2004 Camry - Equalizers help??

Hi All,

Purchased an '04 Camry LE. The factory stereo is plain and alright in sound, but not exciting to look at or listen to. I have a Sony MP3 player in my old Accord and would like to pull this out and put this in the Camry. Found mounting brackets for 04 Camry's at Circuitcity - with the curved shape - perfect!

My question is - I don't want to put in a subwoofer thereby losing trunk space. But I want better sound, so will get the door panel speakers replaced with some Polks or Blaupunkts. Will adding a 9-band equalizer help? Another reason for wanting to add an equalizer is that I hate the odd hollow beneath the dash and the center console. So, if I can install the Equalizer in that space, it will make the hollow less odd.

Any tips or advice? Thanks a lot.

Anil

Reply to
saaketham
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Hello Anil,

I have a 2002 Camry LE V6 with the factory stereo as well. I replaced the factory deck with an Alpine 9813 model and things sound more nicer. The Alpine has a 5 band EQ (Bass Engine Pro) and you can adjust the bass focus and imaging quite nicely. The speakers are 6x9 Components for the front (tweeters are in the dash) and 6x9 in the back.

If you wanted to replace the speakers, I would get 6.5" Components for the front and 6x9 in the back. If you went this route, you will need a sub as the 6.5" don't give as much bass out as the 6x9. You will lose the trunk space but a JL Audio 10" 10W3 sub and box should not take up too much space. If you do all this, I suggest getting an 5 channel amp to hook up everything. Its a bit of work and $$, so start with a GOOD deck and go from there. I found that replacing the deck alone was good enough for me and there is enough bass in the music to get by with 4 6x9's.

Reply to
Car Guy

I already have a Sony CD/MP3 player in my older car, which I was thinking of using in the Camry, to save a couple of hundred. Alpines are of course, much nicer, but probably costlier.

I definitely want to replace the door panel speakers and found a couple of speakers that fit the 04 Camry door panel (they're thinner than usual) at CircuitCity. The rear speakers can wait till next year.

Is there a definite advantage in getting separate tweeters and the hassle of making holes in the door panel or dash to accomodate them vs just getting component speakers with a woofer, mid-range driver and tweeters all in 1 design?

Thanks.

Anil

Reply to
saaketham

By replacing the 6x9 with the tweeter in the doors, you will alter the sound adversely. You would not want to keep both dashboard as well as door tweeters at the same time (too bright or hash sounds). My suggestion is get some 6.5" components so that the sound dynamics remain intact. The tweeters fit in the same places as the current speakers so no holes are needed. The cross overs for factory speakers are in the door panels.

My suggestion, replace the deck, see how things sound and then if you still want to change it, then do it right.

Reply to
Car Guy

Yeah, I'm headed to CircuitCity tomorrow. Hopefully will get some changes by evening. Then, maybe I won't have to change the speakers at all.

Thanks.

Anil

Reply to
saaketham

Hey Car Guy,

I went to Circuitcity and bought 2 sets of speakers - a pair of 6.5 (Polk) for the door and a pair of 6x9 (Alpine) for the rear deck. The rear deck ones sound great. The guy installing the speakers told me the door panel ones were weird and that I couldn't get 6.5 or 6x9 installed there without some custom bracket, which is what another shop also told me.

He was wondering why Toyota made things so complicated and non-standard. So, I returned the Polks and now have the factory deck, factory 6x9 on the door, Alpine 6x9 in the rear desk and the sound'smuch better just replacing the rear ones.

What did you say about the tweeters in the dash? Are they the ones right in front of the dash, close to the windshield? So that means I can put in better tweeters without needing more holes? Well, I will probably keep the factory desk for now, and next month, replace the door ones with Alpines. Let's see how much better that will make the sound.

Thanks for the advice.

Anil

Reply to
saaketham

I was looking at the Alpine SPX 6.5" components with custom bracket and they sound really nice. Now replace the crap factory deck and you will be fine. My Alpine with the stock speakers sound like a totaly different system. A good deck goes a long way.

Reply to
Car Guy

Save your breath guys. My 2002 has the JBL Nav system and I had to pay a shop to install them.

I now have "Premium" component 6x9's in the doors and also in the rear deck. They are made by MB Quart. I also bought a Clarion Marine amp and put it in the trunk. Marine means that I don't have to worry if it gets wet if it's raining when I open the trunk. I had a pro shop install them. The front speaker frames were tricky and in certain locations, the shop had to ground down to fit. Since they were components, I had the tweeters flush mounted in front of the door handles as high as possible.

When finished, they really sounded great with plenty of bass! So much that I had to have the front doors Dynamatted!!

The shop left the dash speaker wired since the navigation voice is wired to them.

Very, very pleased and my friend are certainly impressed.

Total cost was $1500.00 and I did not need a sub.

Reply to
Tull

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