Looking for front speakers, JBL 6520 speakers with factory amp- any experience?

[cmassa]

I need to replace the front speakers in the front doors of my 2003 LC due to bad buzzing lately with bass and only mild volume. I don't really want to do the re-foam of the oem speakers. Looking at Crutchfield in the 2 and 3 ohm, 6.5" speakers there are the Powerbass L2-652 which I've seen in other posts. Other options are Infinity Reference 6532ex and JBL Club 6520. The Infinity are not currently available at Crutchfield but I can always get them on Amazon. Does anyone have any experience with either of these (or the Powerbass) and the stock amp? I'm looking to just keep the sound quality at least as good as the oem as I haven't had a problem with it (not an audiophile). Are there other options you would consider? I'm looking for as close to plug and play as I can get but I don't mind soldering some wires but I don't want to mess with the amp and head unit. I've done a search and find a few posts about the Powerbass speakers but was wondering if there was newer info.

Thanks for any advice,
Chris

 

[Slashzero]

I spent quite a bit of time researching speakers to replace my blown factory speakers. I even ordered a whole set and had them sitting in my garage. Ultimately I decided to refoam my blown ones and return the new ones I had ordered (and BTW, I believe I ordered the same ones you referenced).

The refoam is the easiest/fastest solution. I refoamed mine quite some time ago and have not had any issues. They sound great, to me.

A few days ago I picked up a Sirius/XM onyX Plus with car kit, hooked it up to my AUX (BT45-TOY) port, and holy crap the OEM speakers sound great (satellite radio vs. the crappy FM reception I get).

Putting in new speakers felt like it was going to be a lot of work, with not much gain in audio quality / possibly losing some audio quality.

 

[bertnd]

I'm running the JBL Club 6520's front and rear on the stock amp. They are a definite improvement over stock. Because of the impedance difference you'll need to turn the volume up a little bit more than before, but honestly the speakers come alive once you crank the volume a bit. The only thing i have been unhappy with is the bass- although i think this will be the case with any 6.5 in the land cruiser doors. For the cost, the JBL's are a great value.
Also, if you order them from crutchfield they come with plug and play harness adapters. It can't get any easier- remove the stock speaker and just plug in the new ones. They also send all directions for install- will even tell you how to remove the door panels. Granted i've done lots of installs, but doing the 4 speakers literally took me 30 minutes start to finish.
Go ahead and upgrade with confidence. The stock amp will run them just fine, and will be a great improvement over stock.
I'm happy to answer any other questions

 

[unatiq]

I spent quite a bit of time researching speakers to replace my blown factory speakers. I even ordered a whole set and had them sitting in my garage. Ultimately I decided to refoam my blown ones and return the new ones I had ordered (and BTW, I believe I ordered the same ones you referenced).

The refoam is the easiest/fastest solution. I refoamed mine quite some time ago and have not had any issues. They sound great, to me.

A few days ago I picked up a Sirius/XM onyX Plus with car kit, hooked it up to my AUX (BT45-TOY) port, and holy crap the OEM speakers sound great (satellite radio vs. the crappy FM reception I get).

Putting in new speakers felt like it was going to be a lot of work, with not much gain in audio quality / possibly losing some audio quality.

Hey

I had blown speakers. I ended up buying some cheap speakers off of crutchfield. Should have paid more and gotten better speakers. Anyways now I cant return and so I want to refoam the factory speakers. Can you share a link to where you bought the refoam kit from?

Also as for the AUX (BT45-toy) is that just for sat radio? Or can you stream blue tooth audio from your phone onto it? Right now i am streaming using a $50 fm transmitter which has alot of static. Ultimate goal is to stream high quality audio from my phone to the car speakers without the FM transmitter.

 

[Slashzero]

I want to refoam the factory speakers. Can you share a link to where you bought the refoam kit from?

I got mine from simplyspeakers.com via eBay (link to item for sale). Check out the SimplySpeakers.com web site to find the right model number for your truck. Mine is a 2003 LC.

Also as for the AUX (BT45-toy) is that just for sat radio? Or can you stream blue tooth audio from your phone onto it? Right now i am streaming using a $50 fm transmitter which has alot of static. Ultimate goal is to stream high quality audio from my phone to the car speakers without the FM transmitter.

The BT45-TOY is a Bluetooth adapter which works with the OEM Nav headunit. If your phone has Bluetooth, you will be able to stream all sounds from the phone directly to the head unit (through the BT45-TOY). If you go into AUDIO the Title on the Nav screen you even get the name of the currently playing Bluetooth track.
It’s also a hands free unit so you can do hands-free phone calls (has a microphone).

The BT45-TOY also has a 3.5mm input, as well as a USB port (only for charging devices). You can get a combined extension adapter for both 3.5mm and USB (I got this one), and replace the extra cigarette lighter port in front of the shifters (that’s what I did). Then you can charge your phone via the USB port, and if you have any non-Bluetooth device with a headphone jack, you can plug it in there to the 3.5mm jack. No need for an FM transmitter anymore.

So, TLDR: BT45-TOY will Get you:

1. Hands free calling
2. Bluetooth audio
3. USB charging
4. 3.5mm AUX input

To listen to Bluetooth audio switch to your DISC source, and select disc 4.

To listen to audio via the AUX jack, switch to your DISC source and select disc 6.

 

[ZetheGSD]

I can speak to a couple questions here. I recently picked up my 2000 LC a few months ago and started upgrading my audio with a full set of JL C2 650's on all corners. My facotry speakers were not blown and the JL speakers sounded much more clear and actually took over for the bass (or what poor excuse of) coming from the rear sub. This weekend I just finished wiring up my JL HD900/5 amp to all 4 door speakers and a dual firing JL 12" sub behind the Right rear seat. Boy it pays to invest in decent components as JL sounded good through the factory head unit, but now through my Kenwood DNX575S head unit and full audio system there is no comparison. The highs are epic and the lows really take advantage of our large cabin space; All while the amp fits in the factory location under the passenger seat.

 

[ZetheGSD]

Here is what my amp looks like where your factory one sat.

 

[Eyedaho]

Here is what my amp looks like where your factory one sat.

View attachment 1931303

Your setup looks great from your description and pics. Any chance you would provide a full component list for me? I have the same head unit, and I'm looking to do something similar. I like the look of your clean wiring job!