Thoughts on 2006 ML GX 470 Speaker upgrade for Daughter (1 Viewer)

[L382Franklin]

Merry Christmas Team,

I have come up with a speaker option setup for the GX470 and wanted to run this by everyone to see if anyone has done the same.
Also, has anyone added a HF radio to the old CD player slot in the glove box? I am wanting to add my Yaesu to this location.

I have the Mark L system with Nav.

3 way component 6x9 infinity Kappa series.
1 inch tweeter
2 inch mid MX20
6x9 woofer

6.5 Infinity Kappa rear component

Running all of these off the stock ML 8 ohm amp to 4 ohm speakers.

Going to add a Skar 10 inch dual coil 4ohm in a ported box wired to 8 ohm, or another 4ohm dual coil option with a ported box.

I am needing a option for bluetooth to connect via the cd player cable into the head unit. Any suggestions? Update I found the GTA car kit that plugs into CD player, should be good. Digital sound quality. I am not a fan of the FM transmitters.....

Anyone done something similar?

 

[jiggletits]

Stock ML sounds fine as long as speakers aren’t blown out. I’d make any necessary repairs then leave it alone.

Why bluetooth? Bluetooth anything sounds awful on a nice stereo, so why bother with the nice part? Save your money. Regardless of file size, bluetooth technology isn’t capable of transmitting audio in a high enough bitrate to sound like anything other than a mid-grade mp3 file (AKA sounds like trash) It will reduce sound quality every time.

This was very noticeable on my 2017 IS350 with ML. That car had a killer stereo. Bluetooth Tidal Masters sounded no different than the low quality version. When wired in directly to car it sounded amazing. Insane clarity.

I’d look for a way to get wired in directly that ensure no quality loss, then re-evaluate the sound quality.

 

[L382Franklin]

Stock ML sounds fine as long as speakers aren’t blown out. I’d make any necessary repairs then leave it alone.

Why bluetooth? Bluetooth anything sounds awful on a nice stereo, so why bother with the nice part? Save your money. Regardless of file size, bluetooth technology isn’t capable of transmitting audio in a high enough bitrate to sound like anything other than a mid-grade mp3 file (AKA sounds like trash) It will reduce sound quality every time.

This was very noticeable on my 2017 IS350 with ML. That car had a killer stereo. Bluetooth Tidal Masters sounded no different than the low quality version. When wired in directly to car it sounded amazing. Insane clarity.

I’d look for a way to get wired in directly that ensure no quality loss, then re-evaluate the sound quality.

Great insight, the GTA adapter has a wired version along with the bluetooth option and USB. For those not familiar with GTA kit, it replaces the input of the CD player, thus delivering exceptions sound quality, and the phone plugs in via 3.5mm cable. I am going that route. I also discovered a few Alpine, MB quart, and Dayton audio have 10-12 inch dual coil 4 ohm sub-woofers. For those who do not know, dual coil 4 ohm can be wired to fit the 8 ohm output of the ML amp. I am going to put one in a ported small box in the back to replace the crappy one in the side wall. Keep the suggestions coming.....

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Merry Christmas Team,

I have come up with a speaker option setup for the GX470 and wanted to run this by everyone to see if anyone has done the same.
Also, has anyone added a HF radio to the old CD player slot in the glove box? I am wanting to add my Yaesu to this location.

I have the Mark L system with Nav.

3 way component 6x9 infinity Kappa series.
1 inch tweeter
2 inch mid MX20
6x9 woofer

6.5 Infinity Kappa rear component

Running all of these off the stock ML 8 ohm amp to 4 ohm speakers.

Going to add a Skar 10 inch dual coil 4ohm in a ported box wired to 8 ohm, or another 4ohm dual coil option with a ported box.

I am needing a option for bluetooth to connect via the cd player cable into the head unit. Any suggestions? Update I found the GTA car kit that plugs into CD player, should be good. Digital sound quality. I am not a fan of the FM transmitters.....

Anyone done something similar?

I got Bluetooth adapter something called BT45-TOY (connects via wire to head unit CD input; $145 back in 2018) for the convenience of connecting via Bluetooth for phone calls and for my online music. It connects like 90% of the time and 10% I have to stop the car…turn it off/on…and make sure the Bluetooth connects to my iPhone.

But it really helps with hands free phone calls and streaming music from paid services like Spotify/YouTube/Amazon Prime from my iPhone through Bluetooth.

I don’t have a fancy stereo system anymore because I replaced the front door ML speakers with a cheap set from OReillys auto parts that claim to be 4-8 ohm compatible.

I tried fixing my ML subwoofer using those speaker foam kits but it didn’t really work. I have to look at changing the subwoofer in the future. Overall, I'm able to play my favorite music using the offline feature on those paid streaming services even when there's no internet/cell/radio signal.

Bluetooth connectivity for online music sounds great to me, but then again my hearing is going bad! Lol

 

[L382Franklin]

Great insight,

I got Bluetooth adapter something called BT45-TOY (connects via wire to head unit CD input; $145 back in 2018) for the convenience of connecting via Bluetooth for phone calls and for my inline music. It connects like 90% of the time and 10% I have to stop the car…turn it off/on…and make sure the Bluetooth connects to my iPhone.

But it really helps with hands free phone calls and playing Spotify and/or YouTube music and/or amazon prime music from my iPhone through Bluetooth.

I don’t have a fancy stereo system anymore because I replaced the front door ML speakers with a cheap set from oreillys auto parts that claim to be 4-8 ohm compatible.

I tried fixing my ML subwoofer using those speaker foam kits but it didn’t really work. I have to look at changing the subwoofer.

Bluetooth connectivity for online music sounds great to me, but then again my hearing is going bad! Lol

I got Bluetooth adapter something called BT45-TOY (connects via wire to head unit CD input; $145 back in 2018) for the convenience of connecting via Bluetooth for phone calls and for my inline music. It connects like 90% of the time and 10% I have to stop the car…turn it off/on…and make sure the Bluetooth connects to my iPhone.

But it really helps with hands free phone calls and playing Spotify and/or YouTube music and/or amazon prime music from my iPhone through Bluetooth.

I don’t have a fancy stereo system anymore because I replaced the front door ML speakers with a cheap set from oreillys auto parts that claim to be 4-8 ohm compatible.

I tried fixing my ML subwoofer using those speaker foam kits but it didn’t really work. I have to look at changing the subwoofer.

Bluetooth connectivity for online music sounds great to me, but then again my hearing is going bad! Lol

Great Insight, Keep following this thread, I will be posting my creation over the next 90 days.

 

[L382Franklin]

Merry Christmas Team,

I have come up with a speaker option setup for the GX470 and wanted to run this by everyone to see if anyone has done the same.
Also, has anyone added a HF radio to the old CD player slot in the glove box? I am wanting to add my Yaesu to this location.

I have the Mark L system with Nav.

3 way component 6x9 infinity Kappa series.
1 inch tweeter
2 inch mid MX20
6x9 woofer

6.5 Infinity Kappa rear component

Running all of these off the stock ML 8 ohm amp to 4 ohm speakers.

Going to add a Skar 10 inch dual coil 4ohm in a ported box wired to 8 ohm, or another 4ohm dual coil option with a ported box.

I am needing a option for bluetooth to connect via the cd player cable into the head unit. Any suggestions? Update I found the GTA car kit that plugs into CD player, should be good. Digital sound quality. I am not a fan of the FM transmitters.....

Anyone done something similar?

Update as of 12/27/21
I am going to go with the Bazooka tube 10 inch 8 ohm sub.
Infinity Kappas components are ordered for front and rear, along with dynamat.
GTA adapter has shipped.....

 

[ogsuv]

I just started a budget system myself, starting with entry level Focal components in the front doors. I am sure you will like the Infinitys compared to stock.

I've always liked the bang for the buck with a Bazooka tube.

Did you go with a non-powered version and plan on running it off the factory amp? If, so I would be concerned about not much output. I would carefully unbox that tube in case you change your mind. A powered unit is only $100 more, or a non-powered 4 Ohm may give you more output for the same cost.

Interested to hear how it goes.

 

[L382Franklin]

I just started a budget system myself, starting with entry level Focal components in the front doors. I am sure you will like the Infinitys compared to stock.

I've always liked the bang for the buck with a Bazooka tube.

Did you go with a non-powered version and plan on running it off the factory amp? If, so I would be concerned about not much output. I would carefully unbox that tube in case you change your mind. A powered unit is only $100 more, or a non-powered 4 Ohm may give you more output for the same cost.

Interested to hear how it goes.

Thanks for the reply. The bazooka is a 8 ohm sub-woofer non amplified. After doing some research and educated guessing with my stereo install brother in law, we have educated the guess on the sub channel output around 75 watts, this will drive the bazooka based on its requirements. the sub is a 103db sensitivity and recommend watts is 75-100. I am applying the kilmat as well as this project moves through its paces. The ML system is a 8 ohm design to mimic home audio.
the kappas will run at 4 ohm and should be just fine, I wanted the sub to stay at 8 ohm because the system was designed as a 8 ohm system.

Update as of 12/27/21
I am going to go with the Bazooka tube 10 inch 8 ohm sub.
Infinity Kappas components are ordered for front and rear.
GTA adapter has shipped.....

 

[ogsuv]

I hope it all sounds great.

I think the bluetooth adapter is a good choice. I have the USA Spec version on order and hoping it wakes up the system a bit.

I find listening to FM pretty flat. I blame not being able to receive FM signal in HD.

CD sounds pretty good.

I stream XM via Bluetooth in my Lexus IS350 with the stock stereo and it sounds better than CD.

Cheers

 

[L382Franklin]

I hope it all sounds great.

I think the bluetooth adapter is a good choice. I have the USA Spec version on order and hoping it wakes up the system a bit.

I find listening to FM pretty flat. I blame not being able to receive FM signal in HD.

CD sounds pretty good.

I stream XM via Bluetooth in my Lexus IS350 with the stock stereo and it sounds better than CD.

Cheers

Great input, thanks for sharing.....

 

[L382Franklin]

Update: 1/2/21:

Infinity Kappa Components are in the front doors, minus the tweeter for now. The stock ML tweeter has a capacitor on it and I ordered 2 new ones to put on the infinity kappa silk dome tweeters to replace the stock ones. The mid range in the stock stereo should allow a direct replacement with the M20 infinity kappa mids.

I did 6.5 in the back Kappa as well. WOW

I am seeing the ML stock amp also has a built in crossover in it, thus the capacitor and a 3 way stock system. I will not use the kappa crossover. I will run the ML amp.

The stock sub was not even working. I removed it and kill mated that location and closed it up. I had to pull the connector off the old sub and solder B/W line to the bazooka tube.

The sound has improved greatly. It is needs better highs and that is why I will replace the stock tweeters with the kappas. I may get around to the mid range as well.

Bass is alot better, but I would go with a 8 in driver next time, the power is barely pushing the 10 inch. It does crank though.

 

[fvedmo]

GTA kit sounds like it might be like Yatour (which i used) which has the pre-AptX BT codec, I'm curious what the documentation says.

I've been happy enough with the yatour, would've gotten the BT45, but it has always been out of stock and I needed to get that BT running.

Works fine, I'm not super picky about sound and need to refoam anyways right now.

 

[wulffcruiser]

Kind of an older thread, but I love having the 8” slim line sub under my seat. Going to move it to the passenger side and put a 10” under me.

I’d also be curious how you solved the tweeter. Does it fit inside the door panel or did you place it outside?

 

[L382Franklin]

New tweeter fit, just used some hot glue to help it hold. Don’t forget to add a resister to the tweeter.

 

[wulffcruiser]

New tweeter fit, just used some hot glue to help it hold. Don’t forget to add a resister to the tweeter.

What tweeter do you use? Thanks!