ok i bought a 02 is300 a few months ago and was disappointed to find out that the cd player doesnt work. i wanted to buy a new head unit so i called best buy to ask about some stuff and was told in order to get a new head unit i would have to get 4 new speakers and an amp cause if i just get a head unit its gonna blow my speakers since its pre-amped. i wanted to know if i really have to get all of that stuff or if its just them trying to make more money off of me... cuz a whole new sound system is alot of money and right now. thats a lil too much for me to just listen to cds. XD
aftermarket HU and sound system help
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Normally I'd say look in the stickies, but since I hate stupid B&M (brick and mortar) idiots who tell you wrong information I'll just respond. No, you do not need 4 new speakers and an amp if you install an aftermarket deck. You have 2 simpler options
1) Buy a special harness for like $60-$100 to let your aftermarket deck use the stock amp and stock speakers. You aftermarket deck will need pre-outs for this to work though. This is probably the easiest way to go, but you will more than likely get better sound quality with option #2
EDIT: price breakdown for this option $xxx for headunit + $60-100 for harness + $10-$60 for dash kit
2) Use your aftermarket deck's amp to power the spearker, esentially bypassing the stock amp. In this case, you will need to replace only the rear speakers (not all 4 as the Best Buy fool told you). This is definitely more involved from a installation point of view, but it's not that much harder and like I said, you'll probably get better sound quality as long as the aftermarket HU has a decent amplifier built in it.
EDIT: price breakdown for this option $xxx for headunit + $60-$100 for 2 basic rear speakers + $10-$60 for dash kit
If you do what Best Buy says, it will no doubt sound better, but it will be even more difficult of an install than option #2 and they will make more money off you. I guess what it boils down to is how much you want to spend and how "good' you want it to sound. Check out the stickies for more details on the 2 options I mentioned.
EDIT: price breakdown for this option $xxx for headunit + $120-$200 for 4 basic speakers + $200-$xxx for amp + $10-$60 for dash kit + $50-$100 for wiring
p.s. It sounds like option #1 or #2 will suit your needs just fine if you "just listen to CDs"
p.p.s. forgot about one other option, buy a used stock hu from the forums. You should be able to get one for < $200, maybe even < $100 if you're lucky! This actually would be the easiest
thanks alot for the help =] ill be sure to take a look at the stickies too.
for now i only just need to listen to cd's i can stand listening to the radio for too long.. eventually wanna get a new sound system but yea money dont have enough for that just yet XD thx again =]
edit:
+rep for the help sorry about that but yea i just remembered.. haa thx for the help again =]
for now i only just need to listen to cd's i can stand listening to the radio for too long.. eventually wanna get a new sound system but yea money dont have enough for that just yet XD thx again =]
edit:
+rep for the help sorry about that but yea i just remembered.. haa thx for the help again =]
Everything that drinkmalk said. He's dead on.
What i've learned from my recent mobiletronics experience is not to trust any brick and mortar idiot; especially with a luxury brand car. They don't know shit; seriously. They are just trying to milk you for everything. I called 5 different places, telling me 5 different reasons why a $300 install is justified. And all 5 of the places couldn't give me an estimated time on how long the install would take.
You can only really trust two people: the people on this forum. And...if you're mechanically inclined, your self.
What i've learned from my recent mobiletronics experience is not to trust any brick and mortar idiot; especially with a luxury brand car. They don't know shit; seriously. They are just trying to milk you for everything. I called 5 different places, telling me 5 different reasons why a $300 install is justified. And all 5 of the places couldn't give me an estimated time on how long the install would take.
You can only really trust two people: the people on this forum. And...if you're mechanically inclined, your self.
the problem im getting is what most people get with the stock HU. the error 1 thing.. and i heard theres not much u can do when that happens besides getting another stock HU or buying an after market one.
and yea.. i called other places saying its best to get everything new.. i even mentioned bypassing the stock amp and they give me the "well if u do that u will still have a chance of blowing your speakers.. blah blah" eventually i wanna getta new sound system.. but for now i dont have enough money for that and i hate listening to the radio XD but yea.. im trying to see if anyone i know can do this for me. cuz even with a step by step DIY im pretty sure i would do something to screw up my car. hahaha
edit:
oh yea.. at bestbuy they said they have harnesses also...... but only for 04+ supposedly... mine is 02
well it's worth a shot if you are replacing the radio.
This is the harness that you need and it will with you 02 car.
Buy the Metra Toyota Interface and other Car in-dash vehicle wiring harnesses at circuitcity.com
oh thx for linking me to the harness would help me a lot =] +rep
Joined
·
1,023 Posts
the reason why the back speakers are a problem is because they are 2ohm speakers. normal typical speakers run at 4ohm. if anybody was the bypass the amp when installing a radio, its actually okay on the speakers, its the stereo that you have to worry about, typically stereos can handle 4ohm loads and higher, i.e. 8ohms. basically any 2 ohm speaker will play off the stereo but it will prematurely cause the stereo to fail because its asking the stereo for more power than its capable of handling, it'll warm up the internal amp in the stereo and then problems will arrise.
the two options giving above are good ones. but i have to disagree with bypassing the amp being better sounding than trying to keep the factory amp in. i work for circuit city (not everyone at big box shops are dumb) and i would keep the factory amp if possible, you'll get much better sound out. imagine the size of the factory amp, then imagine the small little internal amp in a aftermarket radio, you cant be telling me that little amp can produce better sound than the larger one.
the two options giving above are good ones. but i have to disagree with bypassing the amp being better sounding than trying to keep the factory amp in. i work for circuit city (not everyone at big box shops are dumb) and i would keep the factory amp if possible, you'll get much better sound out. imagine the size of the factory amp, then imagine the small little internal amp in a aftermarket radio, you cant be telling me that little amp can produce better sound than the larger one.
and I agree with you depending if you are keeping to stock speakers or discarding them, I did also work in roadshop for 4 years but overall if you replace the speakers then go for the internal amp 100% otherwise ditch it and keep the aftermarket amp
Whatever you end up doing, I'd say to avoid Best Buy. I know this is entirely dependent on the store and installers, but in my opinion, they suck.
The guy I bought my IS from had his cd player installed at Best Buy. They said there is no integration harness for an 03 IS, so they cut off his stock wiring harness, hard wired the new HU into the factory wiring, and ran all new wires all over the car. What a pain it was to try to undo all that crap.
The guy I bought my IS from had his cd player installed at Best Buy. They said there is no integration harness for an 03 IS, so they cut off his stock wiring harness, hard wired the new HU into the factory wiring, and ran all new wires all over the car. What a pain it was to try to undo all that crap.
It's not the amp that I'm concerned about, I totally agree that the stock amp and stock HU sounds quite good (for stock). However, the thing is, the stock HU and stock amp are very closely tied together down to the balanced preout signal sent by the stock HU to the stock amp. Plus there is the factor of the little metra box and how much signal degradation happens by running the preouts through it. Put all those factors together and I'd be a little concerned about the quality of the sound going into the stock amp. I'm sure it will still sound more than decent, but not sure how it would measure to an amped signal coming from the aftermarket HU.... but you're right, the stock amp path could very well sound better, depending on what kind of aftermarket HU you get.
Just to clarify, the stock rears are not just 2 ohms. They're actually bi-amped. The rear tweeter is on 4 ohms, and rear woofer is on 2 ohms (to draw more power for bass). It is due to the bi-amped with different resistance that makes it not feasible to replace the stock rears with after market rears using stock amp.
Also, nothing wrong with running new wires in the car from new HU and not using the metra harness. That is essentially just by-passing the stock amp.
Personally, I would take the metra harness money and get new rears instead. Keep the stock front speakers for now. They're kinda nice.
Also, nothing wrong with running new wires in the car from new HU and not using the metra harness. That is essentially just by-passing the stock amp.
Personally, I would take the metra harness money and get new rears instead. Keep the stock front speakers for now. They're kinda nice.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!