Some Questions About Sound System Upgrade

[johnny01]

Hello to everyone on the Aygo forum.

I am migrating over to this forum because my beloved T-Pot Yaris is being traded in for a new Aygo Fire very soon, and I would like to ask Aygo Club members about sound system upgrades. I upgraded the 6 Speakers fitted to my Yaris but left the factory fit head unit in situ, but I would like to replace the head unit and Speakers in the Aygo. My questions are:

• I am aware the dash Speakers are 100mm (4") units, I would like to replace these with JBL coaxial units, similar to the ones I fitted to my Yaris. Has anyone any depth measurements or is it a case of pretty much anything fits?
  
• My Aygo Fire will be a 3-door, so the other speakers are mounted in the doors. I haven't come across any threads regarding door speaker replacement (size, depth etc) so any experience with this would be appreciated. For instance the Yaris required an adaptor to fit 160mm (6.5") speakers...
  
• I also have a pair of 6x9" JBL speakers that I never got around to upgrading in the Yaris, and I would like to fit these to the parcel shelf. I intend to power these from the head unit's rear channel so any experience with (easy) cable routing would be appreciated. The 6x9's are 4 Ohm units, but the JBL's I want to fit to the dash and doors are 2 Ohm so I intend to run these in series from the front channel of the head unit.
  
• I have a replacement head unit in mind - the Kenwood KDC-DAB4551U http://www.kenwood-e...b/KDC-DAB4551U/ because it has a DAB radio (which I listen to a lot) and mp3/USB connections as well. I understand I need an Autoleads FP-11-06 Facia Panel to fit a single DIN head unit, but what about wiring? Is there possibly an adaptor that will allow me to connect the Kenwood directly to the connection block that leads to the factory fit head unit or will I need to cut this off and connect the cables from the back of the Kenwood directly to the wiring loom? Any help on this would be appreciated.
  
• Finally, the DAB radio requires a special antenna, does anyone have experience of fitting this? I understand I will need to remove the A pillar plastic cover to fit the antenna properly, but I believe the clips holding the cover in place will snap on removal so these will need to be replaced? Again, any comments would be more than welcome!
  

My thanks in advance for any help on these issues, and as I did on the (old) TOC Forum, I would like to post a detailed 'how to' with photographs covering all aspects of my modest upgrade in the hope it might help future upgraders.

In anticipation (and overly excited about delivery of the Aygo) - Johnny

[Ben Williams]

I believe you can get a wiring adaptor for the stereo in the front so you can keep the wiring uncut :)

In terms of routing wiring, just run it under the trim inside the car. It all pulls apart very easily and there's very little unscrewing involved.

In terms of putting Speakers in the rear parcel shelf, the 107 & C1 had the option of a shelf with precut holes. It's a pricey purchase but might be worth purchasing one of them? Although, imo I prefer the Speakers in our 3dr Aygo which are mounted in the rear panels beside the rear seats! Looks a lot better to be honest.

[johnny01]

Hi Ben, thanks for the reply.

I've had a look at the connections at the back of the Kenwood unit (only on the manual though) and I'm wondering whether they are the same standard across the board. There appear to be two 8-way connector blocks, one for the front and rear Speakers and another for the power in and other accessories. The pins appear to be the same as far as I can tell so I'm wondering whether they can simply be disconnected from the factory fit unit and connected to the Kenwood. Certainly the speaker witing seems identical pin for pin, although I don't know if the plug is an exact physical match. I haven't changed a head unit for years!

I haven't got provisions for rear panel mounted Speakers, on the Fire they appear to be only in the dash and the doors. Obviously the way to go here is the parcel shelf because I can imagine the retro-fitting of a suitable panel next to the rear seats is a logistic and expensive nightmare! Luckily the Fire has blacked-out rear-side and rear-hatch windows so anything I fit in there will not be too noticeable. I don't mind chopping a couple of holes in the parcel shelf because it's unlikely I'll be wanting to revert back to zero sound in the rear anyway!

Cheers!

[Ben Williams]

Fair enough! If you can do it - go for it.

Might find the stereo will go straight in then, with a surround, if not - you're going to need something like this (there's a few about so just hunt for the right one :) )

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Aygo-Facia-Panel-Adaptor-ISO-Harness-Lead-Car-Stereo-Fitting-Kit-/200760408056?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item2ebe40b7f8

[johnny01]

Cheers Ben, I've just had a look at that - thanks for the link.

I already have the facia panel on order but the wiring harness looks a little 'odd'. I searched for the 'PC2-17-4' harness on it's own and the first 5 or so that were returned don't list the Aygo as suitable for fitting to the wiring harness. Weird. The facia looks right but the connectors look wrong. Maybe the latest head units fitted as standard to the Aygo are ISO standard so therefore wouldn't need an adaptor? Hard to tell without actually seeing the rear of both units...

[Phil White]

With regards to the DAB aerial. I intend removing the standard radio and fitting my JVC head unit which has DAB. In my old car i had a separate DAB aerial but i found this on eBay so you can use the existing aerial.

Here is what i bought.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kinetic-DAA-7001-FM-AM-to-DAB-FM-AM-car-aerial-splitter-adaptor-/110838254211?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item19ce798a83

Now i have not got round to fitting it yet so i am unable to say how good or bad it is.

[johnny01]

Cheers Phil, I've already received the Kenwood DAB radio and the matching aerial so I will see how I get on with it. Looking at the rather specialised DAB aerial supplied I can't see how a standard FM aerial can be made to receive DAB signals effectively, but I might be wrong...

[Phil White]

Cheers Phil, I've already received the Kenwood DAB radio and the matching aerial so I will see how I get on with it. Looking at the rather specialised DAB aerial supplied I can't see how a standard FM aerial can be made to receive DAB signals effectively, but I might be wrong...

Mine was not supplied with a special aerial and i have had it now for about 6 or 7 years so DAB was probably in it's early days then.

My DAB unit is a separate box which connects to the head unit so the DAB is then functional.

[rascaled]

Hi Ben, thanks for the reply.

I've had a look at the connections at the back of the Kenwood unit (only on the manual though) and I'm wondering whether they are the same standard across the board. There appear to be two 8-way connector blocks, one for the front and rear speakers and another for the power in and other accessories. The pins appear to be the same as far as I can tell so I'm wondering whether they can simply be disconnected from the factory fit unit and connected to the Kenwood. Certainly the speaker witing seems identical pin for pin, although I don't know if the plug is an exact physical match. I haven't changed a head unit for years!

I haven't got provisions for rear panel mounted speakers, on the Fire they appear to be only in the dash and the doors. Obviously the way to go here is the parcel shelf because I can imagine the retro-fitting of a suitable panel next to the rear seats is a logistic and expensive nightmare! Luckily the Fire has blacked-out rear-side and rear-hatch windows so anything I fit in there will not be too noticeable. I don't mind chopping a couple of holes in the parcel shelf because it's unlikely I'll be wanting to revert back to zero sound in the rear anyway!

Cheers!

Hi, I had a new alpine unit and new Speakers installed in my 08 Aygo I also had Speakers fitted into the parcel shelf , powered from a separate amp attached to the back of the rear seat. ( also had a sub woofer fitted in the boot with controls fiited near the handbrake) The problem I had with the parcel shelf Speakers was the the wiring. To enable the removal of the parcel shelf (for carryling larger parcels etc ) the wires need a connector to connect/disconnect the speakers this can be a pain! I would imagine you will be able to do a better job than my local expert car audio installers did!! Also they removed the cloth on the back shelf to cut out the speaker holes. Then they put the cloth back on after fixing the speakers. Which hides the speakers from prying eyes! It's worth doing though for the added Oomph.. if that's what you want!

[johnny01]

I'm always happy if the sound of the music drowns out the sound of the engine or road noise, doesn't distort and has a reasonably 'neutral' quality to it. Not too hard to acheive - in my T-Pot Yaris I kept the stock head unit but replaced all the Speakers for JBL coaxials. The dash and parcel shelf Speakers are run in series (that was how Mr T wired up the system before I bought the car) and powered from the head unit rear channel, though I would've preferred the dash and door Speakers to be run from the head unit front channel and the parcel shelf speakers from the rear channel. When the parcel shelf is removed, I am left only with sounds at my feet haha!

The parcel shelf speakers are connected with a 4-way locking Tyco connector which is no real hardship to disconnect and reconnect. My only issue is with the Toyota wiring which appears from behind a panel in the boot in a very unprofessional manner and simply left dangling in mid air! I did think about using a properly marked pair of gold plated phono sockets mounted on the panel, with matching plugs on the parcel shelf wires, which would've been a much neater if slightly unorthodox method of connection. Phono plugs and sockets are capabale of high current transfer and mate together tightly.

It sounds like your local audio installers made a 'stealth shelf' for you! I wanted to do this for the JBL 6x9's in the Yaris but never got round to it, hence the 'spare' 6x9's ready to go into the Aygo. I don't think I'm too bothered about a stealth shelf because the rear side and hatch windows are blacked out and you can't see in them anyway IIRC. My only worry is whether the feeble shelf will accomodate the whopping weight of the JBL's hahaha!

[rascaled]

I had 6x9's in my parcel shelf, didn't appear to be a weight problem! I hope it all works out for you. Enjoy your new Aygo Fire.

Be Lucky