2005 JBL Upgrade Input?

[Sports Night]

Just bought a 2005 4R Sport Edition and am seriously disappointed in quality and volume of the JBL system. HU is adequate for now but volume is low on cd's, barely adequate on radio. Feel initial upgrade needs to upgrade amp and at least front/rear door speakers/sub (phase 1).

Prefer two new amps (4ch and 5 ch, min 50watts/ch). Very picky on new component location, prefer heard and not be seen. Can two amps be installed under seats?, will have no problem replacing jbl amp but enough space for two? will sacrifice amp quality to ensure installation fits. Appreciate any lessons learned on amp location installs.

Any issues with amps and JBL HU?

Quality speakers and sub needs to be efficient and clean, not boombox. Dont see that as an issue deciding which manufacturer(s).

Phase 2 would be HU upgrade, usb, aux, bluetooth, maintain steering wheel controls, rear backup camera (sensors maybe?). No GPS, have a good garmin that I move from car to car.

Despite a number of threads have not located a decent jbl system diagram showing components and wiring connections (locations). But will continue my search.

Great forum but locating specific info has been challenging.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

You can check out my thread from when I replaced all the JBL speakers with after market ones. This will at least show you where all the speakers are and what sizes they are

MISC: 03 Toyota 4Runner Full Audio Makeover - AcuraZine Community

The stock JBL amp is in the rear of the truck with the subwoofer. I don't have any pics of that, but I did use the stock enclosure in my new 08 non-JBL system. You can check out some pics of that here.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/110628-out-old-new-er.html

As for mounting the 2 amps, I was able to fit a JL amp in the stock location after some body panel trimming, I bought a second small amp that you can see in the second thread, that I also plan to mount under the plastic trim in the rear because I don't want anything showing or mounted under the seat. If you don't have the stock navi, then you have some room to work with under there. I don't have the amp mounted yet, but you definitely need small profile amps

 

[BrianSD_42]

I am not too familiar with the JBL system in the 4Runners but generally I feel that if you replace any part of a factory system you should replace it all.

That head unit may be JBL but that doesn't mean it is high quality. Alpine makes factory head units for the SCIONs and those only have 45 db signal-to-noise ratio vs. my Apline CDA 9835 HU (bought used for $200) that has a signal-to-noise ratio of 109 db. The Excelon has a s/n ratio of 110 db. My CDA 9835 also has (6) 4V pre-outs.

I understand these factory head units have name brands like Alpine or JBL but they are factory head units and generally pretty low end as far as signal quality and RMS wattage is concerned.

.

 

[Offroader5]

There is no connecting the OEM HU up to an aftermarket amp (at least not an easy way that I've seen). There are only like two wires that connect the whole HU to the OEM amp/signal processor in the rear, the rest of the wires for the system all come out of the amp.

The space the OEM amp takes up is very small, there's no way you'll get two aftermarket amps in there. Even though there are some very small amps on the market right now, you'll only have room to fit one of them where the OEM location is.

I had the JBL Synthesis system in mine, and have replaced everything except the front door speakers at this point. I am planning on swapping out the front doors, but I have yet to decide on which one's to get. Reason I say all this, is to inform you that, believe it or not, the front OEM JBL speakers sound pretty damn good when amped.

In the meantime till I get the new front speakers, I have had the OEM JBL's hooked up to an amp that feeds about 80-100 watts to each door (remember the JBL's are not 4 ohm, they are more like 2.6 or 2.9 ohm...I forget exactly). The gain on the amp is all the way down to nothing to keep from blowing them too prematurely. They sound so much better with the added power and they handle the power like champs.

What I'm trying to say, is that you may be able to continue using the OEM speakers and just swap out the HU and get yourself an amp. Then later you can put thought into swapping out the speakers. (doesn't all come out of the wallet at once)

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Like I said, if you don't have the factory nav, you can fit 2 amps back there, ask me how I know

 

[ChaosStarter]

Some of the newer Scion radios actually have RCA outputs for a sub. I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

 

[Sports Night]

Thks for the input. Took your suggestions and talked it over with a local car stereo dealer I have dealt with in the past. Recommends I replace amp with 5 ch amp, component speaker set (front/rear with tweeters and crossovers incl), new sub. Looks promising but again need to make sure one amp will fit in jbl amp location. Crutchfield supplied JBL wiring diagram/ tech info so will purchase some gear from them for assist. Will let forum know how it works out. Leaning toward basic Pioneer 2 din hu w/rear camera input.