Speaker replacement experience 2013
 

Has anyone had any experience replacing the base speakers in their 2013? I got a certified 2013 with the base speakers and they sound terrible! I've gone to a few after market speaker shops and all have said that even if I buy good aftermarket models they won't sound good... is this true? Even if I were just to replace the front speakers?

If you've replaced your speakers, how did they sound? Were they better or worse?

2016 - I have replaced all but the rear door speakers in my car (just haven't gotten around to it). But I also had to add a DSP and 2 amps.
There are quite a few speakers that you could swap out to improve the sound some.
Look for high efficiency speakers (sensitivity rating of 90db or higher)
Polk, JL, Infinity, Pioneer, etc.... all make decent entry level speakers.
You will never get great sound from it without spending a ton of money, so decide what is important and go from there.

The only real fix is adding a sub. Free air speakers will more than likely leave you disappointed. There are a number of simple options to add controllable bass. I went with Rockford Fosgate P300-12 subwoofer and wired a sub volume knob installed in blank plate near the trunk release button. Rockford also make a 10 inch version tat is a bit smaller. If you want better base, go with a sub.

This thread is kind of confusing. Are we talking about the bass speakers as in woofer or the base speakers as in the original speakers?

Since he mentioned speakers meaning plural as well as changing out the front speakers I'm pretty sure he's not talking about the subwoofer but is referring to the base level door speakers

ML is terrible in my GS

I replaced all six speakers in my non-ML 2017 with Infinity Reference speakers. It made a noticeable difference but wasn't as significant as I had hoped. No regrets though since I keep my cars for a long time and good sound is important to me.

I put in two JBL Bass pro nanos, one under each seat, which really brought the base to life. It still doesn't compare to the ELS system in my old Acura TL but I think it's about as good as it's going to get.

I replaced every speaker in my 17 es350 and added subwoofers. The stock speakers were awful. I only added the subwoofers because after removing the stock sub in the rear deck, you have to make a new housing piece for the sub. I made one, but wasn’t able to secure it tight enough to where it wouldn’t vibrate, so I disconnected it and added a box in the trunk.

I finally got around to ordering a basic angle grinder from amazon and giving the Skar subwoofer a good trimming to fit it into the Lexus OEM subwoofer enclosure. ​ @Awesomoto Did the same thing here: . My attempt was definitely a hack job, but the results have been great! That Skar woofer is really nice, although it seems like a shame to run it in the 8ohm configuration and not really take advantage of the dual 4ohm voice coils, but it sounds great none-the-less. It gave me a bit of momentum to tackle the other speakers…



I replaced the front tweeters with the Dayton Audio AMT Mini-8 Air Motion Transformer Tweeter(s) - minor mods and soldering required for these (Easy to medium difficulty if you're a soldering novice). The existing tweeter crossover capacitors (3.3uF) are tiny and the leads are short. I unsoldered & reused them, but they sound kinda 'muted'(?) with the new AMT 8ohm tweeters. I have Dayton AMT tweeters in a bunch of home audio speakers throughout my house, and I love them. In this application they sound just a tiny bit weaker than I expected. I'm hoping it's the old OEM caps, so I've ordered some arguably better caps of similar specs: Audyn Cap Plus 3.3uF 800V Double Layer MKP Metalized Polypropylene Foil Crossover Capacitor from Parts Express. These should be an improvement over the stock caps, especially when factoring in their age. They are probably much bigger in physical size than the originals. I don't think that placement will be a problem as there seems to be plenty of room in that area. We'll see how it goes when I get them installed. If it is a vast improvement (Parity with the performance of my home audio AMT tweeters), then I will replace the rear passenger door tweets/x-over caps as well.



I replaced the mids with the Kenwood KFC-835C 3-1/2" Dual Cone Speaker Pair - these are a bit more difficult. Front door mounts require thoughtful enlargement of the plastic mounting plate. Managed to slice the hell out of my finger when doing this (Don't rush it and don't attempt it late in the evening).



Replaced the 6x9s drivers in the front doors with the

. Used the metra speaker adapter mount kit and metra wire harness connector leads that everyone else uses for this part.



Rear passenger doors: replaced the primary drivers with the Skar Audio FSX65-8 300-Watt 6.5-Inch 8 Ohm MID-Range Loudspeakers (FSX65-8). These drop in to the existing mounts. Minor mods required to retain the tweeter basket that mounts over top the replacement drivers. Still have the stock tweets in the stock baskets. I may order two more AMT tweets to replace these, but the stock ones still sound good with the new 6.5" Skar speakers, so I'm not in any hurry to swap these.



The mids in the rear door (Barn door) - going from the 2.75" ML mid drivers to the same Kenwood 3.5" mid drivers used in the front doors here is challenging at best. I started to take the angle grinder to the alloy speaker mounts to strategically slice them in half in a way that saves the original anchor/fastener points. As I got one halved and then played around with the halves to see how I might fit the 3.5" mid driver to it, I realized it would be a time-suck in regards to the amount of grinding/trimming needed to make the two halves work with the new speaker. I've got some materials on order from Parts Express. PVC sheets, fasteners, back-straps, and some other odds & ends. Probably going to wind up with some PVC sheet rings on bent to fit back-straps in order to create a solid-ish mount for these. I may even be able to incorporate pieces of the original mount (E.g. now halved). When I figure out the best way to modify the first one, I'll rinse and repeat for the other one.



I've been adding sound damping mat (Amazon's brand) in a limited/strategic manner to both the door cards and door sheet metal as I go. I've gone back into some sections to add more after listening tests. Seems to help. I've not had enough break-in run time on most of the new speakers yet, but it does sound much better already. One caveat though, it sounds a lot better in regards to the clapped out 2007 ML speakers I replaced. I will say that a GX470 ML Audio Package sounds fantastic when new or in good condition. My previous 2009 GX (I've owned two of this gen GX) sounded phenomenal. Sounded better than my wife's new Mercedes GLE Burmeister premium audio package (Which is just 'meh' by comparison).



I still need to replace the front center channel speaker with another one of the Kenwood 3.5" drivers (They are really full range drivers). I'm planning on ordering a replacement dash, so I will do all of that together when I get the new part(s) in. I'm also tempted to do the tesla style tablet radio swap. I may go ahead and pull the trigger on that order.

Replaced dash speakers too
 

I just finished replacing the left and right dash speakers with Polk DB 402 speakers. Basically drop in with red wolf speaker wire adapters off eBay! I think they are sold on Amazon too. The polks are very efficient and sound amazing. I tried the infinity ref’s but thought the polks sounded better with stock head unit. I had to order more speaker wire adapters to finish off the rest of the speakers now that I know the adapters fit. I have a jbl sub and some Polk MM 6.5 for rear doors and 6.5 Orion mid bass for front doors

Just some FYI:

The Infinity Speaker line to use is the Kappa line not Reference. The Reference speakers is just ok at best still better than Stock. The New line of Kappa's give the best improvement. Not the older ones, which actually run 1.7ohm (2ohm) or 2.9 ohm (4ohm), those older ones will flex and likely overheat or Blow the stock Lexus Amp.

We did some measure on the ML Lexus amps, some of them were putting out as much as 67 watts per channel on the door speakers. That's some Watts for a Factory amp. Upgrading the speakers is the way to go. Without doing a complete High Dollar Build the best total upgrade you could do would be a aftermarket DSP (I used the MiniDSP 8x12 Next Gen Processor) , Upgraded speakers front with a pillar mounted Tweeter. A Sperate Sub and Sub amp (don't disconnect the Factory Sub), (don't try to put in a Free Air sub in place of the Factory one). Install a DSP to tune the Factory Amp on each individual speaker (crossover points and EQ).

Then run a better Audio source like Tidal Master High quality audio. Its what I had done. With some good Soundeading added to the car, beat's 90% of the systems you would have a car audio shop install for 5x's the cost, and the low volume audio sounds way better than a aftermarket where to have to crank it to high volume and lose the high sensitivity ratings. I know because I did mine and it was Audiophile quality.

Speakers
 

I don’t have the ML system and I can’t really add any electronics yet (factory warranty won’t allow) why wouldn’t you want to run a lower impedance speaker would get more out of a stock amp (?) seems like a heavier magnet would require more power to move it. I have an older Boston that I’m planning to put in the middle dash spot. Just trying to do a stealth install just in case have to take back to the dealer

I'm Not talking Factory warranty adds. Lower impedance runs hotter. If I remember correctly some of the stock speakers are 6-8 ohms. Going down to 2ohms would have the amp running hot, not sure if it capable of running cool reliable that low down to 2ohms. Reducing ohms for power is sometimes a myth to hear the difference.

Only referring to the info that was posted here before and what I did and know. I had measured the ohms and someone had clamped the watts. Again just talking experience and my build that Sounded Audiophile even confirmed by car Audio shops. Not a full blown comp system but still measured full and Audiophile sounding.

lower impedance speaker Ohms Myth hearing -

Speakers
 

Interesting, I didn’t measure the stock speakers but usually car system run at 4 ohms. I’m not turning it up loud enough to make the amp heat up (at least I don’t think so) the polks are 4 ohm rated btw. I just wanted something cleaner sounding and stock looking and not a big budget project like my tundra. Once the warranty is done I’ll try your way as I am buying things one by one as budget and timing allows. But I have a hybrid too and I don’t think I have an alternator so might limit what I can do with electronics especially amps!

I'm also most certain that both the ML and Standard system both use the same exact speakers. They are from 6-8ohms.