Stereo FAQ

[LonghornCruiser]

Putting together some info for the FAQ.

Here are some links to some helpful sites when it comes to Land Cruiser stereo.



This looks like its for the in dash 6 disc.

http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota5.htm

Wire harness to hook up an aftermarket stereo to the factory amp

http://www.audiooutfitter.com/store/TA03B.html


This is for the single cd player

http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota4.htm

Wire harness to hook up an aftermarket stereo to the factory amp

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=14104


This is looks like it is for the factory amp

http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota1.htm


For a single-din aftermarket deck, you will need a dash pocket to fill in the empty space. Here are a couple that will work.

http://www.audiooutfitter.com/store/88-00-8000.html

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=ameupk750


I have had good luck buying stereos from www.etonics.com. Cheaper than most. I recommend buying a upper end stereo with lots of equilizer and crossover adjustments. They are worth it. You paid more for a nicer auto. Pay more for the nicer stereo to go in it.


The factory amp is underneath the passenger seat. The door speakers are 6 1/2". Maybe someone else can add the speaker depths and any possible subs that will fit in the factory sub location.

Also, anyone else with any other helpful links?

[e9999]

anybody cares to add or comment?
(considering this thread for FAQ)

[ogsuv]

how about some pics? I have more also

[Jukelemon]

I will comment having done this recently.

The radio install and amp install is quite easy. The issues come when routing wires i.e. I would not buy a generic wire kit with a 16ft RCA cable. 8 feet would be more than enough.

Crutchfield is where I purchased ALL of my stuff minus the Eclipse Radio. They shipped that day and I received it within two days. I did not do the Dynamat thing and my system sounds very good. However, I plan on going back and doing the front and rear doors. It would be VERY easy to do considering that layout of the door-use the plastic dampening sheet as a guide. The LC door is quite thick and the ride is quiet as is but perhaps an improvement can be made.

I cannot speak for other systems but my system sounds quite well in my LC:

Eclipse 5405
Polk db6500
Polk db650
Infinity Reference 7451 Amp
Infinity Basslink Sub

I almost went with a Polk Momo amp/speaker set up but I have heard over and over that the db's are just as good (if not better depending on music preference) due to their silk dome tweeter.

Juke

[LonghornCruiser]

The 8 ft rca wire is plenty to go to the amp underneath the passenger seat. If you hook up a sub amp in the rear, like I did, you will need the longer wire.

[xumFJ40]

Anyone have info on the output from the factory deck/amp???

I will have it all replaced (most likely) at some point, but would like to start w/speakers and don't want to screw-up a good set of aftermarket speakers by running them on the factory deck/amp combo.

I had a sales guy (who I suspect is full of it) tell me that running high-end speakers (most likely components for the front) on the stock setup would ruin the speakers.

This sounds completely absurd to me as I can't imagine "too little" wattage to the speakers would hurt them...only would not reap the benefits of the new speakers as they are designed to operate at their best with more wattage.

Any thoughts?

[LonghornCruiser]

I,ve never heard of speakers getting ruined by lesser wattage. The sales guy is just trying to sell you an amp and rewire. He is full of it. You are correct.

[hoser]

I'm not siding with the sales guy but it is easier to blow a speaker (rated at 100w) with a 10 watt amp than a 300 watt amp. At least one of the stock speakers is rated at 2 ohms. Using a 4 ohm speaker would reduce the amplifier output even more.

[LonghornCruiser]

I don't understand the logic that it is easier to blow a 100 watt speaker with a 10 watt amp over a 300 watt amp. Can you please explain?

125 watt amp, I would understand, but 300 seems excessively too much.

I mean, i understand that a smaller wattage amp will put more "garbage" into the speaker because it is trying to operate beyond its means, but I would think that a 100 watt speaker would be able to handle that. May not sound good, but it doesn't seem like it would create enough disturbance to hurt the speaker.

My guess is that the Cruiser factory amp pushes around 20-35 watts per channel which should be fine for 95% of 6 1/2 inch speakers. Although, a more powerful , but not too powerful, amp will give you better sound.

[Jukelemon]

Actually, and I know this becasue I build guitar amplifiers for professional music, a 10 watt power source i.e. amp/tubes/whatever will not "blow" or ruin a speaker faster than an overpowered power supply. Speakers are rated at an RMS and a Max. Both are figures that are not exact i.e. each speaker company has its own formula and this goes across the board from guitar amp speakers to car audio to XXXX. Anyway, I own and have played amps that are in the 10w power supply range running into 25 and 35 watt speakers for over 50 years-as in the speaker has lasted that long in its original condition. As a matter of fact, many guitarists are looking for that exact sound that is caused from underpowering an amp. You lose clarity across the board when this happens but you do not ruin a speaker. A speaker is ruined by 1-time or demagnetization or 2-massive amounts of power and coil tear/component failure. These folks that are telling us that the factory amp will ruin component speakers are on crack. The 100 already has component speakers and they are crossed over at the tweeter i.e. the tweeter has a capacitor on the + that serves as a high pass filter.

More power = more clarity particular in the lower Hz. That is really all we need to be aware of and considerate of when buying. I have no doubt that my Polk db's would have run off of the stock amp-they are rated at 10-100 RMS at a 92db sensitivity (very efficient).

[hoser]

Originally Posted by LonghornCruiser

I don't understand the logic that it is easier to blow a 100 watt speaker with a 10 watt amp over a 300 watt amp. Can you please explain?

Longhorn, Let me restate that as 50/100/300 watt. I don't think a quality 10 watt amplifier will do much damage to a 100 watt speaker. My point is, overpowering is better than underpowering the speaker.

I have no problem changing JUST the speakers and keeping stock amplifier in place. But I can sorta understand why somebody would make the comment about damaging a speaker with an underpowered amp. But in order to blow the new, high-end speakers, the operator would need to overdrive the amp into clipping. With road noise and the windows down, it can make detecting clipping a bit harder.

I will admit there are several schools of thought on this subject matter. None have really been proven. I just cut this from another forum that better explains it:

Originally Posted by Alex

You can kill speakers in two ways - by pushing too much average power into them so they overheat(voice coil failure due to the electrical insulation melting) or by pushing too much low frequency peak power into them so they try and move further than they can (over-excursion).

If music was always at the same volume (like just one sustain note or noise) then a 300W RMS power output amp at full power would heat up a 300W RMS power handling speaker to the edge of voice coil failure. A 301W RMS amp in the same situation would cause voice coil failure after a certain amount of time. (Assuming they're all accurately rated).

However music isn't always at the same volume, and in particular bass instruments volume varies massively. A typical 300W RMS amp will be able to put out at least 450W peak power, so if you play bass through it so the amp is on the edge of clipping the loudest moments will be about 450W peak. However due to all the quieter moments (mainly because the attack of the note is much louder than the rest of the sound) the AVERAGE power output will be much lower, probably around 50W or lower. Obviously a 300W speaker will easily handle this, it won't come anywhere near heating up the speaker too much.

Now swap the 300W amp for a 900W amp and connect it to the same 300W rated speaker. Play the same bassline through it and turn it up until it's almost clipping. The peaks will now be around 1350W and the average power output will be around 150W or lower, still well within the power handling of the speaker.

So with an unclipped amp, it's pretty damn hard to damage a speaker by overheating.

Now go back to the 300W amp and crank it up to try and get the same volume as you did with the 900W amp. The amp's peak power is still stuck at about 450W but gradually the average power will go up and up. However even when the amp is putting that average power of 150W it won't sound as loud as the 900W amp because it's those loud peaks that help you punch through the mix.

Keep on cranking up the amp and you'll eventually be putting out 450W average power (100% clipping) - it'll sound loud and nasty but still won't cut through like the 900W amp did and the speaker won't be able to handle that amount of power, it'll overheat and fail.

So that's one reason why for bass it's a good idea to use amps with much more power than the speakers are rated at. The other reason is to do with over-excursion (the speakers moving further than they can without damage). When you play a loud note the speaker moves outwards really fast and it's up to the amp to stop it before it goes too far. Bass amps are really good at controlling the movement and stopping the speaker running away with itself and breaking. However as soon as the amp clips it loses the ability to control the speaker and the speaker doesn't stop when it's meant to and may just keep moving until it runs out of travel and breaks.

So again, go back to the 300W amp and crank it up so it's just below clipping and the speaker will move in and out in a very controlled fashion. Push it a bit harder and the movement will go all wobbly and the speaker may travel beyond its limits. Take the 900W amp and turn it up to the same volume and notice how the speaker doesn't over-excurse. Keep on cranking it and see how much more loudness you can get from the speaker without it going all wobbly, distorting and even failing.

Notice both types of failure are (almost always) due to the amp clipping. If you have enough headroom you should be able to avoid that, but if your big amp does go into clipping it'll kill your speakers even more quickly than the small clipping amp will, hence few people use an amp with much more than twice the rated power of the speaker.

Well did that help?

Alex

--------------------
C.Alexander Claber
Chief Groove Guru
Vice President i/c Funk

Here's one more article for further reading.
http://www.electrosound.com/Speaker_Facts/v6no2.htm

[hoser]

Originally Posted by Jukelemon

As a matter of fact, many guitarists are looking for that exact sound that is caused from underpowering an amp. You lose clarity across the board when this happens but you do not ruin a speaker.

Just wanted to mention those instrument speakers are designed much differently than Hi-Fi speakers.

Instrument speakers generally have wider but shorter voice coil windings. At the limit, the coil starts to leave the linear part of the magnetic field and the stiff suspension is what keeps the speaker in control. The cone excursion is limited much more smoothly at its extremes than a hi-fi speaker. In short, they can take more "abuse," at the expense of accuracy. But, yes, I realize it is a whole 'nuther beast that I know little about.

[calamaridog]

I used the Scosche TA03B, which is a 2000+ Toyota Amplifier Interface (harness) with my 2000 LC. It seemed to work fine so far with my Kenwood EZ700SR single din unit.

[BMWSTOY]

It seems like some links are not outdated - thought I would add that I am looking at the Crutchfield site and it seems like they can deal now - from the past, I used to think that site was outdated.

I think I am going to go with a single DIN Alpine and Crutchfield includes the other din slot tray and the cable with the order. Free shipping too! I was chatting with them and they told me its all I need. My only confusion was the amp cable going to the passenger seat? I am hoping this is for a bypass and not using the factory amp. I did this on my 4runner and had no problems.

[LCflyer]

I just received an Alpine 9883 from Crutchfield today and will be installing tomorrow. What issues did you have? Was the factory amp ok? Did you replace the speakers as well? Thanks alot.

[Colicious]

Does anyone know the wattage of the stock amp?

[LXRunner]

Originally Posted by Colicious

Does anyone know the wattage of the stock amp?

Just found lable on my Nakamichi amp (99LX470):
Max. Power: 40Wx4; 100Wx1. Load impedance: 4 Ohm.

[LXRunner]

Originally Posted by e9999

anybody cares to add or comment?
(considering this thread for FAQ)

My thread was adressed mostly to LX owners, but may give some ideas to others....:
http://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/170647-kenwood-ddx-6019-99lx470.html

[WaterCruiser]

Juke - where did you mount your Infiniti amp? I put one of these in my 500SEC and it ROCKS. Does it fit under the pass seat?

Last year I replaced the stock h/u with a CarPC... so sorry! wanted to integrate a whole bunch of other components (XM, I-Pod, IC-7000 Ham rig, b/u cam, GPS, DVD, USB Radio, etc), spent a month just working the schematic. and another 3 weekends installing the cables and components. It took my ego an entire year to come to terms with my mistake, but I finally gave up - the experiment failed miserably: tiny font on a washed-out LCD touchscreen, incessent Windows boot time delay (vs battery drain in standby), *no* 4-ch sound for anything read off the drive! It sucked (small consolation I could get WiFi on the road).

A few months ago I gave up & yanked the PC and went with an Avic-Z2. What a difference - I can actually read the screen during the day, and it interfaced easily with all the peripherals. the OEM speaker/amp wiring hookups were trivial (Scotche connector there). Only problem now is the factory sound is weak, it's time to upgrade those components. soooo - looking for decent speakers and an amp

FWIW, I didn't want to invest in Dynamat as there are less expensive paths: head down to your local Big Box Home Improvement center. there you'll find 12"w x 50' lg x 1/16" thk rolls of adhesive-backed asphaltic roofing seal for about 1/4 the cost. my son & I plastered his car with this stuff and avoided needing much larger amps.

[NMuzj100]

Originally Posted by WaterCruiser

FWIW, I didn't want to invest in Dynamat as there are less expensive paths: head down to your local Big Box Home Improvement center. there you'll find 12"w x 50' lg x 1/16" thk rolls of adhesive-backed asphaltic roofing seal for about 1/4 the cost. my son & I plastered his car with this stuff and avoided needing much larger amps.

I would worry that come summertime the inside of the car will smell like an asphalt plant.

There are probably plenty of good alternatives to overpriced dynamat though.

[WaterCruiser]

Originally Posted by NMuzj100

I would worry that come summertime the inside of the car will smell like an asphalt plant.

There are probably plenty of good alternatives to overpriced dynamat though.

NMuzj100 - we didn't even consider that during the restoration, but then again these rolls didn't have any such odor even when we were buying them. after 2 years or occasional use (it's stored in one of those "enclosed canopy" structures but sees >100-deg summers) the only odor is from the new carpet kit

[89s rule]

I would research all the options of sound dampining b/f I put anything into a 100 series. Its not my 62 or a 40 that you sre tryign to quite down. Roofing asphalt will smell bad if it gets hot enough, much better things at a reasonable cost out there.

[cpcc]

I've only used dynamat extreme in mine. I was able to get a great deal off of ebay.

[davegonz]

Has anyone put in a 6 disc version into a 1998-1999 LC with the single disc player? I am upgrading my headunit and was going to see if my buddy could use this in his 1999.

[cruiserloco]

What do you have to do to put a MP3 adapter in a 100 with the navigation system. I went to the dealer and they don't have anything.

Any ideas will be appreciated

Thanks.

[BMWSTOY]

Pioneer 4000 - inexpensive choice, but I can plug in my MP3 player in the glove box with th