After market advice needed for 04

[bbates]

I'm really a newbie when it comes to car audio so please be gentle! I have an 04 Runner with the standard factory audio package. While it's not bad I'm not terribly thrilled with it either. It just has too much bass and it's too muted of a sound for my liking. I've tried the obvious, turning down the bass and turning up the treble, and that helped, but not enough. I'd really like to replace the factory unit with one that has a "brighter", crisper, less muffled sound. I'd also like to get a head unit that can play MP3s and/or allow for an Ipod hookup.

First question: features aside, to get the sound I'm looking for do you think I need to replace the speakers, the head unit, or both?

Second question: if a head unit replacement is recommended any brand recommendations that don't cost an arm and a leg? The guy at the local Best Buy was trying to talk me into a Panasonic that was on sale for $150

Final question: no way I'm going to do this myself...any thing I need to be careful of when having a shop (like Best Buy) do the install? (like getting the antenna hookup right, for example)

Thanks a lot!

 

[Mr Castulucci]

For what it's worth, I had my Clifford Matrix RS3 alarm system installed at Best Buy and they did a great job.

 

[bbates]

Can somebody help me with the first question... If I'm looking for a brighter/crisper sound do you think I could get by with just replacing the factory speakers and leaving the factory head unit? I listened to some Sony speakers over the weekend that sounded perfect but I'm not sure it would translate to the same sound with the factory head unit.

 

[hubbabubba]

Most likely, the Sony speakers your heard were powered by an aftermarket amplifier or a headunit with more power than what you currently have. You'll hear a bigger difference if you change your head unit and/or add an amplifier to power the speakers.

 

[alpha]

Sony's had a reputation for being a stock replacement speaker. They haven't gotten too many good reviews in the past few years, ranging from their headunits to their speakers to their amps and subs.. I had sony speakers, sounded fine. But then again, it was rear 6x9s in my accord to add to the rear fill.. They did sound a bit better amplified.

But if you're looking for crisper sound, try the head unit first. You'll probably want to change the speakers after that. If you change speakers first, it would be underpowered, and you'd have to add power, either by an amp or another headunit, or headunit and amp..

 

[MAC4Runner]

I highly recommend replacing the stock 4R stereo with a single or six disc HU from a Scion. The difference in sound is night and day.

Using the search function and type in Scion.

 

[sharp4runr]

I highly recommend replacing the stock 4R stereo with a single or six disc HU from a Scion. The difference in sound is night and day.

Using the search function and type in Scion.

Keep in mind if your T4R has the JBL 10 SPKR system the Scion HU will not work.

July

 

[bbates]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I went ahead and purchased a couple of pairs of Infinity speakers today...they sounded awesome to me, at least on the showroom floor. I'm scheduled to get them installed in a few days.

I decided to keep the factory head unit for now. I figured that if they don't give me the sound I'm looking for I can always swap out the head unit later.

Question: Is there a chance that the factory head unit might "blow" my new speakers as the salesrep suggested might happen?

 

[LBC99]

I highly doubt your factory HU will blow those Infinity's. You factory deck will most likely be underpowering the speakers. He probably wanted to scare you into buying a warranty or something.

For those Infinity's to sound really good, you will need to replace your HU. A lot of people are replacing the 4runner deck with the Scion factory deck. But an Alpine or Pioneer HU would also be a really good choice.

You should really replace both, but I honestly would replace the HU first.

Good choice on the Inifnity speakers

 

[bbates]

Thanks LBC...the guy said that I could blow the speakers by underpowering them as well. That sounded totally illogical to me...is that even possible?

 

[hubbabubba]

This is an explanation from eCoustics.com:

" Clipping is the enemy, here.
When an underpowered amplifier "clips" or runs out of steam and the power supply can no longer provide enough current to the output tubes or transistors, or when those devices reach their maximum output voltage, the signal gets clipped. The waveform of the output then contains a huge amount of DC voltage, sometimes at very high voltage levels relative to the levels seen when the signal is behaving itself as AC.
This DC voltage (and the other trash thrown out by the clipping devices) is what does the damage.
The voice coil of a speaker is actually a motor. When it sees DC current, the motion of the voice coil stops, or "stalls". When this happens, instead of acting as an inductor, the voice coil basically becomes a piece of wire, and the amplifier sees that piece of wire as a dead short. This causes a spiral of death. The short demands more current from the amp, which it can't deliver, and it clips even harder. Meanwhile the voicecoil is heating up from the increased current, and the lack of any cooling fanning motion, and poof - puff of smoke, and no more voice coil. Even a microscopic burn can sometimes kill a voice coil.
This is why, when used and applied properly, it is always better to have more amplifier than needed. Clipping is much more destructive than a small amount of overpowering.
One last note - loud is not always better, but the only way to get really loud is to have a larger driver, larger box or more boxes. A bookshelf teensy driver and billion watt amp is never going to push the air mass that a big box and an appropriate amp will move."