upgrading stereo on 02 Camry?

[QueBert]

I have the "premium" JBL system, and honestly I don't find anything premium about it. I would like to get a 4 channel amp and replace the speakers. I'm a bit wary because my last car was a Taurus which had the Mach system in it. I dropped a butt load of cash and came out with a system that didn't sound improved at all. I'm curious if this JBL system is about the same. I'm not really caring about getting a new head unit (for now) The Mach system was impossible to work with, I ended up spending $1,500 because I needed so much extra crap just to interface with the way that system is wired and works. Was a lot harder also because I had the digital dash so I couldn't swap out the head unit.

I'm hoping perhaps there's an audio dude in here, or somebody with the same Toyota system who's upgraded it and can give me some insight here.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I dunno... I hear the JBL is pretty decent in the Camry.
Are you perhaps running around with the bass and treble cranked? That'll kill sound quality.

You may just need a sub + amp to round things out.

 

[LTC8K6]

Crutchfield

 

[scorp00]

I've done stereo's in 3 of my cars and the #1 improvement always comes from replacing the head unit. It is a night and day difference and the first thing I do when I get a new car. Stock head units are very cheap(a few dollars worth of parts) and the signal quality is awful. I recommend Pioneer, I love my 880.

 

[sdifox]

why?

 

[QueBert]

I've done stereo's in 3 of my cars and the #1 improvement always comes from replacing the head unit. It is a night and day difference and the first thing I do when I get a new car. Stock head units are very cheap(a few dollars worth of parts) and the signal quality is awful. I recommend Pioneer, I love my 880.

Yeah I know you're right, your words caused me to poke around. I found a double din Pioneer with a 5.8" screen + Bluetooth. More than I wanted to spend, but not as expensive as I had expected. And dropping a nice amp and speakers in with the stock HU would probably piss me off much like my Taurus did.

 

[NutBucket]

The only way to utilize a factory HU without killing SQ is with a device like the JL Audio Cleansweep. It basically removes the built in EQ curve of the hu (which is designed to protect the speakers/amp, SQ is secondary). There are other devices out there that are similar.

However, given that the HU is easily replaceable, I would definitely go that route.

 

[Smoove910]

Go for a double din head unit which has more than a 2 volt pre-amp output. If you get the right equipment there should be absolutely no reason you are dissatisfied with how it sounds. Christ, for $1500, you should've been able to have a sweet setup!

Personally I would get the headunit and replace the stock speakers with something that has good sound quality. Go to a local car stereo shop and demo some of their speakers with a CD of your type of music. Once you get the headunit and speakers, save up your $$ then get your amp and sub. If you want to take it a step further, get a 4 channel amp to run your front/rear speakers and another separate amp to run your sub.

Headunit brands I would recommend - Pioneer/Alpine/Eclipse/Kenwood
Speakers - MB Quart/Focal/Diamond Audio/JL Audio
Amps - I've always loved Rockford Fosgate, JL Audio/Phoenix Gold

Lastly, if you are going to put the $$ and effort into something this extreme, you should do it correctly and sound deaden your car BEFORE installing anything. In essence, you lower your 'noise floor' by deadening the road noise and rattles, you will gain that much more in volume.

Example - If you deaden your car and it reduces your roadnoise by 3db, you would need to either double your cone area (speakers) or double your power (amps). Doubling your cone area or amps is far more expensive than the deadening material. I'd recommend VBlok in the gallon jug. Mix 1:1 with water and paint it on. Dries like cement.

 

[yhelothar]

Did you play around with the bass and treble settings? I know a lot of people who have their settings waay off and it just sounds shitty.

 

[QueBert]

Did you play around with the bass and treble settings? I know a lot of people who have their settings waay off and it just sounds shitty.

Yeah I did, it did make a noticeable difference, but it still wasn't what I'd say was good. But I had dropped a bundle in my previous car's stereo so I was use toa much higher quality of sound. This one only has 5 bass and 5 treble settings, so there's not a whole lot that can be done.

Thanks to everyone's feedback here, I think I've decided on the Pioneer AVH-3300BT for my HU, I like the X920BT a lot more but it's way too expensive. I'm hoping I can find the older model Polk Momo components on Ebay, had them in my last car and they sounded sweet as hell. Will add a Polk 4 channel amp and that'll be it for now. Sometime this summer I'll add a mono amp and some subs.

Smoove910 I'll look into the VBlok, I've always used Dynamat in my previous rides, but this stuff looks pretty interesting.

UGH I here I thought I was done with car audio *sigh* it's sure an expensive ass hobby to have.

 

[Smoove910]

Years ago I bought a top of the line Eclipse 5303R which did not have any onboard power, all it had was three sets of RCA's. BUT, the beauty was this deck had 5 volt preamp outputs. All I could say at the time was 'holy shit'. I've been hardcore on getting something with at least 4 volt ever since. Yes, it was THAT noticable...

After looking at the HU you are interested in, it looks like a winner. You have 4 volt outputs, three sets of RCA's with one set being for the Sub. I have this function and it's nice since you can set the crossover point of your sub from the HU.

Good luck OP, I foresee some eargasms in your near future!

 

[QueBert]

Years ago I bought a top of the line Eclipse 5303R which did not have any onboard power, all it had was three sets of RCA's. BUT, the beauty was this deck had 5 volt preamp outputs. All I could say at the time was 'holy shit'. I've been hardcore on getting something with at least 4 volt ever since. Yes, it was THAT noticable...

After looking at the HU you are interested in, it looks like a winner. You have 4 volt outputs, three sets of RCA's with one set being for the Sub. I have this function and it's nice since you can set the crossover point of your sub from the HU.

Good luck OP, I foresee some eargasms in your near future!

Well I don't love the looks of int, imho the UI is super fugly and clunky looking. But outside of building a Carputer I haven't seen any that have a good looking UI. And a Carputer would be expensive and a PITA to get up and going.

A new HU leads to new speakers, which leads to an amp which leads to a sub + amp plus all the amp kit/dynamat type crap. Yeah eargasams coming soon, at the expensive of emptying my wallet

On a semi related note, I read 3 different comments that said the Pioneer uses so much juice it won't function properly in ACC mode. Doesn't make sense to me, but assuming that's accurate - I go the Drive In often, letting a car idle for 3 hours would use about how much gas?

 

[Smoove910]

On a semi related note, I read 3 different comments that said the Pioneer uses so much juice it won't function properly in ACC mode. Doesn't make sense to me, but assuming that's accurate - I go the Drive In often, letting a car idle for 3 hours would use about how much gas?

I would think it'll use alot less than the amps you are going to have... but then again I've never owned a double-din HU with all those features.