OK, I purchased a Clarion 745 w/Sirius at Tweeter & had them install it in my 97 4Runner. The guy took out the factory amp & said the one in the headunit is better. Does that sound right? Not sure how they could have a better one in the little unit compared to the beefy (relative) Toyota amp. Also, the unit does not dim when I dim my dash lights. Did he mess something up, or is that the best we can do?

One more thing, thinking of new speakers now. I guess 6 3/4 will fit in front, and maybe 5 1/4 in the rear. I saw some adaptors on eBay for the rears to get them to 5 1/4. Anyone know if they work or have any better advice???

Thanks.

 

http://www.fastq.com/~sschaefer/polk.html

check that out for speaker info. at the bottom theres a template for making you own spacer. The ones on eBay are only about a 1/4 in thick, which isnt enough depth (depending on the speaker) so youll end up having to use wood anyway.

 

He was right about the Amp. However...the 745 does have a dimmer line, they often don't want to go through the trouble of attaching it. But it is not adjustable...it just dims the radio display when you turn on the lights at night. I like mine bright all the time so I did not attach it. I am with Coyota on the speakers. I am going to build mine pretty soon. Good luck!

 

I bought those 5 1/4 rear speaker adapters on ebay and they didn't work for my infinity speakers. Infinity's have bigger magnets than most speakers. But they would probably work on some other 5 1/4 speakers that don't go so deep.

 

Yes, ditch the OEM amp. I just put in a Pioneer and it blows away the stock stereo with the amp. My Pioneer dims with the lights, and I did the install myself (also a total amateur), so you might open up the dash and see if you can find the wires to connect. Check the stereo manual, but it's usually just matching colors of wires.

I thought rear speakers were 4 inch?

 

Thanks guys. I will check it out again & take it back. For what they charged me for in labor, it should be perfect. All in all, they did a nice clean job, so I'm sure they will want to make it right.

 

Sweet. I've been wondering if there would be a template for the rear speakers online somewhere. Thanks, dude.

 

I have the Clarion 745MP and LOVE it. It will dim if you hook up the dimmer wire. There's also a manual dimmer adjustment built in. Read the manual - I can't remember how to do it. I'm not totally impressed w/ the power output, so I'll be adding a small 4channel amp at some point in the future. I have RF Punch 6.5" Components up front and 5.25" Coax in the rear plus a 12" Sub in the back on a 170W amp.

 

They are, but you can go bigger !