Replacing door speakers - do I have everything?

noteaplease · May 1, 2021

I installed the infinity reference dashboard speakers and the improvement was pronounced. It took me a while to come back to doing the doors, I think I have everything prepped, but wanted to ask here before I go removing door panels.

As the dash speakers are 3ohm, I've paired them with the 3ohm infinity reference door speakers.

I've purchased the following:

Infinity Reference 6532EX 6-1/2" speakers (2 pairs) link
Metra 82-8148 6" to 6-3/4" speaker adapter (2 pairs) link
Red Wolf speaker wire harness connector (2 pairs) link

The above is going into a non-JBL RAV4 Prime SE.

The videos and guides I've read thus far aren't great. I'm hoping this will be straightforward, with no need to cut/crimp/terminate wires. Hopefully someone who has already done this upgrade can take a look and let me know if any of the above isn't going to work.

Stevo1 · May 2, 2021

I put Infinity Reference in all 4 of my doors along with the 2 in the dash. The only other thing you will need is a 5mm drill bit to remove the speakers. They have rivets holding them in place. You will not need to cut or splice anything. I didn't use the grills that came with the speakers because the trim pad would not go back on properly.

Spiff · May 2, 2021

Just did JBLs in my RAV4. You do need to drill out rivets, but otherwise the install is pretty easy. The doors are really to disassemble.

MorningZ · May 2, 2021

I just installed 6 Skar speakers in mine, the pop rivets were a slight hassle, but not too much. I can't wait to amplify them, but that'll come later

Treegreen · May 2, 2021

noteaplease said:
I installed the infinity reference dashboard speakers and the improvement was pronounced. It took me a while to come back to doing the doors, I think I have everything prepped, but wanted to ask here before I go removing door panels.

As the dash speakers are 3ohm, I've paired them with the 3ohm infinity reference door speakers.

I've purchased the following:

Infinity Reference 6532EX 6-1/2" speakers (2 pairs) link

Metra 82-8148 6" to 6-3/4" speaker adapter (2 pairs) link

Red Wolf speaker wire harness connector (2 pairs) link

The above is going into a non-JBL RAV4 Prime SE.

The videos and guides I've read thus far aren't great. I'm hoping this will be straightforward, with no need to cut/crimp/terminate wires. Hopefully someone who has already done this upgrade can take a look and let me know if any of the above isn't going to work.

You have the main pieces you'll need. As others have stated the only annoyance is the rivets. The wiring adapter makes it plug-in-play. If you're feeling frisky get some 80 mil sound deadening and add that while you're at it, but it's not really necessary unless you add an amplifier and plan to turn up the volume.

Only other thing you might want is some foam speaker rings/fast rings that go around the speaker after it's mounted. I had some leftover thick weather stripping from a home project I used, and it did make a noticeable difference to sound quality vs when I didn't have any fast rings installed.

aalj · May 2, 2021

noteaplease said:
As the dash speakers are 3ohm, I've paired them with the 3ohm infinity reference door speakers.

Sound like you are having fun. Just be careful with that impedance. With two 3 ohm speakers in parallel, you would be presenting a 1.5 ohm load to whatever is doing the amplification. Not much hardware out there can sink enough current, in a cool fashion, to be stable at driving 1.5 ohms.

I believe the stock non-JBL system uses 4 ohm drivers, which, in parallel is already at 2 ohms.

Urmil · May 4, 2021

Stevo1 said:
I put Infinity Reference in all 4 of my doors along with the 2 in the dash. The only other thing you will need is a 5mm drill bit to remove the speakers. They have rivets holding them in place. You will not need to cut or splice anything. I didn't use the grills that came with the speakers because the trim pad would not go back on properly.

How would you rate the audio quality improvement after upgrading the door speakers? I upgraded the 2 small speaks in the dash and I agree that it made a substantial improvement overall. On another thread, many mentioned that their really no point of upgrading the door speakers unless you intend to also install an amp? What has your experience been?

Spiff · May 4, 2021

Urmil said:
How would you rate the audio quality improvement after upgrading the door speakers? I upgraded the 2 small speaks in the dash and I agree that it made a substantial improvement overall. On another thread, many mentioned that their really no point of upgrading the door speakers unless you intend to also install an amp? What has your experience been?

I think the sound quality is improved, especially on the low end of the frequency spectrum and at moderate and higher volumes. At low volume difference isn't noticeable. At high volume the bass now shakes the mirror (and didn't before).

EladioGomes · Aug 6, 2021

Spiff said:
I think the sound quality is improved, especially on the low end of the frequency spectrum and at moderate and higher volumes. At low volume difference isn't noticeable. At high volume the bass now shakes the mirror (and didn't before).

I replaced both dash and front door, I observed the audio is more clean, you can hear the highs and the lows separated, it does shake the mirrors, but that made me realize I didn't protect the cable connectors properly and I got some rattling, will fix it tomorrow.

Expe12 · Aug 9, 2021

Do you have to flip the positive/negative on the red wolf harness the same way you have to with the dash speakers (per various reviewers here and even noted on the red wolf amazon page)?

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

EladioGomes · Sep 4, 2021

Hello everybody, I have a question, do you think this would fit the front or rear door? I used the infinity on the front doors, but if these produces better sound as a 3 way I might move them to the back and install these on the front instead! Anyone tried the pioneer speakers in the Rav here?

Pioneer TS-A652F 6-1/2" 3 Way Coaxial Speaker System

MorningZ · Sep 4, 2021

Those would indeed fit it in the door with the proper Metra speaker adapter (I believe its same as fronts)

Expe12 · Sep 5, 2021

MorningZ said:
Those would indeed fit it in the door with the proper Metra speaker adapter (I believe its same as fronts)

Just remember that the positive and negative are flipped on the Metra - similar to the Red Wolf that everyone recommends from Amazon.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

EladioGomes · Sep 27, 2021

Guys, I have a question, I added Kicker speakers to the rear door and it was just fine, however I feel the sound is now a bit worse that before with only dash and front doors speakers replaced by infinity. Doing a little research I realized my Infinity speakers are 2 Ohms and the new Kickers are 4 Ohms. Can this be the problem? I can still probably replace them so if anyone can answer I'd really appreciate.

Thanks a lot.

EladioGomes · Sep 27, 2021

Sorry, somehow it duplicated.

maxis · Nov 20, 2021

EladioGomes said:
Guys, I have a question, I added Kicker speakers to the rear door and it was just fine, however I feel the sound is now a bit worse that before with only dash and front doors speakers replaced by infinity. Doing a little research I realized my Infinity speakers are 2 Ohms and the new Kickers are 4 Ohms. Can this be the problem? I can still probably replace them so if anyone can answer I'd really appreciate.

Thanks a lot.

Late reply, but yes the speakers have different resistance and thus different sensitivities and the lower ohm will play louder, but will stress the amp more. You need to match the resistance

RetiredGamer · Nov 23, 2021

EladioGomes said:
Guys, I have a question, I added Kicker speakers to the rear door and it was just fine, however I feel the sound is now a bit worse that before with only dash and front doors speakers replaced by infinity. Doing a little research I realized my Infinity speakers are 2 Ohms and the new Kickers are 4 Ohms. Can this be the problem? I can still probably replace them so if anyone can answer I'd really appreciate.

Thanks a lot.

What kickers you got? I always tried to match my 6.5 speakers so I never encountered your issue. I put 4 kicker ds and a 12 in sub. Amp and lc2 to clean up signal. Sub at 2 ohms. And jbl 3020 w bass blockers in dash. Sounds good to me. Been running on 2 years no issues. If the kickers ever go I have a set of 4 alpine 6.5 I been wanting to try out. I'm actually bored I need a new project. I guess I gotta load up the mountain bike and find more trails or something.

EladioGomes · Dec 15, 2021

RetiredGamer said:
What kickers you got? I always tried to match my 6.5 speakers so I never encountered your issue. I put 4 kicker ds and a 12 in sub. Amp and lc2 to clean up signal. Sub at 2 ohms. And jbl 3020 w bass blockers in dash. Sounds good to me. Been running on 2 years no issues. If the kickers ever go I have a set of 4 alpine 6.5 I been wanting to try out. I'm actually bored I need a new project. I guess I gotta load up the mountain bike and find more trails or something.

I got the Kicker 43DSC6504, ( I guess the same you have) Chutchfield had a deal with the metra harness and brackets. But I still want more... I'm from a time I'd cut the metal to fit an 8" on the door... actually... wondering it this would be doable these days...

EladioGomes · Dec 15, 2021

maxis said:
Late reply, but yes the speakers have different resistance and thus different sensitivities and the lower ohm will play louder, but will stress the amp more. You need to match the resistance

Thanks for the reply, I guess it's kind off too late now, 2 Ohms at the front and 4 Omhs in the back is already there. For now it's working, maybe the expected life of the speaker would be shorter. But that's not too bad, I can then be forced to do something else!

Replacing door speakers - do I have everything?

noteaplease

Stevo1

Spiff

MorningZ

Treegreen

aalj

Urmil

Spiff

EladioGomes

Expe12

EladioGomes

MorningZ

Expe12

EladioGomes

EladioGomes

maxis

RetiredGamer

EladioGomes

EladioGomes

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities