redrunner

I'm in the middle of putting in my infinity kappa speakers in my truck, but i'm stuck with the rear speakers. Is there a way to bypass the little amp by splicing wires that run to the top of the speaker box (i think there's 5 wires)? Or do I have to run completely new wires from the receiver? If someone knows the color codes for those wires so i can find the speaker lead that would be great. Thanks.

keisur

not sure I understand but try this site, it's got .pdf files with instructions and pinouts at the end. it may be of some help:


Install Doctor

redrunner

I found that 2 of the 5 wires that plug into each of the speaker cabinets in the rear are the correct colors for the speaker leads according to the pdf (left rear = yellow/black, right rear = red/white). Can I cut and splice these wires to the new speakers, thereby bypassing the little amps? I would think that this is the best way to do it??

keisur

so the fronts will be run through the amplifier and the rears won't be? I'm not sure that you'll be able to hear the rears very well in that case since they will be getting a lower level fed to them coming straight off the radio and not passing throught the amp like the fronts. the fronts would drown them out even if you were to adjust the fader, I don't think it would sound very good.

keisur

mine only has one amp. it goes stereo deck into amplifier then amplifier splits off to all the different speakers. what kind of vehicle do you have and what year?

redrunner

vehicle is a 94 4runner sr5, premium sound package. all 4 speakers are being replaced with infinity kappa series, and if i can bypass the amps I think I will get best sound quality (speakers directly connected to my alpine cda-7894 head unit). That is why I want to bypass the amps.

keisur

ok so you are going to bypass the amp on all speakers, ok. you have an amp for each speaker? that's wierd. are you sure they are amps and high or lowpass filters or crossovers? if they are all amps, you should be able to just bypas them. clip the wires and go directly from the head unit outs to the speakers. that's how I did my kenwood head/satellite and sony speaker combo. I took the factory radio and cd deck and amp totally out of the runner.

redrunner

Yea in 2nd gen runners the speakers are in a self-powered cabinet thing thats got a small amp inside. I havent gotten to the front yet, but on the rear I'm gonna wing it and try the cut and splice method rather than running new wires. Same as you, I removed the factory amp mounted behind the factory radio. PS- the rear speakers are 4" and NOT 5 1/4". In some other posts on this subject I read that they were 5 1/4" and this is what I bought for the rear... but this was not the case in my truck. I'm now going to have to do some dremel cutting and modifying to get my 5 1/4" kappas to fit.

enthalpy

So - as far as the rears, I wouldn't hold your breath on squeezing 5.25" into those enclosures - they fit pretty tight as it is with the little 4" speakers.

I actually slapped some 6.5" back there utilizing the 4runner speaker adapter from Crutchfield. It's so simple it's not funny - it's just a custom-cut sheet of plastic with a hole in it that can fit a 6.5" or 5.25" speaker. I am pretty satisfied with it though and you could probably make your own. Essentially the whole 4" enclosure is removed and then after attaching the speaker to the plastic piece, it screws right into the opening between the wheelwell and the plastic storage bin. It also lines up very nicely with the "grille" integrated into the rear panel.

Good news it that the fronts are MUCH easier and you have the option of mounting the 4" speakers with or w/o the enclosure. I decided to do it utilizing the enclosure since it does help somewhat with the low end.

PM if you have anymore questions - this stuff is still fresh in my mind since I slapped all my stereo stuff in there about a month ago...

keisur

i did the same thing. I new they were smaller but I wanted the same speakers in front and back so I put 6.5" in back and all I had to do was drill one small hole and use a self tapping screw and no metal cutting was required, the speaker fit into the hole. I didn't use the plastic stock bracket that held the smaller speaker. I still need to get some dynomat or something to line the door and plug the areas around the speakers though.

Firefyter-Emt

Your best bet if you are not running the stock head unit is to just run new wires.. Keepin the old stock stuff intact makes it so yo can swap it back in easy.. You can also boost up the wire gauge while you are there..

Del

Do ALL 2nd gen's have the amp, or just the premiem sound packages?

Del

...Also, how do I get the panel off to expose the rear speakers? I've looked and looked but can't figure out how

redrunner

Its easy to remove the rear panel... theres a post on it somewhere, but here it is again:

Pop off the little plastic tabs on the trim panel at the bottom of the tailgate. This will allow u to access 5 or so screws. Remove them.
Above the window there is another panel that needs to be removed. Pop this off with the aid of a screwdriver. Remove 2 screws.
Start in the corner and with the help of a screwdriver start popping the plastic trim off for the rear side panels. They never come off completely, but theres enough room to remove the speaker box. The seatbelt guide by the rear seats can be removed for more leverage.

redrunner

Yea I was looking at the enclosures trying to figure out how to make them fit and decided to bag that idea.. What size thickness is the plastic and where can I get some sheets of it? I'd like to try and make my own... There's defintely a lot of room to play around with back there.

enthalpy

Redrunner, as far as the thickness, it's not that thick (I think a 1/4" would be about right. And remember that there is a big hole in the middle of it for the speaker. The plastic appears to a simple polypropylene white colored plastic. Kinda reminds of the fairing you would find on a yakima/thule roof rack. I think the local hardware store would have sheets of plastic that could be trimmed to fit. Of course, double check on drill/cutting requirements for whatever material you choose. I know the local home depot here in San Jose has plenty of plexiglass & plastic sheet variants that are very cost effective.

Also, I scavenged some pieces of dynamat from my old car to help with the flexing of the plastic piece. Not to mention that I dynamatted the sheet metal directly behind the speaker - definitely cuts down on the resonance. It's also just simple to do while you have the panels off. In fact, I also installed a power outlet in the back for tailgate parties, etc.

I also ran a completely new set of wires - but that all depends on how much power you are pushing. My setup is 4x100 - so the stock cabling wouldn't be effective. It should be fine for up to ~30 watts RMS. But pleeeease don't quote me on that.

And as far as panel removal - depends on how much time you have. I took off the door sills, as well as the seat belt guide and the panel where the seat latch is. Essentially pure sheet metal from the front seats on back. This allowed for plenty of room to run cable and minimze any pinch points (especially important for that power outlet!).

Good luck!

enthalpy

Del,

As usual, my huge toyota service manual does not do the audio system justice. BUT it looks like the front speakers are powered directly, while the rears have a small amp in the enclosure itself (I believe ~30W) - so it's almost a line-level input from the head unit when it comes to the rear speakers. I just said screw it and replaced everything anyways. Of course when I say replace, I mean swap out with utmost care.

There is also some sound package that had 2 or 3" tweeters mounted in the back by the wiper motor. If you turn around in the driver's seat, there are what appear to be 2 speaker grilles on the roof.

I am toying with the idea of putting tweeters there just to see if it makes any difference in sound. But mounting them would be interesting.

Work is boooooring.

redrunner

enthalpy: thanks for the great info. I'm gonna see if i can get this done today... its so nice out (here on the east coast) for the first time in a while. We still have tons of snow piled up everywhere though. Anyways, I will see if I can get some pics posted when i get it done.

enthalpy

Sounds great - I have one quick hint though. When you cut the plastic for the speaker, double check the mounting points/plastic clips for putting the panel back on the sheet metal. The crutchfield bracket covered up one of the holes (the bottom most one) so I ended having to take off the plastic spring clip. Granted it was only one, but I put a little smidge of dynamat so it wouldn't be the source of any annoying rattle later on.

Also - if you go to Crutchfield.com and put in yout truck info, they have a picture of the brackets - they are interestingly shaped - but it makes sense when you have the panels off. Unfortunately the pics are not to scale!

Looking forward to your system pics...

keisur

any of y'all know where the cheapest place to get dynamat is? bestbuy and crotchfelt are kind of steep on the prices for it.