Advice on affordable front speaker upgrade

[ksneubec]

Gang,

(I did do a search but didn't come up with too many specifics, so looking for more advice.)

I have a 2004 SE 4R with the standard radio, which I upgraded to a Scion HU. Since upgrading, it seems as though the front speakers seem to vibrate A LOT more, and I am not exactly listening to bass-kicking music all the time. Even good ole' Dave Matthews seems to make the doors vibrate. I am good with wiring, but I have no knowledge at all about how to solve this problem. I would like to do a relatively cheap and simple upgrade, and it seems as though an easy way to solve this problem would be to upgrade the 6x9 speakers in the front doors.
1. If my theory is right, is this as taking out the stock speakers, connecting the wires to the new speakers and go?
2. Can I cut and splice the new wires to the old? If so, how do I tell which wire goes where?
3. I read that I have to modify the speaker mount- can I simply remove the toyota speaker and fit in the new aftermarket speaker?
4. What is a decent, affordable speaker that I can use?

I think the Scion HU sounds very good, and I am already very happy with the set up, but this would be the only thing I would change . . . advice?

Thanks gang.

 

[TranceKrayz]

i also have the standard system like you....and since then i've upgraded to an aftermarket HU and added a sub and amp. I think the problem is that the speakers suck at reproducing bass. Since I got the sub, I sent all the bass to the sub so the speakers play only the high notes. They sound great that way. The sub and amp costed me about $250.

If you get new speakers.....you can just use the wires that are already there and connect them to the new speakers. IMO, it still wouldn't sound as good as getting a separate sub for the bass. Then again...I have an aftermarket HU with more functions than the Scion so I can send the bass where i want it.

 

[atomic punk]

Someone previously mentioned in here that you can fabricate a baffle (mounting ring) to retrofit 6.5" speakers in the stock 6.9 locations, without destroying the 6.9's.

I did that for my jeep and intend on doing it for my 4R too. You can buy some 1/2" or 3/4" MDF (medium density fiberboard), then transpose - probably with cardboard or paper - the shape you need from the door to the wood, cut out the rings and you'll have a perfect fit mounting ring. Also, the MDF should make for a more secure, SOLID, mounting baffle and should reduce, if not eliminate any vibrations you might have had - if they were coming from the way the speaker was mounted or from vibrations from the speaker - through the mounts - to the door.

 

[gsr2is300]

Gang,

(I did do a search but didn't come up with too many specifics, so looking for more advice.)

I have a 2004 SE 4R with the standard radio, which I upgraded to a Scion HU. Since upgrading, it seems as though the front speakers seem to vibrate A LOT more, and I am not exactly listening to bass-kicking music all the time. Even good ole' Dave Matthews seems to make the doors vibrate. I am good with wiring, but I have no knowledge at all about how to solve this problem. I would like to do a relatively cheap and simple upgrade, and it seems as though an easy way to solve this problem would be to upgrade the 6x9 speakers in the front doors.
1. If my theory is right, is this as taking out the stock speakers, connecting the wires to the new speakers and go?
2. Can I cut and splice the new wires to the old? If so, how do I tell which wire goes where?
3. I read that I have to modify the speaker mount- can I simply remove the toyota speaker and fit in the new aftermarket speaker?
4. What is a decent, affordable speaker that I can use?

I think the Scion HU sounds very good, and I am already very happy with the set up, but this would be the only thing I would change . . . advice?

Thanks gang.

I upgraded my front and rear speakers. it was relatively easy.

I bought this adapter for the front doors:

http://www.cardomain.com/item/SCOSA69

It worked perfectly. Just remove the old 6x9 woofer from the speaker enclosure and screw this adapter to the top of the enclosure. Now you can mount 6.5s.

I had more difficulty with the tweeters and the rear speakers. Someone suggested I could use Toyota adapters for the rear doors but I was unable to. I ended up fabricating MDF adapters for the front tweeters and rear speakers.

For most all speakers I was able to use the Toyota speaker wiring harness available from most everywhere.

I bought Infinity Reference 6002i and the Reference 6.5 components. I think they sound pretty good. They aren't too expensive and someone always seems to have them on sale.

If you do any cutting and splicing I suggest you get the wiring diagram for the 4Runner. There are several posted around. I have a NAV unit and used that one. I believe the speaker wires are the same for all 4Runners. PM me if you need a copy.

 

[atomic punk]

"For most all speakers I was able to use the Toyota speaker wiring harness available from most everywhere."

is this simpy a couple plugs to fit the 4R's 3 plugs, but with wires on the other end of it.. so as you don't have to do any cutting/splicing?

 

[gsr2is300]

"For most all speakers I was able to use the Toyota speaker wiring harness available from most everywhere."

is this simpy a couple plugs to fit the 4R's 3 plugs, but with wires on the other end of it.. so as you don't have to do any cutting/splicing?

I purchased a couple of these:

http://www.cardomain.com/item/MET728104?vq_id=none

They allowed me to not have to cut any wires. I needed to cut some wires for the component speakers and the crossovers.

 

[warthog]

test

I have found the wiring to be even easier than described here while adapting for size to be harder.

I cut and spliced the speaker end of the wiring so it could plug into the source from the door. Couldn't be easier.

As for the 6x9 adapters, I purchased the same ones from cardomain and they didn't fit. Here is what I did:

The adapters are made of clipboards cut to sized with a band saw and dremel. Then I bonded this to the factory adapters. I think the factory adapters are the best adapters to use - they are strong, they fit, they have a shroud in the back to protect against water - cut out the factory speaker and use it.

As for the rattling, you may want to use a vibration damping mat. Dynamat is common, although I recommend second skin (www.secondskinaudio.com) damplifier. I did this, and I'll post pics when I get a chance. This is my first post!! Whoo hoo!!

 

[warthog]

wiring

here is how i did the wiring.
I mounted the crossover where the tweeter was. Cut the plug from the tweeter, and wired that to the cross overs. This then plugs back into the source. The woofer part of the plug is unused. The factory wiring is the last two wires into the crossover. The first 4 go to my woofer and tweeter.

In this picture, you can also see the damplifier that I have put for vibration control. Also, I used Infinity Kappas. They sound great. The Reference speakers have 2 dB greater sensitivity, so can be considerably louder with the scion HU so they should be a great.

 

[gsr2is300]

Re: test

I wonder if Toyota changed the adapters. The ones you have pictured look different from mine. That may explain why the speaker adapters I purchased for the rear doors did not work.

I have an 05 4Runner with the factory NAV. It is a non JBL Synthesis NAV similar to the Camry NAV.

PS The speaker adapters I purchased are free to anyone that wants or needs it. All I ask is you pay for the shipping cost.

 

[RichP]

I am about to replace my front speakers (2005 SR5 w SCION HU) and appreciate all the informative posts here.

I will attempt to cut some MDF and make adapters myself.


My question is with the factory wiring that I will need to splice into for my component crossovers.

Are the tweeters being sent the full frequency range? (No need to use the factory woofer wiring??)

On my passenger door it looked like the tweeter had 4 wires going to it. I didn't check the driver side yet.

Thx,

Rich