[tucker74]

Wanted to post my weekend project since I've read several posts on how to upgrade the factory speakers in the 80s. I went with Eclipse SE8253s up front and SE8243s in the rear (5 1/4"/4") - same dimensions as the origional speakers. The Eclipse speakers have the shallowest mounting depth available in any speaker of these dimensions - so that was my biggest reason for going w/ them. Anyway - here goes..

This is the front speaker installed with some 1/4” spacers (to clear window guide)…..

Front door panel before….

After a little modification to make the speakers sit flush…

…and here’s the finished product. Stock on the outside…but man do they sound better! Now for the back…

You have to cut the back out of the factory mounting bracket if you want to use the grills.

Then I had to modify the speakers housing a bit ….

And there’s the finished product. Nice and original – but better!

[erics_bruisers]

that's decent -- I had a bitch of a time wrangling the front doors in my '94 -- the Eclipses, but it eventually worked -- without duct tape --

With my '91, there are no door speakers -- just lower dash -- those went in easily and sound surprisingly good --

eric

[Wayne]

Thanks for the pics....... they look great. I'll do this upgrade at some point.

Wayne S

[DanKunz]

My 91 had lower dash AND door.

I upgraded the doors and disconnected the dash...

The dash became my location for dual CB external speakers mounted in dash.

Now I can turn on my Cobra that is mounted in dash and have it as loud as I want it to be and broadcasting left and right up front in dash...weee

[Lothar80]

Great post tucker, Thanks for the pics.

I was wondering where you found the speakers.
I searched for the 8253s but can't find em, while the 8243s are no problem. I've been
putting this upgrade off long enough thanks again!

[tucker74]

I picked the speakers up off eBay - they don't make the 2-way 5 1/4" any more, they replaced them w/ a three-way (same dimensions though). I went with these because I was able to get them from brand new for pretty cheap. They really make a big difference in sound - my stock speakers were gone though.

[Garth]

Tucker,

Are you still running the stock deck? In other words, which went frst, the deck or the speakers? Just curious...

[turbocruiser]

Good work! Are you running an aftermarket amp? If not, are the speakers louder at all ( IOW more efficient ) than stock? How would you describe the sound from the eclipses - bright, warm, clear??? Thanks for posting the pics and the post. Cool!

[amt]

Very nice! My Eclipse 6.5 speakers for front and rear doors are on their way. I hope the spacers I bought work. Anyone know if the Lexus version came with a seperate stock amp?

[tucker74]

I just replaced the speakers with the stock head unit, it sounds MUCH better then before (still skips like mad though).

The eclipses actually sound really good - listened to them at my local stereo shop next to some really high end MB Quart/Polk Audio seperates...and they held their own (on the bright side - crisp).

The Lexus does have an amp...but I'm not sure if it's just for the console mounted sub or the whole system.

[Greddy0]

The Lexus has an external amp that powers all the speakers and the subwoofer. Its located behind the dash right of the glove compartment. I've replaced my HU and ext amp already. Looking for some speaker replacement that are drop-in without moding the speaker or the grill... any out there? ???

[tucker74]

The one's above are as close as it gets, I didn't notch the door panel on the passenger side front - and it fit flush. On the rear your pretty much out of luck - pull the grill off and take out the speaker and you'll see what I mean (you don't have to remove the door panel).

Tucker

[Cruiserhead05]

Just interested. what is the depth of the speaker and how deep is the hole in the door.

[amt]

[quote author=tucker74 link=board=2;threadid=11202;start=msg101746#msg101 746 date=1076299788]

The Lexus does have an amp...but I'm not sure if it's just for the console mounted sub or the whole system.


[/quote]

I didn't realize that was the sub -what a piece, not to mention a total waste of space. That is next on the list

[bkgiii]

The Lexus has an external amp that powers all the speakers and the subwoofer. Its located behind the dash right of the glove compartment.

Not mine.....it's in the center console, behind the 'sub'....

[sjcruiser]

Mine (a '97) is behind the USPS tweeter that's accessed through the glove compartment. I personally don't think that Lexus would run all speaker wires from that center console - so may be the LXs have two ext. amp. ? I haven't dig into the center console so can't be for sure.
Frank.

[bkgiii]

.....duh.......I wasn't paying very close attention to the post, I guess...the CHANGER is behind the sub in the console, the amp is where stated. I retract my earlier dumb post!!

[Junk]

Great write up Tucker - I just linked it as a faq.

FWIW, I used MB Quarts in mine.

[cary]

[quote author=turbocruiser link=board=2;threadid=11202;start=msg101651#msg101 651 date=1076290680]
Good work! Are you running an aftermarket amp? If not, are the speakers louder at all ( IOW more efficient ) than stock? How would you describe the sound from the eclipses - bright, warm, clear??? Thanks for posting the pics and the post. Cool!
[/quote]

The eclipse are much more efficient than Stock, probably on the order of 4-5 db's more effiecient. The two way and three way eclipses do sound different. The two ways are very nice and warm sounding, the three ways are brighter sounding. The three ways are still not as bright sounding as many of the newer speakers are (something I can't stand). For the money they are really great speakers.

Cary

[Ben6]

I went to Best Buy today at lunch. They didn't have the eclipses, but said that pioneers would work. Then the guy told me I was wasting my money unless I either changed the radio or added an amp. He said that the stock setup just didn't have the power to drive the pioneer speakers. I'll admit to knowing virtually nothing about audio equipment, but his remarks appears to be inconsistent with what I have read on this board. Did I get bad information?

[PHAEDRUS]

Depends on if you are an audiophile or a security nut. to an audiophile the pioneers will be a waste of money but will be an improvement over blown stock speakers. the security nut just don't wnat anything weird looking.
Dave

[Ben6]

I don't think I fall into either catagory. I'm definitely not an audiophile. I just want to replace the blown speaker. However, I do like the stock look, but it doesn't have anything to do with security. Nevertheless, it sounds like your saying that I can replace the speakers and leave the rest stock and will get the sought after improvement. I think I'll check e-bay for those eclipses or alpines.

[corbs]

[quote author=Ben6 link=board=2;threadid=11202;start=msg126942#msg126 942 date=1080241866]
I went to Best Buy today at lunch. They didn't have the eclipses, but said that pioneers would work. Then the guy told me I was wasting my money unless I either changed the radio or added an amp. He said that the stock setup just didn't have the power to drive the pioneer speakers. I'll admit to knowing virtually nothing about audio equipment, but his remarks appears to be inconsistent with what I have read on this board. Did I get bad information?
[/quote]

I think the info you got was aimed at getting you to purchase more than just $80 or so in speakers. There's nothing wrong with just replacing the speakers, in fact that'll give you the biggest bang for the buck.

The speakers themselves will likely be more efficient and will make the stereo seem a little louder, but if you want even louder than think Amp or new head unit.

Stock head unit has enough power to drive the speakers, but it depends on your definition of "drive". If drive means you want everyone to hear it from outside of your car then yes, the head unit is deficient, but if you just want to listen to your radio at a moderate volume I'm pretty sure it's sufficient.

[Brentbba]

Ben,

My 2 cents - the guy at Best Buy is full of it.

My story - Took my LC to Reuss Audio. They do HIGH END custom work on Porsches MB, etc. I'm talking $6k for a basic Porsche custom system. You get the idea. I know the owner from my Porsche days. Never could afford his systems, but I listened to a few - WOW, and I'm no audiophile. He spent some time in the cruiser listening to the music I listen to. BTW - I knew the front door speakers were shot. Here's what he told me. The stock radio and stock amp were just fine for anything but high end audiophile listening.

He replaced the sub in the back (created a new enclosure with the sub coming out the vent instead of the sub cover that exists and tossed the factory sub mounting bracketry) and installed MBQuart Discuss separates in the front doors. He left the speakers in the dash, rear doors and rear cargo area alone. Spacer was needed in the front door, but outside the black covers from the MBQuarts replacing the stock grey, it looks stock. He put the speaker in the door and put the tweeter separately in a custom enclosure tucked down in the front of the door pocket. He then added a center channel with two very small speakers buried in the back of the rear view mirror paint matched to the grey cover. They reflect a center channel off the front glass. OK it was a bit pricey, but I have a rolling concert hall compared to the stock system for less than 1/3 of his basic systems on high end cars. Plenty of very good power and clean highs loud enough for any boombox generation.

Whole point of this is that a true audiophile in the business that I grew to trust long B4 he did any of this work said that the factory amp had plenty of power for a normal application. Spend your money on a quality sub and front door speakers first and go from there.

[Eduardo96FZJ80]

Brent,
Let me know how it holds up after your soon to be new driver gets a hold of your cruiser!

[Safado]

(doing some quick math... ....)

WOW...2k for that? Granted I was kind impressed with the center channel idea. Got any pics of the sub design you mentioned...mines blown.

[Ben6]

Brent,

That sounds like a very impressive system. Have you got any pictures of the center channel speakers?

[Brentbba]

No pics, just imagine two little speaker covers about an inch 1/4 accross on each side of the back side of the mirror. No place to host pics anyway. It was absolutely worth it. With traffic, I spend 1 1/2 to 2 hrs a day in the beast.

[cary]

[quote author=Ben6 link=board=2;threadid=11202;start=msg126942#msg126 942 date=1080241866]
I went to Best Buy today at lunch. They didn't have the eclipses, but said that pioneers would work. Then the guy told me I was wasting my money unless I either changed the radio or added an amp. He said that the stock setup just didn't have the power to drive the pioneer speakers. I'll admit to knowing virtually nothing about audio equipment, but his remarks appears to be inconsistent with what I have read on this board. Did I get bad information?
[/quote]

Stock amp will drive the Eclipses just fine. Getting audio advice at Best Buy is like getting Landcruiser advice at Kragen Auto, a bad idea. You will not find any audio upgrade for the stereo that will beat the $160 speaker upgrade on the landcruiser for less than $500. Don't forget to unplug the front dash tweeters when you do the upgrade.

Cary

[dsbvinyl]

Damn, I'd really like to see that center channel install on the back of the rearview too.

Brent, do you know what sort of speakers were installed in the rearview? Just tweeters or actual drivers?

Anyhow, the key to the LC's is the double din. Checkout this clarion center channel:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-8TSWUzj...20SRK5&g=62900

As far as I know, they clarion is the only company that produces something like this. I'd like to make my own center channel to stick in the dash but don't know where to find drivers that are small enuf to fit.