Sr180 Audio /speakers

[Paul Mack]

Hi Guys,

my sound system on my 57 Plate sr180 is, imo rubbish (not a patch on my previous Avensis).

Please could someone advise, is there an upgrade to a better speaker sound or does it mean a new audio system?

Also, if its an upgrade on Speakers are they easy to replace?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Best wishes

Paul

PS Have a great Christmas and New Year everybody.

[T Sport 1978]

I agree and i upgraded mine to an Alpine system IVA-W502R but kept original Speakers.

The Speakers are actually not bad, with the Alpine it sounds good. Bass is reasonable but wont shatter your windows, clarity is fine.

[dawesy]

original speaers are held in by 3 rivets. IIRC they are 6" round type.

[Paul Mack]

I agree and i upgraded mine to an Alpine system IVA-W502R but kept original speakers.

The speakers are actually not bad, with the Alpine it sounds good. Bass is reasonable but wont shatter your windows, clarity is fine.

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies, appreciated.

T Sport did you replace yourself, if yes, was it easy or a pain?

You said the Alpine clarity is fine, my problem is that once the car is on the move i am having to turn up the volume to have any chance of hearing the radio clearly, and even then its not to clever.

Is this what you found?

Thanks again

Paul

[T Sport 1978]

I agree and i upgraded mine to an Alpine system IVA-W502R but kept original speakers.

The speakers are actually not bad, with the Alpine it sounds good. Bass is reasonable but wont shatter your windows, clarity is fine.

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies, appreciated.

T Sport did you replace yourself, if yes, was it easy or a pain?

You said the Alpine clarity is fine, my problem is that once the car is on the move i am having to turn up the volume to have any chance of hearing the radio clearly, and even then its not to clever.

Is this what you found?

Thanks again

Paul

I paid someone to do it because i convinced myself that i would muck it all up.

When the guy did it he made it look so easy though, but you will need the right tools.

The process wasn't hard at all, you lift the centre vents up and in you go really, the connections needed an ISO converter i believe but there is plenty of room inside and the job was done within 15 minutes. That is with bluetooth fitted to the top of the footwell and the steering wheel connection as well.

I found that the original stereo to be underpowered and yes quite a weak radio as well, but i was pleasantly surprised that the original Speakers was good enough for the Alpine.

[Paul Mack]

I agree and i upgraded mine to an Alpine system IVA-W502R but kept original speakers.

The speakers are actually not bad, with the Alpine it sounds good. Bass is reasonable but wont shatter your windows, clarity is fine.

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies, appreciated.

T Sport did you replace yourself, if yes, was it easy or a pain?

You said the Alpine clarity is fine, my problem is that once the car is on the move i am having to turn up the volume to have any chance of hearing the radio clearly, and even then its not to clever.

Is this what you found?

Thanks again

Paul

I paid someone to do it because i convinced myself that i would muck it all up.

When the guy did it he made it look so easy though, but you will need the right tools.

The process wasn't hard at all, you lift the centre vents up and in you go really, the connections needed an ISO converter i believe but there is plenty of room inside and the job was done within 15 minutes. That is with bluetooth fitted to the top of the footwell and the steering wheel connection as well.

I found that the original stereo to be underpowered and yes quite a weak radio as well, but i was pleasantly surprised that the original Speakers was good enough for the Alpine.

Nice one T Sport,

sincere thanks for the info, very useful.

Appreciated.

Paul

[ge00000]

It's pretty easy tho, drill out the 3 rivets holding the original speaker(frames) if you wish to replace them.

There's aftermarket frames to hold 16,5cm speaker.

You'll have to break off the frames holding the original tweeters, in order to put in new ones.

[Paul Mack]

It's pretty easy tho, drill out the 3 rivets holding the original speaker(frames) if you wish to replace them.

There's aftermarket frames to hold 16,5cm speaker.

You'll have to break off the frames holding the original tweeters, in order to put in new ones.

Hi, sincere thanks for the info.

Best wishes

Paul

[davethefish]

Hi guys/girls, in relation to this post:

I found, in an Octavia and Fabia that I used to own, If you disconnected a pair of tweeters (specifically the ones that rang in your ears in the rear passenger doors) then the original head unit in the car, sent the extra wattage to the remaining Speakers, increasing their sound produced, somewhat! Bass was drastically improved upon and there was no longer the annoying high frequency stuff in your ears.

I'm going to give this a try in my SR180 and will post with results. Just need some daylight hours to assess the situation.

Also something worthy of note, it's not necessarily a better speaker that will improve your sound, you need to have enough power behind them from the head unit or an Amp. I'm not saying swapping Speakers won't make a difference but bear the power provided to them in mind to maximise their potential.

Regards,

Dave.

[Daveyonthemove]

This is a job i will be doing in the new year. I had a bluetooth Alpine head unit in my previous car, and as it was only 4 months old when i decided to trade in for the Auris i kept the stereo.

I'm glad i did because the standard one is pretty pathetic, and the lack of bluetooth is a pain, so i will hopefully solve both problems when i swap it over in a few days.

[davethefish]

Hi guys/girls, in relation to this post:

I found, in an Octavia and Fabia that I used to own, If you disconnected a pair of tweeters (specifically the ones that rang in your ears in the rear passenger doors) then the original head unit in the car, sent the extra wattage to the remaining speakers, increasing their sound produced, somewhat! Bass was drastically improved upon and there was no longer the annoying high frequency stuff in your ears.

I'm going to give this a try in my SR180 and will post with results. Just need some daylight hours to assess the situation.

Also something worthy of note, it's not necessarily a better speaker that will improve your sound, you need to have enough power behind them from the head unit or an Amp. I'm not saying swapping speakers won't make a difference but bear the power provided to them in mind to maximise their potential.

Regards,

Dave.

UPDATE: I tried this and it's easy enough. WARNING Disconnecting these terminals stop sound/power to all front Speakers, not just the tweeters, DO NOT CUT WIRES.

[Daveyonthemove]

If anyone else is thinking of changing their stereo over, here is a handy guide on how to remove the original radio.

Looks pretty simple and no special tools required.

http://www.fitaudio.com/?View=entry&EntryID=183

I have bought the parts for mine online and i'm awaiting their arrival before i can fit the stereo, so hopefully next week i can confirm if this guide is as easy as it looks.

[davethefish]

If anyone else is thinking of changing their stereo over, here is a handy guide on how to remove the original radio.

Looks pretty simple and no special tools required.

http://www.fitaudio.com/?View=entry&EntryID=183

I have bought the parts for mine online and i'm awaiting their arrival before i can fit the stereo, so hopefully next week i can confirm if this guide is as easy as it looks.

Hi, that's a real handy guide. Can you confirm what parts you bought, from where and cost please. I'm looking into this too but have come up against alot of differant facia options, with cage, without, dim, double dim, with without tray etc...

Cheers.

[Daveyonthemove]

I bought the stuff off eBay. I will check my account tonight and get the details for you, but as they haven't arrived yet i can't confirm 100% if they are correct, but from the research i did before buying, i'm confident they will be fine.

[Daveyonthemove]

OK, the product codes for the stereo replacement items are as follows:

Wiring loom is CTSTY01. (I paid £19.50 on ebay)

Single DIN (with storage) fascia panel is CT24TY16. (I paid £15.99 on ebay)

If you want to use the steering wheel controls you usually have to buy a 'patch' lead, however there are eBay sellers who will include on in the deal if you tell them the brand of radio you are using.

There are cheaper alternatives out there, but the seller i bought from has excellent feedback and the products are the same as most car audio shops/e-stores sell, and i have had one in the past which was excellent quality.

Hope that helps.

[davethefish]

OK, the product codes for the stereo replacement items are as follows:

Wiring loom is CTSTY01. (I paid £19.50 on ebay)

Single DIN (with storage) fascia panel is CT24TY16. (I paid £15.99 on ebay)

Excellent help. Very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Daveyonthemove]

Happy to help!

The above numbers are correct as mine is now fitted (and the Speakers have come to life!) but you will also need to by an aerial connection. More details here:

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=119843&pid=1076528&st=0entry1076528

[davethefish]

Happy to help!

The above numbers are correct as mine is now fitted (and the speakers have come to life!) but you will also need to by an aerial connection. More details here:

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=119843&pid=1076528&st=0entry1076528

Thanks again. God Damn I could pump some money into this car.

Cheers.

ADDITION: Although, my HU is Sony, it has the female aerial connection, I (hope) should be OK...!

[Daveyonthemove]

You might be ok, but be prepared!

You will be pleased you changed it once it is fitted, it has improved the sound in my car dramatically. Where i used to have it on about 25 to hear it on a motorway, i'm hearing it fine at level 8-10 now. And the range of sound is much better. Its a real shame Toyota didn't invest in a better stereo as it does look better in the dash.

[davethefish]

I hear you brother,

Yep, It's going in then. Nice one.

[davethefish]

I wouldn't say I'm impulsive but... I found the aforementioned parts and I've ordered them.

Looking forward to snapping my dash in half this weekend. :)

[Daveyonthemove]

Did you get around to fitting the stereo?

[davethefish]

Did you get around to fitting the stereo?

Hi Davey.

Yep the parts arrived a few days after being ordered. I was a little worried at the colour of the facia, not matching the rest of the dash, but once it was in, it looked fine.

It's a brilliant fit, sterdy and has the handy extra little storage space to stick my mobile / remote etc... I'll fire some pics on soon.

Sound quality from the Speakers is there too, decent volume and clarity.

Dave.

[Daveyonthemove]

Glad it was worth the effort, i'm much happier with the sound from mine since it was done.

Did you need the antenna adapter in the end?