Speaker update

[Niky]

Sorry if this has been spoken already 

Anyone here upgraded the Speakers of a Corolla hybrid? What Speakers would you recommend 

Would a change of the Speakers do a significant difference, or should I not bother at all,  unless I consider an amp too?

Not happy with the stock sound- it's ....very unbalanced. The tweeters are very strong and clear, but the other speakers are very weak. Those on the rear doors are super quiet - almost silent 

Any opinions and ideas will be much appreciated 

[Obsidian Estate]

A popular upgrade on GT86s was FOCAL, they do a plug and play set. I wonder if they fit/do one for the Corolla.

[WALLOP]

I have the upgrade option originally offered by Toyota which i now understand has been withdrawn. I too originally found the balance when centered on the audio display very poor and the rear Speakers very quiet, all the sound appeared to be from the front. I adjusted the settings to give more power to the rear Speakers and less to the front so that the sound was subjectively equal from the drivers point of view and then just adjusted the overall volume to suit. Now very happy with the sound.

[Niky]

21 minutes ago, WALLOP said:

I adjusted the settings to give more power to the rear speakers and less to the front so that the sound was subjectively equal from the drivers point of view and then just adjusted the overall volume to suit. Now very happy with the sound.

I've tried this already, but love listening to radio such as LBC where people only talk - no music at all, and I have to set the volume to 40+ to be able to hear something, yet the sound is very poor - especially if the the people talking on the radio have low voice. In this case the tweeters won't catch the voice very clear and the other Speakers aren't strong enough. Not sure if this makes sense 

Was wondering if I change the door Speakers would there be any improvement, or do I need to think of an amp too (not that I have a budget for an amp)

 

[Niky]

I took one of the front door pannels down to see what harness connectors, and speaker adapters would I need

Also did some research, watched few videos in YouTube and think I am ready for a little DIY speaker change

I have ordered the following 

6.5 inch JBL stage 3 627 Speakers - £60 from Amazon 

Noico 10sq feet sound deadening £26.99 Amazon

Harness connectors £8.99 from eBay

6.5 inch foldable silicone speaker baffles + backing foam £19.99 Ebay 

Door speaker adapters £26.99 from Dynamic sounds UK

It seems pretty easy DIY once I have everything. Not expecting huge improvement, but will be happy with little soundproofing and a bit better sound quality. 

[Gerhard_Corolla]

On 11/19/2022 at 5:38 PM, Niky said:

I took one of the front door pannels down to see what harness connectors, and speaker adapters would I need

Also did some research, watched few videos in YouTube and think I am ready for a little DIY speaker change

I have ordered the following 

6.5 inch JBL stage 3 627 speakers - £60 from Amazon 

Noico 10sq feet sound deadening £26.99 Amazon

Harness connectors £8.99 from Ebay

6.5 inch foldable silicone speaker baffles + backing foam £19.99 Ebay 

Door speaker adapters £26.99 from Dynamic sounds UK

It seems pretty easy DIY once I have everything. Not expecting huge improvement, but will be happy with little soundproofing and a bit better sound quality. 

Please keep us updated on the process!

The sound system is the most underwhelming thing in the Corolla...

[Kental]

17 hours ago, Gerhard_Corolla said:

Please keep us updated on the process!

The sound system is the most underwhelming thing in the Corolla...

Don't try a Yaris with the 4 speaker system then!!

[bunnyrabbit03]

2 hours ago, Kental said:

Don't try a Yaris with the 4 speaker system then!!

I like the sound in the Corolla - much better than in some hire cars (Vauxhall, Renault, Kia) I had over the years. 

[Kental]

21 hours ago, bunnyrabbit03 said:

I like the sound in the Corolla - much better than in some hire cars (Vauxhall, Renault, Kia) I had over the years. 

I agree.  What I was meaning is it is much better than the 71 plate Yaris we have as well

[ollie.chambers1]

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/208728-2022-corolla-ts-hifi-upgrades/?do=findComment&comment=1654736

Check out my post in this thread for some more links to other threads about upgrading the Speakers, and what I've done to my car.

There's also a thread where someone has done sound insulation to their car which will help improve sound quality (it's on my list for the future). I don't have a link for it, but here are some of the pictures from it:

[ollie.chambers1]

Any questions about what I've done please feel free to ask and I'll help where I can!

[Niky]

Finally managed to do the front doors. Got couple of pictures below

Pretty easy DIY, considering I've never done this before. Took me around 3 hours for both doors.

The door cards came out quite easily- luckily no clips got broken. Covered approx 70% of the doors(outer panel) with sound deadening material - Noico 80mil. Not a major change in terms of noise reduction, but definitely little improvement - more noise coming from the back of the car now (it's a TS)

Better sound quality too - not a great deal though. It seems I don't have to turn the volume too high. The JBL's got good bass too - should get better once they settle down

All parts fit perfectly well, only the speaker adapters didn't have holes for the harness, but drilled one easily

Overall I am happy with the result and will be doing the rear doors too

 

[Niky]

 

 

Two days later and the sound has definitely improved - you will need headphones to hear properly 

Very clear sound, more than good bass for my liking. I am very happy with the result and will definitely do the rears sooner than later

[Niky]

Replaced the rear doors Speakers today, and what a difference.....I can hear music from behind now😀. JBLs are really good and don't need an amp, absolutely enough power with the stock head unit. Very good and deep bass indeed

Now I have a set of JBL club 622F at the front and JBL Stage 3 627 at the rears. Sound deadening in all doors - few pieces of sound deadening sheets here and there on the door cards to avoid any rattling. The car is quieter and the music quality is great. Very happym with my little project 

[JayCee88]

Very nice and thanks for the pictures. Glad to know Speakers made a difference without need of an amp.

I am always a bit nervous taking trims off a new car, fearing that it will cause squeaks and rattles. My car is now very quiet which I really like.

Did you use a special prying tool to unclip the door trim?

[Niky]

50 minutes ago, JayCee88 said:

Very nice and thanks for the pictures. Glad to know speakers made a difference without need of an amp.

I am always a bit nervous taking trims off a new car, fearing that it will cause squeaks and rattles. My car is now very quiet which I really like.

Did you use a special prying tool to unclip the door trim?

I was a bit nervous I might break some of the plastic clip holders of the door panels, indeed. They actually came out very easy and nothing got broken. Quite an easy DYI job - around an hour, hour and a half with the cleaning and sound deadening instalation for each door - I took my time. 

I did the front doors few weeks ago and realised there was rattling from the door panels, but think this was mainly because of the powerful bass from the speakers- I could feel the doors vibrating😀(no amp). Yesterday took the front door's panels down again and applied few pieces of the sound deadening sheets here and there, on big flat surfaces where I could easily push/move the plastic. Put everything back and there is no rattling anymore. Did the same for the rear doors today. Learned lots from this guy - 

 

[JayCee88]

I was alone in the car today so cranked the Speakers up to listen to some Green Day songs on Spotify. At higher volumes I noticed some sort of high pitched jingling sound (kind of like keys or coins) heard from the front Speakers. Probably ones up in the dash. 
It’s not always there so could be triggered by certain frequency or volume. 
I like listening to music, and always have had upgraded Speakers in my car so this is a bit disappointing. 
Might one day build up courage to upgrade speakers plus add some sound proofing. 

[Netbirds82]

Hi Niky,

Have you tried upgrading dash Speakers in your corolla cross? I found left and right dash Speakers are completely two different settings. Left with 3.5" speaker coupled with small tweeter & Right only small Tweeter (I got Australia Corolla Cross GXL 2022)

[Niky]

5 hours ago, Netbirds82 said:

Hi Niky,

Have you tried upgrading dash speakers in your corolla cross? I found left and right dash speakers are completely two different settings. Left with 3.5" speaker coupled with small tweeter & Right only small Tweeter (I got Australia Corolla Cross GXL 2022)

Hi, Dave

Mine is a tourer, not cross version 

The left 3.5inch speaker should be for the emergency call and other people here have suggested not to be touched. This is one of the reasons I haven't looked into changing those tweeters yet. I am sure ther will be a way of doing it though, just do not touch the 3.5inch speaker, as you might loose the emergency call sound. Let us know how you are getting on with it, please