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Originally Posted by 4xColt
Alpine under the seat or a subwoofer "built in" to the back. She basically said "I don't want to have a subwoofer "thumping" under my seat." So OEM Audio it is.
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I have not heard the alpine specifically, but i have heard other under seat subs. They really aren't that powerful, so they aren't going to be giving her a massage just because it is under her seat (I believe this would fit under the driver seat as well FYI). I don't recommend an under the seat sub for the simple fact that most of them don't sound that great. You also wont be getting the added amp power and DSP tuning of the OEM Audio for your Focals which will make them sound much better as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4xColt
I am considering either the full kit or just the sub and keep my Focal and eventually pick up some Focal 6.5 for the rear doors and maybe... the rear hatch.
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Honestly unless you frequently have rear passengers I would skip upgrading the rear and hatch speakers, you will not notice anything from the drivers seat. Ideally you would fade the sound forward a bit and just use the rear speakers for "fill". And if you want music while camping, tailgating, at the beach... get a portable speaker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4xColt
Do you think or even know based on experience that the Focal would sound better than the OEM audio components?
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Focal is a large and established company that makes high quality drivers. Im not sure where their "toyota" speakers fall in their lineup quality wise but I would guess they are on par with OEM Audio
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4xColt
Since the system comes with a DSP dialed in for their solution, would my Focals throw it out of balance?
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Quick answer: No. I believe their DSP is tuned more to fix the crappy EQ of the OEM Toyota signal (it tapers down the lower freq to save the OEM speakers). They even sell their "System 500" kit without their speakers so you can use it with the OEM Toyota speakers (or aftermarket) and I believe it would be fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4xColt
Would it even make a difference on which speakers I use as long as I am adding an amp and a subwoofer with a dedicated amp?
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Not really, as long as they are typical car audio speakers in the 2-4ohm range you should be fine. The OEM audio speakers are 2ohm (4ohm tweeters) all rated at 50w RMS. Their amp just says 360w RMS @ 2ohms, bu that also powers the 100w sub, so I would guess it is around 60-70w RMS x4. That would be fine to power most aftermarket speakers (and MUCH better than the factory Toyota amp)
So after all that rambling.... You said you want a plug and play solution. I think OEM Audio is the way to go. I think it boils down to two options.
1. You could keep your Focals and get the "System 500 kit" for $1600.
2. Get the full "Refrence 500 kit" for $2100 and sell your Focals to offset the price.