Squawker upgrade, help!

I'm the proud new owner of a 2010 Prius V, and I'm planning some upgrades to the audio system. Mine has the nav system, so I'm hoping to keep the HU and just maximize the downstream audio components.

I was thinking I should start with adding a low-profile sub under the rear deck and replacing the dash squawkers, perhaps with the Boston Acoustics S35 (92db efficiency, 100-20K Hz freq. response). Are the squawkers also wired in parallel on the JBL Nav system, or is it crossed over in the amp? The "voices in my head-unit" for nav guidance seem to only come out of the left squawker, so I thought it might work differently than the other systems.

Speaking of the amp, the diagram posted earlier shows a "Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly." Can anyone tell me where this unit is located in the car? Is it possible to replace it with an aftermarket amp?

 

OK, I have found the JBL amp under the passenger seat, and I have used the info and diagrams on techinfo.toyota.com to confirm that it is bi-amped, or at least bi-wired. That is, separate wire runs go all the way from the amp to each squawker and woofer (both in front and in back). This leads me to suspect that each speaker gets fed a different frequency range (hi+mid to the squawkers and low to the woofers). Can anyone confirm this? Before I start disconnecting things and measuring with an RTA, do any of you know what the crossover points are?

 

Yup, that is how the JBL works. The amp does all the processing and allocation of frequencies to each speaker. I would be careful replacing the speakers...make sure they are of the same Ohm. And those BA speakers look deep and big!!

Personally, i would start by adding a sub...easiest thing to do. And see if you like it.

 

Yes, Thai is correct about the amp: 8 channels of independently electronically crossed-over, eq'ed, & time aligned amplification. For an aftermarket amp (in the JBL system) you'd need a pre-amp like the JBL MS-8 or the Audison Bit One...unless you want to scrap the factory head unit....but that creates other complications.
The very best squawker upgrade candidate I've been able to identify (so far) is the Hybrid Audio L3SE....although they are a little too rich for my budget.

 

Spidy, I was reading your instruction .pdf (great job, by the way) and did notice one error or confusion, I'm not sure which.

To clarify, the crossover capacitor in the TS-A878 speakers is wired to work as a crossover (bass blocker) between the tweeter and mid range sections of the TS-A878, not as a cross over between the TS-A878s and the door speakers. At least that's how the connections look to me.

 

I didn't even notice the capacitor until you mentioned a capacitor in your instructions. You could either not mention it at all, or mention that "the small capacitor in the TS-A878 is there to protect the tweeter in the TS-A878 and does not serve as a crossover or bass blocker between the TS-A878 and the door speaker.

Did you reuse the Toyota squawker crossover/bass blocker capacitor from the stock squawker, or some other crossover, or not use anything?

Did you see what value the stock capacitor was?

I just finished putting some TN-420 speakers in the front doors, blocked the big door access holes with screwed in panels, put layers of Dynamat extreme on the outside and inside layers of door sheet metal and they made a BIG improvement. I did one door, then a left right comparison test to be sure I wasn't fooling myself.

Next is TN-420 rear door speakers, then the dash speakers you did.

 

Please do post the factory squawker capacitor value.

I'm thinking I want to use bass blocker capacitor like the stock setup to keep the bass out of the squawkers. Probably just below 150 /Hz or so, but I don't fully understand what's what yet.

 

Thanks, Thai. I'm planning to install a JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3 sub and Boston Acoustics GTA-400m amp this weekend. Thanks also for the warning on the BAs. Perhaps I'll extract the squawkers and take some detailed measurements before I purchase.

 

Thanks, Geo. The time alignment could really complicate things. Any idea what the approximate crossover point is? If the crossover point is low enough, I might feed the front woofer amp output straight to the sub and the squawker amp output to a set of high efficiency components such as the Boston Acoustics S60. Otherwise, I'll have to go with a squawker replacement and try to figure out how to make the door speaker blend in with it and the sub. Or just get a second mortgage and replace the headend unit, amp, and all the speakers!

 

I hear you on the second mortgage thing....my wish is to put in the JBL MS-8 and a JL Audio HD900/5....
On the crossover points, I do not know what the crossover frequencies are that the factory JBL amp is using; if I had to guess I'd bet that it's somewhere between 100 & 200Hz....not sure if it's crossing at 12 or 24 db/octave. I can't imagine sending anything below 120Hz to a 2.6" driver. I'm actually surprised that they're not trying to get the 6x9's in the door to play any higher into the mid-bass range.
Be careful trying to match aftermarket speakers to the factory amp...it's usually custom tailored (cross-over and output voltage-wise) to match the driver it will be outputting to....unless you've got a speaker with similar impedance & efficiency, you might be disappointed....all of which is why, if you're going to do aftermarket speakers, it's best to use an aftermarket amp...you just have to get clean, flat, full range signal to feed into it.....which means either an aftermarket head unit or a fancy DSP (ala MS-8, Bit One, RF 3Sixty, Audio Control DQL-8, etc.)

If you want to know more specifics, maybe Harmon Audio (parent company of JBL) could help? HarmanAudio.com - Audio & Video Equipment

 

Thanks,

If both speakers are 4 ohms, that calculates out to about a 6000Hz crossover

Can you see if the capacitor is wired between a tweeter and midrange in the squawker, or if it's wired in series with the whole squawker?

 

I know less than I thought I did about 1st order crossovers, and that wasn't very much

If the stock squawker was starting to cut out below 6kHz, and with that crappy door speaker, it's no wonder the system is so easy to improve.:rockon:

 

Hey, just joined the forum, lots of great info here, thanks for posting it all! Anyone manage to squeeze a 4" in the dash yet? Was looking for something that would handle a little more power, looking at the Infinity Kappa 32.9cf vs. 42.9i.

 

The 3.5 inch Pioneers that Spidy and I used required some minor dash trimming. I suspect 4 inch speakers would require major surgery.

There are some good instructions on removing the trim to get to the dash speakers. Once you have done it it takes less than 5 minutes to get to the speakers, then two screws to take the speakers out so you can measure and plan.

I don't think it would be worth any extra effort to go to 4 inchers because you would still need something bigger in the doors or someplace else to handle the lows.