 3 ohm speakers instead of 4 ohms. As a result they effectively lower the impedance to 1.5 ohms putting even more stress on the amp. They do this to add more volume to the speakers, but the downside is potentially amp overload and speaker damage. It’s a kind of cheat and the consequence is that I read some reports of people getting good sound initially, followed by popping and crackling after blowing out a speaker or, even worse, the amp.
The other big problem with this approach is that none of these speakers have great sensitivity. Sensitivity is a measure of the sound output in decibels at a given power input. Typically it is measured in terms of the decibels at 1 meter with a 1 watt input. Sensitive speakers will produce greater than 90 dB at 1 watt input. Furthermore, small increases in volume require an exponential increase in power – eg, increasing volume by a mere 3 dB requires a doubling of amplifier power. So a speaker with 90 dB sensitivity (at 1 watt) would require 2 watts of power to increase the volume to 93 dB. The really important implication of this is that if you have a system with a lower power amp that sensitivity is really the key spec to look out for with a speaker upgrade. Selecting higher sensitivity speakers is like changing the speaker and the amp all in one. This is why people who upgrade car speakers often find themselves going down the rabbit hole of changing the head unit or adding an amp, because they selected lower sensitivity speakers and basically decreased the overall efficiency of their system. In fact, this is exactly what happened to me when I tried to upgrade the speakers in my Subaru Outback a few years ago – I ended up also adding an amp and subwoofer because changing the speakers actually made the sound more anemic with the stock head unit.
Okay, so what are high sensitivity speakers? You need to look at the specs VERY carefully because there are actually different metrics for measuring sensitivity. The most common is what I mentioned above (1 watt @ 1 meter), but some manufacturers use a different measure – sound level (dB) at 2.83 volts @ 1 meter. The numbers may look similar, but they aren’t the same thing. Measuring sensitivity at 2.83 volts is equivalent to measuring it at 2 watts (not 1 watt). So a speaker with a sensitivity of 93 dB @ 2.83 volts is the same as a speaker with a sensitivity of 90 dB @ 1 watt. If you look at the specs for some of the commonly used replacement speakers the sensitivity is actually not very good. For example, Harman uses dB @ 2.83 volts for both Infinity and JBL speakers which makes them look better than they actually are. Harman is essentially fudging the numbers. Here are the sensitivity specs for some of these speakers using both metrics: Infinity Reference 3.5 inch (91 dB @ 2.83 volts, 88 dB @ 1 watt), Infinity Reference 6.5 inch (93 dB @ 2.83 volts, 90 dB @ 1 watt), JBL Club 3.5 inch (89 dB @ 2.83 volts, 86 dB @ 1 watt), JBL Club 6.5 inch (92 dB @ 2.83 volts, 89 dB @ 1 watt), Kicker CS 3.5 inch (91 dB @2.83 volts, 88 dB @ 1 watt), Kicker CS 6.5 inch (93 dB @ 2.83 volts, 90 dB @ 1 watt).
Looking more closely at the Crutchfield offerings I found some speakers made by Hertz (an Italian audio company, not the car rental company). Their Uno series speakers are, from what I can tell, the highest sensitivity speakers made in sizes and configurations that will work in the Venza. These speakers have a sensitivity of 96.5 dB @ 2.83 volts and 93.5 dB @ 1 watt. With more than a 3 dB sensitivity advantage over the above options, using these Hertz speakers is like doubling the power of your amp. This is absolutely critical if you want to upgrade your speakers without upgrading your amp. Why are the Hertz speakers so sensitive? There are few reasons for this. First, they use PEI balanced dome tweeters which are more efficient than other materials. Second, the woofers use a foam surround instead of a butyl rubber surround. While PEI tweeters and foam surrounds may not be the ideal or preferred options in an audiophile system (where efficiency isn’t as critical), their efficiency makes them a superb option in a low power car stereo application.
I also listened to the Hertz speakers and compared them with the other speaker options using the Crutchfield “Compare & Listen” tool. You select your headphone model and Crutchfield has created an emulation of the sound matched to your headphones to compare various speakers. You can listen to different tracks and types of music and compare with equal power (recommended) or equal volume. When I did this I also thought the Hertz speakers were quite good sounding and also noticeably louder at a given power level due to their improved efficiency. They are also standard 4 ohm speakers and will not place undue stress on your head unit. So I decided to go with the Hertz speakers.
I’m going to split this post into a series of four posts given the size. So the plan is to discuss: (1) the Venza LE audio system, (2) the parts I utilized, (3) the installation process, and (4) the results.
First up, the Venza LE audio system. All LE trim levels share the non-JBL system and there is no factory installed upgrade available in the LE trim. I believe that the XLE can also be acquired without the JBL system upgrade, but it seems like that is not a very common configuration. If you have a non-JBL XLE this should apply to you. But if you have the JBL system this post is not for you.
The non-JBL system has a total of six speakers (two dash speakers, two front door speakers, and two rear door speakers). It has a head unit with <10 watts per channel. The system is actually shared across a number of Toyota vehicles, including the RAV4, and I believe it is manufactured by Pioneer. The dash speakers are 3 inch (housing a single 1 1/8 inch tweeter) while all of the door speakers are 6.5 inch woofers. Since all the door speakers are woofers this means the system only has tweeters up front with no high frequencies from the rear compartment, contributing to a lack of spaciousness.
All the speakers are a typical 4 ohm impedance. But, importantly, the dash and front door speakers are wired in parallel on the front channels, while the rear speakers are on a separate channel (the amp has a total of 4 channels – 2 front, 2 rear). This means that the effective impedance at the head unit for the front channel speakers drops from 4 ohms to 2 ohms which has a few important implications for the sound and performance of this system. First, it causes the front channel speakers to draw more power from the amp and they will therefore sound comparatively louder than the rear channels. This is a common complaint about Toyota sound systems – where the rear sounds relatively anemic compared to the front. Second, it potentially puts more stress on the amp. While the head unit is probably designed for a 2 ohm load, it can overstress the amp and result in excessive distortion at high volumes which can adversely impact the amp or speakers (more on this later).
The stock speakers are very cheap and it shows in the sound quality. Listening to the system there is a noticeable lack of highs and lows. The system overall is VERY midrange forward. If you listen primarily to spoken voice (eg, podcasts, audio books) it may be perfectly adequate, but for music it is definitely lacking. I did find that modifying the settings on the 3-band equalizer (wish they offered 5-bands like my Subaru) definitely helped to improve things. I found that boosting the treble and bass slightly while leaving or even reducing the midrange got the best possible sound out of the stock system. But even so it lacks detail, spaciousness, and a tight low end. Overall, the sound is a bit muddy and uninspiring.
As a result, I started to consider upgrades to improve the sound quality. The first and easiest upgrade is always just to upgrade the speakers, so I looked into some options there. I went to Crutchfield and searched for 2021 Venza options, but they do not yet have the vehicle in their system. So after doing some investigation and figuring out that the Venza system is essentially the same as the RAV4 system I started searching some RAV4 forums. On there I found that people were upgrading to the JBL Club series, the Infinity Reference series, and various Kicker (DS, CS, KS series) speakers. Regardless of the brand people were using coaxial 3.5 inch speakers in the dash and coaxial 6.5 inch speakers in the doors. This has the advantage of being the simplest change as the 3.5 inch speakers literally fit right into the existing mounts in the dash. But after further research I realized that there are some definite disadvantages with these systems. First, the dash speakers are really meant to be tweeters, whereas the 3.5 inch coaxials are full range speakers. Two sets of full range speakers will draw a lot more power from the amp (especially given that the front channel is already at 2 ohms) potentially placing more stress on the amp and distorting the speakers. Second, some of these speakers (JBL and Infinity – which are both Harman companies) are actually 3 ohm speakers instead of 4 ohms. As a result they effectively lower the impedance to 1.5 ohms putting even more stress on the amp. They do this to add more volume to the speakers, but the downside is potentially amp overload and speaker damage. It’s a kind of cheat and the consequence is that I read some reports of people getting good sound initially, followed by popping and crackling after blowing out a speaker or, even worse, the amp.
The other big problem with this approach is that none of these speakers have great sensitivity. Sensitivity is a measure of the sound output in decibels at a given power input. Typically it is measured in terms of the decibels at 1 meter with a 1 watt input. Sensitive speakers will produce greater than 90 dB at 1 watt input. Furthermore, small increases in volume require an exponential increase in power – eg, increasing volume by a mere 3 dB requires a doubling of amplifier power. So a speaker with 90 dB sensitivity (at 1 watt) would require 2 watts of power to increase the volume to 93 dB. The really important implication of this is that if you have a system with a lower power amp that sensitivity is really the key spec to look out for with a speaker upgrade. Selecting higher sensitivity speakers is like changing the speaker and the amp all in one. This is why people who upgrade car speakers often find themselves going down the rabbit hole of changing the head unit or adding an amp, because they selected lower sensitivity speakers and basically decreased the overall efficiency of their system. In fact, this is exactly what happened to me when I tried to upgrade the speakers in my Subaru Outback a few years ago – I ended up also adding an amp and subwoofer because changing the speakers actually made the sound more anemic with the stock head unit.
Okay, so what are high sensitivity speakers? You need to look at the specs VERY carefully because there are actually different metrics for measuring sensitivity. The most common is what I mentioned above (1 watt @ 1 meter), but some manufacturers use a different measure – sound level (dB) at 2.83 volts @ 1 meter. The numbers may look similar, but they aren’t the same thing. Measuring sensitivity at 2.83 volts is equivalent to measuring it at 2 watts (not 1 watt). So a speaker with a sensitivity of 93 dB @ 2.83 volts is the same as a speaker with a sensitivity of 90 dB @ 1 watt. If you look at the specs for some of the commonly used replacement speakers the sensitivity is actually not very good. For example, Harman uses dB @ 2.83 volts for both Infinity and JBL speakers which makes them look better than they actually are. Harman is essentially fudging the numbers. Here are the sensitivity specs for some of these speakers using both metrics: Infinity Reference 3.5 inch (91 dB @ 2.83 volts, 88 dB @ 1 watt), Infinity Reference 6.5 inch (93 dB @ 2.83 volts, 90 dB @ 1 watt), JBL Club 3.5 inch (89 dB @ 2.83 volts, 86 dB @ 1 watt), JBL Club 6.5 inch (92 dB @ 2.83 volts, 89 dB @ 1 watt), Kicker CS 3.5 inch (91 dB @2.83 volts, 88 dB @ 1 watt), Kicker CS 6.5 inch (93 dB @ 2.83 volts, 90 dB @ 1 watt).
Looking more closely at the Crutchfield offerings I found some speakers made by Hertz (an Italian audio company, not the car rental company). Their Uno series speakers are, from what I can tell, the highest sensitivity speakers made in sizes and configurations that will work in the Venza. These speakers have a sensitivity of 96.5 dB @ 2.83 volts and 93.5 dB @ 1 watt. With more than a 3 dB sensitivity advantage over the above options, using these Hertz speakers is like doubling the power of your amp. This is absolutely critical if you want to upgrade your speakers without upgrading your amp. Why are the Hertz speakers so sensitive? There are few reasons for this. First, they use PEI balanced dome tweeters which are more efficient than other materials. Second, the woofers use a foam surround instead of a butyl rubber surround. While PEI tweeters and foam surrounds may not be the ideal or preferred options in an audiophile system (where efficiency isn’t as critical), their efficiency makes them a superb option in a low power car stereo application.
I also listened to the Hertz speakers and compared them with the other speaker options using the Crutchfield “Compare & Listen” tool. You select your headphone model and Crutchfield has created an emulation of the sound matched to your headphones to compare various speakers. You can listen to different tracks and types of music and compare with equal power (recommended) or equal volume. When I did this I also thought the Hertz speakers were quite good sounding and also noticeably louder at a given power level due to their improved efficiency. They are also standard 4 ohm speakers and will not place undue stress on your head unit. So I decided to go with the Hertz speakers.
