What difference does speakers make?

Im not even

 

I replaced the speakers in my Camry XLE with the JBL system, it made absolutely no difference. If you have a JBL system, the crossovers are built into the amp and you are limited as to what speakers you can use for 2 reasons. First, they are 2 ohm that almost nobody uses, secondly, using a co or triaxial speaker is fruitless because the frequencies are crossed in the amp and not available at the speaker to utilize the co or triaxial speakers.

 

I've left my stock headunit alone because I still enjoy the look and usefulness. I did however, put a small alpine amp behind the headunit to power my aftermarket Infinity Kappas front & back speakers. That alone made a HUGEEE difference in sound quality over the shitty stock sound. Changing the speakers alone won't utilize the best out of your aftermarket speakers, because of the low output power our stock headunit provides, thus I recommend adding an amp as well.

Later on, I purchased a Kenwood Compact Sub w/ a built-in amp and installed it under my driver's seat for more bass. Click here for link: Amazon

 

like JHsieh_3 ^ i too have ran an alpine power pack behind the stock deck, powered the stock speakers with it for a while too, set HPF at 60-80hz and the stock speakers clean up a bit, you do loose the bass that way with stock speakers but they sound ok.

I then ran some basic Polk 6.5 speakers off the stock deck and alpine amp and i actually really liked it. Fully sound deadened doors and it had a nice thump to the bass.

 

How's you guys add an amp to the stock HU? Got any pics or write ups?

 

This general statement and get into the particulars. Most stock systems these days are decent. I thought to upgrade the sound system in my BRZ before...but it just needs to be equalized properly. If your stock system has decent power 50W+ it should be okay unless you want to play it loud and clear. Sound enthusiast will have a mic and a device that will be able to help equalized the sound in your cabin until it's flat. What better speakers will do is able to reproduce the sound if the head unit is putting out clean signal without distortion.

So if you want to keep your stock radio which is fair if it has navigation and don't want an aftermarket look. First go to some audio installation place or sound person that has equipment or good ear to tweak the EQ for you (if your head unit has it...most do will have 7 band or more) and see it that'll improve for you. Next you need an amp...stock radio if only stock radio...will output about 22W RMS max. It's not loud enough to play loud and clean in most cabins. So for Weldo, if you want to use a stock radio and add an amp...the stock radio either have an RCA output (most don't have optical out yet) or speaker output wires for your stock speakers. If it doesn't have RCA... you use a high low adapter that takes the speaker output wires and the adapter then it goes into the amp. So amps will have the speaker in feature so you don't need hi lo adapter. There's so inefficiencies with hi lo adapter...but it's what you have to deal with if you want stock radio.

From there...with an Amp...you can drive clean sound...some amps have DSP that will signal process and remove the distortion and do the time alignment so the sound into the cabin sounds nice. Add a sub to add fullness into the sound and that's how you can stick with the stock head unit.

Upgrading the speakers while nice...can fix some issues...but not as important as first tweaking the head unit EQ or DSP if it has it and then addding amp...then speakers.

And for the folks that upgraded to JBL speakers and said it didn't make any difference...they are either playing it too loud and don't have head unit EQ correctly or to do what I mentioned above.

 

Stock system in my 2007 Fusion is quite good. The speakers have good sized magnets, solidly constructed, and deliver good punch. HU pushes out more than enough clean power. Biggest downside is the paper cone. I can't stand the sound of a paper cone, even if it's good quality. Resin coated or poly cones sound the best, at least to my ear.

 

I posted about this a while back, here's the link to my experience.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/upgrading-oem-speakers.417485/#post-11899963

In short, I have Entune Plus, no JBL, no NAV. I upgraded the speakers to some low priced Sony and Kickers to the stock head unit, and the sound volume was lower and not that great sounding. Installed an Alpine 445U amp and the volume was very loud, but the bass sucked. The speakers, all of them, sounded like the bass was flat and dead. Really disappointed. I then put the stock speakers back in and damn what a difference! It actually sounds pretty decent - for a stock system. However, there's a slight hiss coming from the head unit and while the system sounds much better than before, it's just that - better than stock but not great. I just ordered a new head unit. Once that's installed I'll get some new speakers. If you are going to keep your head unit, I'd add an amp (the Alpine 445U was easy to install), then see how it sounds and upgrade the speakers down the road. Just my opinion. Good luck OP.

 

The stock speakers seal the doors fairly well and always guide all the sound to outside of the door panel due to their construction. If you install a typical set of 6.5" components in the front, you are going to lose that seal (unless you fabricate your own adapters with weather seals), and you'll lose bass. Also, the stock radio will still limit bass as you turn the volume knob up. Also, aftermarket speakers typically need more amplified power in order get any type of decent bass response at higher volumes.

I've gone through the upgrade path of very good speaker's first, very good head unit second, and an excellent full-up amplified system third. I never tried running the stock speakers with the aftermarket head unit.

Aftermarket speakers will lack bass either from the stock radio or aftermarket radio - I recommend leaving the speakers alone, and upgrading the headunit or otherwise doing a full amplified system with a sub. Also, if you end up doing a full ampliefied system with a sub (and new speakers in the front), I recommend using FAST rings around the aftermarket 6.5" speakers in the front - they will guide the sound to outside of the door panel, rather than letting sound and bass get stuck playing inside of the of the door panel (this is probably another reason why the stock speakers sound 'better' with only an aftermarket head unit installed.

 

Its easier to just link you to the Audio builds in the audio section. You can search for "My Audio Build" and many others. TW stepped it up for me when I went through the process. Originally thought NO WAY could I do everything myself, but i read threads on this site and decided to tackle it all. Saved a bunch of cash and learned a helluva lot!

 

Any of you guys have experience with this thing?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/brandmotion-bongiovi-dps-2000-3811.434468/

I'm the guy who bought the unit from this ad. I did some research on it before I purchased and for $50 I figured it was worth a try. I've been super happy with it. Install was really simple and the sound is noticeably better. I'm not really an audiophile and I'm sure my stock radio with this unit doesn't compare to a fully built system but I'm honestly surprised at how much volume and bass I get now compared to stock. I'm using about 10 less volume points than I was before and the bass has significantly more kick.

In the literature it says this little "amp" is designed to run the factory speakers to their limit without distortion but I wonder if it could be improved even more with a quality aftermarket speaker.

 

It says it's a 200W amp and DSP. So you get amplified sound at the same time, the DSP is correcting any distortion so the factory speaker will sound better because less distortion and more power to drive the speakers. You'll get an improvement with aftermarket speakers but if you want more bass and clean sound...you'll need to add a sub and then crossover the door speakers to remove the lower bass the sub would play and it would play more midrange and mid bass. This will play more clean sound and the DSP will make it sound better.

 

Clean source and cheaper speakers will ALWAYS sound better than shitty source and quality speakers. Speakers can only reproduce what's being sent to them.

 

Exactly.