Audio upgrade options

Re-tuned my equalizer, based on electronic music (european dance / trance / hardstyle).

So for those who like a little bit more base, here are my settings:

 

I plan to replace my 8” woofers with 6” woofers and a 10” sub in a new enclosure that will take the existing footprint. The factory 8” woofers are active even at full forward bias on balance as the 4” speakers cannot handle mid bass.

There are also a ton of issues with how Toyota decided to do the existing enclosure of the 8” speakers. Anyone looking to correct the low end above moderate volume will likely have to spend serious money. The woofers are free air, so replacing them and amping them in the existing enclosure will not help as they don’t have an airtight enclosure.

If you want the same footprint, plan on either replacing or chopping up the enclosure to make it larger. Signal correction will also be required to make up for the factory roll off of lower frequencies above moderate levels. In short, to do it right will not be an easy fix.

 

the video bellow is very interesting for those who want to upgrade the audio system....

 

My installer is part of some group that the installer who did that job is in. Apparently he knows him as he buys tools from him. My expectations are pretty high and I’m looking forward to Friday when I pick it up and finally have clean bass.

 

I'm interested on seeing what your solution is.. I do like the setup on that video since it looks very clean.... debating my options now..

 

I get mine back Friday and will know more on what needs to be done in regards to the bass. Depending on how the woofers signal is handled, I may need a Fix-82 before my amplifier as I am using it just to replace my lows as I am keeping my highs for now. I am hoping I don’t need it as it is another $500.

 

I just picked up my car from getting the sound work done and dropped it off to get it wrapped immediately after.

If you modify the central area where the 8” woofers are to put in a sealed box, you will have to relocate some electronics. Mine have been moved back closer to the battery so that they are now accessible without taking out half the car. The only issue is that the active sound during sport plays a LOW tone that resonates something only when stopped. Otherwise it just sounds meaner and not overpowering. Other than that, no rattles. I will need to have the installer chase that down once I get it back from wrap.

FYI - If your seats are removed, make sure the car stays powered off (negative post) or you will have airbag and seatbelt notifications that will need to be cleared. If the interior gets dinged, parts are to be here for the holidays, so be careful.

Anyhow, two 6” JL woofers and one 10” JL TW-3 now give me excellent mid bass and lows. 500 watt 3 channel amp behind front seat. Signal grabbed from the woofers with a high pass to the 6” woofers from the amp. Sorry for picture quality, I grabbed a quick pick before leaving it to be wrapped.

 

Jason, are you experiencing rattles from the overlapping panels directly behind your seats or anywhere else in the car after installing the new subs? Even with factory subs, the rattle is bad. I can’t imagine how your setup would make it worse.

 

It could also be the sound that is piped into your car in Sport mode. You can turn that off with Bimmercode

 

I had and have zero rattles other than the sine wave tone from the engine enhancement noise when in sport at idle. It is a crazy low tone. Barely audible but it rattles something in the back something fierce. If I have any accelerator action, it goes away immediately. If I turn off sport engine it also disappears.

When I get the car back from being wrapped next Friday it is going back to the audio installer that Monday so they can chase it down if I don’t get BimmerCode and eliminate the tone myself.

 

That may be the route I go. I have a feeling it is vibrating the whole hatch. If the installer can’t figure it out when I get it back to them, I will likely make the plunge on BimmerCode as there are other issues I need to address that it can help with.

 

Toyota should be ashamed of this mess of a system. I have a Nissan Sentra rental that has far better sound than the Supra from the factory. The even sadder thing is reading the Z4 forums, they got saddled with the POs from Harmen/JBL at tens of thousands more.

I’m trying to find the factory amplifier details to see what I can do without adding a second amp for my door and dash speakers. I’m hoping it has enough output for some better high efficiency speakers to keep up with my sub and read mid bass added aftermarket.

Anyone have the factory amp details?