RichS11

Thanks for the video Sam, I just managed to get time to watch the whole thing. Although it's not an ideal set up, it's by far the best one I've seen. I've been searching for a long time and even contemplated getting rid of the nav setup and installing my old double din but that's just as technical (requiring new speaker wiring from speakers to HU, etc). I'm guessing you had to get brackets made up to fit the old stereo into the glove box?

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

I used those giant zip ties . Put a thick double stick tape between metal body of original HU and shelf drill holes the width of the body and place the hu on tape and tighten both zip ties as hard as possible. You will have two zip ties showing inside glove box but you will not see it unless you put your head down to the floor.

RichS11

Thanks Sam. Going to look into a new HU this weekend.

angus

iTrader: (4)

OK, I thought about it and you're not wrong.

If you want to keep the factory NAV and you don't care about sound quality then your solution will work.

I did think about this a long time ago - in about 2004 when I got my first GS300. I even installed a single DIN deck where the ashtray was (I've seen others do it too) but I ran it to aftermarket amps and speakers.

Sorry if I came across as rude - It was meant to be more of a sarcastic humor…

The main thing is that most people find the stock Nav to be crap and don't want it anyway - most replace it with a modern double DIN unit with NAV.

I've read another thread on here describing how you can power the stock amp with the stock deck, the thing is, the sound quality of the stock deck and amp are terrible so I bet you could just eliminate all the extra crap, get yourself a small amp and install it right in place of the stock one behind the glove and get less complexity and better sound in one move.

I've tried the stock deck/amp with aftermarket speakers - it was still crap because the amp/deck has poor sound quality

I''ve also tried the stock speakers with aftermarket amp/deck and that does sound better.

In the end it's your car and can do it any way you like, I just think there are times when it's not worth the extra trouble to go against the grain.


BTW - if someone makes that trim ring to go there - you need to post the link so people can find it because it's news to me - and NO, I don't know everything…

RichS11

Angus, with the aftermarket double din route, am I correct in thinking you have to rewire the speakers to an amp or HU to bypass the Lexus setup?

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

Like I said, I do not use the nav I don't want to lose the gas mileage. As far as sound quality to me it is very good and to improve the sound I would need to throw 800 dollars into it. I am not into shaking my car windows.

On the trim I am modifying a double din one

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

Yes, you can either run wires from each speaker or find the speaker wires that go from your amp to your speakers and tap into it (this is on the diy) then you put an amp for your subwoofer, and you can also put an amp for your speakers if you wish but the current speakers will need to be changed to handle the extra wattage so for current speakers just run straight to your new hu. Your new hu will have a wire you run to your new amp to turn it on and off when you turn your new hd on. If you still want your nav to work you can hide it where your cd player was and cover the hole. Just make sure the little plug is plugged in to it and you're nav will work. If you do this you don't even need to have the old hu on since you're new hu is completely independent. I suppose you can strip the old hu down to the circuit board that allows your nav to work to make it more compact. I also suppose someone who knows electronics can wire up a small circuit board that sends whatever signal to the buss so your nav will work.but if you want to save the nav function as Angus said the nav sucks. I did it the way I did for two reasons. No need to buy an amp and not losing my gas mileage feature

angus

iTrader: (4)

I think that Sam may have a little fixation on trying to keep the stock amp - lol. Even with the stock speakers it would be a huge upgrade to get a small 5ch amp and wire it right up in the spot where the stock amp sits. you'd only have to run a power wire about 2-3 ft. from the battery.

Pretty sure this stuff is all in the DIY but I'll lay it out - the options are:

1) To run the double din you can run the speaker wires from the DD to the stock amp wires, if you need the sub to work then you can wire up a small amp (like the ones I posted links to here) and run it off the stock wires that run the stock amp. ( I should note the almost any decent brand current model DD deck will have considerably better sound from it's internal amp than the stock amp)

2) You can use Sam's scheme to trick the stock amp into staying on, YES - he proved me wrong, there IS a way around almost anything! But I tell you - no real stereo shop would do this and we'd probably be laughing for a little while if a car came in like that - ( Sam, I have to apologize but I'm only being real here)

Of course there are more options but I;m trying to keep it simple.

Just to keep this novel going I'll add some GS stereo stories for ya.

I currently have to GS4's, one has everything aftermarket, started as a NAK system and I just replaced everything - although my door speakers still use the stock wires.

The other one (my daily) which was a factory NAV car has actually gone through a bunch of revisions:

- First I ran the stock deck and installed pioneer TS-D component speakers ( one of my favorite "everyday" speakers) - that sounded basically the same as the stock setup - possibly even worse since it would distort at an even lower level than the stock speakers ( the speakers induced clipping in the stock amp earlier) it was almost like the better speakers exposed the weaknesses of the stock amp and deck.

- Not long after that I couldn't stand it any longer and I installed my Alpine DD unit, bypassed the stock amp and installed an alpine PDX 4.150 - this gave me the kind of midbass, mid and treble that would probably BLOW ole Sam's mind!! It was loud enough that 2 people sitting in the car could yell at the top of their lungs and not be able to hear each other or themselves - if that puts it in perspective for you, and without audible distortion.

- Of course that setup lacked any sub-bass at all, so I decided to install my matching sub amp, the PDX 1.600, now while this amp is just the "little brother" to the PDX 1.1000 - mine came with a card that showed it's RMS output was tested to be 698 watts - lol. WELL… I decided to "play" around and hook it up to the stock sub! It actually sounded not too bad with the gain set low - I drove around a while like that. One day I decided that if a little gin sounded "ok" why not crank it up a "little", well that's when the "magic" happened. The whole event was rather un-eventful - I noticed that he sub stopped - so I decided to pop the rink and was greeted by a could of voice coil smoke ( a not entirely unfamiliar smell) - back to the drawing board.

- Since this car is my daily and I don't want to lose any trunk space ( my other GS has 3 JL 12's) I want to come up with a sub setup that will not take any room. For now I am running a JL 12W6V2 in a box that I had kicking around the shop but I hate it - and love it - it sounds great but takes up room in the trunk.

In the end I will most likely run a Free-air sub in the stock location but I am undecided what.

I guess the moral of the story is that you can almost always find a way to circumvent anything - but is the juice worth the squeeze?

angus

iTrader: (4)

I see your point about the milage feature - I could care less about it myself, if I cared about mileage - I'd not be driving a big heavy, modded V8 car.

If the sound satisfies you then great - not everyone is as picky. Although I know that if you upgraded the deck and amp to better units you'd have worlds better sound quality and it would NOT cost you $800. In fact, I bet for $200 you could buy a used deck and amp that would be fantastic compared to what you have - even buying new maybe $3-400 - but as I said, if the sound satisfies you…

- As for the trim ring I almost thought that is what you had in mind and it's not a terrible idea at all. Post pics when you're done, I can always appreciate others' handiwork.

RichS11

Thanks for the information, I'm well and truly clued up now. I think I see where I was getting confused. The thread I was looking at was aimed at the ML system (which I don't have)........dumbass!

angus

iTrader: (4)

What is your car ( year and model)?

RichS11

2002 GS430 standard audio system with Nav. I have a nice double-din from my 99 GS300 which I think I will transfer over to the 430. Obviously I've managed to install that into the 300 using the DIY's a year or so ago. But I got confused when it come to the 430 as I read the amp was in the trunk (ML system), and I thought this applied to all Nav equipped GS's. As it happens I already have the custom loom from the 300, so it's pretty much plug and play. Just going to have some breakfast and I'll make a start

angus

iTrader: (4)

Let us know how it goes!

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

So you are saying I can get a touch screen double din With nav and a good amp that can run the sub and speakers plus the speakers for 200? No way. Just a set of good speakers is 200 the head unit with touch screen is at least 300 an amp is another 200 and if you are going to do it right you need a new subwoofer so another 100 or so. In the end the sound at the volumes I listen at won't be that much better and I lose my gas mileage meter. Maybe someday when I got money to burn. As far as running the speakers directly to the head unit with no amp. I doubt the sound will be better. In my last car I did that and it was not better.

Also you make it sound like the stock system is total crap. Compared to most stock system and many aftermarket systems I have heard it sounds better than most especially if you fine tune it with the audio hack. But as you say to each his own.

Either way, if I was Rich and already had the equipment I would do the full install.

RichS11

Well guys the double din I have worked perfectly. I only popped the stereo out and the glove box off, but after plugging my custom loom into the dash loom and into my DD HU I was pleasantly surprised I'll take some pics tomorrow and add it to my build up thread.

It's a shame I'll lose the nav but I don't use it enough to keep it. On the upside I can remove the factory amp, cd changer and nav dvd unit for more weight saving

Thanks for all your help