I've been itching to upgrade the sound of my 2015 Limited with JBL. Some really good threads here discuss replacing the factory dash speakers. I wanted to try something simpler. Just add a tweeter and keep the factory speakers. It was easy enough to try. Check it out. The tweeters were about $45 from Parts Express and they threw in some capacitors. The stereo system sounds much better. Can't say I like the way they look. If I was a little handier, I'd try a flush mounting.
Adding tweeters to factory speakers
- Thread starter Rick U
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rigtec
New member
Hi Rick,
To be honest with you the stock tweeters offer very little (to nothing) to an UPGRADED speaker system. you're likely better off just removing the oem set and running only the new ones, as the poor grade originals add only poor sound quality, distortion, and will lower the front speaker system impedance down to about one ohm and causing the amplifier to work harder (overheat) than designed for. I'm not sure if you took-a-look at the stock speakers but they are among the worst that I've ever removed from a car audio system lol... "see below":
Speakers like these can be purchased online for pennies on the dollar. Speaker retailers will likely buy them by the lb or kg. My point is that whenever upgrading your speaker system, the ones creating poor sound should be completely removed. Your new hf drivers look to be 100 times better than the originals, but allowing them to remain/operate in the dash, along with the new tweeters is like putting expensive perfume on a skunk 'with a bowel problem and bad breath!' And if you remove the oem tweeters, you'll then be able to locate the new hf devices 'in the dash; not on it!'
Cheers
Hi Rick,
To be honest with you the stock tweeters offer very little (to nothing) to an UPGRADED speaker system. you're likely better off just removing the oem set and running only the new ones, as the poor grade originals add only poor sound quality, distortion, and will lower the front speaker system impedance down to about one ohm and causing the amplifier to work harder (overheat) than designed for. I'm not sure if you took-a-look at the stock speakers but they are among the worst that I've ever removed from a car audio system lol... "see below":
Cheers
I don't know Rig, those paper cones are pretty sexy compared to the ones I just installed this weekend
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flyinhawaiian01
New member
Hey Brian, your tweeter has a THO!!!! Is it that cold in Vegas????
BWWWAAAHAHAHAAHHAAAAAAA!!!!!
BWWWAAAHAHAHAAHHAAAAAAA!!!!!
This was mostly just to test if a little high fill would add what I thought was lacking.
My drivers are the ones made of styrofoam and they have 4 wires going in.
I asked a guy in a local stereo shop about replacing them and he advised against it.
He said I wouldn't be able to match the sound volume with music and also with phone calls.
Regarding the impedance, will a small tweeter have much affect?
Why are there 4 wires?
My drivers are the ones made of styrofoam and they have 4 wires going in.
I asked a guy in a local stereo shop about replacing them and he advised against it.
He said I wouldn't be able to match the sound volume with music and also with phone calls.
Regarding the impedance, will a small tweeter have much affect?
Why are there 4 wires?
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rigtec
New member
Hi Brian,
(LMAO!)... glad you find them 'sexy'! I don't think that too many speaker manufacturers are building high frequency devices with paper cones any more. Most high-end drivers use aluminum, graphite, silk or carbon fiber cones to assure that the tweeter's moving system is as ridged as possible yet, as light as a feather!
The paper cones that 'Denso' chose to use in their tweeters isn't even a good quality of pulp, but a thin, low grade "Cardboard" like material; which will absorb water causing mass/weight fluctuation. In addition to that, paper cones should 'NEVER' be subject to direct sunlight as this will predispose the cones to premature dry-rot, poor sound quality and moving system seizure, ...just something to consider when choosing "High frequency" drivers,
Rgds!
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flyinhawaiian01
New member
4 wires because its tied to the door speakers. If you disconnect it there, you'll notice the doors also go out.
You'll have to look up which wires to jump, but that info's here somewhere.
As for impedance, yes and no. Parallel wired tweeters will change the overall impedance (assuming door and tweeter are both 4 ohm) to a 2 ohm load, but because you have a "crossover", basically, that capacitor parts express threw in for you, the amp of your head unit will not see quite 2 ohms load.
This is because the load at specific frequencies there will be no load at the tweeter, same goes for the speaker in the door for higher frequencies that the tweeter will now handle.
I wouldn't worry too much about the impedance load with just a tweeter.
rigtec
New member
I'm not sure that the statement made by the store personnel guy is completely true. If it were, we'd all be stuck with the low grade speakers that Toyota installed at the factory. All drivers come with their own sensitivity levels, their own tonal character, their own f-curves and Fc! One reason that the audio system manufacturers implement some type of "On-board" EQ e.g., Bass, Mid, Treble, fade...etc, is for that purpose... it's to 'flatten the room' and to help blend the separate components that combined, make up the system! I like the fact that these days, you have the option of building your audio system to suit your own particular listening taste; so you don't have to settle for the audio components that the factory chose for you!
Cheers
rigtec
New member
...nope, they're just straight fwd, high frequency, single pass band tweeters with no frills!
flyinhawaiian01
New member
I really don't know the JBL system, but I see 4 wires going into the speaker from your photo. I really can't tell what the hell is going on there though! The green and black are connected at the edge, which would seem like it is a coaxial (and this is the tweeter's input). I can see the spider at the base, and the purple and yellow wires going into that part of the speaker, which should be the main input right there (basically, the woofer), so maybe the JBL system is a coaxial in the dash?
It would make sense if it was a coaxial speaker, and that somewhere there's a crossover that's not attached to the speaker itself.
In the non JBL systems, the connector has a jumper built-into it that shorts the two pairs of wires together IIRC (going by memory here), and even if you disconnect it via the connector, the lower speakers will play. By removing the connector, you have to jump the two pairs so the door speakers will play.
flyinhawaiian01
New member
Yeah, just found Rigtec's post and photos on the non-jbl speaker wiring:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/174196-got-bass-7.html
And, from 4runnerstunner's post with a better photo of the speaker, it is confirmed, they are coaxials in the dash for the JBL system:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/179284-4runnerstunners-2011-5th-gen-jbl-w-navigation-speaker-upgrade-build-thread.html
You can clearly see the tweeter sitting in a 4-post frame just above the main speaker.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/174196-got-bass-7.html
And, from 4runnerstunner's post with a better photo of the speaker, it is confirmed, they are coaxials in the dash for the JBL system:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/179284-4runnerstunners-2011-5th-gen-jbl-w-navigation-speaker-upgrade-build-thread.html
You can clearly see the tweeter sitting in a 4-post frame just above the main speaker.
LL247
New member
If that was the case, 4 wires would make sense.
Following this thread because the quality of the stereo makes me cringe...:nono:
rigtec
New member
That's a good point. When I described our dashboard speakers as 'single pass-band' units I was referring to the NON-JBL audio system, ...don't know what speakers the jbl system employs!
cheers
rigtec
New member
Hi LL,
Don't be confused by the two extra wires on those dashboard tweeters. Two of them feed the tweeters while the other two continue on down to the L & R door speakers.
LL247
New member
Thanks. Just now doing some research so I can plan a system out, the more I know the better! Nothing going in until the weather warms up though...
I own a motorcycle shop that specializes in custom audio, so my 4-wheel vehicle better have an exceptional sound system as well.
rigtec
New member
To those in need of dash and front door speaker wire color codes...
Order is as follows: Dash tweeters, RF= YEL (NEG), RF= PNK (POS), LF= BLU (NEG), LF= Lt GRN (POS)
Front-door mid-bass, RF= BLU (NEG), RF= Lt GRN (POS) LF= BLU (NEG), LF= Lt GRN (POS)
These are the dashboard tweeter and front-door midbass speaker wiring color codes for the 'non JBL 5'th gen 4Runner' ...Hope you will find this helpful, Best to you all!
rig
Order is as follows: Dash tweeters, RF= YEL (NEG), RF= PNK (POS), LF= BLU (NEG), LF= Lt GRN (POS)
Front-door mid-bass, RF= BLU (NEG), RF= Lt GRN (POS) LF= BLU (NEG), LF= Lt GRN (POS)
These are the dashboard tweeter and front-door midbass speaker wiring color codes for the 'non JBL 5'th gen 4Runner' ...Hope you will find this helpful, Best to you all!
rig
rigtec
New member
...Yeah, I've got new speakers to install in the front doors but the extreme temperatures (20 to 29 deg F) have prohibited that task from going fwd! If you run into trouble with any portion of your speaker mods, shoot me a PM and I'll try to help out,
Cheers!
