2008 200 Series LC Speaker Replacement (1 Viewer)

[bamachem]

I checked the FAQ section and tried to search, but did not come up with anything so far on 200 series speaker replacements.

My 2008 Land Cruiser has a blown speaker in the front passenger door. Basically the foam surround has disintegrated over the years.

Since I was going to replace the front, I thought I might also replace the rear doors as well. I haven't pulled the rear door panels yet, but I did pull the front panel and saw that the front speakers are 6x9. Has anyone pulled a rear panel to see what's actually in the door? Crutchfield says both 5.25 and 6.5 as direct replacements. I'm assuming therefore 6.5 would be the size I would go to.

Just wanting to confirm that before ordering, and hoping to do so without pulling the panel first.

The other question I have is whether anyone knows what ohm rating these original speakers would be. I really want to match up as close as possible, and instead of going with OEM I wouldn't mind an upgrade if possible. If they do have an oddball resistance rating, I may just go back with Factory Originals. Just wondering what's out there that matches.

 

[linuxgod]

Check this thread

upgrade 2008 lc200 with current LC200 stereo

I think Focal are supposed to be a drop-in replacement. If you try them, let me know how they sound, how well they actually fit, and what they cost. I've been debating an upgrade in the future

 

[bamachem]

Check this thread

upgrade 2008 lc200 with current LC200 stereo

I think Focal are supposed to be a drop-in replacement. If you try them, let me know how they sound, how well they actually fit, and what they cost. I've been debating an upgrade in the future

far

Thanks, but that's not much help. I actually posted in that thread over a year ago. At the time I wasn't looking for speakers. I guess I'm taking the door panel off to see what's behind there. As I suspected, I believe the original speakers are low impedance compared to aftermarket, which will definitely affect the overall sound. I'm probably just going to have to go back with OEM speakers.

 

[linuxgod]

I posted in that thread what I found in Focal's online info for using them as a direct replacement:

"Replacing the 1- or 2-ohm factory speaker with a higher-impedance aftermarket speaker will result in lower volume levels."

The Focal replacements are 4-ohm. Based on the footnote, I expect the Toyota speakers to be 2-ohm. ScreenX actually tried the speakers and had some comments as to their sounds quality/performance.

upgrade 2008 lc200 with current LC200 stereo

HTH

 

[KLF]

I'm bringing this back to the top. Did a search, didn't find much conclusive. I'm just not happy with the sound quality (or lack of) in my 200. Not impressed with the fancy-pants JBL system, honestly. I believe some of it may be due to streaming from Bluetooth, so now I'm experimenting with burning CDs to a USB stick, and downloading tunes from Amazon to see if they are any better. Still seems like it could be better.

Is there any way to upgrade the amps? Seems very proprietary.

Anybody done a full upgrade of just the speakers? I'm especially interested in the center one, and the (too small) subwoofer way in the back. Can't seem to find a place to buy just one 4" speaker though. Anybody wanna go in on a pair, split the cost?

 

[TonyP]

Also interested in a modest stock upgrade.

 

[terdrocket]

Try Parts Express: the #1 source for audio, video & speaker building components
I've purchase tons of speaker drivers, crossovers, amps, etc. from them.

 

[LBridges]

Anybody done a full upgrade of just the speakers? I'm especially interested in the center one, and the (too small) subwoofer way in the back. Can't seem to find a place to buy just one 4" speaker though. Anybody wanna go in on a pair, split the cost?

I haven't looked at any of the speakers yet, but will admit I too am underwhelmed by the sub woofer. I usually got to the same online place to acquire speakers. not your typical car stereo store front, but they do know their stuff (and you can buy singles - Madisound Speaker Components ). Note: I don't work for them, just have bought from them for over a decade with zero issues.

 

[Sandroad]

I'm bringing this back to the top. Did a search, didn't find much conclusive. I'm just not happy with the sound quality (or lack of) in my 200. Not impressed with the fancy-pants JBL system, honestly. I believe some of it may be due to streaming from Bluetooth, so now I'm experimenting with burning CDs to a USB stick, and downloading tunes from Amazon to see if they are any better. Still seems like it could be better.

Is there any way to upgrade the amps? Seems very proprietary.

Anybody done a full upgrade of just the speakers? I'm especially interested in the center one, and the (too small) subwoofer way in the back. Can't seem to find a place to buy just one 4" speaker though. Anybody wanna go in on a pair, split the cost?

You may on the right track to see if feeding a good source to the OEM system would help. So many of the sources we use today are super-compressed signals with very limited frequency range to save bandwidth. Mobile apps and streaming sources are especially a problem that way. Few people care about good sound, so there's no incentive to provide full frequency sources. The low frequencies are the first to be sacrificed in the bandwidth limiting. Sound processors can fix some of the lost frequency issues, but it's always best to provide a full frequency clean source to begin with.

 

[1MAC]

I checked the FAQ section and tried to search, but did not come up with anything so far on 200 series speaker replacements.

My 2008 Land Cruiser has a blown speaker in the front passenger door. Basically the foam surround has disintegrated over the years.

Since I was going to replace the front, I thought I might also replace the rear doors as well. I haven't pulled the rear door panels yet, but I did pull the front panel and saw that the front speakers are 6x9. Has anyone pulled a rear panel to see what's actually in the door? Crutchfield says both 5.25 and 6.5 as direct replacements. I'm assuming therefore 6.5 would be the size I would go to.

Just wanting to confirm that before ordering, and hoping to do so without pulling the panel first.

The other question I have is whether anyone knows what ohm rating these original speakers would be. I really want to match up as close as possible, and instead of going with OEM I wouldn't mind an upgrade if possible. If they do have an oddball resistance rating, I may just go back with Factory Originals. Just wondering what's out there that matches.

I know this is an old post, but have you considered just replacing the foam surrounds? There are kits for just about every size speaker and it is much cheaper and easier than sourcing a replacement speaker.

 

[sickspeed]

I too would love to upgrade the sound system. I've gotten spoiled with the Beats system in my Durango and Audi. I can't tell if my door speakers in the 200 aren't working properly or if the system just sucks.

 

[KLF]

I did some more experimenting yesterday with the music sources. I used the same CD for this test. I had actually ripped my entire CD collection to iTunes about 10 years ago (I had an iPod at the time), I still have them saved in the memory on my phone (about 15 GB), in proprietary m4a format. Bit rate on these is 128 kbps. I use the Pi music player on my phone to listen to them if I don't have wireless, otherwise I'm on Slacker.

The audio system in the 200 can't read m4a format directly, so I used a translator to convert them to MP3 format, also 128 kbps.

Then I tried ripping the CD again directly to MP3 with Windows Media Player, using the best 320 kbps format. File sizes were about 2.5X the size of the 128 kbps files for the same song.

MP3s were copied to a 64 GB USB drive, carefully naming the folders so I could tell which was each version (hi or lo bit rate).

Listening results: no surprise, the best sound was by playing the original CD in the in-dash player. Yes it is noticeably better quality. But, carrying CDs around is a huge hassle, I'm done with that.

Listening from the USB drive, it was harder to tell the difference from the 320 rate and stepping down to the 128 kbps rate. My only complaint with this option is that the audio system is very slow to scroll though the folders list on the screen, especially once you get more than a dozen folders or so. And, you can only scroll the folders list while the vehicle is stopped. Once you start moving, the scrolling buttons are disabled. But it's really nice to just have a USB drive dedicated to carrying all your saved music, it just stays in the truck, I always have it. I found a tiny 64GB drive on Amazon, works great:

Amazon.com: SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 64GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-064G-B35: Computers & Accessories

I haven't tried playing music from my phone through the 1/8" audio port yet, but I can tell you that playing it through Bluetooth is a compromise. It's nice that the truck automatically connects, no wires, and it even starts playing automatically. But the sound quality is not as good. No free lunch! I don't know what the frequency response and bandwidth of the Bluetooth system is in these trucks, but it seems to really be best only used for talking on the phone and Google navigation, not good audio listening. I really try not to touch my phone while I'm driving anyway, so I don't like this option for music.

But still, even using the best source, the overall sound quality of the factory system is unimpressive. My brother had the JBL system in his '05 Highlander and I thought it sounded amazing. The setup in the 200 is "not so much". I may call Crutchfield to see if they have any suggestions, I have no local car audio stores near me.

 

[Volunteer]

Chiming in on this old thread I went in to change the door lock actuator motor this weekend and decided to tidy up a bit while I had the door skin off. Several screws were loose one of the mirror nuts was actually off and fell out when I got the cover off so I applied loctite to everything. Also noticed my speaker was blown which brought me to this thread I'm looking for aftermarket replacements for the front door speakers part# jbl 861600wj50 has anyone found a set of good replacements? I'm searching the Net without much success. A local car audio installer recommended going back with an original speaker to retain the sound of the system. Thanks

 

[KLF]

Crutchfield will be your biggest help, but I probably posted earlier that they couldn't find a direct match when I tried then about a year ago. The biggest issue is the factory JBL speakers are only 2 ohm.

 

[Markuson]

Crutchfield will be your biggest help, but I probably posted earlier that they couldn't find a direct match when I tried then about a year ago. The biggest issue is the factory JBL speakers are only 2 ohm.

That’s a common problem any more. My Subaru had the same 2 ohm stock speakers. So...since it ends up meaning that you need to add an amplifier since most aftermarket speakers are 4ohm.

In my Subaru, I decided to keep the stock speakers when I replaced the head unit, and they sounded 100x better.

 

[lc200mel]

There is a simple solution to this. I have made a similar upgrade in my FJ.

Any 6 X 9" speaker with 4 ohm impedance will do. I would select one of the two or three way speakers.

You can cut the old inner speaker out. Cone and magnet. Use the plastic bit as a carrier for the new speaker. Screw the new speaker directly to the plastic frame. The screw will fall outside the oval side supports. You can then take off the plastic speaker wire connector off the old unit, and use it with the new speaker.

Bolt back the plastic frame with new speaker attached. Connect the speaker wires. Then try to fit door skin. If there is interference between the now taller speaker and door, trim the oval surround edge on the door. A sharp knife will do the job. Try to cut a parallel line.

Try to replace all 4 speakers. Then you can eliminate soft and loud difference between format and rear.

Mine is a 2008 Sahara, and it has a polycarbonate cone with rubber surround. A little more robust than the foam surround. Sound is ok, but not as good as after market ones.

Good luck with your speaker replacement. If you are stuck, there are pictorial procedure in FJ forums. AU or US FJ forums

 

[KLF]

There is a simple solution to this. I have made a similar upgrade in my FJ.

Any 6 X 9" speaker with 4 ohm impedance will do. I would select one of the two or three way speakers.

You can cut the old inner speaker out. Cone and magnet. Use the plastic bit as a carrier for the new speaker. Screw the new speaker directly to the plastic frame. The screw will fall outside the oval side supports. You can then take off the plastic speaker wire connector off the old unit, and use it with the new speaker.

Bolt back the plastic frame with new speaker attached. Connect the speaker wires. Then try to fit door skin. If there is interference between the now taller speaker and door, trim the oval surround edge on the door. A sharp knife will do the job. Try to cut a parallel line.

Try to replace all 4 speakers. Then you can eliminate soft and loud difference between format and rear.

Mine is a 2008 Sahara, and it has a polycarbonate cone with rubber surround. A little more robust than the foam surround. Sound is ok, but not as good as after market ones.

Good luck with your speaker replacement. If you are stuck, there are pictorial procedure in FJ forums. AU or US FJ forums

Running a 4 ohm speaker in a system that is designed for a 2 ohm impedance is hard on the amp. They will likely run hot. Not a cheap amp to replace when you fry it, either.

4 speakers!? I think there are 10? 12? I forgot. A lot more than 4.

 

[TeCKis300]

Running a 4 ohm speaker in a system that is designed for a 2 ohm impedance is hard on the amp. They will likely run hot. Not a cheap amp to replace when you fry it, either.

Actually, using a 4ohm in place of a 2ohm has the opposite effect on the amp. It's easier to drive a 4, than 2ohm speaker.

That also means, you'll be giving up some of the amps output. Said another way, it won't deliver the watts and the audio output from the driver will be relatively lower volume. If one were only changing the 6x9s, it may be softer than the mid-range and tweeter, effectively reducing bass output.

If changing the driver, it'll also have different characteristics in its sound. The stock amp is EQ'd for the stock drivers. It's really best to utilize the stock driver generally.

On the topic of Bluetooth and quality loss. That's not always true. Most of the newer modern phones can transport audio streams in an almost non-lossy, to actualy non-lossy format (depending on phone and BT receiver). Services like Spotify, with paid subscription, has high bit-rate streaming options. With a high bit-rate stream and high fidelity system like that in the LX Mark Levinson Reference system, one cannot tell the difference between BT, Aux, CD. Or DVD-A for that matter.

Someone above mentioned kits to replace the speaker surround. Personally, that's probably the option I'd take, as I'm sure replacement stock drivers are unreasonably expensive. Take this with a grain of salt as I don't have an LC. But I have extensively upgraded audio systems to every car I've ever owned, except the LX which has a GREAT stock system.. Including a full gut of the JBL system in my 4Runner Limited which is similar I imagine to the LC system.

 

[lc200mel]

KLF, you are right. There are 10 in mine.

From the front to the rear
1 centre speaker. I have seen this. It is an el cheapo. I would ignore its contribution.
2,3 at the front corners. Worth upgrading.
4,5 the tweeters in the A pillar. Can be replaced if you go with the component speakers. Or you can ignore if going for 2/3 ways in the doors.
6,7 in front doors. 6"x9" oval. Best candidate for replacement with 2/3 ways.
8,9 in rear doors. Another good candidate for replacement with 2/3 ways.
10 behind right third row seat. Opening is only half round. I believe this is the 8" subwoofer.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[jblatl]

Northwest speaker in Marietta GA can reform the original speakers if that would help. Gordon is excellent there.