With assistance from krazylowgsx , my audio upgrades are complete!!!
Here's what I got:
Pioneer TS-G1040R 4" 2-ways in the dash:

Pioneer TS-A1681R 6.5" 4-ways mounted on Scosche SAT6 adapters:

Pioneer TS-A1681R 6.5" 4-ways mounted on plywood baffles. I used adhesive-backed foam insulating strips to seal the gap between the speaker and the side panel:

Pioneer Premier GM-6150F 4 channel amp. It's 600 watts peak but puts out 60 watts RMS continuous per channel. It's mounted under the passenger seat.

All this is connected to the Scion HU with a Subplug 4 dual RCA preout converter that is custom made for Scions.

On July 31, 2005 I added a 10" MTX RT-10 sub in a homemade sealed enclosure that replaced the storage compartment in the rear. Got both on ebay for a total of $75!!! Bridged the rear two channels on my Pioneer amp for 150 watts continuous power to the sub. Here's some pics:


Nevermind the blue plastic bag. It contains the net that's used to secure a flat tire in the back of the box.
I now have a kickin' stealth system in my box. Too bad Scion doesn't offer a higher powered system either stock or as an option.
Anyone here looking to upgrade their factory system for not a lotta bucks would do well to duplicate my setup. Enjoy!!!

 

Stealth is best! Looks good! I had a chance to talk to some Pioneer reps a few weeks ago at Scion Corp.

 

And what did they have to say???

 

They noticed I had the Pioneer head unit and was wondering why I ran Arc Audio speakers, eq, and amps.

I let them listen to it w/ a few different style sof music, and showed them here everything was installed. My set-up is sort of stealthy also. They want to get back in the market and be where they were at back in the early 80s.

They listened to what I had to say, took some notes, and said I was very hrlpful to them. They also said that they will try and get their speakers (components) up to par w/ other lines also.

Sounded like a good thing to me.

 

I'm doing a similar stealth setup.

I used that same kit to install a Planet Audio amp under
the drivers seat, but it's powering a small 10" sub box in
the rear deck that's on a quick release speaker cable so I can
pull it out at any time to haul guitar gear.

I'm upgrading my speakers next, adding a second amp (using
a passthrough RCA like what marc mentioned his amp has)
and probably a Sirius adapter.

The stock head unit is decent for what it is, I'm going to wait
till after I replace the factory speakers to decide if the amp
is driving distortion into the speakers, or the speakers
themselves are distorting...but *something* is distorting!

 

im not really sure why u call that stealth?

 

I have the ts-g1040's in the dash , the ts-a1780 r in my from doors and ts-g1340's in the rear. I have two older pioneer impp 10's under my front seats . as well as a pioneer 760 watt amp driving them. unfortunately my ampo blew and i no longer have bass, what really sucks is i'm too poor to buy a new amp . lol.

 

Factory HU, speakers in stock locations, hidden amp. Nothing to draw attention but the sound output. Even if I do a sub later on, I'll probably do one in the rear storage well.

 

Can you tell me what the extra wires coming out of the plug are for? Would that plug be better than this: http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=705

 

The extra wires are 4 pair of speaker leads, remote turn on power lead for the amp(s), and a dimmer control wire.

My setup is an RCA output converter, used to add a 4-channel amp or a pair of 2-channel amps. What you are looking at is an RCA INPUT converter, used to add devices like CD changer, IPOD, etc., to the factory HU.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the 4 pair of speaker leads for? And the dimmer control wire?

This set-up looks like exactly what I need as I need two pair of RCA outputs to run to my crossover. My crossover then has 3 pair of outputs (1 for the sub amp and 2 for my 4-channel).

 

The speaker leads are in a plug that plugs into the factory harness for the speaker wires. The leads go to the amp. The dimmer control wire but I think it goes to the HU so it dims with the rest of the dash lights. You have to tap it into the existing dimmer control wire.

It should work with your xover setup. Just wouldn't use the speaker leads if your speakers are not connected to factory wiring.

 

Ah, I think I get it now. The speaker leads would make it more convenient to power the speakers in the stock locations by my 4 channel amp. It would eliminate the need to run new wires from my 4 channel to the stock locations. This way I could just run wires from the 4 channel amp to the leads on the plug, correct?

 

You got it!!! :D Now the hardcore audiophiles will tell you that you are better off running new wires, but if you are installing speakers in the stock locations you would be hard pressed to hear the difference.

I how my system turned out and would not hesitate recommending my upgrades to any Scion owner. Good luck and have fun!

 

Can I suggest mounting the amp maybe in the rear cargo area (underneath one of the panels/maybe have a fan for ventilation). It would really help with the stealth part of the install, or maybe remove the LED directly above the amp. Or even build a little wall that seperates the rear footwell and the amp (towards the front of the LED), and cover it in matching carpet so you can't see anything under the seat.

my .02

 

BUMP with pics of subwoofer install. Props to krazylowgsx

 

I would like to know how you ran a four channel amp for 6 speakers...How does that work?
Yes, I know...*NOOB*

 

No prob NOOB!!! Since I kept the fade on "0" between front and rear speakers, we wired the front and rear speakers to the front two channels. Bridged the rear channels for the sub output. A side benefit of this setup is that I can use the fader as a gain control for the sub. More front bias = less sub and vice versa.

 

How do you run 3 speakers on left front channel and 3 speakers on the right front channel? I understand bridging the rear for your sub.

 

My system uses the factory speaker wiring. Both front speakers are already wired together from the factory.