Quinner82

Hello all. I recently purchased a super clean ES350 w/ only 60k miles on it. It's super clean and a non ML car. I love everything about the car other than the audio (completely lacks fullness, etc.).. I'm coming from a 2008 Acura TL and the audio is drastically better. I was thinking about putting a compact power subwoofer in the trunk. Something like this JBL unit ( ). I like the fact the unit is compact and won't take much room in the trunk. I'm not looking for crazy bass, just noticeable/full sounding bass. Would probably mount behind directly behind rear seats. Other than that, I may upgrade the dash and front door speakers. Any thoughts or recommendations? I really value having room the truck and this seems like a decent option.

Thanks!

John Q.

Clutchless

Welcome to CL. This has been discussed many times. If you use our very easy to use search feature, (see the box in the upper right of the main page), and enter subwoofer, you will find many discussions on this topic.
Good luck with your audio project.

frankymenz

I replaced my 4 door speakers and my left and right dash speakers with POLK DB 652 door and POLK 402 dash speakers, the center dash I was advised not to replace. The sound was very much improved, I also just have premium sound. The OEM speakers were surprisingly small and light. I used crutchfield, all the adapters were included, I did have to source the dash speaker wiring adapters through Amazon, they were a few extra bucks, a reviewer on Amazon advises to verify polarity for Lexus ES and he was right, I had to re configure just the 2 dash corner speakers. I didn’t do the sub woofer like you’re contemplating but I’m still very happy with the upgraded sound and mine came in around 200 bucks, had a good sale when I did it from Crutchfield. I searched the forums as clutchless is suggesting to you, I found several good posts and pictures. The only tricky part is the door panels, worth reading and watching a few videos to avoid damage to cables, panels, wiring. Frank

2wheelnut

I just recently did all the interior speakers including the rear and all 3 dash. Added a JBL SL2 powered sub just to fill in the bottom end a bit more. Had it lying around after my Wifes accident but I might upgrade this. Everything is much improved and sounds like how it should have came from the factory.

Two issues are that the facotry amp has a funky crossover and makes a hollow bass note on some music even with sound deadening, and music source volume sucks. HD radio is so so XM is pretty good and bluetooth isnt great either.

I've ordered PAC APH-TY02 Speaker Connection Harness to add an amplified DSP and will try that out this weekend.

I have an older Kicker Key and will use that on the doors for now. if it works out I would go with the JBL DSP 4086. 8 channels should power everything including the factory sub and clean up the sound.

Quinner82

Thanks! Will do!

Quinner82

Thanks! I'll look into this. Did this also improve your bass?

sneezye

Did you get this installed? If so, do you have an accurate source for which pins correspond to which speakers? I'm finding conflicting data.

frankymenz

I would say there is a decent bass improvement, I’m not running any additional or improved amplifiers. I think the entire audio range was improved over the factory speakers.

shoodes

I changed out my front dash speakers with 3x Infinity Ref-4032CFX and my two front door speakers with Infinity REF-9633ix. I definitely noticed a big audio improvement from the dashboard speakers, (I did the center one too). The door speakers weren't as big of a change as I was expecting, but I am keeping the factory system so I wasn't expecting an amazing improvement.

I also ended up adding a JBL BassPro 12 inch Subwoofer into my trunk. This was exactly what I felt like the audio was missing and I love it. It may not be the best subwoofer or the best sounding you can get, but I wanted a powered subwoofer to make it easier to install and not cost me an arm and a leg. I wired it into the factory subwoofer for signal and it's been working great. I think the biggest improvements you can do are the front dashboard speakers and a subwoofer for sure.

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll be happy to answer!

ptthere

I went with JBL Concert Series in the doors, 3-way in the front, 2-way in the back, 2-way in the dash corners and a SO 4-ohm 2-way for dash center-channel. I removed the factory sub, and left it empty, but added a powered LOC and DSP in the trunk with a 400-watt amp driving a 8" SKAR sub in a ported box. No rattles on the outside but the bottom end of the soundstage is filled nicely in the cabin.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

The factory Front door speakers have lots of Bass. Did anyone notice a reduction of that Bass when you switched out the speakers?

ptthere

I took the factory 6.5" speakers out of the front doors and put 6x9" in there, so the bass increased quite a bit. Removing the rear 6.5" speakers and going with new 6.5" speakers, those also seemed more pronounced than the OEM speakers. When you pull the factory speakers out and look at the magnets, you'll realize real fast why they sound anemic.

2wheelnut

Let me try to find the diagram I used. It worked well but I ended up just running it from the stock amp as it powers my speakers just fine and has a better soundstage than the Kicker Key.

Theres also a thread on here where the OP took pics splicing and adding a DSP. You can see some wiring there and it correlates to the diagram.

The door speakers on mine took a while to break in and now they are fuller and more vibrant. I also matted the doors so that helped a lot.

I am mainly wanting to splice again now to get rid of the bass roll off, but the Kicker Key does not have enough channels to run both the factory and my JL sub.

sneezye

With a little testing, I figured out the corresponding speakers. This was my 2013 ES 350 non-ML w/ nav:
Speaker 1 - Left front door
Spearker 2 - Right front door
Speaker 3 - Subwoofer
Speaker 9 - Left dash
Speaker 10 - Right dash
Speaker 11 - Left rear
Speaker 12 - Right rear

TXMD

Did you have thoughts about other brands before installing, or previously had the JBLs in another vehicle? Besides seeing that JBL is the “factory upgrade” brand I don’t have much experience with the brand and wanted to get your feedback. I have Infinity (Kappas I think) that I upgraded in my 4Runner over 15yrs ago that still run strong and sound nice. I was considering the Infinity Reference series this time but read a few “mediocre” reviews from CL users. Thanks for the feedback!