Recommendations for speaker upgrade?

[Soylent]

Does the Prius base-audio use 2 ohm or 4 ohm?

[klamut]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoGeek @ Sep 20 2006, 09:48 AM) [snapback]322188[/snapback]</div>

klamut,
I'm a little confused. You mentioned that you have the non-JBL base system.
In that case, you do not have an outboard amplifier, you are simply running full range
signal coming from the factory receiver out to your factory speakers.
In the front doors, that signal goes first to the tweeter (into a capacitor & into the tweet) and
from there jumps off to he mid-bass driver down in the bottom of the door. My understanding
is that this configuration presents a 4 ohm load to the receiver.
The rear outputs of the receiver simply go straight to the mid-bass drivers in the rear doors (also 4 ohm, I believe). The net effect is that your receiver sees 4 ohm x 4 channels.

The 2 ohm business doesn't come into play unless you're dealing with the premium system and it's JBL
amplifier and drivers. [/b]

GeoGeek,
I have the non-JBL, haven't added an amplifier; only replaced the speakers. The Sparky Guide's replacement Kappas's are rated as 2 ohm speakers; I assume that means the receiver sees them as 2 ohm x 4 channels unlike the original's 4ohm x 4 channels.
If the replacements were seen as 4ohm x 4ohm I'd expect the volume control numbers to give the same sound levels but others on the list who've switched to the 2 ohm Kappas report having to use higher volume numbers..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoGeek @ Sep 20 2006, 09:48 AM) [snapback]322188[/snapback]</div>

If you've replaced the factory front speakers with components, then hopefully your installer took the
leads coming into your front tweets and used that as input for the compontnt cross-over. From there they should have used the woofer outs on the cross-over to feed the component mid-bass drivers and the tweeter outputs to feed the aftermarket tweets. This configuration should also present the factory receiver with a 4 ohm load on the fronts. The rears should have gone the same way & resulted also in a 4 ohm stereo load at the receiver.
[/b]

For the fronts I used Sparky's wiring diagram ( maybe the wrong interpretation?) , it (http://priuschat.com/forums/files/pr...parky__937.pdf ) shows the tweeters labeled T6 and T7; in the doors T6 and T7 are a white plastic connector: 2 wires in from the receiver, 2 wires back down thru the door to the door woofers, 2 wires out of one-half of the connector assembly go up to the tweeter/capacitor.

I assume the tweeter wires in the white connector were a parallel connection, I simply cut off the 2 tweeter wires that came out of the assembly, connected the 2 wires off the woofers to the crossover input, ran new tweeter wires from x-over back up to new tweeters, connected x-over woofer output to new woofers.

If my interpretation of the wiring is correct, after cutting off the old tweeters the wires to the old woofers are the receiver output wires. I'm sure I'm correct since if the tweeter was a series connection inside the white plastic assembly cutting the tweerer out would leave an open circuit with no signal to the x-over and silent front speakers.

Thank you for your suggestions. I'm at my limit for how much money to throw at the sound system.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Soylent @ Sep 20 2006, 01:21 PM) [snapback]322322[/snapback]</div>

Does the Prius base-audio use 2 ohm or 4 ohm?
[/b]

The 2005 base-audio uses 4 ohm.

[etyler88]

Well I don't want my base stereo to lose any volume so I should avoid a 2 ohm speaker, is that correct?

I should look for a four ohm or would an eight ohm make my into arena rock concert. Any danger with an eight ohm?

[priusenvy]

[quote=etyler88 @ Sep 20 2006, 12:40 PM) [snapback]322390[/snapback]</div>

Well I don't want my base stereo to lose any volume so I should avoid a 2 ohm speaker, is that correct?
[/b]

No. Well, almost no.

The measure of how much volume you get out of a speaker for a given power input is sensitivity. It's usually expressed as dB] 1 watt. So you're really saying you don't want a speaker with any less sensitivity than the stock speakers.

It's important to know a speaker's impedence so you know how difficult a load it is to drive. The lower the impedence, the more current will be drawn at a given power output. A 2 ohm load receiving 1 watt of power would draw .707 amps, but an 8 ohm load would only be drawing half that. For a cheap factory stereo, you want to avoid low impedence speakers because the crappy electronics often can't drive a difficult load. They overheat, become unstable, or just can't source enough current into the load before distorting, resulting in reduced volume. On the other hand, with a decent aftermarket amp, you often want a low-impedence load, because good amps have no trouble driving low-impedence loads and can deliver more power if driving a lower impedence load. For instance, consider an amp that can put 50 volts across its output terminals into any load down to 1 ohm. Put a 4 ohm speaker across that and you'll see 600 watts and change. But put a 1 ohm load across it and that's 2500 watts (like I said, let's pretend the amp is an ideal voltage source and can deliver any amont of current required to maintain 50 volts across the load). I think Infinity lists this as a feature of their Kappa line - they are purposely low-impedence to really suck the current out of the amp and enable high power levels.

[GeoGeek]

PriusEnvy was right on the money.
It wasn't until I researched it a little further that I realized that those Kappa's are indeed 2-ohm.
The difference you're hearing is probably one of sensitivity, although at 95db for the
Kappa's, those whimpy factory ones must be >100db. Keep in mind those meager magnets on the factory speakers. My guess is that the factory head unit, while technically capable of driving its outputs at 2 ohm, is really unhappy doing so (unhappy in a "high distortion/cook my components" kind of way).

If you feel you're missing out on the mid's (which is what it sounds like based on your description), the
outboard crossover on your Kappa's has a selectable pair of outputs for the tweeter.....you could try using
the lower output ones (e.g. 0db vs 3db) to attenuate the high end a little, thereby making the mids stand out
a little more at a given volume. In addition, you could back off on the bass setting of the factory head unit & turn the volume up a little more.

An aftermarket amp is really your best next step. You really don't have to go nuts......find an amp you like
and buy it used or new on ebay (for about half or less of retail). I'd say for somewhere in the $100 to $200
range you could find a nice little 4-channel that would make a night & day difference.
It's almost worth it just to get bang for the bucks you've already spent.

Good luck.....and let us know how you make out.

[klamut]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoGeek @ Sep 20 2006, 06:48 PM) [snapback]322509[/snapback]</div>

PriusEnvy was right on the money.
It wasn't until I researched it a little further that I realized that those Kappa's are indeed 2-ohm.
The difference you're hearing is probably one of sensitivity, although at 95db for the
Kappa's, those whimpy factory ones must be >100db. Keep in mind those meager magnets on the factory speakers. My guess is that the factory head unit, while technically capable of driving its outputs at 2 ohm, is really unhappy doing so (unhappy in a "high distortion/cook my components" kind of way).

If you feel you're missing out on the mid's (which is what it sounds like based on your description), the
outboard crossover on your Kappa's has a selectable pair of outputs for the tweeter.....you could try using
the lower output ones (e.g. 0db vs 3db) to attenuate the high end a little, thereby making the mids stand out
a little more at a given volume. In addition, you could back off on the bass setting of the factory head unit & turn the volume up a little more.

An aftermarket amp is really your best next step. You really don't have to go nuts......find an amp you like
and buy it used or new on ebay (for about half or less of retail). I'd say for somewhere in the $100 to $200
range you could find a nice little 4-channel that would make a night & day difference.
It's almost worth it just to get bang for the bucks you've already spent.

Good luck.....and let us know how you make out.
[/b]

Thanks. I use the corossover at the 0db setting, 3db gave me headache. I'll try your "back off the bass and turn up the volume" idea, can't hurt.

[nspeer]

Has anyone tried the JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3 "Flatwedge" Subwoofer?

[ashe]

just put in focal seperates up front & rear for fill-ins. what a dramatic change! put them on your list for speakers to audition if you're thinking about switching out the factory speakers.

[F8L]

Originally Posted by ashe

just put in focal seperates up front & rear for fill-ins. what a dramatic change! put them on your list for speakers to audition if you're thinking about switching out the factory speakers.

Congrats!

I have not listened to the new Focals but overall they used to be great speakers. Glad you are happy with them.

[sdserene]

I am not impressed by the JBL sound system at all. When I listen to music the highs and mids are muffled IMO. The 2007 Tundra radio sounds much better. I think at this point any aftermarket upgrade speakers should perform better. I personally like Infinity, Polk, Alpine and Boston.