Replace car radio

[Pghpooh]

I would like to replace the car radio I have.
I have a 2006 Toyota Highlander with factory JBL radio and speakers.. (No navigation feature) The radio is a 6 disk changer. It’s very basic and only plays regular audio cd’s.
I would like to replace the unit with one that plays cd’s that have the mp3 format songs on them. Also a nice feature would be to plug in a usb flash drive and play the music on the drive. On top of that but not necessary is being able to plug in a IPOD or other mp3 player. HD fm would be good but again not necessary.
The down side is the current unit is a double din size. I will not install any single din size radio and have to use any kind of filler for the open spot.
Any suggestions and help? I am starting here to get ideas and then build on top of the ideas.
Thanks

 

[jtvang125]

what's your budget?

 

[Pghpooh]

Right now I will spend $300 max. That will include installation charges, etc.
I haven't looked or called anyone in my area about prices and based on a quick look at the Crutchfield site I'll break it down this way.
About $225 for the radio and $75 for installation. If I could get 'everything" (mp3 cd playback. ipod feature, usb feature I will go a little higher on prive.
Again this is a starting point and learning experience for me.
Thanks

 

[Tristicus]

You should've grabbed the player Woot had yesterday.

 

[kornphlake]

You might want to research a little more on that JBL head unit, if it's like the one that was in my Sienna. The JBL head unit uses an external digital amp of some sort, there's not really a good harness to plug into for speaker wiring and your aftermarket head unit will only have analog outputs not the digital output the factory amp needs. So you'll either have to pull new wire to the speakers or use a stupidly expensive 'black box,' that may or may not actually work, to connect to the factory amp. On top of that I believe the factory speakers are 12ohm, which means they'll be really quiet with a new head unit rated for typical 4ohm speakers.

I may be wrong, Toyota and JBL could have changed their specs by '06, but it's definitely worth researching before buying something only to find out the installation is going to cost several times what you expected.

Edit: Don't trust the Crutchfield database for this research, for my Sienna van it was entirely incorrect. Luckily I had speakers and an amp from a previous install that I was reusing or I'd have been very frustrated.

 

[pcgeek11]

Go to Crutchfield.com and they will get you into a perfect fit for your car with all adapters etc required.

 

[zerocool84]

Go to Crutchfield.com and they will get you into a perfect fit for your car with all adapters etc required.

This is what I did. Looked at what fit my car then shopped around as Crutchfield usually never has the cheapest prices but is great for research.

 

[Pghpooh]

Spent a few hours looking for info on the JBL radio and speakers in my vehicle.
According to the Toyota site there should be a external amp under the passenger seat. I took a look and,, no amp under the seat. Also there is a external rf amp for the antenna that is powered my a aux lead from the radio.
Things are not what they seem to be or should be! LOLOL
I am going to stop at the Toyota dealer and try to talk to a tech there. Hopefully they can pull ul the right wiring diagrams and show me where the amp is IF there really is a amp.
Once I have better and accurate info I can go on from there.
Thanks

 

[NutBucket]

http://www.amazon.com/Clarion-CX609-.../ref=pd_cp_e_1

 

[pcgeek11]

Spent a few hours looking for info on the JBL radio and speakers in my vehicle.
According to the Toyota site there should be a external amp under the passenger seat. I took a look and,, no amp under the seat. Also there is a external rf amp for the antenna that is powered my a aux lead from the radio.
Things are not what they seem to be or should be! LOLOL
I am going to stop at the Toyota dealer and try to talk to a tech there. Hopefully they can pull ul the right wiring diagrams and show me where the amp is IF there really is a amp.
Once I have better and accurate info I can go on from there.
Thanks

On a Toyota the amp is usually an option only on the Premium Stereo systems.

 

[kornphlake]

On a Toyota the amp is usually an option only on the Premium Stereo systems.

I believe the JBL stereo with the 6 disc changer was the premium option, at least that was the case in my sienna. There was a symphony edition that had a subwoofer and some other upgrade as well.

My experience was pretty similar, I pulled the factory head unit, then tried to find a harness to match and got nowhere, searching the internet I found that there should have been an amp under the passenger's seat, or behind the glove box, turns out it was in a location that I never saw mentioned below the heater duct. That's when I found that it's a digital amp, and won't accept a standard analog signal. At that point I decided it wasn't worth trying to use the factory amp or speakers. As you're finding out it's very much worth investigating, Toyotas have some inconsistencies in their audio systems.

 

[rolodomo]

I would like to replace the car radio I have.
I have a 2006 Toyota Highlander with factory JBL radio and speakers.. (No navigation feature) The radio is a 6 disk changer. It’s very basic and only plays regular audio cd’s.
I would like to replace the unit with one that plays cd’s that have the mp3 format songs on them. Also a nice feature would be to plug in a usb flash drive and play the music on the drive. On top of that but not necessary is being able to plug in a IPOD or other mp3 player. HD fm would be good but again not necessary.
The down side is the current unit is a double din size. I will not install any single din size radio and have to use any kind of filler for the open spot.
Any suggestions and help? I am starting here to get ideas and then build on top of the ideas.
Thanks

I replaced my JBL radio and 6 disk changer on my 2006 Highlander with last year's JVC Arsenal (single DIN), which does all of what you want. This year's model is probably just as good or better.

Go with Crutchfield, who will give you the all important wiring harness. Make sure they give you the correct wiring harness with both a radio chassis ground AND external amplifier ground. If you go with a single DIN, Crutchfield will give you an adapter to convert the double-din into a single din for the radio and a very useful compartment for storing CD(s), USB, mp3 players and the like.

If you want fade between front and back, make sure you get a radio with two pairs of pre-amp out! If you don't need fade, good quality RCA splitters will work.

Your amplifier is in the back of the car, but you won't need to mess with that. The Crutchfield wiring harness should provide the "ON" strobe signal to the amp.

They also provide good instructions on removing the dash, which is really quite easy.

Here are some other things you might consider. Consider replacing the speakers if you're interested in increasing sound quality. The factory "JBL" were the typical cheap paper variety. While I had the door panels open, I added sound insulation and speaker baffles. I also added a Bazooka sub-woofer to the back (because there so easy to get disconnect and get rid off if you need to haul cargo or unfold the seats). Thankfully in the 2006 model, it is quite easy to run the power cable from the battery in the engine comparment through a spare "port" in the firewall and then to run the power cable (and pre-amp cable) through the passegner compartment to the subwoofer.

 

[rolodomo]

Hmm...forgot to mention a couple of pitfalls with replacing the receiver.

First, you'll probably lose the remote control buttons on the steering wheel, unless you buy a programmable converter (like I did). They're small, pretty easy to wire, and there is plenty of room to stash it behind/underneath the receiver when you install both.

Second, the 2006 has the dual (phased) antennas. So unless you buy a receiver that supports phased antennas (i.e., dual antenna inputs), you're going to lose one antenna. I'm using just the main antenna now. I can still pull in nearby FM (and HD) signals easily, but I do notice a drop-off in signal reception for distant stations.