DavidPapke
New member
After poking around the threads, some suggested sites, talking to a rep at Crutchfield, and visiting a local independent car stereo shop, I was convinced that the only way to improve the sound of my standard 8-speaker system yet keep the stock head unit was to utilize a sound-processor to prepare the signal for an after market 6-channel amp and upgrade the speakers at all 8 spots.
The speakers swap-out was going to add its own extra level of difficulty due to a lack of commercial bracket kits for the 4Runner, the shallow spaces, and proprietary sizes. I was pretty discouraged as the independent shop wanted 7 hours of labor to do the full install and even Crutchfield said I would need some custom work done for the fittings if I chose to try it myself.
So, not expecting much, I went to Best Buy and ended-up talking with the installer and he was VERY cool and suggested that I should try speakers first and maybe that would be enough and he was not at all intimidated by any installation issues with the 4Runner. We talked Infinity speakers (my favorite), but ended up with Polks - and we talked fitments and tweeters for the dash (pros and cons without a separate fader), etc.
Long story, short: Picked-up the truck today and it sounds so much better! It only took the guy about 2 hours for all 8 speakers, even though he did have to creates some brackets for the front doors and do some "creative wiring" for the front dash.
Specifics:
Polk DXi 650 for the rear doors and rear hatch
Polk DXi 690 for the front doors
Polk Dxi 350 for the dash (yes, these simple acoustically-matched tiny speakers fit and are probably a better, and cheaper, choice than trying to do the traditional tweeter set-up).
Here's the important thing: There's a current special where you can get a $100 installation credit when you spend over $200 on Polk speakers. They created 2 invoices for the 4 pairs of speakers and so installation was only about $40 for the whole truck!
Total out the door for the whole shebang was right around $480. The installer said it would sound better with the amp, and even though I know I could appreciate the difference the amp would make, I'm thrilled with the current set-up and the deal I got and don't see needing to add anything at this point.
By the way, the installer and I were amazed at how chintzy the stock speakers were and how small the magnets were - I can't believe they still put stuff like that in new cars anymore.
I hope this helps anyone thinking about the same move as the installer said the Polk credit just got extended another week but that he thinks it's going away after that - I know some guys could do this themselves just as well or better than the folks at Best Buy, but my days of messing with car stereos are long past and so to get 4 pairs of decent speakers successfully installed for under five bills and to have such an improvement in sound quality as a result makes me think all is indeed right with the world (for now, anyway...).
-David
The speakers swap-out was going to add its own extra level of difficulty due to a lack of commercial bracket kits for the 4Runner, the shallow spaces, and proprietary sizes. I was pretty discouraged as the independent shop wanted 7 hours of labor to do the full install and even Crutchfield said I would need some custom work done for the fittings if I chose to try it myself.
So, not expecting much, I went to Best Buy and ended-up talking with the installer and he was VERY cool and suggested that I should try speakers first and maybe that would be enough and he was not at all intimidated by any installation issues with the 4Runner. We talked Infinity speakers (my favorite), but ended up with Polks - and we talked fitments and tweeters for the dash (pros and cons without a separate fader), etc.
Long story, short: Picked-up the truck today and it sounds so much better! It only took the guy about 2 hours for all 8 speakers, even though he did have to creates some brackets for the front doors and do some "creative wiring" for the front dash.
Specifics:
Polk DXi 650 for the rear doors and rear hatch
Polk DXi 690 for the front doors
Polk Dxi 350 for the dash (yes, these simple acoustically-matched tiny speakers fit and are probably a better, and cheaper, choice than trying to do the traditional tweeter set-up).
Here's the important thing: There's a current special where you can get a $100 installation credit when you spend over $200 on Polk speakers. They created 2 invoices for the 4 pairs of speakers and so installation was only about $40 for the whole truck!
Total out the door for the whole shebang was right around $480. The installer said it would sound better with the amp, and even though I know I could appreciate the difference the amp would make, I'm thrilled with the current set-up and the deal I got and don't see needing to add anything at this point.
By the way, the installer and I were amazed at how chintzy the stock speakers were and how small the magnets were - I can't believe they still put stuff like that in new cars anymore.
I hope this helps anyone thinking about the same move as the installer said the Polk credit just got extended another week but that he thinks it's going away after that - I know some guys could do this themselves just as well or better than the folks at Best Buy, but my days of messing with car stereos are long past and so to get 4 pairs of decent speakers successfully installed for under five bills and to have such an improvement in sound quality as a result makes me think all is indeed right with the world (for now, anyway...).
-David
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