Does anyone know the size nd position of the speakers in the tC? I'm hoping the 6 speakers will all be up from (6.5, 4, tweets) but I'm doubtful. What are the size and positions in the xA and xB?

I'm looking to buy a car in Aug, and I'm loving the tC. It's on my shortlist. I'd love a WRX, but the price may keep me out of one. The Mazda3 is second on my list, but it's going to be a pain to put an after market head unit in that. Atleast the scion looks like standard Double-Din.

I know the tC isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I love the hatchback that looks like a coupe concept. My favorite cars have been hatchback, but I don't personally like the look. I'm a 24 year old semi-professional and it's hard to be taken seriously in a hatchback.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. You've probably forgotten my original question now.

Thanks,

rev

 

Not sure if anybody (except Scion employees) know at this point. I was also looking at the Mazda 3 and would have replaced the speakers, added an amp, but kept the H/U especially since the steering wheel had controls. From the specs and lisening the the system in the xA, I think the sound is pretty good for a stock system but another poster indicated the speakers were paper which ticks me off for a system that is supposed to be "premium".

Hopefully someone can answer the speaker question.

Kevin

 

Hey eugovector it sounds like you are in the same boat I am. I'm 26 and have always liked how functional a hatchback is vs. a normal trunk, but have found it hard to find a hatch that looks appealing. I don’t need a four door, and have always been slightly partial to a coupe. The Mazda 3 (hatch actually since it is one of the few I have sent hat I like. It has a nice “Rally” car look going) was at the top of my list until I saw the first picture of the Scion TC. I like the understated and almost “luxury” lines the TC has. The interior is clean if just a tad bare.

The fact that the stereo is a standard deck instead of some massive unit that spans the whole dash and could never be changed out by anyone less then a pro like the Mazda 3 is also a big plus with me. From what I understand the Scion’s deck will be able to play MP3’s standard and can be upgraded to XM Radio if you have a satellite antenna added. It’s not a bad little deck for a cheaper car. I don’t have any experience with Scion as a brand, but it also sounds like they offer tons of custom made after-market stereo upgraded for the other two cars in the line. I see little reason to believe they wouldn’t have them for the TC either. There is plenty of room in the coupe’s rear for some speakers. I am already eyeing the space along the sides of the rear “trunk” area for some extra speakers. Looks about perfect for a little extra sound without having to sacrifice storage space in the car.

I can’t wait to be able to test drive this car and compare it to the Mazda 3 so I can make my final choice. :D

Peace,
-Jason

 

I also am looking at the Mazda 3 4-door S (no hatch). Very nice car but I think I like the looks of the tC. Can't wait to drive. Mazda 3 is having some issues with the brakes, air bag sensor, and check engine light. All should be fixed with newer production of the 04 model. But with the tC I will probably not have to trade out the deck whereas on the "3", the speakers would have to be replaced. Also I was going to get a wind deflector and the tC already has a nice "built in" one. So I will probably save around $1000 in options and maybe put on some tC option whatever that is. Wish they would come out with the pricing/options on the tC.

Kevin

 

As for the "trunk", I know exactly where you are talking about, those two little pockets right behind the wheels. Correct me if I'm wrong, the xB has a false floor with extra storage? If the tC has this, I'm going to mount an amp in one of those pockets and put a sub in the floor compartment. Otherwise the sub will go in the other pocket.

As for the head, it has to go. I can not live with a radio that does not have a remote control or at least steering wheel buttons. I used to think it wasn't a big deal, then I got a remote. It's nice to be able to change volume/track without reaching way forward to iddle with a tiny button. Some of you are rolling your eyes, but when you flip tracks like I do, you'd be leaning back and forth all day.

The scion head will go in my '91 camry which will get passed down to my sister probably.

As for the speakers, I'm hoping they'll be good enough to stay for a while, if not permenantly (any comments?). I'd rather sink my money into an LCD to run Nav and DVD's from a laptop.

On the bland interior, ditto. First, silver is not my favorite color. Second, what's with the empty plastic cutout to the left of the steering wheel? Was something suppose to go there or is that for the modding crowd? Other than putting in a switch to lower the electric antena while listening to CDs (should my deck do this for me?), I don't know what's going to go there.

Overall, I'm psyched for June.

 

Those two little "pockets" are exactly what I was talking about. Looks perfect for a little speaker action. I don’t know how much free storage space it will have under the false bottom as I think that is where the spare tier and jack will go. I hope your right and there is free storage because I’m not the type of person to get rid of my spare for the sake of better sound.

I actually like the silver, just wish the whole thing lit up a little more like the Mazda 3 does. As for that plastic strip along the left of the steering wheel, I have a feeling that by the production model there will be some kind of buttons or switches there. The Scion TC shown at the auto show was an early, hand built model missing some important stuff. The TC comes standard with cruise control, but as you can see it is not in the photos. Maybe some kind of headlight switch or something will help fill that plastic strip. BTW, I am also wondering if we will see steering wheel mounded stereo controls by the time the TC hits production.

As for price, I keep hearing low 16k for the base. The engine won’t be the most powerful ever, but for the price who cares?

 

Well, I've been trolling for a while waiting for the right topic to start my posting spree on... As far as audio... One can say I buy a car just to put audio in it :D

As most people can live with modern day stock systems (they've changed a lot since the 80s, and I'm only 22 :D) you might want to listen to it first before wasting $200 - $300 on something that might not really need changing...

First off, you need to ask yourself if you really need a new deck... For looks? Function? A remote? I can say that stock fits flush, under warrenty, and it's literally zero dollars after purchase cost... With features like MP3 and XM ready, these are features that you can't get on some $200 decks out today...

As for the stocker, I can see a good $300 sold right when I yank it out of it's home :D I got $150 for my WRX 6 disc changer but only because I sold it after everyone jumped on the $300 bandwagon... So for those swapping out decks, this might be your free purchase right here...

Benifits one might seek when buying a new deck would be for stronger preouts... But if the tC's deck is up to date, it might provide preouts for amps and what not... Other than some strong preouts, everything else is pretty much glitter...

As for speakers, if you like your music loud, to the point where you can hear the music not sound like music... Then definately need to get some speakers ONLY after you buy either an amp or a crossover... You'll be amazed as how much clean sound you can get out of stock speakers if you put the right frequencies through them... As for an amp thats cheap ~$100 will get you cleaner sound and LOUDER to boot... Which is half as costly as a premium pair of good components...

Well, as for me, I already see from the pics (although not clear) that the tC will have the usual door mount woofer / mirror corner tweeter? If thats the case, then most likely it'll be 6.5 since in order to keep up with Gen Y, they gotta know their audio... Anything other than 6.5 compos would be obsurd :D Like wood grain for the tC interior instead of aluminum... So if thats the case, take it from me, get yourself an amp, then a premium set of compos for the front and disconnect the back speakers... Ask any audiophile and they'll tell you sound stage improves tremendously when doing so...

When I found out the tC had a hatch... I'm about 90% sold... (would of been less if I didn't see the supercharger for an option) As for those that are going for big sounds... A hatch will get you a lot more cabin dB than a trunk car will due to the open contact you'll get from the speaker... My only concern is the glass roof and the moving parts that it contain for the sun roof...

Anywho enough of my ranting, I still got at least another year to save before I even have enough to really consider buying the car... So hopefully I can hear some good things about the ease to deal with the audio in this porky car

BTW, it seems that less and less cars encourage swapping out of stock decks without manual customization, this really put the tC way up there in my list of prospect cars to buy... The 3 was never an option for me as it has no extra hauling power as an option (yet?) but heck I for one think it looks hidious... (sedan is very very nice though)

I was set on saving up for a RX-8 until the point I saw the unswappable deck much like Accord Coupes and whatever else is new.... So good job to Scion as I see myself to be a future Toyota owner once again!!!

 

Agree with most, a couple comments.

The remote: In case you missed it, I have to have one! Period. I'd pay $100 for this, not kidding.

Second, the head unit most likely does not have preouts:

Those look like a standard toyota harness.

Third, I'll probably be replacing the deck with my existing one, especially since I already have it wired with a toyota harness. It's an MP3 kenwood unit with the flip face, can't remember the number off the top of my head. Less than a year old.

But even if I didnt already have the deck, the standard scion head doesn't sound like it has much in the way of an EQ, which for me is a no go.

I also have a Rockford Punch 300S that has provided me more than enough power for a 12" RF Sub. In the Scion, the amp will get unbridged and it will drive the two front channels. A new amp will drive the 12" sub in a custom enclosure.

So what's going to power the rears? Nothing. That's right, you heard me, nothing. I totally agree with you that people buying infinitys for their rears are crazy. It not only turns you sound into mud, but the only practical purpose it serves is to drown out annoying backseat driver (and in a sports coupe, very rarely will we have anyone in the backseat). The only reason I will reconnect the rears is if I get crazy in the future and want surround sound with my DVDs.

I'm really hoping that the stock speakers will stay, this would save me some greenbacks on parts and install. First and fore most I want good clean sound with a flat response. Bass should be accurate, not booming. Accuracy, not dBs.

 

That’s interesting guys. I don’t know a lot about the dynamics of this stuff. My next car (maybe the TC) is going to be the first car I ever plan on doing anything sound wise to. Honestly the stock deck the TC uses has 90% of what I want on it. The only thing I know I would need in addition to what comes with it stock is the ability to hook up a hard drive MP3 player like the iPod to it. I looked the deck over and it does not look like it has an AUX in, so I don’t know if I will be able to work with it. Honestly if I can work around then I don’t know if I would even upgrade the deck.

So you guys recommend only upgrading and adding power to the front speakers? Don’t even work with the rears? What about a sub? Like I said I don’t know a lot about sound dynamics in a car so can you explain some of this to me? My goal is to be able to have a nice clean sound higher up the volume range. I hate how most stock sound systems start sounding like crap if you crank the volume up at all. I don’t want my base to overwhelm everything else. I also listen to a wide range of music ranging from Alternative rock to Electronica if the mood hits me right.

 

I also listen to everything but modern country and r&B (though I do have moments of weakness, Shania anyone?).

Definately get a sub. I prefer sealed enclosures versus ported. From what I understand, a sealed enclosure will give you a punchier, tight bass if that makes sense. Think of a good kick drum or tom hit.

ported enclosure = Deep loud bass but not as much definition.

Anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, this is just my understanding.

And yes, with a tweeter, 6.5, sub setup, you will be happy without the rears. Many people simply use the rears to compensate for lacking bass/ low-mids.

 

Well then maybe if you hollowed out one of the rear speaker spaces it might be a good spot to squeese in an amp. You may have to cut away a little, but it could help keep a clean stock look to everything.

 

Yeah, I've been trying to think of a use for the rear speaker cavities. I don't know that there would be enough space for an amp even with some cutting a prying, and heat may be an issue.

I'll probably just end up leaving the stock speaks in back for now and run them off the head unit's amp if someone is riding in the back and they want more volume. The kenwood I have also does dual zone, so it might be cool to run voice command from GPS to the back (a true backseat driver). And I don't want to do too much damage back there in case I do opt for a surround sound setup in the future.

Another idea for GPS voice command: Headrest speakers.

 

The tC is really great for those that aren't sure of what kind of speakers they want... Most any speaker up front will play whatever signals you send to it no problem (seriously I've owned a LOT of speaker sets, and they relatively all sound the same, MB Quartz, Infinity, anything you can find in best buys, I would of had bought me some dynaaudio speakers if I didn't total my WRX...)

Usually the thing that puts aftermarket stereos over the top would be a subwoofer... In this case, most people would find it suitable to have a 10" powered to maybe 300 watts RMS... The conservative types might find this too bassy as it is...

You just have to ask yourself how annoyed you are by loud music... Especially with the hatch that this car is built to, I wouldn't suggest anyone get anything over 10" 300 watt sealed box (sealed boxes are usually smaller thus saving space, I perfer ported as big of a box as you can handle :D)

If you're looking to buy a 12", then you should already know what you are buying because you will definately have a lot of sound...

As for the front setups, I dunno why but most speaker companies are straying from the 100 watts RMS handle rating that everyone used to go by... I don't know if these are underrated specs or is it a new trend, I took a glance in Crutchfield the other day and most speakers are 75 - 95 watts RMS... If this is the case, I would suggest anyone to just find a good 4 ch amp that can do 150 RMS stereo, thus giving ~300 RMS bridged to the sub, and find a pair of speakers that can do at least 100 RMS...

My personal favorite components have been the Infinity Kappas, since I don't have much mids going into the cone, most of my bias comes from the great tweeters they have... But thats just my opinion...

As for a final rule of thumb, always listen to what you're going to buy before you buy it... Also make sure when you audition speakers, the speakers should be powered by the same amp so no one gets an advatage...

As for the EQ on the stock deck, usually the "loudness" feature is enough for me, I mean you really don't get anything from a 5 band EQ from aftermarket decks anyways... What loudness does is that it bumps the ends of the spectrum up, but thats only on songs that desperately needs it...

I already have a deck pulled out and it's over 5 years old... It's the first Gen Panasonic Day / Night face deck, it's ampless CQ-DFX 99 It's nothing more than a cd player LOL but since it's ampless, I can play this at like 230948 volume and not have to worry about it melting down...

Oh one last thing about the "Aux" input for the stocker... If they have a port for XM radio in which you might not use anyways if you are thinking about putting in an Ipod, Just get a converter to change the line out from your Ipod into an antenna input for the stock deck... Try to look for something that allows someone to hook up a FM cd changer... Quality isn't going to be top notch, but the average person wouldn't notice the difference...

 

What is your opinion on options of adding a a sub somewhere "flush" into a car like the TC. I keep looking at the rear area of the TC and am not sure where the best place to put a box would be.

 

You have to know that speaker placement is not based on the size, or location but rather the specifications of how much air they are suppose to move...

Speakers for cars are built to what is called an infinite baffle spec, which means they are suppose to mount in an open area much like your car door or anywhere you can find space for it...

A sub on the other hand, has very specific details as to how it's installed, they are usually measure in Cubic Ft. When you get a sub, you MUST (well not really but I would totally suggest you do or else you just lost the primary objective) install it to the specs asked by the manufactures... They usually provide you with a few specs which range from small - big boxes, ported and sealed, and they'll show you the frequency graphs much like the torque curve of your car...

There are infinite baffle woofers out there, but IMO they don't sound as good, and usually they require a TRUNK when mounted on the back deck lid to create a sort of box...

If you put the woofer in the spare tire compartment, it makes a nice little enclosure and you just have to make sure your cu ft is in compliance with the specs that the company made it out to be and you'll have good sounds and lots of room left...

Usually the best way to go for space saving concerns is usually the wasted space between the wheel well and the tail lights... Lots of people put an amp one one side then a small sealed box on the other... The spare tire technique is usually saved for custom trunks and HUGE audio freaks since giving up a spare usually means you're nuts...

I'm going to try to fit 2 15" L7s in the back through a custom trunk, hopefully I'll have something figured out which will still allow me to get tot he spare.. I have my old 15" from the WRX and it has a 4 cu ft ported box built to spec and it's big enough to fit my 5'10" 185 lbs body into it comfortably :D

 

Thanks, you answered my question.

 

I disagree with not needing an EQ. Even my 3 band EQ helped a LOT to flatten the response of my current setup.

Does anyone with an xA or xB know what the power handling of the stock speakers is? It must be atleast the 40 watts that the stock head puts out.

After taking a little roadtrip this afternoon and putting my current system through some paces, I think that I probably will just transplant my current sub/amp setup and get a small amp to drive 2 channels at about 100W. Gauging how much damage I could do to my ears with my curent setup, I think it's safest to go small. Not to mention that puts the smallest dent in my pocketbook.

Éireann go Brách!

 

Dude, the mazda3 only has 160, the tC will have the same, but an available supercharger(warranty) is an option which you can probably add later. The 3 is a hot car and i drove one, and its sweet. The issue i had is that mazda is going to sell so many, its going to be a like a focus. Mazdaspeed doesnt have any parts yet, and that damn stereo ____es me off. I dont understand why companies cant make the stereo a single din and separate from the damn navigation and dash. But if you look at pictures the tC will be integrated also, which sucks.

 

The Tc Stereo should be the same standard double din unit that's in the rest of the scions = Not integrated.

 

It looks like the Scion has a standard double-deck set up. Should be no problem to replace.