[soundman98]

sorry, i was watching for the response, but it got lost in my new posts button somewhere

Originally Posted by Meeson

1. I picked the components listed because they were the highest rated and lowest priced parts that would do the job, based on the numbers seeming to be right-ish

4. $400 for just the audio components.

6. I want to make the car a more pleasant place to be when I'm on long trips and don't have time to take back roads and use the car like it is supposed to be used. I'd also like to have a little higher sound quality because the sound quality is currently worse than a 2013 corolla's sound quality to me.

7. Every variety of metal, hard rock, "indie music", EDM occasionally, podcasts.

so the first thing that should be dropped is the amp. it's $100 that would add a lot of complexity to what should be more along the lines of an "oem+" type system without the mark-up. they don't make 'amplifier replacement harnesses', so you'd have no choice but to be cutting and splicing into the factory wiring to install it otherwise, and that breaks your first rule.

the second thing that should change is the 2-way door speakers. in the oem setup, the door speakers act as subwoofers. there is no benefit to the speaker having a tweeter, it won't ever be used.


for future reference, the oem setup is set so that the front speaker outputs of the radio go into the tweeter first, which has 4 connections on it-- 2 pairs of shorted connections. one is the input, the other is the output to the 3" midrange driver next to it.

the tweeters have a 2.7uF/50v capacitor (@ 4ohm, that's 14,500hz 6db/oct), and front/rear midranges are all 4 ohm, the front midranges have a 10uF/100v capacitor(@4ohm, that's 4000hz 6db/oct).

that's really, really high. i don't like that at all. the tweeter should be plenty capable at 4000hz, and the mid should be somewhere closer to 500-800hz...

all that said/discovered, the first problem is that they don't make plug-n-play connectors for the dash tweeters. the midrange speaker might be the same connector, but if you replace the tweeter, which is absolutely something i would want to do...

the next problem is that if you want to stick with car audio specific speaker brands, car audio is and has become smoke, mirrors and "wink, wink, trust us". the better options are price-locked well above $200/pr designs for no fundamental reason than marketing jargon and to convince one to spend more.

the speakers you linked to are the lowest tier the brands offer, in many ways intentionally, and as such are intentionally cheap. i'm not fully convinced they're an upgrade, they're more of a side-grade. where you trade one set of problems with the oem set for another set of problems.

car audio:
the memphis' will function as needed, but they're intentionally cheap. they're replacements, not upgrades. i would recommend something similar that has a rubber surround instead of a foam surround-- foam surrounds rot out over time. at this price point, the overall features are the same, so brand doesn't really matter a whole lot...

the kickers i would not recommend-- they are 4 ohm, and to replace the oem speakers, you require a 2 ohm design. this limits you down to jbl and infinity offerings, all of which are slightly more than what the kickers are. infinity's generally have a very nice bass to them though. you might have to go with a coaxial there just to save the money.

alternative #1, make the oem better:
if you're handy with a soldering iron and not opposed to a few parts you could install different filtering capacitors on all the front speakers-- cross the tweeters over lower-- around 5000hz, as well as the dash speakers around 600hz, but also add a 50-70hz high pass to the door speakers, they're all but useless below 50hz anyways, and allowing them to constantly try to reproduce subwoofer frequencies they can't is only creating tons of vibration issues. this option would be about $50 total for the capacitors and maybe a long afternoon of work.

alternative #2, speakers, drop the car:
what's a speaker? it's composed of a thin flexible material, attached to a coil of wire that is placed by a magnet. an electrical signal goes through the coil, and makes that material vibrate. this isn't rocket science..

this is the route i've taken for the last 10 years after i got tired of the marketing voodoo, unnecessary price gouging, and limited information on what makes a $400 car audio speaker 'better' than a $60 version.

dash:

$24/pr:https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...river--295-154

$30/pr: https://www.parts-express.com/tecton...-ohm--297-2164

$42/pr:https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...4-ohm--295-380

$48/pr:https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...8-ohm--295-349 (note, these will be slightly quieter due to being 8 ohm instead of 4 ohm)

with all of these options, i would recommend at least a 500hz minimum crossover.
$18/pr: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1762

door:
unfortunately, there aren't any 2 ohm drivers i can find anywhere worth recommending. so there's no choice but to step up to 4 ohm alternatives. what i've learned to specifically look for in midbass/bass drivers is something in the description that talks about having 'shorting rings' in the motor structure. it greatly reduces low end distortion, making for a happier speaker, and better sound.

$72/pr: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...4-ohm--295-372

$112/pr: https://www.parts-express.com/peerle...-ohm--264-1148

Originally Posted by Meeson

2. I linked to crutchfield for everything because I like crutchfield's website for shopping for the audio components. I will buy from whichever website has the best deal on my components.

ok, just making sure. i've met many people that insist on using crutchfield due to their more customer-oriented take on sales, i just try to make sure that they're aware that there are increased costs to that service that are reflected in their price-- which i'm comfortable recommending if all this is new, or you're unsure of the steps that need to be taken, but i don't get that vibe from you.

Originally Posted by Meeson

3. The main reason I didn't look very much into aftermarket 200mm's, or any aftermarket HU's in general, is because I wanted to maintain whatever system Scion had in place for powering the dash speakers and rear speakers. The secondary reason is that the only aftermarket HU's I could find that didn't either look or feel janky would be at least the cost of my build alone.

yeah, $400 would be achievable with a non-nav stereo, but that doesn't suit your requirements.

Originally Posted by Meeson

5. Installing myself.

don't forget brackets! the door speakers especially are going to need them. the dash speakers will likely need some sort of fab work as well.