[golfnut]

Anyone have this factory combination on their RAV4.

How is it? Does it sound good? Does the subwoofer come with it's own amplifer?

What if I bought sub-woofer aftermarket, do I need to get a new head unit too? or would the 200 watt head unit be enough?

Thanks!!
Andrew

 

[machman]

...depends on what kind of bass you want. For some people factory 8" subs are fine. Personally, I've heard LOTS of good 6.5" door speakers that sound much better.

If you want decent bass at a cheap price and space is a concern, consider the Infinity Basslink. Forget any of the other amp/sub combos out there, they are crap comparatively.

If you want serious bass, check out my install by linking to my cardomain page. There is one other person here who did something like what I did, but they used 10" subs and more space in their trunk.

As far as your head unit goes, it depends on what you have. Many of the stock units are fine for most people. Generally what they lack are features. Most audiophiles don't use their head units at all for powering their speakers and simply run a 4 channel amp to power their door speakers and another 1 or 2 channel amp to power their sub(s).

If all you are looking for is a bit of good bass and cleaner sound, just buy a $100 pair of coaxial speakers (mid-woofer and tweeter all-in-one combo) for your front doors and run them off your head unit leaving your rear door speakers stock. This will improve things quite a bit. Then, spend another $200 on an Infinity Basslink and connect it to your stock head unit to get your bass. For $300 you'll have a better system than 95% of the cars on the road.[/list]

 

[golfnut]

Yes thanks! I've seen your Rav4, it's FANTASTIC!

Wish I had the time/patience/money to do what you did.



Regards,
Andrew

 

[machman]

what's your budget? ...realistically. If it's $100, so be it, just let me know and I might be able to help you out with some ideas of what to do. I spent alot of time in the planning stages of my project so I have some background.

 

[golfnut]

Just looking at a new 2005

HI there,

The reason I was asking about the audio is that I'm thinking about buying a new 2005 Rav4. The chilli package comes with the Panasonic head unit (the subwoofer is extra... $470 OUCH). I like the leather so I'm thinking Plus package now instead of chilli.

I was reading bits and looks like the amp under the seat is ideal, BUT you have to remove the heater vents which I don't want to do.

Canadian Driver gave the stock stereo a bad rating. My ideal setup would be...

$300 head unit.
$100 New front component speakers
$100 New rear fill speakers
$200 4 channel amp bridged to 3 channels. (saw sony Xplod for $200).
$100 + $100 for box 8-10" subwoofer that's removable incase I need the trunk space.
$100 install wiring/din kit.

Total...$1000.

 

[machman]

What you've got there looks good assuming you'll be buying that stuff from eBay. I can't seeing you being satisfied if you buy retail equipment at those prices.

Also, if money is tight, I'd skip the replacement of your rear speakers and just run the stock ones off your new head unit. I was surprised at the sound of the stock speakers although they don't look like much, they sound surprisingly good.

You're on the right track with a 4 channel amp, bridging two to a sub, and running the other two channels to your front doors. Just be sure to get coaxials up front so you really get the highs. Directional coaxials would be even better. ...for that matter, if money is no option, I'd probably spend the $100 I saved on not replacing the rear door speakers on better quality front door coaxials.

...and about the heater vents, you don't have to remove them. I'm sure if you spent some time you could work the amp under there keeping the vents in place. I just didn't care that much so I took them out. Besides, they can be reinstalled very easily if I change my mind, I didn't have to cut anything, the vents just pull right out.

For an amp, I'd recommend the Kenwood KAC6401. It puts 60W RMS to four channels, or 60W RMS X 2, plus something like 150W X 1 in tri-mode. Plus it's got a built in fan, and they're affordable.