mick_foley

Hey. I'm relatively new around here. I just picked up a 2004 ES330. OK, I got a few questions. What are my realistic options for upgrading the sound system? I know I can change out the speakers. How hard is it to change the tweeters in particular? How powerful is the stock amp? How hard is it to bypass the stock amp? Has anybody installed a full system? If so, where have you guys installed the crossovers? I've got questions. You've guys have got answers. Thanks.

Jakex1

the alternator on our cars suck hugely so we cant even put anything decent in there

kiwies300

first thing's first what are you going for pure dB
(THUMPING BASS GOOD FOR HIP HOP & DANCE music )

or

sound cleratory
(CHRIPS CLEAR GOOD FOR ROCK AND ALL ROUND MUSIC)

eg my es300 1992 has a full infinity kappa set up 5" componants 6/9" sound stream torantullar & 12" infinity sub powered by a rockford fosgate 1500wat rms 4 chanel amp kicks out a chrisp clean 110dB when pushed but you can still hear every word just like a concert

LXMN

You might be able to do an alternator upgrade.

Here is a thread I found about this issue.

Link

mick_foley

Sound clarity more so than loud....

The stock subwoofer really sucks. lol. I got a Kenwood KSC-SW1 coming in that I was going to put in my '03 Camry before I traded it in. It is a small, self-amplified subwoofer. I was maybe going to add the subwoofer and some component speakers up front with a small amp (2X125 Watts RMS). The amp was small enough to fit under my driver's seat in my Camry. I like small things that can be hidden and don't clutter the car. I definitely don't want anything cluttering the Lexus.

Alternator issues?? You've got to be kidding me, right? On an entry-level luxury car? My '03 Camry handled the small amp and speakers pretty well.

Jakex1

well lexus es330 has a small alternator

tryno

I am running two amps, one for a subwoofer and the other for the speakers.


JL Audio 250/1 mono powering a 12in Alpine Type R sub

Alpine F450 Class AB powering the speakers

Focal 6.5in 2-way component in the front

Alpine Type S 6.5in 2-way component in the back

Alpine head unit


Installing the head unit requires a special dash kit that my shop happened to have available, and also the disabling of the CD changer in the glove box. Unfortunately, the changer can't be easily used with a non-stock head unit. The tweeters in the front installed easily, but had to be custom-mounted in the back. The stock sub over the trunk was removed to allow the bass to pass through into the car. Both amps are mounted in the trunk as there was not room under the seats. Crossovers were installed in the doors, as usual.

The metal trunk and its casing behind the seats does not seem to accommodate bass very well. The result is a bit more vibration and slightly less deep bass in certain instances.

This is a high end system that cost a lot of money. Everything was installed professionally. Be sure to run a 4 gauge cable from the battery to the amp that powers to sub to decrease resistance and prevent excessive heat that could lead to a vehicle fire.

I have not had any issues with the alternator and I wouldn’t dare turn up the volume without the engine running.

mick_foley

Any pictures of your system? How much did the dash kit cost and what brand was it?

Jakex1

you can also check out circuit city/best buy and see what stuff they will put in at their prices. So you know what to buy, go home and install it yourself.

mick_foley

I like how you think.

mtaalib3

i'm not sure if this will help you but i had a 98 ls400 on the stock alternator and had 7, yes seven amps in my car. all the amp were us amps and i never had a problem with the factory alternator. as a matter of fact, i had more problems with the aftermarket 200 amp alternator than i had with the lexus alternator. my system set up was as follows: 1 inch canton tweeters in the a-pilliars, image dynamics cd-2 horns under the dash, image dynamics cxs 6.5 inch midbass drivers in the kick panels, image dynamics 8 inch subs in the front doors, canton 5.25 inch midbass drivers in the rear doors installed in the factory pods, 3 twelve inch image dynamics id-maxes in a sealed inclosure in the trunk firing through a modified rear deck. the rest of my system consisted of: alpine iva-d900 dvd/cd player, alpine cha-s634 six disc changer, alpine tape deck, 4 batcap model 400s in the trunk, 3 modified us amps de-1000 (one for each sub), a us amps tu-300 (for the rear speakers, note: i don't believe in putting tweeters in the rear because it screws up your imaging and soundstage), a us amps tu-600 for the front subs, a tu-600 for the 6.5 inch midbass drivers, a tu-4360 (four channel amp) for the horns and tweeters, an alpine pxa-h701 for signal processing, a precision power frx-456 for additional cross-over capabilities and i ran a 1/0 guage power wire from the battery all the way to the trunk.

i grounded all the amps with a 1/0 ground wire in the trunk as well. this is very important because you always want to use the same guage wire for both power and ground connections. i also installed two stinger 200 amp fuses (one right after the car battery which was an optima yellow top and the second right before the bank of batcap 400s) to protect the car from shorts. i also needed a relay for the turn-on leads for all that equipment. i ran a 1/0 guage power wire from the factory alternator output directly to the battery and also added an additional 1/0 ground wire from the battery to the strut tower bolt. i remind you that i had all this equipment and NEVER had any electrical problems. Btw, i like it loud. not always but often enough and i installed all this stereo equipment myself. did i mention sound deading? lots and lots of dynamat sound deadning everywhere.

mick_foley

7 amps? You are kidding right.

TORTOISE

My alternator isnt that great. I have only upgraded headunit and subs wise. When my bass hits all my lights dim if im stopped.I still need to get door speakers because the subs just overpower everything. The trunk also rattles like hell and i dont hear as much low bass as i did in the other 2 cars ive had my system in.

mick_foley

^Turn down the gains on the sub amp. That should help (but not necessarily fix) the issue with the light dimming and with the sub overpowering the door speakers. Just make sure the sub isn't underpowered.

TORTOISE

i will try that. Its not overpowered....my amp is only 300 watts to each sub which are 125rms a piece. When i tell most people that they are shocked because my system thumps like hell. Im tired of MTX's sloppy bass though. I wanna get 2 or 3 L7s or W6s but i hate gettin raped on installation and i cant do it myself i dont understand the whole ohms thing and how to make sure ur amp and subs are runni at the same ohms.