2004 LX470/Mark Levinson front door speaker wiring

[Loyota]

I've searched but not found my answer. I installed some component Alpine speakers in my doors. I wired from the factory woofer wiring to the alpine woofer then used the supplied alpine wiring with capacitor to the tweeter. It works but sounds like its only getting low frequency sound - no mids and highs.

Is there a crossover that is sending only low frequency to the Mark Levinson door woofer? Should I connect my new speakers to the mid range wiring instead?

BTW, I used alpine 2 way in the rear doors and they sound great.

 

[Loyota]

anyone replaced LX470 ML front speakers or have a wiring diagram? Trying to figure how to get the full signal to my new component speakers.

 

[jerryb]

I would answer, but I don't know how that amp behaves.
I might add the center channel to the door pair and try again. What's the worst that could happen.

 

[LonghornLX]

Loyota, Yes there is a cross over to the front doors on the ML system. There isn't a way that I understand that undoes this easily.

I am not sure your comfort in this scenario but I have seen installers decouple the wiring to components and direct wire the tweeter.

 

[Loyota]

got it..thanks. So I can use the OEM tweeter wiring to supply a full signal to my new components. I'll try that tomorrow and see if I can get full range sound working again.

 

[jerryb]

read this.
I'd first take the center signal and see what it sounds like. You won't get the full signal without more work. But it should be better than the results you've got so far.

aftermarket amp/sub - clean signal? - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

 

[Loyota]

Thanks everyone for the input. I studied the wiring diagram and it looks like the door woofer and tweet are the same signal but the tweet has a blocking capacitor. The mids are another discrete signal. I tried every combination to connect my component alpine speakers. The woofer, mid or tweet wiring all did not sound correct when connected to the Alpine components. It seems the OEM amp has a crossover built into it.

In the end, I connected my Alpine woofer to the OEM woofer wiring. I connected my alpine tweeter to the OEM tweet wiring using my Alpine capacitor. I even reconnected the OEM mid as it seemed to be in good shape (all other OEM speakers had ZERO foam left).

Just an FYI on the rest of the system - all OEM but speakers.
The rear doors have 4.5" coaxial Alpines and they sounds great. I pulled out the blown sub enclosure and extended the wiring to a 8ohm 8" bazooka tube. It sounds fine sometimes and way too boomy sometimes. I'm not a fan so I am returning it to get a Rockford Fosgate powered 10" sealed box so I can adjust the bass better and get a tighter sound. Its not much more money. All in, I should have a little less than $300 in all new speakers and much larger sub than OEM. Also, I can now take off a door panel in about 5 minutes

 

[303Mike]

Thanks everyone for the input. I studied the wiring diagram and it looks like the door woofer and tweet are the same signal but the tweet has a blocking capacitor. The mids are another discrete signal. I tried every combination to connect my component alpine speakers. The woofer, mid or tweet wiring all did not sound correct when connected to the Alpine components. It seems the OEM amp has a crossover built into it.

In the end, I connected my Alpine woofer to the OEM woofer wiring. I connected my alpine tweeter to the OEM tweet wiring using my Alpine capacitor. I even reconnected the OEM mid as it seemed to be in good shape (all other OEM speakers had ZERO foam left).

Just an FYI on the rest of the system - all OEM but speakers.
The rear doors have 4.5" coaxial Alpines and they sounds great. I pulled out the blown sub enclosure and extended the wiring to a 8ohm 8" bazooka tube. It sounds fine sometimes and way too boomy sometimes. I'm not a fan so I am returning it to get a Rockford Fosgate powered 10" sealed box so I can adjust the bass better and get a tighter sound. Its not much more money. All in, I should have a little less than $300 in all new speakers and much larger sub than OEM. Also, I can now take off a door panel in about 5 minutes

Loyota can you explain a bit more for me? What Alpines are you using? Assuming components are you not using the supplied crossover? I was thinking this would be my approach but wanted to ask. Also how did the powered sub work out?

 

[Loyota]

sure. On the Mark Levinson Lx470 stereo, it appears the amp has a crossover built in. OEM wiring has the same signal going to the woofer and tweeter but the tweeter has a low frequency blocking capacitor installed inline. The mids however have a different signal. I don't think any of the signals are full range - i.e. the amp crossover is sending select frequencies to each speaker.

I installed these in the front doors - they don't have a crossover...just a capacitor.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004THAWHG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I connected the woofer to the OEM woofer wiring and the tweet to the OEM tweeter wiring but instead of the OEM capacitor I used the alpine provided capacitor.

I installed these in the back doors.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TU5R1E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The OEM wiring appears to be full range to the rear speakers so these worked great as is.

I ended up just buying a foam kit on ebay and repaired my factory subwoofer. I put in a plug by the bottle jack so if I change my mind I can disconnect the OEM sub and connect an aftermarket sub. With the new foam for $18, it sounds fine. Mine was also separated between the cone and spider so I had to epoxy it. Its not a perfect job and certain frequencies buzz a little but its ok for $18 and also I have full cargo space. I think the powered Rockford fosgate would sound much better but it requires running a power wire from the battery most likely and it needs to be secured somehow. Sort of a pain if you use third row sometimes but not other times like I do.