Hello all!

I just bought a 2021 ES350. I was looking thru Crutchfield looking to upgrade the stereo, specifically the subwoofer. Crutchfield says that a JL Audio 10W6 will fit in the rear speaker deck.
Im wondering if anyone has actually fit this speaker there and how does it sound? Its hard for me to believe that the W6 will actually fit.

Thanks!

 

I don’t think the factory amp would have enough power to push that speaker to the point where it would sound any better than the one you have.

 

I just did a bunch of research on this. Long story short is if you want to change the sub in the rear deck you will need to use an aftermarket amp with it. It won't thump like you expect from a sub but it will provide more bass overall.

I plan on adding a sub to my car but probably not until closer to summer. I'm thinking I'll just go with one of those all-in-one bass units so it can be removed if needed.

 

An aftermarket amplifier is going in without a doubt.

I was wondering if anyone had managed to actually fit a 10W6 in the rear speaker deck. The speaker is much taller than the factory subwoofer if thats what you want to call it.
What I am trying to figure out is exactly how much fabrication is going to be needed to upgrade the sound system.

Thanks!

Keith

 

@E46CT did a nice write up installing an all-in-one sub/amp unit. It was a standalone , not replacing the deck mounted factory sub, but very informative from what I remember. He chose that route so it could be easily removed when he sold the car.
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I didn't save any links but what I did was research other Lexus sedan models and rear tray subwoofer to see how people have done it in the past. Do some searches to see what was done in the last ~12 years to see because the process is the same. Previous gen ES, etc.

I also considered what you are proposing. I'm pretty sure the subwoofer will fit with minimal modification. It wouldn't be hard to modify because it's literally just a hole in metal where the sub mounts. Stick your head in the trunk and look up and you can see the bottom of the sub, it's exposed.

 

Remove rear deck sub completely, replace grille, then put a sub box in trunk withnDSP is direction I plan to go

 

I’m actually considering this route however then I have to figure out how and where to mount the amplifiers. I just think it would be cool to have a W6 in the rear deck. If I go the separate box in the trunk idea, then I’m putting a 12W7 in it because why not. I already have a LC7i sitting around with 2 Slash 500/1 and a Slash 300/4.

 

That’d be the clean way to go plus the trunk is already not super roomy. I do love the sound and hit of a ported box though, and am suspicious of a subwoofer that claims to be able to be mounted on a deck without an enclosure.

 

i agree with that, which is why I was asking if anyone had actually done this yet. I guess I will have to stare at my trunk when I get off of work tonight and see if I get any inspiration. Maybe I’ll get crazy and shove 2 10W7’s in there. I’m not happy with the options I have in the doors or dash. Crutchfield says there are only 3 1/2’s in the back doors.

 

In my opinion, the cleanest install still provides the most use of your truck would be to do a custom fiberglass box on the side. I did this in my previous car, and while it was a lot of work, the results were phenomenal.

 

I like my method. see my blog. basically all-in-one box with a simple one-click plug for when you need to remove it. low profile. i'm the pioneer of the wiring instructions as i was the first, and the only, coast to coast to pull the official wiring and share it with the forum as the ES was relatively new and i couldn't find any subwoofer wiring pin outs for non ML. I paid for the subscription and had to learn how to read the wiring pin outs. turns out it was easy in the end. one wire one tap to the amp under the seat.

 

My last car I added a powered sub enclosure and used a male and female washing machine style 3 prong plug for the power and blue wire which made removing it really easy.

 

i imagine that's very possible. Use black fabric tape to make it clean and invisible as possible.

 

I had the installer do it in black flex tubing with just the gray plugs and closed, worked really well easy and safe to hook up and unplug when I needed the full trunk.

Unfortunately looks like the factory system pretty severely limits and processes the speaker level output to the factory sub and other locations though. I’d gladly have paid extra for a set of RCAs or other sort of clean line level out or even a USB digital stream out because they know damn well millions of Toyota customers are adding aftermarket stereos. Hell even a headphone level clean output of the sound would be a huge help.

That said a clean and pretty trunk install isn’t a priority for me, there’s usually a lot of junk in there anyways.

and a benefit to a box vs a built in install like custom fiberglass is a box can be moved and experimented with. My last car consistently sounded best with the box close to the corner and port facing inwards.