Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Through the stock black tube so it's still water tight. I didn't want to drill and grommet a second line as I've had installs in the past go sideways by doing that (leaks, air noise). Might be an issue depending on how and where you have dynomatted your door panels. Since I didn't have any, I had full visibility.

Pepp

Lexuswiz, I just wanted to give you an update on how I made out with the wiring. I was experiencing a little difficulty attempting to run up through the black hose when I tried to get the through the boot. I then decided to just put it on hold for a while. What I finally ended up doing was pulling the boot out completely from the kick panel side. There is a ton of room on that end of the boot to just slice a small slit next to the plug and easily run the wire through the boot into the door. When you plug the boot back in the hole the slit is inside the jam as well. Took me 10 minutes. Hopefully I described that clearly to understand what I did. Also, I can't take credit for this idea, it was passed along to me from a Crutchfield tech support guy. Thanks for all your help though!

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Sounds good. I understand what you mean, and hey, if it works, it works!

chris948

Just for anyone who is researching, my non-nav 05 did not lose chimes, and the factory amp is completely gone. Lexus doesn't use that for those buzzers.

KMB

BIG thanks to Rich001, Pepp, and Chris948 for the great info above. It helped tremendously in replacing the stock amp in my 2006 RX330 (non-ML, with Nav). Rich001's wiring info back on 6/6/17 was close enough to get me started but not exactly what's in the 2006 non-ML w/Nav. What is in the 2006 at the stock amp's 20-pin harness, is this (power is of course input; all other pins are output to speakers):


(The fact that both channels and + vs. - leads are clustered consistently is an unexpected kindness from Lexus.)

My final setup -- which sounds fantastic, to my aging ears -- is:

• Pioneer MVH-2400NEX Carplay head-unit
• Alpine MRV-F300 amp
• Kicker CS-series speakers throughout

I had this setup minus the Alpine amp for about two months, leveraging the Axxess TYTO-01 amp interface to talk to the stock amp... and it just wasn't worth it. The Axxess relied on Speaker Level outputs from the head-unit, the Lexus stock amp is woefully weak, there was no functional Fader control, and volume through each channel was inconsistent from day to day. Having already bypassed it for channel output from the head-unit, I will be removing the Axxess entirely tonight.

I also benefitted from the Alpine amp being approximately the same width as the stock amp...



...and while the Alpine lacks convenient screw holes, a couple of short wood screws into the side heat sink vanes and a bunch of washers attach the stock mounting brackets perfectly:



Finally, while the Alpine is longer than the stock amp, it still fits in the original location, using the original brackets, with about ¼" to spare on each end and all adjustments still accessible.



The dash speakers and pillar tweeters are simply fed from the Fronts, with the L and R signals first passing through the 4500 kHz crossovers that came with the Kicker Tweeters. I was apprehensive about this approach at first, but then read elsewhere on Club Lexus that the tiny tweeters and dash speakers have very little impact on overall impedence -- and, in the end, the sound is phenomenal to my ears.

Nav, chimes, climate control, everything still works. For the climate controls, I did retain the tiny resistor that came with either the Axxess TYTO-01 or the Metra faceplate, and have it installed in the correct place.

Next and last, I'll add a small powered sub, probably either the Sound Ordnance B-8PTD or comparable Kicker unit, and enjoy some sound that can truly be enjoyed... instead of cringed at.