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As some may know, my baby is in need of a complete system overhaul.
I've decided to stick with 4" speakers upfront & 6.5" out back, with an Alpine 10" Sub, to replace the stock one. 1 Mono Block Amp, 1 4Ch amp for speakers. Will do the big 3 upgrade and yellow top for safe measures. Will be taking it to a sound shop for install and any fab work.
I will also be adding a Double Din Kit, with a Pioneer face off unit. THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS BEFORE I ORDER PLEASE!
Is the sub a 'free air" sub? If it's going in the stock location, it should be.
Thanks! Great point. Makes since since it won't be in a box. I'll see what they have as far as free air sub's. Do you think I'll need a HO alt for such a set up?
Thanks! Great point. Makes since since it won't be in a box. I'll see what they have as far as free air sub's. Do you think I'll need a HO alt for such a set up?
Better make sure the mounting depth on the new sub isn't too deep. The fuel tank is right below the factory sub so anything too long won't fit and there's not much room for a baffle since the glass is right above the sub.
As far as the amp draw goes, you could probably get away without having an HO alt, but I would recommend upgrading the front battery to something with more Amp Hours, and upgrading the factory ground to the battery with a 0 gauge wire, same for the line running from the alt to the battery. Stock Alt is around 100 amps, typically they don't leave much headroom between the stock alt and the stock current draw, so of those 100 amps, at max stock draw the car probably pulls ~90 amps. So as long as you've got a good battery with a lot of capacity that can cover you're excess draw you can get away without an HO alt. That being said, having an alt that can produce the excess amperage is a definite luxury, and if you can afford it I would recommend getting one. But , do you need one? No, you could probably squeak by especially if you aren't listening to that setup at max volume all the time. At max draw that system would probably pull 80 amps but at regular listening levels it probably only averages 40 amps.
When my distributor leaked all over my alt, I just went ahead and got a 160 amp HO alt, and upgraded my factory lines, and got a larger battery for now. Having the extra headroom for current is definitely nice.
2 cars ago I had a gutted Ford Explorer that was just a sub on wheels, had two batteries, a 240 amp HO alt and a sub enclosure so big I had to remove the rear seats. Was a lot of fun and I keep looking at this SC thinking about car audio but she gives me too many problems as it is already, so car audio is unfortunately on the backburner for now.
Nvm bro. Decided to go with a 12" single in a ported box. With stock Alt, I'm only running 1000w RMS to my chosen sub. I'll just have the stock sub disconnected, or be creative and add a 10" speaker! Hmmm... I'm itching to upgrade this worn out system.
Edit* Didn't see the above comment until posted. Reading now. Thanks for replying.
Follow the link in my sig for info on putting 6.5" speakers in the rear deck with no fabrication work necessary, saving $100-200 on installation and speaker cost. Most people will tell you it's not possible, including the stereo shop that looked at mine when helping sort out the factory alarm.
Better make sure the mounting depth on the new sub isn't too deep. The fuel tank is right below the factory sub so anything too long won't fit and there's not much room for a baffle since the glass is right above the sub.
As far as the amp draw goes, you could probably get away without having an HO alt, but I would recommend upgrading the front battery to something with more Amp Hours, and upgrading the factory ground to the battery with a 0 gauge wire, same for the line running from the alt to the battery. Stock Alt is around 100 amps, typically they don't leave much headroom between the stock alt and the stock current draw, so of those 100 amps, at max stock draw the car probably pulls ~90 amps. So as long as you've got a good battery with a lot of capacity that can cover you're excess draw you can get away without an HO alt. That being said, having an alt that can produce the excess amperage is a definite luxury, and if you can afford it I would recommend getting one. But , do you need one? No, you could probably squeak by especially if you aren't listening to that setup at max volume all the time. At max draw that system would probably pull 80 amps but at regular listening levels it probably only averages 40 amps.
When my distributor leaked all over my alt, I just went ahead and got a 160 amp HO alt, and upgraded my factory lines, and got a larger battery for now. Having the extra headroom for current is definitely nice.
2 cars ago I had a gutted Ford Explorer that was just a sub on wheels, had two batteries, a 240 amp HO alt and a sub enclosure so big I had to remove the rear seats. Was a lot of fun and I keep looking at this SC thinking about car audio but she gives me too many problems as it is already, so car audio is unfortunately on the backburner for now.
If funds wasn't an issue, would you get a sub in the trunk, or free air sub for the deck?
Ii want crisp, clean bass, but not super outrageous. She is a Lexus after all.
Follow the link in my sig for info on putting 6.5" speakers in the rear deck with no fabrication work necessary, saving $100-200 on installation and speaker cost. Most people will tell you it's not possible, including the stereo shop that looked at mine when helping sort out the factory alarm.
Thanks a lot! I love saving money and I know shops will tax heavy on any fab. I'm not trying to spend more than $800 on the inside speakers, minus the head unit.
If funds wasn't an issue, would you get a sub in the trunk, or free air sub for the deck?
Ii want crisp, clean bass, but not super outrageous. She is a Lexus after all.
A free air sub will never hit as hard as a box unless you do a lot of sealing of the rear deck and behind the seat. Not worth it (weight and cost), IMO. I put an Earthquake sub into the stock sub's mount and it does a good job of filling out the frequency range without really being obvious that it's there.
Edit: Although, I did put two 8" free air subs in my other car and that hits pretty darn hard with a moderate amount of deck sealing, but they're also being powered by a much stronger amp. So, maybe my Earthquake is capable of more punch if I fed it more power. I kept it below the point that caused vibration.
Originally Posted by SC400Zulu
Thanks a lot! I love saving money and I know shops will tax heavy on any fab. I'm not trying to spend more than $800 on the inside speakers, minus the head unit.
Glad to help. If you shop around, you can get all the speakers for around $200 new as long as you're not after the most marquee of brands. Buying used, you can cut that number in half. I think I spent $60-70 total on my 6.5's and sub.
A free air sub will never hit as hard as a box unless you do a lot of sealing of the rear deck and behind the seat. Not worth it (weight and cost), IMO. I put an Earthquake sub into the stock sub's mount and it does a good job of filling out the frequency range without really being obvious that it's there.
Edit: Although, I did put two 8" free air subs in my other car and that hits pretty darn hard with a moderate amount of deck sealing, but they're also being powered by a much stronger amp. So, maybe my Earthquake is capable of more punch if I fed it more power. I kept it below the point that caused vibration.
Glad to help. If you shop around, you can get all the speakers for around $200 new as long as you're not after the most marquee of brands. Buying used, you can cut that number in half. I think I spent $60-70 total on my 6.5's and sub.
Wow. That's super cheap. Well, I will just get a good 10" sub and have it in a ported box in the trunk. What do you think of the idea of using a 10" speaker in the old sub location?
If funds wasn't an issue, would you get a sub in the trunk, or free air sub for the deck?
Ii want crisp, clean bass, but not super outrageous. She is a Lexus after all.
I'd go free air, or well I guess if funds really aren't an issue I would completely seal the trunk from the cabin and go infinite baffle instead. It's not that a box in the trunk would be bad, I just think it'd be too much of a pain to properly vent the trunk into the cabin, and it'd never really quite hit like a station wagon or SUV. It'd be possible to put an 8 inch driver in a transmission line dumping out of the factory sub position, but it'd take up too much room in the trunk and there'd probably be too many turns for it to be an easy design, but that might also sound nice at lower frequencies.
But this car's design isn't really made to get super loud the way I'd want, so I'd rather just focus on SQ at the low end and just make the trunk look pretty with a vanity plate over the amps so I still have trunk room I can use. But that's probably 8 months out for me, as I'm still focusing on the suspension, and steering components right now.
I'd go free air, or well I guess if funds really aren't an issue I would completely seal the trunk from the cabin and go infinite baffle instead. It's not that a box in the trunk would be bad, I just think it'd be too much of a pain to properly vent the trunk into the cabin, and it'd never really quite hit like a station wagon or SUV. It'd be possible to put an 8 inch driver in a transmission line dumping out of the factory sub position, but it'd take up too much room in the trunk and there'd probably be too many turns for it to be an easy design, but that might also sound nice at lower frequencies.
But this car's design isn't really made to get super loud the way I'd want, so I'd rather just focus on SQ at the low end and just make the trunk look pretty with a vanity plate over the amps so I still have trunk room I can use. But that's probably 8 months out for me, as I'm still focusing on the suspension, and steering components right now.
I really don't fancy having my baby at a shop for millions of years getting so much fan work. Nothing can beat an SUV as far as music, but a lot of cars make due with a sub in the trunk. Just has to be done right.
But if I replace the sub with a free air sub, it will make a big difference over stock, right?
Personally I wasn't a fan of the free air sub I did in my build, it was recommended on here. It was a Kicker CVR 10", and it just didn't hit as accurate as it should in my opinion, I wound up taking it out and building a box. Sounds much better but uses up a lot of my trunk space of course.
I put 6.5" JBL's up front and Alpine 5.25's in the rear. Making them mount up is the hardest part of the job. If you want an easy install don't go as big. Also had to make custom mounts for tweeters, as the stock lexus tweets are tiny! The grill covers had to be cut in my case.
Good luck with the build, take some pics of your work.
Follow the link in my sig for info on putting 6.5" speakers in the rear deck with no fabrication work necessary, saving $100-200 on installation and speaker cost. Most people will tell you it's not possible, including the stereo shop that looked at mine when helping sort out the factory alarm.
Originally Posted by Biddles
I put 6.5" JBL's up front and Alpine 5.25's in the rear. Making them mount up is the hardest part of the job. If you want an easy install don't go as big.
Wrong, go bigger. See, I told ya, SC400Zulu!
Granted, going bigger than 4" in the doors will require quite a bit of work. I stuck with stock size in the doors and use them to fill out the better, fuller sound from the rear deck's bigger speakers. (Think of it like a tower speaker with separate drivers for all the frequency ranges.) They work quite well together in that respect and everything is an easy drop-in installation.
Originally Posted by SC400Zulu
But if I replace the sub with a free air sub, it will make a big difference over stock, right?
Yeah, it should be a lot better. My stock sub was pretty anemic, although I was powering it through the aftermarket amp that isn't rated for such a low (1 ohm) load, since my wiring was all cut by the P.O. and I couldn't figure out if the stock sub amp worked.
I am incredibly happy with that setup. They are made to be used together. I removed the sub from the deck to let some bass into the cabin and it sounds great! I'm sure more can be done to direct the bass into the cabin but I am satisfied for now. The box is really shallow for the bass it puts out (way more than I need) and I still have most of my trunk left.
Look them up on ebay/Amazon for much better pricing.
12-12-14, 08:20 PM
1998 SC400 Complete Stereo Upgrade *Thoughts?
If you shop around, you can get all the speakers for around $200 new as long as you're not after the most marquee of brands. Buying used, you can cut that number in half. I think I spent $60-70 total on my 6.5's and sub.
