2002 Sequoia non JBL Stereo replacment?

I just bought my 2002 SR5 and love it and plan on keeping it as long as possible. To me the basic stereo sounds sort of dull and not very crisp, no MP3 support, and I miss having a remote. Thus the factory sound system must go. I see allot of post but have not been able to fully understand where the system is lacking. a.. Is the factory Receiver/head unit the source of this poor sound? b.. Does the factory speakers have the ability if hooked up to a better Receiver to come across crisp or do I need to replace those also? c.. Is there an amp between the factory non JBL unit and the speakers? If so should I by pass it or run it off the new receiver or another amp? I planned on starting with the receiver and working my way out to the speakers. Any experience with this situation would be much appreciated. Thanks for your help, Bryon

Reply to
Bryon
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Do you have audio controls on the steering wheel? If so, you will have to look for a compatible receiver.

I would start with the speakers and see if they make enough of an improvement.

Reply to
Ray O

Only if he wants to retain that feature. Otherwise, it'll just sit there doing nothing after the new radio is installed.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

A) Both the head unit and the speakers are the problem.

B) The speakers may not be coaxial, meaning no tweeter. So, there's a limit to the high frequencies you'll get. However, if you were to install a head unit with more power, or a new head unit and separate amplifier, there would still be some improvement in the overall sound, particularly in the tightness of the bass notes.

C) I can't answer the question about the presence of a separate amp, but if I had to guess, I'd say probably not. You may be able to find this out at this web site:

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You can buy one-day access for $10.00, and you should be able to obtain all the info you need. Another newsgroup, rec.audio.car may also be helpful. Finally, the people at
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are often helpful. When shopping for a new head unit, don't be romanced by units with higher wattage ratings. It is not possible to build enough power into a head unit to create truly good sound. Yes, a unit with 20 watts per channel will sound somewhat better than one with 5 watts per channel. But, in order to get above car noise, a really nice sound system will need 50-100 watts per channel. I'm not talking about being able to drive down the street with one of those stupid woofers waking up the sidewalks. I mean, just decent sound. For a decent system in your living room, you'd never consider 20 watts per channel to be enough. Even the quietest car will have 20-50 decibels of masking noise from engine, heater, wind and road. You need to get over that noise.

So: If you want to build the system a little at a time, you *could* pick a unit that's got more power than the factory unit. Just be sure it also has line-level outputs for connecting to an amplifier later. Never run the already-amplified speaker lines to a separate amp.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Not any more.

My local installer has a device that'll make the controls work with almost any receiver. It isn't free, but if the receiver with all the features you want doesn't have Toyota control compatibility, you can still eat your cake!

See a good local car stereo shop, and I don't mean Best Buy or Circuit City.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Those last two: Butchers.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

: >> Do you have audio controls on the steering wheel? If so, you will have : >> to look for a compatible receiver. : >

: > Not any more. : >

: > My local installer has a device that'll make the controls work with almost : > any receiver. It isn't free, but if the receiver with all the features : > you want doesn't have Toyota control compatibility, you can still eat your : > cake! : >

: > See a good local car stereo shop, and I don't mean Best Buy or Circuit : > City. : : : Those last two: Butchers.

No, Audio Express is the training ground for butchers.

Reply to
Watts D. Matter

None of those around here (Western NY) that I'm aware of. Sounds like I'm lucky.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

: > : >> Do you have audio controls on the steering wheel? If so, you will : > have : > : >> to look for a compatible receiver. : > : >

: > : > Not any more. : > : >

: > : > My local installer has a device that'll make the controls work with : > almost : > : > any receiver. It isn't free, but if the receiver with all the : > features : > : > you want doesn't have Toyota control compatibility, you can still eat : > your : > : > cake! : > : >

: > : > See a good local car stereo shop, and I don't mean Best Buy or Circuit : > : > City. : > : : > : : > : Those last two: Butchers. : >

: >

: > No, Audio Express is the training ground for butchers. : : None of those around here (Western NY) that I'm aware of. Sounds like I'm : lucky.

Yeah you are. Otto Express is a Western states infection.

Reply to
Watts D. Matter

I used to complain about the brutal way my first boss in that business treated us. But, two years later, I realized it was like the U.S. Marines boot camp, for car audio installers. (Berliner Stereo, Great Neck NY). My skills were very much in demand when I moved to a smaller city. Too bad the pay scale didn't keep up with the needs of adults with families. Rumor had it you could make MUCH more money in California, but I had no interest in moving there.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

I'd swap out the speakers first - 5 years old to begin with. Then see what you think. PIE makes an adapter to hoodk up Mp3 player to stock unit. Aftermarket always look so added on.

Reply to
Wolfgang

A lot of aftermarket speakers will be less efficient than the ones which came with the Toyota radio. This will result in even flatter sound as they absorb even more of the 3 watts per channel he's probably dealing with.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Drop a "line out converter" into an AMP w/built in EQ and add some good speakers.

Most factory stereos are built to last, not to perform. As long as the signal out is clean, you can enhance it.

Many times I have left the head unit in a car, added some good speakers ($100-$250 per pair) that could handle some decent wattage. Dropped in a good amp with EQ built in ($200 for a Sony Explt for example), and used a lineout converter ($10) to get it hooked to the head unit. The result is usually a very good sounding system. It's not near top of the line, but blows away most factory systems.

Make sure the lineout converter is plugged into a filtered 12V line or you could get engine whine. You can purchase a filter for about $10.

Now if you want MP3, you can do that via these MP3 to RF adapters ($29-$49). Or you could purchase an amp with aux in and run a line to where your iPod would normally be located. That line would plug in like headphones.

Just options. If you do replace the head unit, keep it. They are almost always worth more at resell than an after market replacement. Call your local junk yard and ask them how much they want to sell one for. Never just give it to the installer.

Reply to
edavid3001

Not when you do it right! ;)

Reply to
Hachiroku

Well, this is sort of true. I lost a few decibles when I replaced the factory Pioneer speakers with MB Quarts.

That's what we have volume controls for!

The sound is much better, even with the stock head unit. It already has MP3 playback, and just lacks a direct input for my XM receiver. But the PIE adapter will fix that...if I leave the factory head unit in.

Reply to
Hachiroku

I could argue this. In the Supra I have a couple amps, really good speakers, etc. But the Supra is a 'cruising' car, and the roof comes off, so decent sound was a must.

But, in my Winter Beater '92 Grand Voyager, I replaced all the speakers; MB Quart 5" in the dash and Infinity 6x9 in the rear door. Now, on this vehicle, the amps (Infinity) are mounted to the speakers; they have a line-level converter built in. I replaced the head unit with a Sony Xplode that I took out of a car someone traded in; it says 52 Watts per channel, but the rated RMS output is 20 Watts. In a big, noisy vehicle like an old, rattly van, this is PLENTY of power to overcome road and wind noise, even with the windows down!

My advice would be, if you don't want to add an amp, buy a good quality head unit.

In my 'collection' I have the Xplode that has a built-in 7 band EQ, this REALLY comes in handy. I was going to trade the van but decided not to, I traded my LHS, and I pulled the JVC MP3 unit out of the LHS. Since I was going to trade the van, I pulled the Sony. I replaced the Sony with the JVC (45 Watts per channel) and it sounds just about as good. I have a JVC in the Supra, but that has amps, so no comparison. I also have a Clarion that's OK, and an Aiwa that has the one thing the others don't: a front panel input for the XM receiver, but since it doesn't have MP3 it sits on the shelf. It is also a very good unit for CDs and XM, and sounds decent with it's '3 band EQ'. It's rated at about 35 Watts per channel.

And, the best thing...I got them on E-Bay for pennies on the dollar. They all worked, and they all sound great.

Hot? I hope not. I was selling the aftermarket radios out of cars we took in trade on E-Bay and replacing them with Factory units a friend of mine in an installation shop was giving me! Win-Win!

Reply to
Hachiroku

As far back as the late 1970s, my cohorts in the retail stores constantly wondered why there weren't laws prohibiting those "high distortion wattage ratings". No matter how many ways we found for explaining THD to customers, it almost always resulted in blank stares. Obviously, the high numbers exist to snag the unwary, or people who like distortion (and those people do exist).

25 years later, every box of cereal contains more data than a safety audit for a nuclear power plant, half of it disclaimers, and yet, the audio industry can still use the dummy numbers.

Never mind. Rant over. My wattage recommendations come from being a bass player, although if I installed an aftermarket system today, it would in no way resemble those stupid boom cars. I just like very tight bass notes because at least to my ears, it helps them stand out from masking noises, many of which are in the mid-ranges of bass guitar. In fact, anything is better than a 3 watt per channel head unit.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

That really won't help, after a certain point, and that point may come before you have enough volume. There are too many combinations of head units and speakers to say with any certainty which will be acceptable and which will not. Unless you install these things all day long, you're at the mercy of experimentation.

I have two speaker cabinets for my bass guitar. With one cabinet, the amp head doesn't breathe heavy at all, at certain volume levels. With the other, the clipping limiter kicks in before useful volume levels are reached. This would be a great demo for this situation. Fortunately, using the cabinets together solves the problem, since the amp's then playing into a 4 ohm load instead of 8 ohms, and it becomes a very happy amp.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Not to over simplify, but why not take a couple of discs or tapes to your fav local car audio shop, and use those to put together a system that sounds the best to *YOUR* ear. Its also a good idea to do this wih all of the tone/eq controls either off or in a neutral position so that when the system is inatalled in YOUR vehicle, you have plenty of room for adjustment to what sounds best to your ear.

Reply to
Noon-Air

You're right - this IS what you should do. But, also be aware that the enclosures in the store may be nothing like the ones in your car (doors, side panels, etc.). The air volume behind a speaker has a definite effect on the sound. Not worth obsessing over TOO much, since there's not much you can do to change it, so I'm just sayin'....not for nuthin....ya know.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

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