Hi all! Long time reader here and finally joined. I have an 05 FM tc. I've decided to add either a 10 in or a 12 in sub and I have a question-

Will I need to replace the stock head unit (non premium one) right away? Is an aftermarket one a necessity?

Ive searched and have not really gotten a straight answer. I plan to eventually replace it because I don't want to skimp out and get a crap one and end up upgrading in a couple months. I'm on a bit of a budget right now. Plus, I dont mind the stock one its actually sounds very nice.

 

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...stock+headunit

 

So I need a pac converter?

 

yeah or a amp with line level inputs

 

Thank you very much! Got a kenwood amp with the line level inputs

 

incase your scratching your head trying to figure out what wires go where....

Right Front Speaker (+) Green Gray
Left Front Speaker (+) Pink White
+12 Volt Ignition Wire Gray Red
Right Front Speaker (-) Blue Gray w/ Black Stripe
Left Front Speaker (-) Purple White w/ Black Stripe

Right Rear Speaker (+) Red Purple
Left Rear Speaker (+) Black Green
Right Rear Speaker (-) White Purple w/ Black Stripe
Left Rear Speaker (-) Yellow Green w/ Black Stripe



((i had fun with the colors on this post ))

 

Honestly, from experience, I will tell you that upgrading your headunit from stock is (as unbelievable as this sounds) a better move than replacing the speakers (assuming they are not blown or anything) and leaving the stock hu. Also, the amount of trouble and money that one would go through to leave the stock hu in would really not be worth the benefit because you dont really have enough control over the sub from the hu.

 

I don't think that the OP mentioned replacing the speakers, and he did mention that he's happy with the sound of the stock unit. It sounds like he's just adding an amp and sub for a little more bottom end to supplement the stock sound.

The speaker level inputs on the amp should be great if you're on a budget. Hopefully the amp came with a separate bass control **** that you can use to adjust the amount of bass... or you could just use the fader on the head unit to tweak the amount of bass that comes thru...

Here's what mine looks like... the bass **** is in the cubby next to the nav...



What I would recommend though is to use some passive crossovers to limit the amount of bass coming thru your stock speakers... they're a lil hard to find, but they're called "bass-blockers" in some areas. They just hook up in-line with your speakers and filter out most of the bass to keep you from blowing up the speakers. They're cheap, but effective.

Good luck on your install...

 

QFT.

the stock speakers only sound as such because of the stock headunit.. to get better sound.. you need to upgrade the source of what is making the signal for the sound (to the speakers..)

thus... upgrade your headunit first.

 

Ditto on Sciontistical one^