mlacomb

I'm going to tackle replacing the speakers in the front doors at the very least this spring, along with adding a Basslink (infinity) sub in the trunk area. I'm still pondering how to do a head unit upgrade, with thoughts on customizing a new dash piece to replace the existing one...

I do know if you are planning on replacing the speakers you will need an adapter plate that will give more space for the window to not smack the rear of the speakers. There are some other posts about how to accomplish this; I'll add them if I find them.

I'm also thinking of replacing the tweeters as well; possibly toning them down as well since I find them to be really bright in the stock location.

bigbody305

Can I do all this without having to add an amp? i would like to change my stock system and maybe replace my stock sub for another sub same size without having to do anything ghetto please let me know i have never taken a sound system apart but i want to learn.

bigbody305

also i dont want to change my stock radio either just want to have better sound....i think the sound is pretty good i just have some vibrating from my stock sub i think its blown or just old i was thinking of maybe just replcing that alone and stuffing some of that dynamat or whatever its called to eliminate rattling

Robert_J

You can replace the speakers without replacing the amp. Door and dash speakers are the easy part. The sub will be difficult as it is non-standard when compared to aftermarket 8" subs.

What is "ghetto" about adding an aftermarket sub? I'm not a fan of lowering a car or changing our the rims but I've never posted any negative comments about their choices to do so. I prefer to concentrate my upgrades on equipment that I can enjoy while driving even if I had to sacrifice a little bit of trunk space to do so.

I cover most of the steps in my thread - https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...-a-2007-a.html

Robert_J

The biggest improvement will be changing the radio vs. changing out the speakers.

Blown subs don't work. Old subs work just as well as new subs. They don't just wear out and degrade over time. Yes, the foam on the surround may rot but that takes years. Other than that, there is nothing to degrade. Have you checked any panels that may be loose? Your brake light? 99% of the time, that's the extra vibration that you hear.

bigbody305

i didnt mean after market subs are ghetto i actually want one of better quality, i meant i dont wanna have like a sub in a box or have to do wiring, change my radio etc things like that, i like to keep everything original. No space for box and im not cutting or removing my stock radio

Robert_J

You won't find a drop-in replacement. If you prove me wrong and do, you can't guarantee it will perform any better since you have the same amp powering it. Finally, I'd much rather run wire than remove my rear deck to install a new sub.

ChristianM

I wuold have to agree with Robert_J, I spent alot of time looking for an 8" drop-in replacement for the stock sub after I bought the car because I didn't wanna install a system this time around. Most 8" subs can be wired to 8ohm's or 4ohm's, it is preety have to find a dual 3ohm/6ohm (like the factory) sub as i have never seen that. Because of the impedance, you would likely have to go with an 8ohm/dual 4ohm sub rather than a 4ohm that can potentially blow your factory amp because of the low impedance. The factory sub gets fed roughly 60watts and that power number will only get lower by using an 8hom/dual 4ohm sub, maybe to about 45 watts? regardless of what the power drops to, most 8" subs will not move alot or produce any noticeable bass with watts. Then you have to look at the application, the factory sub is designed to play in an open enviroment without a sub box while most 8" subs will require a box to sound descent. Its kind of a crappy deal with the sub, best way to deal with it is to merely add an aftermarket sub/amp combo.

I believe robert said this before too in another thread but the best way to start off is to replace the front components with a decent set of speakers and seal/deaden the doors as best as you can. Most of the time you will be much happier with the outcome and not need to replace the factory sub. Changing the deck will make you enjoy your system alot more. I have an entire set-up to install in my ES but after swapping the deck out last week, im kinda being lazy about the rest. I dont see the need to rip it all apart right now. Yes my factory sub rattles the rear deck but the speakers sound alot more musical and can actually play up to a decent level without distorting. Im just saying, its one of those deals where you either enjoy the factory sub as-is or go aftermarket sub/amp with a decent/high end LOC so you can keep your factory deck. That rattle is preet damn annoying but its preety difficult to stop completely. You will need almost an entire 20 sq.ft. pack of dynamat on the rear deck to eliminate most of the rattleing.

Robert_J

When you remove the factory sub from the equation, a lot of the rear deck rattle is eliminated. Rather than removing it, I use my Pioneer head unit's high pass filter to keep 80hz and lower from being sent to the factory amp. That mean the majority of the signal going to the factory sub just isn't there anymore.

On the other hand, my PSI 12" sub will rattle parts in the car but that's now at levels where you have to yell to be heard by someone in the passenger seat.

ozarksandy

New to this forum. I'd like to give some audio insight to this issue, though I have no intention of touching my wife's ES350. This will be more theoretical than vehicle specific. These are basic rules of car audio if sound quality is the goal.

1. no more than 1 tweeter per channel/location. If you put a coax in the door, kill the dash tweeter. If you know what you are doing you can put a lo-pass filter on the coax tweeter and change the hi-pass on the dash tweeter to work from that point up.
2. Replacement subs- if there is no enclosure- general rule- look at a spec called qts> if the qts is .32 or lower then you might be ok with the replacement. if >.4 sealed box.
3. Leave the head unit alone. Sound quality changes would cost you more than it's worth. If you really want to make a difference with the head, find a VERY good tech who knows how to get inside the OEM head and wire you out all the necessary preamp signals to run to outboard amps. Sure- you could use a line level convertor or a high level input, but I am talking sound quality and each addition uneeded stage of amplification is a noise producer. By the way- the head may have pre-outs, just maybe not the connection/cabling you are used to. Like I said, I'm not taking her car apart.
4. speaker impedence- 3,4,6 8 whatever. remember- this a measurement at rest. as soon as that cone moves, the impedance changes. The cone is constantly moving, so is the impedance. Now will the amp heat up- maybe.
5. If you are going to put in coaxials, DONT. a tweeter firing at your leg doesn't work.
6. If you are going to put in separates, look for home audio quality components from sources like Madisound, PartsExpress or Zalytron. You can also get crossover networks they will match to your components not generic "4" or "8" ohm crossovers that don't crossover anywhere near where they need to be.
7. Woofer wear out. True- they may not where out, but they can be damaged and work, and sound horrible. Butyl rubber surrounds in a colsd environment will take a while to warm up and work as they should. Also any steel close by will leach magnets, particularly neo.
8. And once you put that big A honkin amp in- if you see your headlights keeping time with the music- you don't have enough 12V. your voltage is sagging, and your alternator current output will try to increase in response. If you don't want to mess with multi batteries and new alternators- take a look at a smaller pulley wheel for the alternator, makes it spin faster and stay in a higher output mode better.

Some of this may not be feasable, and the skill levels necessary maybe hard to find. And these are generalized. Good luck,

Robert_J

2. The optimal Qts of an infinite baffle sub should be around the .700 range. This comes from Scott Atwell, John Janowitz, David Moore and Dan Wiggins. I like a little more low end so I use low Qts subs for both home and car.
3. As one of the few on this forum that has put in an aftermarket head unit, it is worth it. The factory amp does a more than adequate job of powering the door/dash speakers. I crossover the signal so that nothing goes to the factory sub.
4. Resistance is measured with a DC current. Since the audio signal is AC, it is impedance and it varies by frequency.
6. More than enough companies make great component sets with a matching crossover. Recommending that someone go to PE and pick out components without any regard to impedance or sensitivity and trying to mate them with a crossover is a recipe for horrible sound.
7. I have the Earthquake 6.5" mids that were installed in my Honda CRX in 1991. They work great after getting new foam. You are also the first person I've seen mention leaching magnets.

ThumperPup

I was wondering can u add speakers in the locations where there would be speakers if I did have the ML system like since I only have the basic navigation without ML I know that I have spaces that don't have speakers like where the dash speakers are is there also more room in the doors ? I don't want to do any custom cutting out mounting
And would tere already be wires run ?

iceblast

I want to swap out the rear door speakers as I find they are absolutely horrible.

Does anyone know will the clearance be OK when installing a common coaxial set with a 3" mounting depth? Will I have to dremel the panel at all :S to ensure there is enough clearance, or use a ABS spacer also? I don't want the magnet to reach so far into the door that the window hits it on the way down.

Polk audio has a set with a shallow mounting depth (2") which might be easier for install.

Robert_J

Wires will not be run. The ML systems have both a mid and a tweeter in the dash. The mounting bracket is there for the mid but there are no wires for it. I haven't looked at the deck speakers but I'll bet money that no wires were run for those either.

Upgrading the speakers is a huge improvement and not very difficult.

Robert_J

I did not touch the rear speakers because I don't ride in the back seat and I don't really care what my passengers hear. That said, someone did upgrade theirs with some 6x9s. A search should find the details.

Found it - https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...50-non-ml.html It is a 6.5" with an odd shaped bracket. Once you remove it, the depth should be apparent. if you follow my thread, the PG speakers I used were a little deeper than factory and I had no issues.