Your Speakers & Why You Like Them - Morel's with Pics!

[jammingator]

Picked up the Morel Maximo Ultra 602 components for the front and coax's for the back. Also picked up a Morel MPS 4.400 4 channel amp to drive them - still need an amp wiring kit for install. Also working on sound deadener - thinking Damplifier Pro or Roadkill Ultimate at this point.

Predictably, I'm taking this farther than I originally wanted but I love great sound and know it will be worth it!

 

[suprarx7nut]

@suprarx7nut those Morel's are the speakers I believe I'm going to go with but still researching. I'm thinking more and more about adding an amp as well. Because I kind of like things to "match" (I realize not necessary and am open to suggestion) I'm looking at Kenwood Excelon amps and am thinking of this one Kenwood Excelon XR401-4 Reference Series 4-channel car amplifier 75 watts RMS x 4 at Crutchfield Amazon has a great deal but couldn't get the link to work. Any thoughts?

Any particular amp wiring kit you would recommend?

Picked up the Morel Maximo Ultra 602 components for the front and coax's for the back. Also picked up a Morel MPS 4.400 4 channel amp to drive them - still need an amp wiring kit for install. Also working on sound deadener - thinking Damplifier Pro or Roadkill Ultimate at this point.

Predictably, I'm taking this farther than I originally wanted but I love great sound and know it will be worth it!

Sorry, missed that last post. Amp is always a good idea.

For amp wiring - I have no recommendation other than sticking with name brand stuff. There's some *really* terrible stuff out there. I've used JL kits, Rockford, Kicker, etc... They were all fine. Boss is absolute garbage. If it seems too cheap to be good, it probably is. Some manufacturers completely ignore the electrical properties and mis-label the AWG spec of the cables, etc.... Stick to the big names and you should avoid that.

For sound deadener, I'm torn. I tried doing the "Sound Deadener Showdown" method and it was a ton of work. In the end I wished I had just gotten one of the all in one solutions like Sound Skin or similar.

Taking it farther than originally wanted - story of my automotive life!

Let me just replace this trim piece - oh wait, it needs a new fastener - oh wait there's some light surface corrosion, let me pull the interior panels so I can do it right - oh wait, while I have those panels out I might as well sound deaden - oh well if I'm going to pull the panels and sound deaden, now is the time to wire for power and signal - oh I might as well hook up an amp and sub to safely terminate those wires - the factory head unit isn't going to work well, so let me replace that, etc.... Ugh. It's a curse. And it's called scope creep.

 

[gregnash]

I ended up going with the Morel Maximo 6 components up front after @suprarx7nut recommendation on Morel. I could have potentially gotten the Ultra 6 for just over $200 during the Memorial Day sale but money needed elsewhere meant that I had to go cheaper. So those Maximo cost me about $130 shipped to my door. I did not expect a whole lot from them but so far have been pleasantly surprised. The tweeters definitely sound much more crisp and bright. Mind you this is being driven off a cheap JOYING Auto headunit and the stock 170w amp. So I am sure that down the road when I replace EVERYTHING and do some sound deadening that I will have a bit more luck and things will get better.

I think with any project like most of our rigs are, Scope Creep is a given. I always plan for anywhere between 10-20% cost increase due to Scope Creep. Hell planning to replace my axles I went from planning on the cheap but decent Cardone HD axles ($90/ea) to now working on rebuilding a set of OEM Toyota with new outer axles assemblies that are around $200/ea. LOL talk about scope creep!!

 

[gregnash]

Quick question for everyone...
Did you do sounds deadener on your doors and if so, where?
Was thinking of grabbing some sound deadener to put around the speakers but unsure how much to get and what thickness. This was the stuff that I was looking at getting. Heard good stuff about Kilmat or FatMat, but really know little about what makes some stuff better than others.

 

[lesgarten]

Quick question for everyone...
Did you do sounds deadener on your doors and if so, where?
Was thinking of grabbing some sound deadener to put around the speakers but unsure how much to get and what thickness. This was the stuff that I was looking at getting. Heard good stuff about Kilmat or FatMat, but really know little about what makes some stuff better than others.

The stuff to look for will have Butyl rubber as it's base. The Fatmat has been problematic because it is asphalt based. Smell never goes away and it may get soft and fall off in hot areas like Nevada. You get what you pay for in this segment. Calculate how many feet you need and go from there. It would be nice to find a deal here but I haven't found one.

 

[katit]

Quick question for everyone...
Did you do sounds deadener on your doors and if so, where?
Was thinking of grabbing some sound deadener to put around the speakers but unsure how much to get and what thickness. This was the stuff that I was looking at getting. Heard good stuff about Kilmat or FatMat, but really know little about what makes some stuff better than others.

I'm in a same "scope creep". Finishing upholstery. Nice. Now I need to clean carpet. But while I have seats out, maybe pull carpet to clean? While carpet out, maybe do sound deadening?

Anyways... Ordered Exactly what you linked, but I got 3x 36 sqft packs. Just can't pay 3x for Dynamat, too much for this car IMO. I also got one Dynamat DynaPad. I got bunch of Jute Pad material while I was ordering upholstery stuff.. Not sure where and what I am going to put but I will work on all that next week. Most likely I will pull headliner and put something there as well.

 

[gregnash]

I'm in a same "scope creep". Finishing upholstery. Nice. Now I need to clean carpet. But while I have seats out, maybe pull carpet to clean? While carpet out, maybe do sound deadening?

Anyways... Ordered Exactly what you linked, but I got 3x 36 sqft packs. Just can't pay 3x for Dynamat, too much for this car IMO. I also got one Dynamat DynaPad. I got bunch of Jute Pad material while I was ordering upholstery stuff.. Not sure where and what I am going to put but I will work on all that next week. Most likely I will pull headliner and put something there as well.

LOL... know the feeling!! I have a rattle in my sunroof somewhere and was thinking about pulling that which requires pulling the headliner. So thought, if I am doing that maybe I should do the damping material there. Also plan to run wiring for a ScanGuage II, head unit mic, ditch light control, etc. always funny how this stuff just keeps going but hard to NOT do it while you have the main portion out. been in the doors 4 times already just trying to keep up locks to fix my lock-alarm issue so at this point I can get the door cards off in little time.

 

[nothappening]

I have to agree that there's no consensus when you look through old threads on the speaker "upgrades" when keeping other components stock. I figured it was more trouble than it's worth with the built in nav, and I've never even heard the stock speakers since the fronts and "sub" were all blown, so I'm in the process of refoaming right now. I added some Dynamat Xtreme to the outside door skin (not much, maybe 25%-50%) and we'll see how it fares. New speaker foam is supposed to be here tomorrow

 

[jammingator]

@gregnash not sure if you bought the noico yet or not but in my reading of some car audio forums etc the consensus is to buy the better, branded product based on performance, heat resistance, smell, etc. As @FIJCK points out, 25-50% is all that is required to minimize vibration of the door panels so it goes a long way. Dynamat Xtreme is on sale at Crutchfield right now and is rated very highly by all that I've read. Adding a layer of foam rounds out sound deadening, etc. there are different types such as DynaLiner, Luxury Liner Pro, etc.

Some of the best info you can find is here Products | Sound Deadener Showdown Hands down, the audio guys all recommend this site and product (though the gentleman retired and it's no longer available, he left the site up). This taking it the top, the very best you can do. Great guide to use within your own budget. Maybe the best part is a material list with quantities for our vehicles here Toyota Land Cruiser 4 door SUV 1998-2007 | Sound Deadener Showdown

The CLD tiles are basically what you would get with Dynamat, etc. MLV is the DynaLiner type product.

 

[gregnash]

@gregnash not sure if you bought the noico yet or not but in my reading of some car audio forums etc the consensus is to buy the better, branded product based on performance, heat resistance, smell, etc. As @FIJCK points out, 25-50% is all that is required to minimize vibration of the door panels so it goes a long way. Dynamat Xtreme is on sale at Crutchfield right now and is rated very highly by all that I've read. Adding a layer of foam rounds out sound deadening, etc. there are different types such as DynaLiner, Luxury Liner Pro, etc.

Some of the best info you can find is here Products | Sound Deadener Showdown Hands down, the audio guys all recommend this site and product (though the gentleman retired and it's no longer available, he left the site up). This taking it the top, the very best you can do. Great guide to use within your own budget. Maybe the best part is a material list with quantities for our vehicles here Toyota Land Cruiser 4 door SUV 1998-2007 | Sound Deadener Showdown

The CLD tiles are basically what you would get with Dynamat, etc. MLV is the DynaLiner type product.

Yeah I have read that one before when I did some sound deadening to my FJ60. Knew that he wasn't actively working the site, hence why I was wondering about the Noico. Haven't purchased anything yet. But thanks for the reminder on that, will have to go through and read again.

 

[jammingator]

Here's a write up from a guy who did a bunch of testing a few years ago Sound Deadening (CLD) Testing

He's doing some updated testing but hasn't completed yet, I expect he'll post the results here Sound Deadening (CLD) Testing

Though I posted different earlier - I'm pretty sure I'm just going to go with the DynaMat Xtreme - it always scores well, made in the USA, and when used prudently isn't so expensive.

 

[kpecks]

Bumping up this thread for some feedback... thinking of doing the same Morel's to replace my OEM speakers.

 

[jammingator]

Bumping up this thread for some feedback... thinking of doing the same Morel's to replace my OEM speakers.

Ok, so I did the following in this order:

• installed Kenwood DDX5706S Head Unit
• installed DynaMat Xtreme on inner and outer door skins - used 36 sq ft to do all four doors (some say there's no benefit to using as much as I did but I like it). This included covering all of the large holes in the inner skin
• installed DynaLiner on the rear doors - bought the 1/4" thick version and it worked but is a little tight to install door panel. I bought enough to do the front doors as well but haven't put it in yet. I think I may order 1/8" for the front and use the extra 1/4" in the cargo area
• speaking of the cargo area, sound deadening the doors made the cargo area noise more apparent, I'll use Dynamat on the outer walls and wheel wells then top with the 1/4" DynaLiner
• installed Morel Maximo Ultra 602 components in the front doors
• installed Morel Maximo Ultra 602 coax's in the back doors
• added Morel MPS 4.400 4 channel amp
• installed Kenwood KSC-PSW8 on floor in cargo area

Result: Sound is really fantastic! I would like to get it tuned properly at some point but in the meantime we are really enjoying it!

Recapping the step by step. By adding the head unit I got the features I wanted as far as Car Play, etc but it did not improve the sound on it's own. Adding the sound deadner and speakers was a definite upgrade but nothing I was excited to listen to. Where the system came alive was when I added the amp and the powered sub. Many including @suprarx7nut recommended changing out the amp and I was good with that but, in addition to being unsure of the possible wiring challenges, I wanted to see how the factory amp did with everything else new. Well, let me just join the chorus of those saying go ahead and plan for the new amp! The wiring wasn't difficult at all, I just needed to stop reading all the threads here and jump in. Overall, it took a lot of time to install everything but doing it in stages helped and I'm very happy with the result.

I took a number of pictures and plan to add a thread for the sound deadner install as you won't find much here on this board. May also do something on the amp install just to help take a little more of the mystery out for the next guy because it's well worth it.

 

[katit]

This included covering all of the large holes in the inner skin

So, does it mean it's "sticky" on other side?

 

[jammingator]

So, does it mean it's "sticky" on other side?

Yes, butyl faces the inner space/window and foil to the out side.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Ok, so I did the following in this order:

• installed Kenwood DDX5706S Head Unit
• installed DynaMat Xtreme on inner and outer door skins - used 36 sq ft to do all four doors (some say there's no benefit to using as much as I did but I like it). This included covering all of the large holes in the inner skin
• installed DynaLiner on the rear doors - bought the 1/4" thick version and it worked but is a little tight to install door panel. I bought enough to do the front doors as well but haven't put it in yet. I think I may order 1/8" for the front and use the extra 1/4" in the cargo area
• speaking of the cargo area, sound deadening the doors made the cargo area noise more apparent, I'll use Dynamat on the outer walls and wheel wells then top with the 1/4" DynaLiner
• installed Morel Maximo Ultra 602 components in the front doors
• installed Morel Maximo Ultra 602 coax's in the back doors
• added Morel MPS 4.400 4 channel amp
• installed Kenwood KSC-PSW8 on floor in cargo area

Result: Sound is really fantastic! I would like to get it tuned properly at some point but in the meantime we are really enjoying it!

Recapping the step by step. By adding the head unit I got the features I wanted as far as Car Play, etc but it did not improve the sound on it's own. Adding the sound deadner and speakers was a definite upgrade but nothing I was excited to listen to. Where the system came alive was when I added the amp and the powered sub. Many including @suprarx7nut recommended changing out the amp and I was good with that but, in addition to being unsure of the possible wiring challenges, I wanted to see how the factory amp did with everything else new. Well, let me just join the chorus of those saying go ahead and plan for the new amp! The wiring wasn't difficult at all, I just needed to stop reading all the threads here and jump in. Overall, it took a lot of time to install everything but doing it in stages helped and I'm very happy with the result.

I took a number of pictures and plan to add a thread for the sound deadner install as you won't find much here on this board. May also do something on the amp install just to help take a little more of the mystery out for the next guy because it's well worth it.

Awesome to see so many other folks going with the Morel speakers and enjoying them. I'm glad the system turned out and thanks for sharing your experience with the upgrade.

 

[katit]

Yes, butyl faces the inner space/window and foil to the out side.

Ouch! I guess you are not planning on doing any repairs inside a door

 

[jammingator]

I thought about that. I cleaned and lubed everything while in there but if a repair is needed it really won't be too big a deal. The material cuts very easily and can easily be patched.

 

[jammingator]

How did your amp install go @gregnash ?

 

[gregnash]

How did your amp install go @gregnash ?

Wasn't too bad... all-in-all I think it took me about 4hrs to get everything buttoned up. Pics in my build thread of everything I did. Still have a slight buzz, but MUCH less than was before and amp trigger takes a few seconds after the headunit comes on. Think this is something to do with the headunit as the power light for the amp comes on with the vehicle power (ACC or ON) but its probably 10 seconds before the antenna goes up and sound comes out. Not a huge deal to me.

Other than that, everything is awesome. System sounds great and can get LOUD if I really want it to. Rear door speakers are weak link now so those will have to be replaced in the near future but I don't listen to my music super loud so not an issue. Taking care of some other stuff first then I will get the Maximo Coax 6 for the rear doors, then this winter will look at doing a compact powered sub install in the rear.