Yaris Dashboard Speaker Upgrade

[johnny01]

Hi to everyone :)

I thought I would post this as I haven't yet come across a 'how to' thread for upgrading or replacing the Speakers in the dashboard of a Yaris. My car is a phase 2 T-Sport, though I imagine the detail is pretty much the same for them all. If anyone wants any further info then just tag it on the end of this thread or PM me and I'll try to help

NOTE: When working on the Speakers, the ignition should be OFF!

Also, I've posted this because it's what I've done to my car - I can't accept liability or responsibility for damage caused to any other vehicle by anyone attempting what I've done here. If in doubt consult a qualified auto electrician

The replacement units are 10cm or 4" units. The originals are rated at 6 Ohm impedance but the head unit will easily drive 4 Ohm Speakers. Anything rated at 15 watts RMS and above should be suitable for use with the standard head unit, though it may pay to plan ahead and buy the best you can afford. Alternatively some people fit high frequency tweeters in the dashboard as opposed to full range speakers (especially if parcel shelf speakers are added) but the principles below are the same.

Removal of standard speakers

Remove the grille covering the speakers. Fairly straightforward - there are three clips towards the front of the grille, just prize the grille gently along the edge with a suitable small flat tool and it pops up. I used a jewellers screwdriver, and placed a cloth underneath to ensure I didn't scratch the dashboard by accident:

Then pull the grille towards you - it comes out easily. There are two large lugs at the back of the grille holding it in place, these and the three clips can be seen here along with the revealed speaker (curiously a little damaged on my car)

Unscrew the two screws holding the speaker on its plastic mounting. You will need a chubby phillips or pozidrive screwdriver (size 1) or you might be able to make do with one of those dodgy MFI/Argos right-angled cheap jobbies that come in flat pack boxes - the screws aren't tight so don't require a lot of effort to undo:

Once you have untightened the screws with the screwdriver, undo the last couple of turns by hand and remove the screws - avoids the possibility of them falling into the dark depths of the dashboard. There are enough rattles in a Yaris as it is!

You can now pull the speaker out of its mounting. There is enough wire on it (just) to rest it on the dashboard (under a cloth - NOT like I didn't do here!)

Wiring

There is a little clip on the white speaker connector - squeeze this and wriggle off the connector to remove the speaker altogether.

It's always helpful at this stage to verify that your upgraded speakers do actually fit in the right place, so pop the speaker connection down into the hole (it should be clamped to the vehicle somewhere so it won't go anywhere - but check in any case) and then gently lower the replacement unit into the hole to check nothing fouls the magnet or speaker basket and the screw holes line up OK.

Now... helpfully... Toyota don't mark on the original speaker which is + and - so I had to work these out for myself because I don't have access to a wiring diagram. Easily done on a speaker by using a small AA Battery and length of wire - a 'Phase Tester' for those in the business. Connecting the positive end of the Battery (briefly) to the + connection of the speaker will cause it to extend outwards. The wiring details (in my car) is as follows:

passenger side (left channel)

speaker positive = pink wire with silver tracer

speaker negative = purple wire with silver tracer

drivers side (right audio channel)

speaker positive = green wire with black tracer

speaker negative = blue wire with black tracer

I decided I probably wouldn't re-install the original speakers so I cut the wires half an inch from where they entered the white connector (just in case I changed my mind and wanted to re-install them) then stripped the ends of the wires and attached suitable crimp connectors to them. This is the passenger side pushed onto the new speaker:

And the drivers side:

Before finally fitting the speaker (or even pushing the crimp connectors very tightly on) it's advisable to test that they work. This can be done one at a time or both together, but in either case there should be no loose or disconnected wires because this could cause problems or even blow the output stage of the head unit. It's OK to test them once you have got to the stage of either of the two pictures above. Once you have verified that they work, switch off the ignition COMPLETELY. Push the crimp connectors onto the speaker tightly if you haven't already done this.

Fitting the upgraded speakers

Lower the speaker into the hole gently and screw firmly to the moulding, but do not over-tighten. I had to use additional larger washers because the fixing centres of the original speakers are slightly further apart than the replacements and only just reached.

Once the speaker is fitted, it's a simple case of sliding the speaker grille lugs back into the slots and gently pressing down on the front to locate the clips into the dashboard. Then turn on the ignition, pop in a CD and enjoy your upgraded speakers!

Johnny

[jd26]

nice guide mate! been meaning to fit mine for a while, but as the Speakers were a bit smaller like yours i thought id need to make a small fixing out of wood to make them fit, ill have to try your method though with the washers!!

[Chris81]

Excellent guide!! Been thinking about doing this for ages. My question is though, do you really notice any better sound quality or volume, seeing as you've not fitted an amplifier?

[johnny01]

Thanks for the nice comments

nice guide mate! been meaning to fit mine for a while, but as the speakers were a bit smaller like yours i thought id need to make a small fixing out of wood to make them fit, ill have to try your method though with the washers!!

Washers should do the job fine, I think I used M8 washers from my local Wickes, or you could use repair washers as long as they don't foul any part of the speaker movement or bend the speaker chassis. I've measured the original Speakers and the fixing 'centres' are 122mm or 4 and 13/16ths inches apart approximately. Hope this helps :)

Excellent guide!! Been thinking about doing this for ages. My question is though, do you really notice any better sound quality or volume, seeing as you've not fitted an amplifier?

The short answer: volume = barely, quality = definately!

Trouble is, my car has the Toyota optional rear parcel shelf Speakers fitted and because the parcel shelf Speakers are wired in series with the dashboard speakers the four of them are barely audible - the door speakers are far louder. I changed one dashboard speaker first and there was a noticeable difference in quality but not so much in overall volume but I expected that to be the case anyway. The standard speakers aren't inefficient, they just don't sound very good. I intend to re-wire the speakers to different configurations as I upgrade each part, ending up with coaxials in the dashboard, doors and parcel shelf :)

[shakman87]

i bought the same Speakers for my sister yaris. whats good is that they run at 2 ohms so it doubles/triples the power received from the head unit so should sound a lot ore powerful, clearer and altogether better.

i'd recommend 2 ohm Speakers for anybody looking to upgrade Speakers that run off the head unit. also bought the 6.5" version for the doors, they run at 2 ohm too so i'm hoping for much better sound than the standard flat noise that was coming out of the car before. i'll post a how to for the doors when i do them. i'll prob do a how to for the head unit when i do that too as all the other guides on the yaris forum are rubbish. its good to see someone make the effort with good pictures and descriptions :)

[johnny01]

i bought the same speakers for my sister yaris. whats good is that they run at 2 ohms so it doubles/triples the power received from the head unit so should sound a lot ore powerful, clearer and altogether better.

Until the head unit fails. Any amplifier will have a minimum impedance into which they are designed to work, anything lower than this will cause excessive current to flow, generate excess heat in the output devices and eventually the power amplifier section will fail. This is especially true of 'high powered' head units that deliver a lot of power (say 20 watts RMS into each of 4 channels) and these amplifier sections have barely adequate heat sinking and are crammed into a tiny space shared with CD drives, LCD and EL displays that all generate heat as well.

Having said that though... there are tolerances around which the head unit will work, it's debatable whether JBL 2 Ohm Speakers are actually that close to 2 Ohm over the entire audio spectrum, plus there is also the resistance of the speaker connectors and wires to be taken into consideration. JBL do specifically state that their 2 Ohm Speakers will work from a 4 Ohm head unit, which sounds to me like they aren't really 2 Ohm at all, either that or they are hoping that they can get away with it most of the time. To be honest most 4 Ohm Speakers have a higher average impedance than 4 Ohms anyway.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has had any long-term issues with these 2 Ohm speakers.

also bought the 6.5" version for the doors, they run at 2 ohm too so i'm hoping for much better sound than the standard flat noise that was coming out of the car before.

Yeah, I got the 6.5" versions ready to go into the doors too, managed to track down some 3-way coaxials instead of the more common 2-way ones. I can't wait for the autoleads adaptors to arrive, then I'll do a similar write up of that process too :)

[Yaris SR Kid]

Good write up mate!

I agree with johnny on this one, my first mod was the dash Speakers, and to be honest volume wise there was no real difference but the music just seemed to have such better clarity! Fitting it with decent door spears/rear Speakers really helps aswell!

[minidoughty]

There's already a write up for the door Speakers. ;)

[johnny01]

There's already a write up for the door speakers. ;)

I've seen plenty for after market head units but haven't come across one for the door Speakers - not a proper 'how to' anyway, just lots of threads about what size Speakers they are and what other members have fitted. Just thought members might be interested :)

[shakman87]

yeah, i agree. although having done loads of door Speakers i'm sure the yaris is no different. but i couldn't find a write up for door Speakers. even the write up for head units were pretty useless. if there was someone that was new to fitting units they'd find it a bit difficult to understand some of the stuff, and pictures are a huge help!

i've got my adapters and bits on the way, so should hopefully be here either for the weekend or nxt tuesday - i'm excited too :)

[.Chris]

wicked guide mate, another on my to do list.

[minidoughty]

Seveer Unaek DID have one in the workshop submissions catagory.

[johnny01]

Seveer Unaek DID have one in the workshop submissions catagory.

Yes I know - trouble is this, and just about all the other topics I had a look at out of interest (not just for Yarii) link to external websites or images that are no longer there. One of the reasons I hosted the pics in a gallery on this forum was so that they will always be available, unless I take the hump and delete them all

When I get around to doing the other upgrades I'll write a 'how to' similar to this one and if members or mods don't want them then they can be deleted :)

[andrewsin]

Very good guide mate much appreciated! Before i was thinking do i have to dismantle the whole dash!

Cheers andrew!

[gar]

Seveer Unaek DID have one in the workshop submissions catagory.

Yes I know - trouble is this, and just about all the other topics I had a look at out of interest (not just for Yarii) link to external websites or images that are no longer there. One of the reasons I hosted the pics in a gallery on this forum was so that they will always be available, unless I take the hump and delete them all

When I get around to doing the other upgrades I'll write a 'how to' similar to this one and if members or mods don't want them then they can be deleted :)

Hi, What make of Speakers did you fit? Do you know of anyone who sells an adapter, rather than splicing/cutting the terminals off and fitting blade connectors?

I have been thinking of changing mine so was glad to see someone who has done it. I knew how to but wanted advice on which speaker and wanted the wires intact in case I re-install the standard ones when selling the car. Many thanks. B)

[johnny01]

Hi, What make of speakers did you fit? Do you know of anyone who sells an adapter, rather than splicing/cutting the terminals off and fitting blade connectors?

I have been thinking of changing mine so was glad to see someone who has done it. I knew how to but wanted advice on which speaker and wanted the wires intact in case I re-install the standard ones when selling the car. Many thanks. B)

Hi - the Speakers I fitted into the dashboard are JBL GTO-427, the rest of the car will be fitted with JBL's too, my personal preference. I don't know of any adaptors offhand that might fit the existing connector, I did think of this as an option but to be honest I can't see why you would want to revert back to the originals anyway, even when selling it. You can't see them and no-one would really be able to tell apart from the greatly improved sound quality :)

The GTO-427 Speakers are 2 Ohm impedance. I have 6 Speakers in my car (it has the rear parcel shelf upgrade) and the dashboard speakers are wired in series with the parcel shelf ones. I have just upgraded those to JBL 6537 2-Ohm speakers so that makes a combined total impedance of 4 Ohms per channel, so I don't anticipate any problems with overloading the head unit (see my 30th April post)

Hope this helps :)

[gar]

Hi, What make of speakers did you fit? Do you know of anyone who sells an adapter, rather than splicing/cutting the terminals off and fitting blade connectors?

I have been thinking of changing mine so was glad to see someone who has done it. I knew how to but wanted advice on which speaker and wanted the wires intact in case I re-install the standard ones when selling the car. Many thanks. B)

Hi - the Speakers I fitted into the dashboard are JBL GTO-427, the rest of the car will be fitted with JBL's too, my personal preference. I don't know of any adaptors offhand that might fit the existing connector, I did think of this as an option but to be honest I can't see why you would want to revert back to the originals anyway, even when selling it. You can't see them and no-one would really be able to tell apart from the greatly improved sound quality :)

The GTO-427 Speakers are 2 Ohm impedance. I have 6 Speakers in my car (it has the rear parcel shelf upgrade) and the dashboard speakers are wired in series with the parcel shelf ones. I have just upgraded those to JBL 6537 2-Ohm speakers so that makes a combined total impedance of 4 Ohms per channel, so I don't anticipate any problems with overloading the head unit (see my 30th April post)

Hope this helps :)

Yeah, that helps a lot. I am intending to do both the front and rears, soon myself. I know these type of front speakers "Dry up" as I had some in a Mercedes 190E and had to replace them as they sounded rubbish. The replacements went straight in, no wire cutting or anything and sounded much better. I hope you keep us posted as to the improvements/ exploding head unit (Hope not) etc.

Regards, Gar.

[turnby]

Hey Johhny, just wanted to say awesome guide and great pictures to help illustrate. Fitted mine today (Pioneer TS-E1076) with no problems, apart from one o the screw holes not been big enough so used velcro to stop the rattle :)

[aandy]

Hi, this is a fantastic guide. I will be following shortly as my new Speakers have just come. I was just wondering if it is possible to add parcel shelf Speakers as well to the yaris that only has the front door and dash Speakers.

Thanks again.

[Zeiss]

I've had my 2003 T-Sport now for 5 years. Wow, it sounds a long time when I say it out loud. It came with no Speakers in the back, which I found a little odd to be honest. The first thing I did was to get a pair of 6x9s fitted on the parcel shelf. The difference was amazing in the back but not really up to much whilst driving. As johnny01 has pointed out, running the Speakers in series limits the overall benefit of this set-up.

In hindsight, I wish I had upgraded the dash 'n' door Speakers years ago, but I've chickened-out of doing it up until now!

Johnny01, I've seen your HowTo on changing the door speakers with door removal. I have printed it out and it looks genius mate. One question, I have a not-too-bad pair of 5.25in speakers in my cupboard. Is it easy to replace the stock speakers with these ones? Can I do it without the audioleads adaptor? I know a 17cm upgrade would be nice, but since I've got the small pair already I don't think i'll bother buying new ones if I can do without.

Thanks in advance.

Z.

[aandy]

Zeiss, a lad on another forum I am on cut the old Speakers out of the current adapters on the Speakers and raplaced the ones in with new Speakers and he said it works perfectly well, bit of a bodge gob but if you have already got them then there is no point buying some more. I fitted my new SPL 6.1 Dynamics yesterday and it is much better. A lot more bassier. Just got the dash ones to do now...

[mafia]

does anyone know if this is the same for a phase1 yaris? and its not a t-sport?

[johnny01]

Johnny01, I've seen your HowTo on changing the door speakers with door removal. I have printed it out and it looks genius mate. One question, I have a not-too-bad pair of 5.25in speakers in my cupboard. Is it easy to replace the stock speakers with these ones? Can I do it without the audioleads adaptor? I know a 17cm upgrade would be nice, but since I've got the small pair already I don't think i'll bother buying new ones if I can do without.

Thanks in advance.

Z.

Sorry for the late reply - I've been busy with music and arty stuff so haven't had much time to devote to anything else :)

In short (I don't know whether you've already had a look) but I don't think they'll fit. Although the standard Toyota door Speakers are smaller than the upgrade ones, if you look at the how-to you will see that the speaker fixing centres are appropriate to a larger speaker (17cm) which is why you don't need to enlarge the hole where the speaker fits when you upgrade. There's a lot of redundant plastic surrounding the standard speaker and although the cone is smaller, it is in fact similar in size overall to a 17cm speaker so I don't think your 5.25" units will fit - the surrounds will be too small.

Hope this helps - Johnny

[boilerhead]

Hi to everyone :)

I thought I would post this as I haven't yet come across a 'how to' thread for upgrading or replacing the speakers in the dashboard of a Yaris. My car is a phase 2 T-Sport, though I imagine the detail is pretty much the same for them all. If anyone wants any further info then just tag it on the end of this thread or PM me and I'll try to help

NOTE: When working on the speakers, the ignition should be OFF!

Also, I've posted this because it's what I've done to my car - I can't accept liability or responsibility for damage caused to any other vehicle by anyone attempting what I've done here. If in doubt consult a qualified auto electrician

The replacement units are 10cm or 4" units. The originals are rated at 6 Ohm impedance but the head unit will easily drive 4 Ohm speakers. Anything rated at 15 watts RMS and above should be suitable for use with the standard head unit, though it may pay to plan ahead and buy the best you can afford. Alternatively some people fit high frequency tweeters in the dashboard as opposed to full range speakers (especially if parcel shelf speakers are added) but the principles below are the same.

Removal of standard speakers

Remove the grille covering the speakers. Fairly straightforward - there are three clips towards the front of the grille, just prize the grille gently along the edge with a suitable small flat tool and it pops up. I used a jewellers screwdriver, and placed a cloth underneath to ensure I didn't scratch the dashboard by accident:

Then pull the grille towards you - it comes out easily. There are two large lugs at the back of the grille holding it in place, these and the three clips can be seen here along with the revealed speaker (curiously a little damaged on my car)

Unscrew the two screws holding the speaker on its plastic mounting. You will need a chubby phillips or pozidrive screwdriver (size 1) or you might be able to make do with one of those dodgy MFI/Argos right-angled cheap jobbies that come in flat pack boxes - the screws aren't tight so don't require a lot of effort to undo:

Once you have untightened the screws with the screwdriver, undo the last couple of turns by hand and remove the screws - avoids the possibility of them falling into the dark depths of the dashboard. There are enough rattles in a Yaris as it is!

You can now pull the speaker out of its mounting. There is enough wire on it (just) to rest it on the dashboard (under a cloth - NOT like I didn't do here!)

Wiring

There is a little clip on the white speaker connector - squeeze this and wriggle off the connector to remove the speaker altogether.

It's always helpful at this stage to verify that your upgraded speakers do actually fit in the right place, so pop the speaker connection down into the hole (it should be clamped to the vehicle somewhere so it won't go anywhere - but check in any case) and then gently lower the replacement unit into the hole to check nothing fouls the magnet or speaker basket and the screw holes line up OK.

Now... helpfully... Toyota don't mark on the original speaker which is + and - so I had to work these out for myself because I don't have access to a wiring diagram. Easily done on a speaker by using a small AA battery and length of wire - a 'Phase Tester' for those in the business. Connecting the positive end of the battery (briefly) to the + connection of the speaker will cause it to extend outwards. The wiring details (in my car) is as follows:

passenger side (left channel)

speaker positive = pink wire with silver tracer

speaker negative = purple wire with silver tracer

drivers side (right audio channel)

speaker positive = green wire with black tracer

speaker negative = blue wire with black tracer

I decided I probably wouldn't re-install the original speakers so I cut the wires half an inch from where they entered the white connector (just in case I changed my mind and wanted to re-install them) then stripped the ends of the wires and attached suitable crimp connectors to them. This is the passenger side pushed onto the new speaker:

And the drivers side:

Before finally fitting the speaker (or even pushing the crimp connectors very tightly on) it's advisable to test that they work. This can be done one at a time or both together, but in either case there should be no loose or disconnected wires because this could cause problems or even blow the output stage of the head unit. It's OK to test them once you have got to the stage of either of the two pictures above. Once you have verified that they work, switch off the ignition COMPLETELY. Push the crimp connectors onto the speaker tightly if you haven't already done this.

Fitting the upgraded speakers

Lower the speaker into the hole gently and screw firmly to the moulding, but do not over-tighten. I had to use additional larger washers because the fixing centres of the original speakers are slightly further apart than the replacements and only just reached.

Once the speaker is fitted, it's a simple case of sliding the speaker grille lugs back into the slots and gently pressing down on the front to locate the clips into the dashboard. Then turn on the ignition, pop in a CD and enjoy your upgraded speakers!

Johnny

[/quot

[Bradley1504]

How would i go about installing rear Speakers for a 3 door, 1.00L?

I recently installed the dash Speakers using the write up (very helpful), and i installed a new headunit which uses a 5 speaker set up.