Premium Non ML stereo and amp questions
 

Greetings from a new 2007 Lexus ES 350 owner, and I appreciate the forum on audio improvements on a budget. Would the forum help me out on some audio questions for a non- Mark Levinson premium audio system? Based on the feedback and recommendations on this thread, I am going to replace all of the door speakers, and the subwoofer while keeping the stock head unit and amplifier. I purchased a dual voice coil 4 ohm high efficiency 10” Pioneer Champion subwoofer rated at 95db for the package shelf area in the rear, and also some 4 ohm JBL 6 x 9 3 way speakers rated at 94 db for the front doors. Does anyone know the specifications for the stock amplifier, including the watts per channel (100?), number of channels, and minimum speaker impedance? (I certainly don’t want to blow the amp up running too little impedance with the new subwoofer which can be run as little as 2 ohms) Also, I crawled inside the ES 350 trunk looking for specs on the stock subwoofer, found impedance is “2.5 ohm/2.5 ohms” and is connected with 4 wires, blue, yellow, red, and green. Is this a dual voice coil configuration? And if so, which are the positive and negative wires? The typical red and black terminals were not labeled, nor did the vehicle schematic provide any help. The Pioneer sub has a dual voice coil connection for 4 amplifier wires ( 2 red, 2 black), so I am hoping they will match up somehow. The door speakers are really simple, just plug and play, and I think I can connect these without issue. Ultimately, I plan on putting down some dynamat in the doors, and rear package shelf area, in order to reduce road noise/sound deadening. My sawzall will quickly enlarge the subwoofer hole. Thanks for any assistance or advice. I believe in the old adage….measure twice cut once!

After 5 frustrating years I finally began by replacing the speakers, adding a sub, disconnecting the center dash speaker & existing sub and added amps which made a world of difference. Had I not wanted CarPlay & a reverse camera, I probably would have let it go at that but am now in heaven!

Audio upgrade.

Do yourself a favor and add an amp as long as you're going as far as you describe above.

Thanks for the info....WOW that is quite a set up you have there.

You are correct, it is a dual-voice coil sub. 1st circuit is green(+) and black(-), 2nd is red(+) and white(-)...

My "budget" audio upgrade was an amp with a 12" sub and it is sensing off the stock sub...

Just to be clear, I began with just speakers, sub & amps. You can see just how awful the stock speakers are and I was quite happy with that sub, I only swapped out for the Wedge when I did the HU/Camera/Remote start upgrade. I really think you'll be happy with the direction you're heading but I think adding an aftermarket amp is essential.

I added this iSimple device to access an iPod/iPhone at the time so I could keep the stock HU.

Does anyone have any advice on powered subwoofers? I'd like to add one of those ones that fit under your seat since I need the space and don't need earth shaking bass. Just a little more than the stock system. Thanks in advance!