DIY 3.5" JL Audio dash speaker upgrade - Wow!

How did the Infinities fit? All these posts are of the JL and JBL versions. I just bought the Infinity REF and am about to do the install. Put Infinity 6.5” components in my Tundra this past week and used the dash tweeter location instead of the sail panel and man! there’s a lot of room on those dash locations. I know it’ll be a bit tighter with the 4Runner.

 

I followed all the detailed instructions in the thread. Fits fine, no issues. On the doors I did use the Metra adapter provided by Crutchfield.

 

Joined the club finally. Upgraded the dash speakers with Infinity REF-3032s. The part that saved my sanity: I disconnected the originals and jumped to pins to allow me to keep the door speakers function and button everything up while I then made my own harnesses at my leisure (which equaled about two weeks of putting it off)... I did NOT sand down the covers because I feel like I got them in there low enough.

 

How did you Jump the pins? As I am installing 3way 6x9 in the front and amping them...

 

I need to look back at this tread. I think my dash speakers are overpowering the other speakers. I don't want to do a full amp and speaker rewiring, but that maybe necessary.

 

Thanks for the posts and info. in this thread. I have a 2020 4Runner with Nav and JBL and in information searching mode to get some ideas on what to improve. One area I have been extremely disappointed in is how much road noise comes in to the cabin. The doors and sheetmetal ring like a pop can. I have a few cartons of Second Skin products (luxury liner pro and spray spectrum coating) to install sound deadening first, then plan to circle back on the speakers, amp and dsp.

On youtube, there are a number of great related videos done by 5Star car audio on show and tell to fix these issues. One that is particularly of interest and may be some low hanging fruit for you guys is applying some open cell foam rings around your speakers between the door, or grill, panels to help couple and direct the sound out the grills rather than getting difussed & scattering around inside the grills. Looks to be an easy DIY with some weather stripping products as well. Stinger makes a quick, cut to size solution for under $20 as well.

https://youtu.be/0pHWbrdttl8

Kenreau

 

Fantastic write-up, detailed explanation and your photography is tops too. TFS.

 

I am assuming the better sound these options offer is better highs. Anything else?

 

The stock dash speaker is nothing but a junk tweeter. The 3.5 is a full range woofer and tweeter. The whole spectrum of sound is improved. You will now get a high mid bass, midrange, and high out of the dash rather than just highs.

 

Do pay attention to resistance rating of the speakers too. If retaining stock door speakers you may want to get dash speakers that are 4ohms too. Going with a lower resistance speaker will make it louder in comparison with the replacement - which will give you a more brilliant sound and move the sound stage higher - but, in my opinion, the sound balance is affected too. For a nice, rich, full sound I’d keep the speakers impedance (resistance) matched.

 

The dash and doors are in series. They are not on their own channels. That's why when you unplug the dash tweeter, the woofer in the doors loses signal. The power is split evenly between the doors and dash in this case. I am running the GTO series 3.5 from JBL and the matching GTO series 6x9 from JBL They each have a 3 ohm resistance so the final load on the stereo is 6 ohms.

 

Its pretty sad when simple aftermarket upgrades can blow away the factory system. Ever price replacement OE speakers at the dealer? Nuts!

Posts 1, 72, 93 are excellent. Thanks for mounting your speakers and sharing pictures. Other Toyota models don't make it that easy for a 3.5" dash speaker. 4runner dash view looks spacious compared to my other Toyotas.

There isn't a blind impedance rating for speakers. Its a combination of impedance and speaker efficiency that will determine if the speaker is louder. Honestly, I find the OE efficiency pretty high compared to aftermarket speaker, that will cheat with 2.5/3/3.3/3.5-ohm. impedances to make up for efficiency or speaker design. So, you do NOT need to match impedance with OE. Let your ears decide if your dash output is too much(easily rendered with a couple resistors to drop output).

Checked Amazon/ebay for bass blocker..... $10 for a pair... they are just bipolar or nonpolarized electrolytic capacitors that cost $1-3 each. Would be cheaper if RadioShack still existed locally. Since I regularly get stuff from parts-express, I keep a decent collection of various rating bipolar capacitors.

The door/dash speakers are in parallel, not series. When you unplug the tweeter, you lose the "loopback" or parallel loopover wiring which is why the door goes silent. This is common to Toyotas for over 20 years.

A door 3ohm speaker and dash 3ohm speaker would yield a 1.5ohm load on the amp. A 4 ohm door/dash combo would yield a 2-ohm load.

Since a capacitor bass blocker is in play, the dash speaker doesn't play low bass. This means that the door speaker has a 3-4ohm load for lows, and the door+dash mid+highs combo are a 1.5-2ohm load above the capacitor crossover. If you add an inductor/coil/choke to the door, to match the capacitor in the dash, you would yield a ~3-4ohm impedance across the frequency response. I recommend adding the coil, which also defeats the purpose of 2-5 way 6x9's.

When doing doors and dash speakers, you don't need door mid/tweets 2/3/4/5...-way 6x9's. A 1-way component 6x9 or 6.5-8" door driver, with the 2-way 3.5" makes it easier and will sound better. You have too many speakers producing the same frequency range crashing into each other. Could even do some cancelling! If you run a 2-way/3-way/4-way 6x9, why even bother with the redundant dash speaker? If you care for the soundstage/ambiance and use the windshield as a waveguide, then don't crash those dash frequencies with the door output. I guess some are happy with ear bleed noise. I'd wager some still have an 80's requirement with multiway full range speakers mounted everywhere possible... each of4 doors, dash, rear hatch, side panels.... how many 2/3/4/5-ways do you need surrounding the inside of the vehicle muddy'ing up the sound?

This is why I recommend the 'component' 2 or 3 way systems. They will have their own crossover for the speakers, crossover points and some tuning/matching to make it all work together. Infinity use to have the 2-way 90csx which was convertible to a 3-way. It was one of my favorites in older Toyotas. No mid/tweet in the door... just a 1-way 6x9. JBL GTO960c 2-way was similar to the Infinity... also allowing a 3-way conversion with a midrange. Kenwood does similar with their 3-way KFC-XP6903C and 2-way KFC-XP6902C. Not everyone can splurge on a Infiniti Perfect900/300m or 3-way from AudioAmphibian. You really don't need to spend too much to drastically excel over the OE stuff. I find the OE JBL's systems lacking too but JBL upgrades require its own thread.

I don't care for dash speaker capacitors that come with speakers. I pick a rating that sounds best for my ears with the interior of the vehicle. There is no 1 size fits all ears and vehicle interiors. If you know your speakers close enough impedance in ohms, just use a crossover calculator to pick a frequency for your ears. The 150-250uF capacitors, IMHO, are just low bass blockers and send too much low dash bass for my ears. I am typically under <100uF for 2.5-3.5" mid/high speakers and usually in the ~50uF range. If I were to skip the 3.5" and only run a tweeter in the dash, it would have a capacitor value between 4-10uF. So, the manufacturer of the 3.5" speaker doesn't know best. What rating did the OE capacitor use for the OE 4-ohm speaker? I was impressed to see the 133uF in post number 1. Its a good starting point and better with a matching coil at the door woofer.

I also avoid plug and play speaker adapters. I cut/solder/splice/dice factory wiring as needed. Never have I gone back to OE speakers and if I sell/trade car in, the old/tired speakers that I installed go with the vehicle. I never could understand why adapters are so important. Skip 'em. Put the money toward better speakers.

 

was it pretty easy plug and play type? I have a 2021 SR5 Prem and want to upgrade the dash speakers and the doors..

if easy enough i'll try but if i can't i'll have to go to a audio shop =(

 

Buy the appropriate speaker plugs and speaker adaptor rings and it’s all plug and play.

 

so just to confirm you only changed the dash and the driver and passenger doors with the JBL you listed? def makes a difference with the new 4 speakers?

 

I changed all 4 doors, tailgate, and dash with JBL GTO series speakers. Biggest difference is the dash, front doors are second, rear doors and tailgate is really pointless but I did it anyway.

 

ok thanks. if these are pretty much plug and play I may just mirror your speaker upgrades. I saw the OEM Audio Plus package but the price was a bit much for now, plus they are on back order til' May.

 

These also sound better. The OEM plus is over priced for what you get and while they are an upgrade you can get much better equipment for much cheaper. To make your install easier, go with the Infinity Reference series dash speakers. The GTO series speakers have to be modified to fit, the Infinity speakers do not. JBL and Infinity are the same company.

 

thanks! i appreciate the feedback. def going to look into the infinity speakers. awesome..
if i just do the the infinity dash speakers for now to test it out, all stock speakers would still work. just making sure. trying to do this DIY instead of paying.

this is what i found so far.. again, it for a 2021 SR5 Prem 4R.

https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Ref...615951483&sprefix=infinity+3.5,aps,232&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Ref...=1615952084&sprefix=infinity+6,aps,239&sr=8-2
(also saw 3 way 6x9 but was not sure)

https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Kap...s=infinity+6x5+speakers&qid=1615952243&sr=8-4

would these be cool? plug and play DIY? will need wire adapters as well it looks like for these speaker.. thanks..

 

Anything will sound better than stock. Yes those will work however you will need the wiring adaptor plugs and the speaker adaptor rings.

 

Considering the same reference series from infinity and on the fence on the 2-way or 3-way front doors too hmmmm.

j4unner - dbl check the Kappa 62IX - everything I have checked shows the mounting height will not fit our 4runners by 0.291"...tweeter sticks out to far. I am probably going with the reference 6532IX, but might try to modify something to get them in.

The only Kappa series that I have seen will fit are the components.

 

sounds good, thanks for the info..

 

ok will do, let me know how they work out for you and what ones you picked.. are you doing all your speakers or just the dash? yeah I would rather not have to modify anything, lol.

 

Plan is to change all the speakers, wanted Kappa's like I had in the past but budget, long waits and fitment issues .... so I went with all Infinity Reference series, placed order today.

REF-3032CFX
REF-9633IX *
REF-6532IX (2) back doors and hatch

Metra - 72-8104 harness's
Red Wolf - tweeter harness
Metra - 82-8148 adapter
Metra - 82-8146 adapter
Kilmat - sound proofing
Road Kill - speaker foam
Audiopipe 133UF bass blocker

*went with the 3 way in case I don't like the 3.5 in the dash and remove it ...... if too much tweet and decide to keep the 3.5 will order the 9632, daughter can use the 9633 in her car.

Plan is to eventually put an amp/dsp to them, we'll see how they sound/hold up.

 

Pretty sure the 3.5s come with bass blockers so you may not need the ones you ordered.

 

Thanks - I wasn't sure so ordered them, can return them if needed.

Also am not sure I will be able to run the 3.5's when I get the amp .... might need to scale back from a 75 RMS amp or not we'll see. Glad may daughters Challenger will fit the speakers I bought just in case

 

Run them off the head unit, run the 4 doors and tailgate off the amp. If there are any weird delay issues, your DSP can be used to resolve that. Problem solved!

 

Thank you - I love it when a plan comes together!

 

nice run of goods you purchased. keep us posted on install and sound! i've had this in the back of my head all day lol.. if i get the speakers and wire adapters i should be good with that? reading the other comments about running it off the head unit/amp got me a bit intimidated..i just want to get speakers that will install easily..according to Amazon it does not fit in the 21 4R, should I worry about that?

 

Because the 3.5” doesn’t technically fit a 2021 or any other year 4R as a drop in. You’ll have to make a little mount, there are a bunch of pictures throughout this thread. Besides that, with the wiring adaptor, they drop in. They are a huge improvement over stock. More so than replacing the door speakers. Dash is the best place to start.