Stereo system
 

Hello! I am a fairly new 86 owner. I love my little car, but the stereo is really sad. Does the factory screen have preamp outs that will allow upgrading the speaker system without replacing the screen in the dash? I sold high end audio equipment for many years, but head units were different back then. Not sure how all this screen stuff integrates, or IF it integrates.

I believe some of the early model FR-S's had head units with RCA outputs, but none of them have had them since.

Start here:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/index.php

then scroll down to the Electronics | Audio | NAV | Infotainment section and tap that.

Then tap on the sticky thread named Audio Directory. Here's a shortcut to that thread:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29027

Navigate your way around there for a while.

I'll tell you that there is a factory amplifier in the trunk underneath the floorboard covering the spare tire that powers the two door speakers that act as subwoofers. The dash speakers are sent a full-range signal and that same signal is sent to the amp in back to be amplified for the door speakers. The amplifier has an internal low-pass filter and no gain control, so integrating it into the system can be a hassle if you ever want to replace the head unit with one that provides RCA outputs.

One other note, some of those amplifiers were unplugged depending on which head unit you have and the dealers inadvertently forgot to install the bypass harness to allow the door speakers to operate. Make sure your door speakers work as a couple of people here had to fix that to improve the sound quality.

And with the 2020s even if you have the amp bypass plugged in the door speakers will still sound like crap. All it does is take the door woofers that are supposed to be amped and hook them in the same channel with the dash speakers.
I have been to a couple of car audio places and they say there is nothing they can do to make the existing head unit sound better. Something to do with not enough feeds or channels or something like that. Am looking at around $1,000 to change to something decent here.
I will qualify my statements with the fact I know less than nothing about modern car sound systems since the last thing I installed was an under dash 8 track and a 10 band equalizer! All my cars since 1991 had decent systems from the factory. Even the FRS one was 100 times better than the 2020.

Factory optional upgrade in the FRS had preamp outputs. Or just get aftermarket. I don't feel like replacing the head unit and rewiring all the speakers would be that hard. Add a little sub to the mix and you should be pretty well off

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Easy for you to say!
I would probably blow the welds on my manifold or something.
https://i.makeagif.com/media/6-20-2015/wBPR_I.gif

Speakers only have 2 wires each... Can't be that bad lol. Surely someone with your level of experience working on cars can figure out how to use youtube and a wire stripper. Maybe if there was like a big website where people posted all kinds of information and discussions that you could search through...

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Oh speakers are fine. It is the HU that worries me! Not sure why you would want to rewire the speakers in the first place though. They are not the issue.

To bypass the stock amp. As far as the head unit is concerned, you literally just follow the instructions included with it lol. Accessory, battery, ground, 2 wires per speaker. If you're not bypassing anything, just buy a wiring kit for your specific car model. I use these for all my wiring now https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C3L4N2J...ing=UTF8&psc=1

Makes it so clean and convenient

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You know what they say:

"Young people have problems dealing with old technology, and old people have problems dealing with new technology."

I believe in Tcoat! He can do it if he applies himself lol

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i don't get why people think the twins acoustics sound bad. I have been in plenty of more expensive cars that sound much worse especially with sounding tinny which is the worst..

imo the twins mainly suck at low freq sounds.. just get a 10 in sub, separate amp, couple harnesses and hook everything up to the stock harness/amp and you've got a decent music hall. if you want to take a step further, dynamat all the rattles out

I grabbed a cheap HU from seicane and it's been signfiicantly better in terms of audio quality vs stock.
Just need to grab a mini-sub and find a nice place to store it

Go find somebody with a 2020.
Sit down in the drivers seat and turn on the HU.
Listen to it from whatever source you want.
It is an atrocity!
The system bypasses the amp completely so low frequency sounds don't suck they simply don't exist
The system in the the FRS was a high fidelity audiophile's wet dream compared to the 2020.
My 58 Ford with it's Am only, tube powered, single paper speaker mounted in a solid steel dash sounded better!

Does this also apply to 2020 Subaru BRZ or is it specific to the 2020 Toyota 86?