WraunVT

I am trying to come up with some ideas for upgrading (a couple subs, relocating some mids, etc) my 3rd gen. Any pics or ideas?

DavidA

I just replaced all 4 factory speakers in our 1999 3rd Gen with new ones. I really like the MB Quarts I put into the rear doors. I am now looking for a decent 10" sub to put into the back storage area. I figure I am going to build a custom wood box to fit into the opening.

li_runner

How custom do you want to get?

I had the same idea's as you probably. I'm on my 2nd gen stereo setup now. :pat: First I had built a box that was aligned with the angle of the back seats with 2 12's facing the rear and the amps built in mounted flush in the front (basically got the idea from Candido my setup was exactly the same covered in carpet. But that took up too much space. I did not like the idea that I had a truck and had no room to carry around large items. I had played around with ideas to build a custom fiberglass enclosure on the right side of the cargo area with a 10' and a space to flush mount the sub amp. But I just ended up buying a premade Q-logic enclosure, and throwing a sub in it. I put the amp where the bottle jack is and called it a day. It sounds pretty good and did not take me forever to do check it out here.

If I had the time and inclination to do it again I would Fiberglass a box that could fit 2 10's or 8's on the one of the sides of the cargo area and float the amp that powered them. As for the components, the front setup is great I would just replace the speakers with your choice, just buy a matching componet set in the back and mount the tweeters in the door.

:edit: I though do not recommend Infinity, I really like Diamond Audio, or Focal. Properly powered they sound flippin amazing.

COYOTA $x$

What MB Quarts did you use and did you replace the pillar tweeters ?

Bigkahuna808

i still got my tweeters in factory location. Thier Diamond Audio Hex. For the best sound imaging with tweeters, you gotta loacater the speaker and tweeter far apart. The speaker should sit low in the car, the tweeter somewhere around head level

COYOTA $x$

Are you sure about that ? Whats your reasoning exactly for that statement.

PLD comes into play for proper time alignment and thus staging and imaging. Unless your using Time correction, you want the speaker "cones" on the same plane and distance from your ear, rather than far apart.

Check all the winning installs at the SQ contests and youll notice a preponderance of kickpanel installations.

Id do kickpanels myself (and have on previous vehicles) except that my 4Runner is to primarily be a hunting truck and people get kind of rough and muddy/dusty clammering in and out of the vehicle all day and theyll just get beatup. So sticking with Factory locations (and I have time alignment on my HU )

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Ive heard a lot good things about the Diamond Hex, Ill give the model you mention a look.

Cebby

I'm with COYOTA. Head level tweets will give you too much left or right side bias. Installing mids AND tweets in the kickpanels helps getting (the closest possible) to equal wavelength for both ears.

COYOTA $x$

Not to mention Human's hearing is Left and Right.... not Up and Down. (unless you are part Owl They have offset ears. )

If you close your eyes and try to tell what height the speakers are at from your feet to the top of your head, you cant tell the difference.

Try it with a boombox and a friend holding it at various heights in front of you.


Anyway.... What Quarts is DavidA runnnig ?

DavidA

I put DKD 113's in the rear doors of the 1999. Got them for $28 on Ebay from the Rockford Fosgate dealer I was telling you about in the other thread.

They are mainly midrange/tweeter range in sound. Trying to find a decent sub to mount in the rear sidepanel to provide bass. I have an Aiwa MP3 unit in the dash. It is my wife's vehicle, she is not really an audiophile. I put most the stereo money in my truck.

DavidA

Oh...did not replace the pillar tweeters. But something really funny happened. I replaced the front door speakers with decent no-name coax speakers. Now I could NEVER hear the factory tweeters before, but I swear after replacing the front speakers that the impedance on the front channel must of changed for the better because the factory tweeters are much more responsive/louder now. I am pretty happy with that. I do think that later I would like some brighter and crisper to replace them.

stoutshady

Kickpanels are the way to go IMO... My soundstage improved so much when I got these. I didn't have to adjust my time correction and bass focus too much on my Alpine HU, and I no longer needed to have the balance set to one notch to the right to get sound centered... These are plain old Q-forms reinforced with some fiberglass of course. Within these panels are Adire Audio Kodas 6 1/2" components powered by an Arc Audio 4150 cxl crossed over at 68 hz...

COYOTA $x$

Just curious, and Im assuming theres space back in there of course, I havent pulled the panel myself yet, but Ive seen pictures of runners with it off....

Have you thought about pulling the Right rear panel in the Hatch area, and fibreglassing a body-fitting enclosure (to makixmize space and internal volume) in the area behind the panel, possibly making it part of the panel itself even ? Would keep more of the interior space usable, and allow a speaker that needs more internal volume.

Would also maintain a stealth approach.

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StoutShady,

Do you find those particular Qlogic pods to be intrusive or cramping to your feet on long drives or anything ?

stoutshady

No Coyota, they do not cramp my space that much at all. At first it was a little hard to get used to but after a while it was like they were always there. On long road trips I usual drive with my left shoe off and I find that the pod makes a good resting spot for it. My foot tingles from the resonance.

LBC994runner

DavidA: Did those DKD113's fit easily in your 99 4runner, or did you have to do any mods to your door panel to make them fit? I tried putting some Infinity 5.25" speakers in my 99 runner, but they didn't fit because they were too deep. I have some inifinity 4" in my back door now, but would like to add some 5.25's.

High Desert has some of those DKD113's for sale right now. How do they sound? Are you running them off of your HU?

DavidA

Use the writeup http://fastq.com/~sschaefer/polk.html to build the wood mounting brackets. They space the speakers forward about an inch, keeping them away from the window. The HU is running them quite nicely! They are very clear and crisp. I like them alot. BUT again...do not expect much base from a 5 1/4 speaker.