Speakers

[louie]

I have a 2004 Solara and I know all the speakers at 6x9. In the past there was a post here that someone posted on the depth available for the front and rear speakers? I was wondering if anyone still had this info. I tried the search and reading through the posts and could not find it.

Also does anyone have any guides on how to remove the rear and or front speakers. Your help is appreciated. Otherwise when I take a crack at it I will post whatever I find out.

Thanks

[swindler]

Actually, I don't have your answer, but I'd like to expand the question.

I have a Gen 2 Solara as well, but it's a 2006 convertible with the JBL system, no Nav. I was under the impression I had 6x9s because of all the other posts, but at least in the rear, the speakers are 6's. Then there's the 8" subwoofer behind the rear seat. I haven't pulled the front door panels yet, but sources like Crutchfield (not accurate?) say that there are 6's in the front doors as well.

Does anyone know if the JBL systems have a different setup? Or is there something about the convertibles that is different?

In short, is there a source out there that has the full stackup for both the standard Gen 2 setups and what I seem to have?

BTW- One idea I've had is to remove the subwoofer behind the rear seat and replace it with an aftermarket enclosed subwoofer. There's a boxed in area behind the seat and below where the ragtop folds up (when the top is down), where I think I can fit either a bazooka style sub, or possibly a pickup truck style sub. Has anyone tried this also?

[Lone Solara]

Swindler, the convertibles have a different setup (not only for 2006). Even the 2004 convertibles have 6" speakers and the subwoofer. It's simply a different setup than the coupes.

[theprodigy79]

You're lucky... you don't have to mod to fit good speakers (I hate oval speakers)...

[Down2TheC]

I'm '04 conv. and yes, the rear speakers are very, very lame. They do nothing. The sub is okay but needs improvement. If you want to see what's beneath it all, find Astro's post by searching for a "headrest" discussion. He posted a pic of the rear of the conv. stripped down.
For us, it's all in the doors...

[KansasSolara]

Back to the original post.
I am in the process of replacing the 6x9 speakers. I did the ones on the doors last nite and it is making a world of difference. The OEM speakers are a POS with paper cones

To remove the panels (Gen 2) you will have to take off 2 screws at the bottom of the panel; one screw behind a cover on the door lever (the cover can be pried off with a screw driver - carefully). You will also have to pry up the panel with the window controls and door lock, there is a screw there too, disconnect the wiring harness.
Pry off the tiangular cover in the top corner of the panel (pry off with your hands). There is also a circular plastic cover below this area, just pry off the circle and remove the screw that's hidden below.
At this point you can start pulling the door panel from the bottom to release all the plastic holders.
That should do it baby. Good luck

I need to remove the rears, will probably do that today.

Does anybody know how to replace the speakers on the dashboard in a Gen 2 (I guess they are probably tweeters). I have a sweet pair of Polks that should sound better than the OEMs.

Thanks,

[theprodigy79]

Does anybody know how to replace the speakers on the dashboard in a Gen 2 (I guess they are probably tweeters). I have a sweet pair of Polks that should sound better than the OEMs.

Remove the windshield pillar trim covers, pop out the speaker grills and remove two bolts per speaker (they are pretty crappy high range speakers, not really tweeters)...

[KansasSolara]

Cool thanks Bro. I will take that paper crap out today!!!

Peace,

['00vegas-solara]

See if these apply to your Solara. I have a '00 Coupe with JBL, but I don't know if they apply to Gen 2.

http://solaraguy.org/viewtopic.php?t=21720

[KansasSolara]

Sweet. I think this will help, the set-up is a bit different but close enough.
Thanks!

[cklinh]

Hey, just curious, are you just replacing the speakers? Or are you also adding/replacing the amp?

Back to the original post.
I am in the process of replacing the 6x9 speakers. I did the ones on the doors last nite and it is making a world of difference. The OEM speakers are a POS with paper cones

To remove the panels (Gen 2) you will have to take off 2 screws at the bottom of the panel; one screw behind a cover on the door lever (the cover can be pried off with a screw driver - carefully). You will also have to pry up the panel with the window controls and door lock, there is a screw there too, disconnect the wiring harness.
Pry off the tiangular cover in the top corner of the panel (pry off with your hands). There is also a circular plastic cover below this area, just pry off the circle and remove the screw that's hidden below.
At this point you can start pulling the door panel from the bottom to release all the plastic holders.
That should do it baby. Good luck

I need to remove the rears, will probably do that today.

Does anybody know how to replace the speakers on the dashboard in a Gen 2 (I guess they are probably tweeters). I have a sweet pair of Polks that should sound better than the OEMs.

Thanks,

[KansasSolara]

I'm just replacing the speakers. The OEM amp has a decent amount of power, but the paper cone speakers are just low quality. The cheapest aftermarket speaker is way better than what comes stock with this "premium" JBL system. I'm replacing the 6X9s with Kenwoods. The OEM amp is feeding the 6X9s a low frequency signal, I tried puting 6 1/2s on the doors and they sounded pretty bad since they cannot reproduce the low signal as good as the larger 6X9s.

[solaris]

kansas, were you able to replace the tweeters or high range speakers on the dash (whatever that is). i think mine is busted as i cannot hear any tweeter on my left front side. i've already notice this when i first bought my car but didnt really paid attention to it. but when i was trying to replace my left speaker, i noticed there's no sound coming from the tweeters. i know it's still under warranty, but i want to replace that anyway if i'm gonna replace my stock speakers...
if you have pictures, i'd appreciate it...

[KansasSolara]

Well. I tried to to replace the ones on the dash but I changed my mind. I pulled one of them out and they look as if they are some sort of dual coil speaker, so I didn't want to replace them with my tweeters. Later on I'll see if I can get some similar speaker to replace them with.
My concern is that the OEM dash speakers seem to be able to handle mids and highs, so replacing them with just tweeters might compromise the mids.
By the way it's really simple to get to them. Just pry off the cover with a flat screwdrider, it's held with a couple of clips. I didn't even have to remove the windshield side panel (I tried, but I have the ABS curtains and they are right in there, I didn't want to mess with that).
If I were you I'd have the dealer take a look at that and have it fixed (if it is under warranty).

The door panels speakers are an easy project, the rears are much harder to get to. Sorry, don't have pics.

[dirtybird_1]

i replaced my rear speakers with infinity refrence's and threw in two polk audio ported 12"s and my system kicks a$$. the infinitys handle everything i have thrown and have never gotten any distortion. the only problem i do have is those horrible dash speakers or whatever they are. everytime the bass hits it is like it distorts the sound coming from them. (curiously this only happens with the radio not with cd's and it is only those two front speakers). i have no idea what to replace those with so any suggestions welcome. the solara is a complete rattle trap though, so have fun finding and silencing them.