Hi all....my 2004 SR5 has the worst sounding stock system I have ever heard. Muffled... no highs..no pep! If I put the fader to the back speakers only, well....muffle city! Anyway, went to two custom stereo shops and they both recommended swapping the speakers for Alpine type S speakers which sounded nice in the stores, had a nice sharp treble. Anyway, yesterday I had 4 of those puppies put in (6x9 fronts, 6 3/4 rears), and although the fronts have a slight improvement (not much!), the rears, are still muffled and cloudy... terribly! I have always left my stock units in my Jeeps, hondas, etc., but this one is just awful. I figured some of you have dealt with this frustration also and might share how you "overcame" this problem----new head unit? add an amp? could they be defective rear speakers or just the wrong kind? Thanks guys!
Help!! Changed speakers but still nasty!
- Thread starter rhlitt
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It sounds like the speakers are not getting enough clean power. An amplifier will help alot and an after market head unit will help significantly as well. If you don't want to install an amplifier, just change the head unit because the after market units push out more power then the stock unit.
Vortec4800
New member
Looks like I came too late, everybody else said what I was going to 
Anyway they're right, good speakers can only do so much - they're reproducing a crappy signal the best that they can, so they're perfectly crappy. If you want to keep your stock head unit for the nice look (I think the aftermarket head units look kinda out of place in the 4th gen dash) then I would say get a 4ch amp for all 4 speakers. That would help out a lot. What happens is the amp uses a line output converter which basically acts as a speaker with a huge resistence. This makes the amp in the factory head unit not have to do much work at all, and can use what little power it has to make a nice quiet clean sound, which the aftermarket amp can boost up cleanly and make sound nice.
Another option which I've been hearing about is to get a Scion radio and throw that in, I hear they push much more power than the stock unit, and you can get the option of 6 disc in dash and mp3. If that still doesn't sound quite right then you can amp that unit, which would probably sound a little bit better than amping the stock unit just because you will have a cleaner signal to start.
Anyway they're right, good speakers can only do so much - they're reproducing a crappy signal the best that they can, so they're perfectly crappy. If you want to keep your stock head unit for the nice look (I think the aftermarket head units look kinda out of place in the 4th gen dash) then I would say get a 4ch amp for all 4 speakers. That would help out a lot. What happens is the amp uses a line output converter which basically acts as a speaker with a huge resistence. This makes the amp in the factory head unit not have to do much work at all, and can use what little power it has to make a nice quiet clean sound, which the aftermarket amp can boost up cleanly and make sound nice.
Another option which I've been hearing about is to get a Scion radio and throw that in, I hear they push much more power than the stock unit, and you can get the option of 6 disc in dash and mp3. If that still doesn't sound quite right then you can amp that unit, which would probably sound a little bit better than amping the stock unit just because you will have a cleaner signal to start.
thanks guys! So, let me get this right.....at least one of you have tried to keep the stock head unit (for looks I agree!) but add a 4 channel amp. If that's it.....does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonable 4 channel amp, and is this something I can install easily, or is this a custom job, and what kind of costs are involved just for an idea....thanks again and I appreciate all help! Randy
Vortec4800
New member
That really depends on your budget and skill level. If you are confident with tearing apart your interrior and running wires, and attaching wires to your battery, and all of that, then go for it. If you're not quite sure you're comfortable with taking apart the inside if your truck then stay away from it. Just go to Best Buy or Circuit City or something and ask them for a good 4ch amp. Something from Kenwood, Rockford Fosgate, Pioneer, would all be good choices. Try to match the power rating of your speakers to the amp, so if your speakers are 75w RMS then get a 75w x 4 RMS amp. Just tell them what you have and they should be able to find you a good amp. Might be worth going to the place that you got your new speakers and asking them which amp would work best with em - maybe they'll give you a price break on the install because you're coming back so soon. Couldn't hurt to ask, right?
Vortec4800
New member
If you're just going to do a Scion radio I would suggest you install it yourself. It won't take you more than 20 minutes, and you just unplug the stock radio and plug the new radio in. The dash pops apart in minutes and there is a great tutorial on how to take it all apart floating around. Best of all, the clips used to hold the dash together are not the one-time-use clips that break into a million peices when you try to remove them, they're actually good removable clips.
Vortec4800
New member
Go here:
http://68.209.112.156/shrake.net/4Runner/FM Modulator Install/
and follow the directions that apply to taking apart the dash. It looks much, much harder than it is. When you get the dash apart, there are 2 bolts that hold in the radio. Undo those, pull out the radio, unplug the wires from behind, and plug in the new one. Then bolt it back up and follow the directions in reverse and you're good to go. Seriously shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes tops.
http://68.209.112.156/shrake.net/4Runner/FM Modulator Install/
and follow the directions that apply to taking apart the dash. It looks much, much harder than it is. When you get the dash apart, there are 2 bolts that hold in the radio. Undo those, pull out the radio, unplug the wires from behind, and plug in the new one. Then bolt it back up and follow the directions in reverse and you're good to go. Seriously shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes tops.
Vortec4800
New member
:cheers:
