Expensive stereo guys....

[espacef1fan]

What setup are you running in your XR as far as head unit and speakers go? I'm tired of my wife's 2011 Toyota Sienna having better sound than my car....

[noslack2mack]

Just about any single DIN stereo will fit - just get a quality unit. Marry that to a pair of 5x7 or 6x8 speakers in the lower dash. If you insist on doing something about the jokes in the rear, then convert to 5.25" and you should seriously consider a single subwoofer. I have ran several setups across the range of my XR's and a good set of 6x8's and a single 12" subwoofer will greatly surprise you. Promise. On my last setup, I cut out holes in the parcel tray for 6x9s and I LOVED IT!!! Alpine 6x8's up front and 6x9's in the back with a single 12 to help with the low end stuff. Pretty great sound!

[GPz11]

I'm running a alpine head unit, Infinity Kappa 6x8 front speakers and 6x9" rears cut in the deck lid, powered by a Kenwood amp.

[Mike McCreight]

Head unit and speakers are a start.
Most of the reason the Sienna system sounds so good is that it was specifically designed for the Sienna, and the Sienna is QUIET inside, unlike our cars.
Our speaker placement really couldn't be worse. Even the cheesiest Toyota systems have decent staging and speaker placement.
It takes work to make our cars sound good. I used a big hammer approach on my car, rather than spend time and $$$ finessing speaker enclosures. It basically overpowers the poor acoustics.
I can dig up pics and specs, but I'm sure many here are tired of looking at it.
One of the best things you can do is sneak some wire into the doors, and put quality (not piezo) tweets in the inner mirror panels.

[espacef1fan]

A link or some words to search for would be helpful, Mike.

I'm down to overpower the noise..LOL

I'm on a new road with my car's personality.. for the first time I'm concerned about making my car a nice place to spend time..hence the reinstallation of AC.

[KhanTyranitar]

Mine is a ways off, buy I'm using Roadkill to sound deaden the interior as much as possible as a starting point. I'm also using rubberized underbody coating in many areas as well. I don't have my speakers selected yet, I have not had the time or money to work on this car much. I have the head unit I will use, as well as the amps and sub already. Its just the main speakers are not yet figured out. I'm thinking of doing stock locations, but I'm just not sure yet. In any case, I plan on using some entry level high end stuff, like maybe Excelon or Focal, depending on if I can find good deals, and who makes sizes that will fit where I need. I may move the rear speakers to the side panels, and I might be able to run larger speakers in the front. I'm not decided yet. But in any case, I do have the amp and sub and head unit part figured out.

[noslack2mack]

Buy a crappy parcel shelf for a spair ( one that's bowed in the middle) and do the 6x9's!!!! It's a SHOCKING transformation! 85% of the accoustical quirks can be ignored with good 6x8 front and 6x9 rears.

[GPz11]

My 6x9's are in the parcel shelf. I couldn't remember what it was called.

I've also got 2 layers of sound deadening on the floor along with a layer in the doors, roof, and anywhere we could stick it.

[DAReese]

JVC Biongovi unit, 4 Alpine speakers in stock location, 10inch sub woofer, 1500w amp

[Mike McCreight]

Link to old thread, with previous install, in earlier car, changed a bit this time.
It's 3 "old skool" Orions, 6x8 Infinitys in the stock front locations, (hadda cut the dash supports a bit to fit the magnets in there, custom enclosures so they're not just huffing in open air) Boston passive X-overs, Boston 2" tweets in the door mirror panels, Forget what I put in the rear for fill, it's hardly audible. The rear is 2 tens in the (2x1.5" thick...) MDF enclosure. The cones drop into the (reinforced!) spare tire well. That's an Orion 2100.
It looks a bit different now. Nothing is red. Wiring is different.
Link!

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=21569&hilit=stereo
Jeez, even the motorhome has changed.
Please don't ask about Geo-crapping.

[espacef1fan]

I appreciate all of the "sound" advice guys!


Ok that was terrible.. I apologize.

I currently have a cheaper Alpine head unit. and some stock size replacement speakers front and back..couldnt tell you the brand? Anyways by the time you turn it up loud enough to hear it over road/exhaust /wind noise the speakers are distorting and it sounds like poo. Thats why I created this thread.

Also I am struggling to find a decent hidden antenna setup that works. The defroster antenna gave up long ago

[Ray]

The stock front stage location is horrendous for any real imaging. I would echo sound proofing as a really great way to kill down a bunch of the noise in the car. It also will help with heat, etc. Deadening lowers the resonating frequency of panels, while foam, jute mat, etc actually helps block sound.

After that, most modern head units will be a massive upgrade - just pick one with the features you want (usb, bluetooth, sat radio, etc) and the outputs you want (3 preouts @ 5v, for example, individual sub control) with an interface that you like. Personally, I'm a kenwood fan.

Then, and i'm going to go out on a limb here as my XR is really not a ... well it's an autocross race car not a daily driver, but i have several years of experience in designing and building custom audio applications, so take this how you will:

Focus on the front stage - i would completely ignore the stock location - it's $#!%. I would say go for a 6.5" separate setup in a custom fiberglass pod, either in the door or the kickpanel area, and move the tweeter to low on the A pillar sort of aimed at the rear view mirror. That should image very well. Power that off an amplifier that has clean output and go with a sub setup that fits your needs. Some people like a lot of bass in their music, some just enough to fill it in. I haven't run a rear stage at all in my past couple vehicles - in my SVT focus i ran an active 4 way front (6.5" midbass in custom pods in the doors - 6.5" and 4" mains in the kick panels, tweets in the a pillars) with a single 12" sub. I run very similar in my LGT daily but without the midbass panels as my 6.5"s can handle 60Hz-3k easily. both image very very well and sound fantastic. Individual brands are up to you, pick what you like.

Like anything, you can take this beyond reasonable and make it super crazy, or just upgrade and be happy with it.

I would not bother with 6x9's in the rear shelf or rear speakers at all, personally.

Edit:

Hidden antenna setup - take some coaxial cable, splice into the existing antenna wire (shield, center copper is your pin), strip off all but center copper @ 31" long, run that along above the ceiling fabric on a side of the car, should work okay. Keep the 31" section straight, orientation doesn't really matter.

Distortion - is probably from overtaxing your head unit's amp as well as (maybe) overtaxing the speakers. It's called clipping where your desired signal is beyond the range (or head room) in the amp's capacity, which results in a partially squared wave. A lot of times, just getting more head room, which moves the ability for the waves to get bigger, per se, fixes it. But if they're crappy speakers, then they're crappy speakers. Also, ignore the 3 way or 4 way speakers. They're for the most part just marketing. Any decent coaxial speaker can handle full range. I prefer separates for imaging purposes.

Best of luck with the install -

[noslack2mack]

I know it's been a month, but I need to warn you about this hidden antenna dream of yours. I went down that road for two years on my first XR - forget about it. Unless your local station is VERY local, then it will just keep you frustrated. Use Iheartradio or some similar on your cell phone and plug in through the aux input of your new stereo. You will want the hidden antenna to work... I did/do.... and they almost do work. Sometimes you'll think "I can live with this", but it just won't provide you with acceptably consistent performance. They.... "work".....sort of......just know that the ol' Tennessee hillybilly tried to save you from the aggrivation of it all.

[GPz11]

I ended up getting XM for my car. Installed it in about an hour or so.

[noslack2mack]

Perfect choice! Been a subscriber since 2004!