I wouldn't even concern myself with replacing 6 speakers. Save money and concentrate solely on putting a front component system in the vehicle and a 2 channel amp to push them, rear speakers are unnecessary, plus the rear speakers and amp to push them are going to be money you could have spent on better front components. Then, you can get a sub (or a couple of subs) if you like.
edster922
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Well I actually enjoy having the surround effect of front and back speakers. My other car is an extended cab pickup with Polk components on the doors and an Infinity sub in the back, run by a PPI 4-channel amp. The quality of sound is definitely a million times better but now whenever I am back in it I still miss the rear speakers of the Camry.
I doubt I'll be putting a sub into the Camry; I listen mainly to classical, jazz, and alternative rock and even in the pickup the sub only makes a big difference at very high volumes, in only about 20% of the music I listen to.
Sounds like you don't have enough power in the sub if it doesn't make a big difference, if I went a day w/o a sub I'd be hard pressed I haven't payed a lot of attention to the new Camrys, I'm guessing it has speakers in the rear doors and another set in the package tray? You don't have to upgrade the rears, you can just leave them in there and concentrate on the front components, you'll still have rear fill without being overbearing. You don't want tweeters in rear fill, it'll pull the soundstage back, those factory speakers will be about right to give you an ambient soundstage while keeping the detail up front. You could also consider something like 8" subwoofers mounted infinite baffle in the package tray to add some low end.
edster922
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Posted on
Yeah I think the type of music I listen to is mostly midrange and above. The sub gets about 250w from 2 channels bridged I think. I never listen to rap or techno, that's probably why.
The Camry has 1 pair of speakers in the front doors, 1 pair on the dash, and 1 pair in the back. I would've preferred 2 on the doors and 2 on the back, it'd be easier to convert the ones on the doors into 2 separate components like on my pickup.
EVERY type of music benefits from a sub, Classical, Jazz, Gospel, Country, Alternative, Soft rock, etc. But anyway, don't worry about the dash, and concentrate on the front doors. Disconnect the dash speakers, and leave the factory speakers in the back. The dash speakers are more than likely something like 4" or 4x6s, horrible place for a midrange. You could use the location for a tweeter, but that's a temperamental thing as tweeter location has to be chosen carefully. Spend all your cash on front components and an amp for them, you'll be a lot happier than if you divided it between 6 speakers. Dash is a bad location and rear fill shouldn't have a lot of detail, 150-3k is good for rear fill, which most factory speakers are limited to anyway (lucky you). What's your budget? do you have an aftermarket head unit, or the stock one?
edster922
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Posted on
> What's your budget?
Hoping to keep it under $1000, maybe $700 or so if possible. Maybe around $300 for the amp, $200 for the speakers, $200 for the wiring and installation.
> do you have an aftermarket head unit, or the stock one?
The stock one---which is one of those integrated units which will probably be a pain to replace, it's double the width of a normal unit, because it has both CD and cassette. The only head units I've ever seen for that size was a Kenwood, which is a make I don't think highly of.
All in all I don't think the head unit makes as big a difference as the amp and speakers though, so those are the only two areas I'm budgeting for at the moment.
The headunit can make all the difference in the world if you get the right one. Also, I'm sure they make mounting kits for the Camry so that you can install a normal size headunit and have a tray of some sort under it rather than trying to find a headunit to fill the whole gap.
edster922
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Steven,
What kind of head unit would you recommend then? I've heard great things mainly about Clarion and Eclipse. I currently have a Pioneer in my truck, have been pretty happy with it though I think the substantial sound improvement came only when I added an amp and sub.
I haven't payed a lot of attention to the new Camrys, I'm guessing it has speakers in the rear doors and another set in the package tray? You don't have to upgrade the rears, you can just leave them in there and concentrate on the front components, you'll still have rear fill without being overbearing. You don't want tweeters in rear fill, it'll pull the soundstage back, those factory speakers will be about right to give you an ambient soundstage while keeping the detail up front. You could also consider something like 8" subwoofers mounted infinite baffle in the package tray to add some low end.