Jeff_M

First of all, I'd like to let everyone know how excited I am to become part of your forum. I just bought my 98' Limited 4runner last week. I am thrilled with just about everything so far apart from the factory stereo. I'm a stereo/home theater guy, so I'm fairly picky about sound. Fortunately for my wallet, I'm a little less critical when it comes to car audio. My main gripes with the factory system are that (a) the bass emitted from the door speakers causes an awful rattling, and (b) the system is very bright to the point of sounding shrill. I've poked around on this forum and it appears that some Dynamat in the door panel will solve the rattling problem. The shrill sound is another problem entirely… If I turn down the mid and treble, the sound is distant and artificial, so that's definitely not a solution. Is it the factory speakers themselves that are bright? If so, would you advise dropping some 6.5"s in the doors? If I did this, wouldn't the ear level factory tweeter have to be disabled? I know the factory head unit only puts out about 10 watts RMS, so the speakers would have to be Pioneers or some other brand known for db efficiency. If this was absolutely out of the question and I was forced to do more, could I add an amp in place of the tiny factory amp that resides behind the head unit? Or is it the case that no matter what I do, the factory head unit will make everything else sound bright/harsh? In summary... I really, really want to keep the stock look of the dash on my 4runner, I don't require audiophile sound, but I can't stand the way things are now. Any suggestions?

SLC Punk

I suggest getting a component set. Those have a crossover and would probably help

Maybe something like this

Henryv

You can get an aftermarket component set and maybe get them a seperate amp. If you want more bass maybe add a infinity basslink or sometihng that is powered which will help you get more out of your stock unit. Correct me if im wrong but i think you can do that with a stock deck.

Jeff_M

I like the idea of component speakers with the factory head unit and an aftermarket amp. Good suggestion. Are you sure I can add an amp to the factory headunit? Do I need an adapter? Will the tweeters in the component speaker set go where the factory tweeters are (ear level along the sides of the windshield)?

rimpainter.com

I dont know squat about stereo's, but I would like to say welcome to the Forum.

Time for some performance mods...

Jeff_M

Thanks a lot 96runner! I just bought my 98 limited last week, and I am ecstatic. Can you believe it has only 12,000 miles?! I wish I knew more about car stereos myself. Luckily, some of my home audio knowledge translates. Unfortunately, some of the installation tricks are above my head. I'm sure I'll get plenty of help from the good people here, learn a lot in the process, and share what knowledge I've gained in return. That's what forums are all about!

Churnd

Yes, you can use the factory receiver with an amp. There are wiring kits to help you do this. The aftermarket tweeters should fit fine as long as they're the same size as the stockers. Easy way to find out is to call Crutchfield. They don't have the best prices, but they do have the best customer service I've seen by far.

As far as wiring the amp to the stock receiver, you can use this, which will allow you to convert your regular speaker lines to RCA lines. RCA is the preferred cable because the sound quality will be a lot better due to less loss during the signal's travel to the speakers. I'm not completely sure that this is true with the converter I found above, but I know for sure it's true with aftermarket receivers. That's another reason you could look into the aftermarket receiver category. Hope this helps.

SLC Punk

Yeah you can use the rca converter, that's what I used when I had aftermarket subs in my old camry. Another option is to buy an amp with a "high in" imput, those connect directly to your speaker wires.

Lurch

Jeff, the link to the Crutchfield site for the Infinity Kappa 60.5cs system shows their price to be $299.99.

Never dealt with 'em, have no beefs with 'em.

However ...

If you're a fan of eBay, you might want to check this link first:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=32819

You can buy the same system outright for under a hundred bucks. Just a thought ...

(I have the same complaint -- my '99 unit sucks, even compared with the stock system in my old '95! So much for progress.)

Peace ...

Churnd

Just wanted to point out that the speakers you found on eBay are the Reference model of Infinity, whereas the speakers listed above are the Kappa model. Big difference. If you want the absolute best in sound, go with the Kappa. If you're one of those guys who honestly can't hear the difference between $1000 speakers and $100 speakers, go with the Reference. Also, if you're not worried about customer service and know exactly what you want, www.thezeb.com has the best prices on the net I've seen.

NCSU-4runner

you think your stock system was bad, try a 2nd gen ! ! i had to do some serious additon to my car but it sounds sweet now.

my stereo

those forward facing amp powered 6x9s will blow you away

furthur

Jeff,

I just added the infinity reference 6800cs componenets to the front of my 4 dr tacoma, running off the stock head unit, and had the same problem, harsh highs. I tried the -3dB out's on the crossovers, but the tweeters went AWAY, way more than 3 dB down... I asked around, and found little help, but finally put some 2 ohm resistors in-line with the tweeters (tried 1 ohm, not enough). My guess is I'm down 6 dB from full output on the tweets. I found another page on the web, talking about ballancing home stereo speakers, that suggested in-line resistors were better sounding, for tweets, than an l-pad, which is what I found also (I also tried an l-pad with 1 ohm series and a 12 ohm bypass resistor, and it was bad).

Anyway, the two-ohm by 10 watt resistors let me run the tone controls much more ballanced with this set. The new speakers sound much better than factory.

If anyone is considering the 6800cs set for your last-gen truck, be advised, they are not bolt-in. Toyota's mounting plates in the doors have the mounting holes slightly off of Infinity's, and you can't just drill new holes (trust me, or look at it...) I was able to egg the holes in the mid-bass speaker baskets out enough to get the screws in. You also have to cut some off of the 'magnet shrouds' on the back of the factory mounting plates to clear the magnets. The tweeters I just screwed to the door, inside, under where the factory tweeter grill is in the panel, (after removing the factory tweeter and bracket) with little wedges of foam to aim them slightly up and forward.

I also put the Infinity 6802cf coaxes in the back, and had the same mounting hole missalignment problem. For them, I made a new mounting plate out of MDF which gets rid of the factory plastic plate, but is a snug fit, inside the panel.

Sorry so long, Jeff, just wanted to warn others who were tempted to try to fit these into their trucks.

John

Jeff_M

Great suggestions so far guys. I've poked around on www.thezeb.com, www.carestereotime.com, ebay etc. and decided on what looks to be the best combo for my dollar. I'm going to slightly compromise the look of my dash by installing a Pioneer double DIN unit. As for the speakers, I like the Focal Polykevlar 6.5" components for the front and 5.25" for the back. The only trouble is, I have no idea if they will fit in my door. If someone could take a look at the specs, I've posted them here:

Front speakers:
http://www.focal-jmlab.fr/gb/car/poly-k/165k2.htm

Rear speakers:
http://www.focal-jmlab.fr/gb/car/poly-k/136k.htm

Will these fit? I don't mind installing the head unit myself, but the speaker installation sounds pretty daunting. Any idea how much I can expect to pay for a local shop to put in the two pairs? Since they don't just drop into place, I'd imagine there will be some extra labor (and extra $$$). I just don't wanna get hosed...

Jeff_M

Per your suggestions, I went ahead and ordered a new head unit. The only brand that I could find that offered a stock look, coupled with great sound quality was Nakamichi. Unfortunately, they don't sell a double DIN unit, so I ordered a single DIN head unit (CD-400) and a single DIN 6-disc in dash changer (MB-70). I also purchased a pair of the Focal Polykevlar 163K2 6.5" component 2-way speakers for the front doors. I am VERY excited to get everything installed. Does anyone here have these speakers (or other Focal speakers) installed in their front doors? Do they fit without too much fuss? Where did you mount the tweeter? If I decide to go with a professional install of the stuff I've already purchased, what would be a reasonable price for the two head units and a pair of component speakers in the front doors?

DuB

Very nice selection in your components! I installed the 165k2s in my friend's VW and they sounded awesome. What are you going to use to power the Focals? Installation shouldn't be too hard. You should try doing it yourself so that if anything goes wrong in the future, you can troubleshoot it yourself. I don't think those tweeters will go in the stock location because they're pretty big. The website states that they're 1-3/4" in diameter which is probably too big to fit under the stock sail panel. You could mount it coaxially on the speaker with a metal backstrap or something over the woofer, or to the woofer's bullet cone thing in the center of the woofer, or you could mount it in your door panel. There's a bunch of possibilities. I'm not sure how much professional installation would be though, as I've never had anything professionally done

impulsebrklyn

Wow i wish i saw this before. Focal speakers are one of the deapest speakers manufactured. They sound great but dont always fit. They might require some custom work, but i dont have a 3rd gen so I cant say for sure. Nice selection on the headunit, I would have pushed for an eclipse but some people will tell you Nakamichi will sound better. Its a toss up, but most would go with eclipse. And i hope to god you are going to be getting an amp for those very nice speakers, it would be a complete shame not to. if you have any question just ask. Chris

Rymin929

Being an audio installer, I'll also give you the on your choices. One thing I will recommend about the PolyK set that you've purchased is to play around with your tweeter locations you may have to do this alot to find the right spot and sound that your looking for. There tweeters are very bright and if I'm correct about your factory location (lt/rt mirror covers) they will more than likely be even louder on the x-overs lowest setting. Focal recommends mounting the tweeters high and away from the mid like your factory setup already is but I find myself hiding the tweeter down by the mid's. The only other trick I've found to do is to put a layer of speaker grill cloth over the tweeters to (diffuse) the sound they make a little more, if you end up using the fact. locations...

trangk

Jeff:

Although I can't vouch for the rear doors since I only run speakers up front, I will say that the 6.5" Focal Polykevlars WILL fit the front door, but you will need to make an adapter bracket to shim it up a bit. They are a quarter inch too deep.

And the speakers are AMAZING although I have replaced the tweeters with a different brand ... the Focal ones are a bit bright for me. If you get them don't plan on running them off the headunit, get an amp that does at least 75 watts and you'll be happy

Jeff_M

Well I got my Focal Polykevlar 165K2's but the tweeter is definitely too large to fit in the factory window mount. Is there some kind of bracket or mechanism to mount the tweeter over the center of the woofer like an all-in-one speaker? Is this very detrimental to the sound? Otherwise, I have no idea where I will put the tweeter or the wiring for it...

Jeff_M

Dub: You mentioned a bracket to mount the speaker coaxially... any idea where to look for something like this? Or if I were to mount directly to the bullet, how would I affix it? These both sound like great solutions. Hopefully they won't affect SQ too much...