Cost effective way to upgrade sound?
 

I'm not afraid of DIY stuff but at the same time I don't want to tear apart every nook and cranny and pay out 1000+ for a completely reworked sound system (as shown here: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LytAyXbgS5w"]Scion FR-S | System 400+ Installation - YouTube[/ame]). I do feel that the frs/brz sound is somewhat lacking and wondering if there is any cheaper alternatives that dont require adding a custom sub in the trunk to get some better sound out of the car? I'm a noob when it comes this field but can anyone recommend some ideas for upgrading the sound for under 500?

Upgraded door speakers/tweeters will make a nice little difference, as well as being cost effective. You should also consider dyno-matting the door panels to prevent/reduce the "rattle" everyone seems to experience from the low frequencies in a good number of musical selections. Also, I would recommend that if you're using your phone/ipod for your audiophile needs, to set the equalizer to "none" and adjust the settings of your head unit. I have the stock head unit in my FR-S, the settings I use are as follows:
SSP: "Feel"
Bass: +2
Treble: +3

Makes a world of wonder in boosting your sound quality as well as providing a bit more "punch", without the added distortion (the max volume I listen at is 52 on the head unit and all the way up on my phone and it's still crystal clear as long as your MP3's are 320K or better.)

Everyone always wonders if I have done any aftermarket mods to my sound system, so it does make a difference.

Long story short: Play around with settings on the head unit and make sure your music files are of high quality. If you're willing to spend a few bucks, buy better door speakers and dynomat.

Cheers! :happy0180:

Good advice, i think some sound deadening, a small powered sub, and wiring in some bass blockers (80-100hz) on the front door speakers would do pretty good also.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...10-JXWXv2.html

I have some stuff here to upgrade the door and dash speakers and i have about $400 in the amp, processor, and 7" mids and 3" dash speakers.

The simple route would be to upgrade the 6" door mid bass and 1" tweeter, leaving everything else alone. Just remember the mid bass is 2ohm and the tweeter is 4ohm. Keep to the same resistances so you don't alter the load your head unit sees and change volume output. The tweeter also has a capacitor (high pass filter) attached to it. You will have to include one with the upgrade or you will damage the tweeter. The door speakers receive a full pass signal and could use an inline inductor (low pass filter) to clean it up. You don't need a subwoofer for good sound reproduction and doing so will significantly increase the cost/complexity of an upgrade. Do some research before you begin. There isn't a lot of specific info on this site but the basics are pretty simple to understand.

For 2ohm mids i found a couple when i was looking, the Image Dynamics CX62v2 is nice but probably needs an amp to work to its potential. The JBL Power P660c component set is 2ohm and includes passive crossovers so it's probably a better option.

So as long as I keep the resistance the same (2ohm for mid bass and 4ohm tweeters) it shouold be plug and play (for the wiring at least, not incl mounting)? Hope I'm not understanding incorrectly.

So after doing a lot of reseach just on the forums I think I'll start without sound deadening both door panels. As for replacing the 6.5 and 1" tweeters I still have no idea on what would be a good PnP unit that wont require a new amplifier. I'll probably leave the rear ones as is. Any advice on specific models would be much appreciated (right now looking into the JBL Power P660c JoeBoxer recommended, will a BeSpoke HU and the factory amplifier be able to use this?).