Hey guys, so I recently decided to upgrade the speakers in my 4Runner. Well, I wanted bigger speakers, and I figured my pioneer head unit could power two 6x9s, but they sound like crap if I pump any bass from them at all. I think it could be that they're not getting enough power. Should I buy an amp for them and wire it, or is there an easier way to get them more power? I'm extremely new to the whole car audio thing, so please forgive me for being a newb ha. Thanks!

 

depends on how many rca's your deck has a small like 200w amp would be plenty

 

Do you have any recommendations in what kind I should get? Also, how difficult would be running the wiring?

 

wireing is easy just run power and some rca's and speaker wire

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...KAC-1502S.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...y-Scosche.html

 

are yer speakers in boxes? they will sound much better if so

 

They're both in speaker boxes mounted from my roll bar. Have any of you guys wired an amp in a 1st gen 4Runner? I honestly have no idea where to start with this.

 

the type of amp that you will want is really dependant on what kind of speakers you got.

as for the wiring, run a 8 gauge wire (usualy u can get a kit from walmart for 25bucks) from the batterie through the fire wall, into cab (try and put it under carpet and make it look good!) then run the RCA wires from back of deck (on the oposite side of truck from the power wire) to where your amp will be placed, the last wire to the amp is the remote wire, look on the wiring diagram for the deck and find the remote wire (or amp turn on wire depending on deck) and run it with the RCA to the amp.

then from the amp, your gunna run a wire (8 gauge same as power wire) to the floor, or seat bracket. thats not a good ground for a sub amplifier but ur just running a small speaker amp so it should be fine
next ur gunna wanna find out what OHM you want to wire the speakers at, eather 4ohms or 2ohms, most likely 2ohms so you get more power from amp to your speakers, then turn the deck up as far as you want, and then turn the gain on the amplifier up acordingly so the speakers are as loud as you want them to be at that tilt from deck. make sure you use the lowpass filter to limit the low low frequencies from seeing the speaker or you will get distortion and it will sound like ˟˟˟˟.

folow what i have posted and it should help alot with your problem, but tell me what type of speakers and i will find u a good amplifier!

eather exact name and model or just the model number.

 

Here are the rear speakers that I'm running. They're nothing too nice, but they work for me http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...Size/TS-A6974R .
Also, sometime in the future I would like to get some subs. I was thinking of probably getting a couple alpine type R 12's or 10's. If I've gotta get an amp for my 6x9's so i figure i should get an amp my subs could run off at the same time. Let me know if my reasoning is screwed up or if this is a stupid idea though. I'm new to the whole car stereo scene, so I'm really green with all this stuff. Thanks for all the advice by the way AK.taco.kid!

 

those are good speakers, they will do you well if you power them right, (http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...HFi-100.2.html)
(http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-GM-3500T.html) eather of these two will work good.

getting subs is always a good idea, i cant stand not having them, i need my sub stage.
but the type Rs are over priced. for that price i can find u alot better subs, ur thinking of 2 12s or 10s right?
(http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...S-W2502D2.html) two of these will very very plesent to listen to, or if your thinking a little more high end then (http://www.dcsoundlab.com/woofers.html) two of the level 3s or level 4s.
or if you want just one then i would recoment the level 4xl 15
knowing your budget would help alot. let me know what sub you are looking into, if the Type Rs are what you want then here is a good amp.(http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...NX1.1500D.html) just do the gain properly because you will be running them 150rms over rated power, thats not bad because it will keep some safty room befor you clip the signal and ruin the subs.

 

[quote=andlours;51828094]If I've gotta get an amp for my 6x9's so i figure i should get an amp my subs could run off at the same time. Let me know if my reasoning is screwed up or if this is a stupid idea though.quote]
your reasoning is not screwed up, but its hard to acomplish it with running such low power speakers and such high power subs, so i think it would be better and cheeper to get two different amps!

 

you can run your subs and speakers off the same amp, but it will more than likely need to be a 4-channel so you dont blow your speakers with bass or your sub with treble. with a 4-channel you can separately adjust each channel to get it how you like. one amp is harder to work with, but 2 amps takes more wiring.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the input. I'm not set on getting alpine type R's, I just have heard good things about them. I'd honestly prefer pioneer just because my whole setup is pioneer as it is. How difficult would it be wire two amps vs just one though? Cuz I'd be fine with having 2 amps just as long as it's not a PITA to wire

 

well, it depends on what size wire you get vs. the amperage the amps will draw. you could run a bigger wire than needed and run it into 1 amp and out to the other. i would run an individual ground for each one though. the hardest part would be running the wire from the battery through the firewall and into the cab.

 

I figured since I asked a newbish question in another thread, I figure I should answer one that's up my alley.... car audio!!

Okay, the reason your 6X9s sound like crap when the volume is turned up is they're running off deck power, which in reality only put out maybe 15w continuous. Don't pay attention to the peak ratings cuz it's just like horsepower ratings... will you really be running your engine at 5000 rpm continuously? So, yes, an outboard amp would be the ideal.

Running 2 amps? The size wire you run depends on the application you're using the amp on. If you're using a small 2 channel amp to run those 6x9s, you don't need anything more than a 10ga kit (a REAL 10ga kit from Streetwires or Stinger, some cheapo WalMart kits give you a kit with 10ga worth of insulation on 16ga wire). For a sub amp it does depend on the size of the amp since subs require more power to push and the amps work closer to their max. Quick and easy is to check what size fuse is on the amp itself. If the fuse or fuses on the amp totals 30 amps or less, 8ga will be fine with a run to under one of the front seats. Anything more, go with a 4ga kit.

If you do the amps, make sure the ground is a good ground. It needs to go into bare metal... scape the paint off and the ground wire has to be the same gauge as the power wire.

Running the wire is relatively easy... and I say this since I do it every day but it's no harder than 90% of the other stuff everyone tackles on this site all the time. The easiest place to run power wire from the battery through the firewall on your 4Runner will be on the passenger side of the firewall. There's a big rubber grommet with a big wire harness running through it. Just cut a "x" through the rubber towards the outside of the grommet away from the wires. Run a plastic fish tape (I use those big 24" plastic wire ties HVAC guys use in attics that you can buy at Home Depot) through the hole angled downwards. It should find its way down around the passenger kick panel behind the glove box. Once you see the other end, tape your power wire to the end of the fish tape, spray a little glass cleaner on the wire for lubrication and pull it through.

 

Also make sure they are wired in phase, + to + and - to - for both sides and at the radio the out of phase would make for very weak bass output. Those 6x9s are also very efficient therefore should be fine off just the radio, of course an amp would make them sound even better!

 

Hey guys, sorry i haven't gotten back to you in a long time. I ended up getting a set of 2 pioneer 12" subs and a 2000W amp for $140. I routed only the highs and mids to the 6x9's and the bass solely to the subs. I don't have the annoying bass drop out anymore and my 4Runner bumps ha. Thanks for all the help guys. I couldn't have done it without all of you.

 

Cool, glad to hear you got it!