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2007 non-JBL tweeter upgrade

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by hole_shot58, Jun 10, 2007.

  1. hole_shot58

    hole_shot58 Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
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    N/A
    I'm no expert at installing this stuff, and I couldn't see as much detail as I would have liked on upgrading tweeters in my non-JBL 07. The stock component is 1.5" dia. x .25" deep, and I wanted to use the stock door pillar housing without taking the door panel off. The Polk's worked perfectly as described in the pictures below. I found them at Circuit City for $49, perfect for my budget and I've had good luck with other Polk products.
    [attachmentid=8762]
    First I had to remove the stock tweeter. The door pillar housing is held on in two places, a standard nylon door panel fastener at the bottom and a special metal clip at the top, which is very easy to loose in the process of taking the housing off.
    [attachmentid=8763]
    Start at the bottom and pull the housing away from the door. The top will now be free enough to see the metal clip, just above the shiny nut exposed when you pull the housing away from the door pillar. If you have a small flathead screwdriver, you can use it to push the window side of the clip and may get it free intack. If not, have a tweezer AND needle noze handy to fish the clip out for reuse.

    Next challenge was to get the tweeter element out of the Polk housing. It is held in with high temp, non-hardening glue. Using a modeling knife, I cut around the inside edge of the plastic and slowly, gently, pried the metal tweeter element out. Be VERY careful not to put any pressure on the face of the tweeter, as it is very fragile once removed. Also, keep any metal objects away from the tweeter element, as the very strong magnet will try to paste the nearest screwdriver to the delicate speaker dome.
    [attachmentid=8764]
    To make the Polk tweeter fit required a few layers of electrical tap so it fit snugly in the tweeter housing. The crossover is small enough it also tucked very nicely into the unused space in the same housing. The molex takes care of connecting the door speaker in parallel, and the polarity can be discerned from the stock tweeter - lead to the capacitor is positive (+). Some solder and heat shrink and my upgrades went back in pretty as a picture.
    [attachmentid=8765]
    [attachmentid=8766]
    Next, subs behind the rear seats. A couple of 10" ought to do nicely.

    Cheers!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    I too am thinking of replacing the front tweeters. Thanks for the detailed info.
    Keep up the good work!
     
  3. Rangerdavid

    Rangerdavid Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    WELL>>>.................. how do they sound????????

    better, the same, crisp, brassy, ?????
     
  4. mmoncur

    mmoncur New Member

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    Looks great... again, how do they sound?

    I'd love to do some minor upgrades to my non-JBL system. Frankly, i'm pretty happy with it, but I could use some clearer highs and some more prominent low-mids.
     
  5. hole_shot58

    hole_shot58 Junior Member

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    2007 Prius
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    N/A
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mmoncur @ Jun 12 2007, 05:59 AM) [snapback]460024[/snapback]</div>
    Big improvement adding the Polks. A set of 10" subs (very inexpensive from Pep Boys) round the upgrade out nicely. The door speakers are adequate in the stock system. Can't say much about JBL, except most comments I've read would indicate the sound is not much different than the standard radio package. My experience with JBL speakers has been sub-par, so I'm probably not very objective either. :unsure:
     
  6. 78MechanicalFlower

    78MechanicalFlower New Member

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    2009 Prius
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    Base
    I'm about to do mine.i scoured the earth for info. I so glad I found this post. Thanks a billion!