Stereo Upgrades....what to do!?

[gravylegs]

Hi everyone,
This weekend I took delivery of my 2007 RS B package Liftback! Got the lowering springs, door sill protectors, cargo and all season mats, and the power everything. So far I love it!

EXCEPT

The stereo is WEAK. Here are my beefs:

1) The RS comes with an all black interior, even the center console plate. The double din SILVER stereo sticks out like a sore thumb! It looks super cheap as it is just silver painted plastic. The worst part about this is since it is so prominant due to the contrast, it is one of the first things that people look at. Such a shame.

2) There is absolutely no low end to this stereo. To hear any sort of bass at all I need to crank the bass setting up to 3 or 4, and then everything sounds muddy.

3) There isn't much in the way of volume. Driving around with the windows down and the stereo on means I have to crank it up to 50+ which makes it sound like junk.

My questions:

1) Has anyone replaced the stereo with a single din head unit? If so, can I see a picture? Curious to see what you did to fill the space. I'd like to throw my old head unit in this baby. No, it doesn't accomodate 6 cd's, but with mp3 cds, who really cares about a changer?

2) Im thinking to put a subwoofer in this car, but don't want to take up precious cargo space. Ideally I want to build a box with enough airspace to accomodate a 10" that would fit beside the spare tire where there is currently a storage "tray". I used to drive an insight, and a guy had custom made a box to fit specially into an unused area of space. Check it out at http://www.geoff.shepherd.com/xwayland/main.html
Has anyone done anything like this yet?

Thanks for listening to the rant, and for any feedback I end up getting!
gravylegs

[why?]

You can always plop an equalizer below the head unit to fill in the extra space nicely.

[bigsky2]

There are new 8" and 10" subwoofers designed with a smaller driver, which allows for smaller boxes to be constructed. They have the same ability to deliver the base as with traditional drivers, but they're made for tight compact situations (ie. imagine 2 x 12" in a Mini Cooper without modifying the rear seats).

As for the head unit... I recommend an aftermarket deck. Something from Premier (Pioneer's flagship brand) or Kenwood would be ideal.

To fill in the double din space if you are using a single din sized deck, you can purchase a "frame" that will house the stereo on the top level, and there is an open space on the bottom for you to store items.

Toyota makes these adapter/frames. Ask your dealer for more info.
Of course an experienced audio store will be able to take care of this too!

[Leenis24]

I don't think i'll want the stock stereo for to long either. I plan on getting a single din deck. I think i'll just wait till a dash kit comes out in the US, or just see if i can get one from Canada, assuming that Canada has them by now, seeming how im less then a mile from the Quebec boarder, it shouldn't be to hard to get one.

[jcove]

Originally Posted by gravylegs

Hi everyone,
This weekend I took delivery of my 2007 RS B package Liftback! Got the lowering springs, door sill protectors, cargo and all season mats, and the power everything. So far I love it!

EXCEPT

The stereo is WEAK. Here are my beefs:

1) The RS comes with an all black interior, even the center console plate. The double din SILVER stereo sticks out like a sore thumb! It looks super cheap as it is just silver painted plastic. The worst part about this is since it is so prominant due to the contrast, it is one of the first things that people look at. Such a shame.

2) There is absolutely no low end to this stereo. To hear any sort of bass at all I need to crank the bass setting up to 3 or 4, and then everything sounds muddy.

3) There isn't much in the way of volume. Driving around with the windows down and the stereo on means I have to crank it up to 50+ which makes it sound like junk.

My questions:

1) Has anyone replaced the stereo with a single din head unit? If so, can I see a picture? Curious to see what you did to fill the space. I'd like to throw my old head unit in this baby. No, it doesn't accomodate 6 cd's, but with mp3 cds, who really cares about a changer?

2) Im thinking to put a subwoofer in this car, but don't want to take up precious cargo space. Ideally I want to build a box with enough airspace to accomodate a 10" that would fit beside the spare tire where there is currently a storage "tray". I used to drive an insight, and a guy had custom made a box to fit specially into an unused area of space. Check it out at http://www.geoff.shepherd.com/xwayland/main.html
Has anyone done anything like this yet?

Thanks for listening to the rant, and for any feedback I end up getting!
gravylegs

I have the MP3 deck and it isn't too bad, but I have an LE, so I don't have the Black/Grey problem. I'd be upset too if I bought the more expensive RS and ended up with that. I think it's kind of cheesy looking, no offense. I bought a sub and amp, Lightening Audio, and the sound is way better. I turn the bass off (-5) on the head unit and just use the stock speakers for upper mid and treble. Then the sub takes all the low end stuff. It's really tight. The only problem is the box takes up space. I'm going to take out the spare and buy the compressor with the liquid seal to save space and weight (I know not much but....) then I'm putting my sub in the spare location.

That being said, in your case I'd buy an aftermarket the way everyone is suggesting and put in a sub in the spare well.

[Sp33dY]

I agree... standard head units suck!!!

I'LL HAVE the other problem! Finding an aftermarket unit i LIKE that isnt BLACK! A black cd/dvd player that i like will stand out on the silver panel .... go figure!

[echo_hrs]

...

[Sp33dY]

JVC make a few nice piano black head units. Orange is such an ugly dash colour i think and looks a bit outdated ... a ot of 80s cars had dashlights that were orange!

This is the head unit i really want next, but it'd look out of place against a silver dash :( Again, buttons are highlighted with blue and red ... no orange.

[Leenis24]

That JVC is really fricken nice. Every head unit i've owned has been JVC, i like them. Although i think this time im going to all Alpine, deck, amp, all four speakers and subs. I wanna keep everything uniform this time, not all different stuff.

[kralmrax]

i also have the 6 disc mp3 stereo in the rs and agree with what is being said above. i've noticed that the stereo occasionally stops "reading" the mp3, the stereo goes silent then skips forward to the next song, it does this randomly and in the middle of the song. this pisses me off if i'm in the midst of rocking out! the stereo looks like garbage, and once i confirm the existence of a bracket for the yaris, i'm definitely going back to my single disc jvc. i like the idea of putting in an equalizer to cover the extra space. it seems absurd that so much thought and work was put into these cars, but the stereo looks like it belongs in an 86 k-car. if anyone installs an aftermarket deck in their yaris please post pics, and i promise to do the same, cheers.

[riceboy]

Anyone install a DVD head unit?? I think that it would look amazing!

[Sp33dY]

A member on my forums has put an Alpine unit into his Yaris.

[bdiu]

mine is panasonic
it works great. I will post a pic tmrw

[DJ_SpaRky]

Originally Posted by Sp33dY

A member on my forums has put an Alpine unit into his Yaris.

I will too, taking my CDA-9851 from the xB

[gravylegs]

Hey Sp33dy....

Regarding the picture that you posted, that looks nice! Does anyone know if the deck has built in amplifier or if it is separated and powered elsewhere? I would be suprised if this were the case....but thought I would ask before I ripped stuff apart.

Oh, and does anyone know a reputable tinter in the GTA?

gravylegs

[riceboy]

Hey gravylegs, I'm going up to f/x auto to get my tint done... http://www.fxauto.com/ I've had countless amount of cars done by them and they are kick ass!

[riceboy]

btw did you get a 3 or 5 door?

[bigsky2]

Can anyone suggest a place to purchase a stereo dash mounting kit for single DIN head units?

Toyota OEM, or perhaps an aftermarket kit for the Yaris specifically?
I came across several kits for the 06/07 Corollas, Scions, and Camry. But no sign of the Yaris 06/07.