2003 Stereo Upgrade

heathstimpson · October 17, 2003, 09:32

I have the bog standard extra big Toyota stereo. s:cry: :cry: s:cry:
Has anyone got any suggestions on ways to improve without spending silly money i.e. better head unit and standard fit speaker s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s.
Cheers

Slacey · October 17, 2003, 09:50

If you shop around, you can get some pretty good H/U's for not much money, and reasonable speakers, too. Our resident ICE god will advise spending a third world countries debt on gear s:wink: :wink: s:wink: , but good results can be had for a lot less cash. Give me some idea of what you are after, and I'm sure Buster and I can come up with some ideas.

Tem · October 17, 2003, 09:54

Quote from: "heathstimpson"Has anyone got any suggestions on ways to improve without spending silly money i.e. better head unit and standard fit speaker

Don't mean to be mean

, but have you read some of the older posts. There's a lot of info in here already...

heathstimpson · October 17, 2003, 10:04

Not yet s8)

s8) theres loads to look through. Just being lazy I suppose s:idea: :idea: s:idea:

Anonymous · October 17, 2003, 11:22

First step is to upgrade the H/U This will make the sound quailty 10* better you can spend anything up to £1K on a head unit but i alwasy recomend Alpine or pioneer

I personally use pioneer and have never had any problems spend around £150 and you can get a good CD h/u

This works out about £170 and is a very good spec !
all info can be found on
m http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product ... cts_id=327 m

After the headunit just a simple Speaker upgrade not forgetting that they are 6.5" componets and anyhting will fit (as long as it 6.5" ) LOL, setting you back around £150

And if your not happy with that add an amp then a sub cd changer dvd player 2*7.2" TFT screens, a few EQ's another bass cube and you got your slef a SQ Beast s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · October 17, 2003, 15:11

Buster, please allow me to disagree. I think upgrading the speakers is the first step and adding an amp or changing the HU is the second.

For headunits, I recommend Nakamichi...

Also, I have found Car Electronics to be the cheapest source...

heathstimpson · October 17, 2003, 15:41

Quote from: "Emmanuel"Buster, please allow me to disagree. I think upgrading the speakers is the first step and adding an amp or changing the HU is the second.

How much should I look to spend on standard 6.5" speakers?

Quote from: "Emmanuel"For headunits, I recommend Nakamichi...

Also, I have found Car Electronics to be the cheapest source...

Nakamichi probably cost a few quid. If I'm going to spend some dosh is it better to look at DAB?

heathstimpson · October 17, 2003, 15:47

I heard you were the ICE master Buster...

Quote from: "Buster"First step is to upgrade the H/U This will make the sound quailty 10* better you can spend anything up to £1K on a head unit but i alwasy recomend Alpine or pioneer

I personally use pioneer and have never had any problems spend around £150 and you can get a good CD h/u

This works out about £170 and is a very good spec !
all info can be found on
m http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product ... cts_id=327 m

I assume I will need to get some adapter kit as the 2003 stereo leaves a gaping hole that is massive?

Quote from: "Buster"After the headunit just a simple Speaker upgrade not forgetting that they are 6.5" componets and anyhting will fit (as long as it 6.5" ) LOL, setting you back around £150

And if your not happy with that add an amp then a sub cd changer dvd player 2*7.2" TFT screens, a few EQ's another bass cube and you got your slef a SQ Beast s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Not a lot of room for the DVD and screens mate. Might get the bass jobbie later on though s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · October 17, 2003, 15:55

Infinity speakers offer the best price/quality compromise (they start at about £90):

If you want better quality then, in my opinion, MB Quart or Focal is the way to go but don't spend any cash without having a listen first.

Re Nakamichi, my apologies, they are quite expensive; they will set you back at least £400. But, my God, do they sound good!!! As a cheaper alternative, I would go for a Clarion, but again, it should be your decision.

Chris · October 17, 2003, 17:06

Quote from: "heathstimpson"I assume I will need to get some adapter kit as the 2003 stereo leaves a gaping hole is massive?

Yep you do - there is one made for the rav4 which fits the '2 nicely.
Can't remember if it's a dealer part or not, but it has been discussed before so a quick search should find the info on it....

Anonymous · October 17, 2003, 17:24

Yeah it's the Rav 4 2000 + and you can pick it up at any halfords !

Emmanuel: To first answer why to choise the h/u first it is a simple case of gettign the most of what you have already got! It's mostly the H/U in the 2 that distortes the sound so whith an upgraded headunit in which all EQ controls and MOSFET gains are controlled a much betetr signal can be passed to the speakers

But i like your style ! bigger speakers YEAH baby

Also if it's DAB your after Clarion do good H/U But with an upgrade on the pionner to a 7000 modle means that you can buy the DAB control seperatly plug into the back and away you go! Costs around £150 for the DAB tunner!

A few problems with Infinity are they car cheap and cheerful!
And Nakamichi are gods when it comes to sound quailty buy the V out on the unit and gains are not good so with the added EQ on a system you can save £300 bybuying a Fusion FX40 simple line driver with added EQ all MOSFET of course

But again a good choice if i had a bottomless wallet (or a bigger student loan) LOL s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · October 18, 2003, 10:30

My twopenneth - - I would say get the headunit first, your system will only sound as bad as your weakest link - I would opt for a nice heasdunit -they do make all the difference!!.

I have personally not changed anything else in the car, the headunit replacement alone sounds adequate to me, seeing as I mainly enjoy listenening to the engine!...

I replaced the headunit myself, using parts from Incardiscount, my results are posted elsewhere this forum, I am a novice and done it first time with no problems, there is now an official MR2 Single DIN Adapter available for the MR2, the one I have also has a nifty recess for keeping your phone, or bits n bobs in.

I can post a pic if anyone is interested.

Slacey · October 18, 2003, 10:48

Also worth noting - soundproofing in the doors is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of making what you have sound a hundred times better - even the stock speakers sound great with this done.
Anyone in the Mids area is welcome to take a look at my car, I have upgraded the H/U, replaced the fronts with Focal's, Dynamatted the doors to death and fitted 6x9's in the rear storage doors. Better yet, come to one of the monthly Mids meets! s:D

s:D

heathstimpson · October 18, 2003, 16:01

Quote from: "Slacey"Also worth noting - soundproofing in the doors is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of making what you have sound a hundred times better - even the stock speakers sound great with this done.
Anyone in the Mids area is welcome to take a look at my car, I have upgraded the H/U, replaced the fronts with Focal's, Dynamatted the doors to death and fitted 6x9's in the rear storage doors. Better yet, come to one of the monthly Mids meets! s:D s:D

I may sound naive but what exactly is 'dynamatting' the doors? I assumed soundproofing is a reasonably cheap and easy way of getting a good improvement; but have never attempted previously s:? :? s:?

Anonymous · October 19, 2003, 11:19

it has been discused before have a search in the audio section s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

heathstimpson · October 19, 2003, 19:35

Quote from: "Buster"it has been discused before have a search in the audio section s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Cheers Buster; looks to be a necessity.

Chris · October 20, 2003, 14:27

dynomat is a sound proofing material. Slacey has also used flashing tape, same job just cheaper iirc.

Slacey · October 20, 2003, 14:36

Quote from: "Chris"Slacey has also used flashing tape, same job just cheaper iirc.

Yeah, and twice as hard to work with! It's 'orrible stuff, but does the job.

Anonymous · October 20, 2003, 15:01

Quote from: "Slacey"
Quote from: "Chris"Slacey has also used flashing tape, same job just cheaper iirc.
Yeah, and twice as hard to work with! It's 'orrible stuff, but does the job.

s:?: :?: s:?: s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

You sure!!! You did heat it up didnt you !, it's thinner i use it on small sections where dynomat is hard to apply, The only thing that makes it bad to work with is the backing is a little hard to peal off when it's hot s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · October 20, 2003, 15:05

You should have seen the mess that was made when Sean was doing it at the midlands meet - and all the bad language like "this (**&( stuff is £(£*(* horrible!" s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

heathstimpson · October 20, 2003, 16:30

It looks like Buster knows his stuff. I have been around loads of top car stereo shops/installation centres today and everyone of them said Alpine give the best sound. I liked that Sony CDX -M1000TF, the one one of the other members is buying but all the experts say that you would be far better spending the same money on an Alpine unit. Something about Sony's only output 0.5Volt compared to the Alpine's 4Volts, and the sound is no match...

zud · October 20, 2003, 16:54

mmm... I'd been quite happy with the sound improvement from installing Focals, but this has got me thinking again! I still get some distortion at high volumes and had been wondering if I needed extra dynamat or a better h/u or amp... But it sounds like a new (alpine) h/u might be money well spent (especially as my wife will shortly be asking me what i want for Chrimbo!)

So to the questions... I've got a Sony 10CD changer that is controlled quite neatly from the standard Sony (2001) h/u. Would an Alpine unit still be able to control the CD changer, or would I need another Sony??
Any recommendations?

I've also got a Kenwood CD/mp3 player lying around in the garage, but can't remember which one. I could give it a try, but how would I control the CD changer (assuming the Kenwood can accept the input)?

markiii · October 20, 2003, 16:55

the output from the pre-outs is only relevant if you want to add an Amp at a later date.

Slacey · October 20, 2003, 17:07

Quote from: "Buster"You sure!!! You did heat it up didnt you !, it's thinner i use it on small sections where dynomat is hard to apply, The only thing that makes it bad to work with is the backing is a little hard to peal off when it's hot s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

The problem was that I DID heat it up! It was so hot on the day that i left the roll in the sun for half an hour, then cut (well tried to, it stuck to the scissors all the while!) strips off and left them in the sun for ten minutes or so... the stuff was like glue, and your right, the backing was a nightmare to get off! s:roll: :roll: s:roll:
Worth it in the end though s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · October 20, 2003, 17:07

yeah markii is correct and norally with a high V.out you get good RMS from th h/u.

But you can get as high as 8V V.out Like me s:wink: :wink: s:wink: i have a 5V pre out on my pioneer h/u lined to a nass cube then a eq pre amp which in all boost's the v.out to 7.9V but i call it 8V s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

But yeah Alpine or pioneer they are all a must for each other but i go for pioneer but it's just my preferance s:lol: :lol: s:lol: