[Roguejester]

All,

Brand new to the RAV4 world, just traded down from a Chevy Tahoe to a used 01 RAV4 L w/5 speed....miss the opulence of the old truck but am having a blast with my new "wind up toy."

On to business....I have read about replacing my HU with one from a Scion, am working on picking up one of those right now. However I am still hashing out speaker replacements. My main listening style is metal...from old school Sabbath/Metallica/Priest to more current progressive metal from the Netherlands; I also listen to a good amount of blues and even some classical thrown in for variety. I am looking for a good set of speakers that will not require a monster sub to be installed to get decent bass as I carry 2 greyhounds in the back of my truck.

I am considering either the Infinity Kappa 63.7i components or the JBL GTi Series C608's (darn expensive, but maybe worth the $). It has been a long time since I have done speaker upgrades in a car, so I am a bit out of the loop when it comes to who makes decent speakers for my music tastes.

Any suggestions you all could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Rogue

 

[EHinthe604]

Congratulations on getting your RAV4.

Hmmm... I will tell you my pre-subwoofer setup, which was pretty decent. I have Infinity 6002si speakers on the front door panels, and Rockford FRC4306 speakers on the rear door panels. It was a pretty good setup, but I really cleaned up the sound quality with the addition of a two-channel amp to drive the front speakers, set on high-pass. Generally, bass response was pretty good and clean from the Rockfords. The Infinitys were geared more towards the mid- and high-range, which is what I expected.

(Just an aside, I got a subwoofer about half a year ago, and it really rounded out the quality of the sound - not necessary, but definitely brightens up the music.)

From what I've read, MTX speakers have pretty decent bass output - good for the rear door panels. A pair of high-quality component speakers (Infinity Kappa series, perhaps?) for the front door panels would be an awesome addition.

I'm not sure how helpful this is, but I thought I'd share my positive experience anyway.

 

[Roguejester]

Thank you for the repsonse. I have been working my way through reviews of speakers at cardomain.com and the choices are pretty overwhelming. I know speakers are subjective depending on the listening style of the person buying them, but I really don't have a lot to patience to test out speakers at many of the normal outlets as they can't reproduce the listening stage of the truck.

That being said, I truly appreciate the response and will certainly heed your words when shopping for speakers in the near future.

Rogue

 

[EHinthe604]

Thank you for the repsonse. I have been working my way through reviews of speakers at cardomain.com and the choices are pretty overwhelming. I know speakers are subjective depending on the listening style of the person buying them, but I really don't have a lot to patience to test out speakers at many of the normal outlets as they can't reproduce the listening stage of the truck.

That being said, I truly appreciate the response and will certainly heed your words when shopping for speakers in the near future.

Rogue

I'm glad I could help. It sounds kind of ironic, but my RAV4 came brand new with stock speakers, but an aftermarket Panasonic deck, as part of the Canadian Chili package (2003-2005). I almost immediately replaced the Panasonic head unit for a Clarion one, due to brand preference and some reception issues with the Panasonic.

From what I've read in some of the other posts on the forums, Scion head units are as good as (if not better than) aftermarket head units. With the right selection of high- and mid-range oriented front speakers and low-range oriented rear speakers (and an amplifier for your front speakers - if you wish), and you'll have an awesome setup.

Good luck with your research, and please do keep us posted about your choice of speakers!

 

[Alsone]

I've always been a fan of Kenwood Speakers and Alpine or Denon head units.

Kenwood make some very sweet sounding 6.5's.

As for head unts there are many head units you could consider.

Scorsche do a Double DIN kit that lets you fit double din displays such as this kenwood (the rav space is slightly more than double din):

Alpine, Pioneer, Panasonic all do very similar units although as they are multimedia dvd units as well as CD they are expensive. They cost around £599 in the UK if you hunt around.



If too expensive, the Kenwood make 2 double din standard players that will fit using the kit eg:

Costs a far more reasonable £199.

Final alternative, is to get the Rav Single DIn conversion kit and just fit any standard single din stereo of your choice.

Al.

 

[BAZRAV4]

Where can one buy a single DIN conversion kit?

 

[Alsone]

Scorsche do one and Crutchfield stock it:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-jdtmVKcIvOH/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=112200&I=142TA2047B

Al.

 

[BAZRAV4]

Does anyone know if any manufacturers sell a double din deck with a removable face plate? Why do manufacturers assume that we all live in safe neighborhoods or have garages? The manufacturer that has a removable face plate will receive my money