# 2014 Toyota Avalon - Build Log



## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I am starting to buy/build for my new 2014 Toyota Avalon. This car is a big step up for me. I had a 2002 Toyota Camry, bought new in 2001, and put in a stereo system of old and new school products. I finally had to let the Camry go as it was 2500 miles shy of 200,000. Cost of repairs was getting close to an average $250 a month so I took out that system, sold most of the components off and bought the Avalon. From the factory this car is quiet. I hear an occasional buzz sound of plastic rubbing from the rear deck. Not sure what that is but I will find out soon when I take it apart to deaden the car even more that it is now.

As of today, here is my design. Subject to change pending availability, location issues, etc.


H/U: Kenwood Excelon DDX9906XR (Updated 09/15/20)
Front Speakers - Dash: Illusion Audio C3X
Front Speakers - Door: Illusion Audio C8
Rear Speakers - Door: Illusion Audio C3CX (Update 05/11/20)
Rear Speakers - Deck: Not used removing factory speakers and leaving holes open for Subbass to enter cab.(Updated 05/11/20)
Amp/DSP: JL Audio VX800/8i (Ch 1/2 to Dash, 3/4 to Rear Door, 5/6 Bridged to Left Midbass, 7/8 Bridged to Right Midbass) (Updated 07/20/20)

Amp: JL Audio VX600/1i (Updated 07/12/20)
Running 2 ohm to JL Audio 12W6v3 in 1cu ft sealed box​Just bought this sub from a fellow forum member​
Sound Deadener - CLD: KnuKonceptz Kolossus & Sound Skins 
Sound Deadener - MLV: Sound Deadener Showdown (No Longer Available - Updated 05/11/20)
Sound Deadener - CCF: Sound Deadener Showdown (No Longer available - Updated 05/11/20)

Wiring: (Updated 05/11/20)
Knu Koncept OFC 0GA Power Wire
Knu Koncept OFC 12ga Speaker Wire for Midbass
Knu Koncept OFC 14ga Speaker wire for Mids
Knu Koncept OFC 16ga Speaker Wire for Highs
Signal wire: TBD

I am going for a good SQ system that has clarity and depth but not having to customize the car to fully fit everything. Budget is a concern, but I will spend a little more to get a better system if needed. All the components so far should fit factory locations, but I will be doing some investigating before I buy each component. I will post pics of panels being removed, locations of equipment, etc, when I get around to it.

Keep in mind, this build my take anywhere from 3-9 months depending on my personal schedule. Having two young boys in sports year round now, keeps me pretty busy plus work and church.

I hope everyone enjoys this build and it helps others when buying an upgraded and much needed audio system for this car.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Looking forward to this. The Avalon is much nicer than the Camry, so your canvas is much better.


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## jsun_g (Jun 12, 2008)

Sub'd as I am considering buying a 2015 Avalon.
Do you plan to do an aftermarket DSP? Any info on tapping into a full-range pre-amplification signal from the factory HU?


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## GLN305 (Nov 2, 2007)

jsun_g said:


> Sub'd as I am considering buying a 2015 Avalon.
> Do you plan to do an aftermarket DSP? Any info on tapping into a full-range pre-amplification signal from the factory HU?


There is a factory amp under the driver seat, you can tap into everything from there.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I am. I will be using the Audison Prima AP4.9bit for now. I may change that but that is the plan. In any case a DSP will be used. 

I haven't figured out the tap point of the OEM but it maybe at the amp under the driver seat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Quick update. I have bought the following:
Sound Deadener: Knu Kolossus
Front speakers: Illusion Audio C3X & Illusion Audio C6
Rear Deck: Illusion Audio E69X

Still deciding on amps/DSP. 

Looking at Zapco, Audison, Mosconi, Arc Audio, JL Audio.

DSP will depend on amp choice most likely. I really want one with Parametric EQ, OEM re-EQ, and high quality DSP. 

I'll try to get pics up this weekend of all the current gear. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, an update to my build:

I have bought and received my first amp. I have done a complete 180 from my previous thought. I got a great deal on the Zapco Z150.6LX so I am going with Zapco amps and Zapco DSP. Cost of all this is about $2 - 300 cheaper than the Audison setup. Still working on getting the sub amp and DSP. Hope to purchase those soon.

I am working on my distribution setup as well. I will send pics of all my equipment as soon as I get time. It has been busy around my house. On the plus side, I was able to clean out the garage, organize and get it to a point that I could possibly start some fabrication soon.

One item I am working on is what my car's noise level is before and after sound deadening. Trying to figure out the best course of action to accomplish this. I could use the Audio Toolbox app on my iPad or phone but that won't give me that best measurement. I could hook up my mic to my laptop set a reference DB level and try it from there. Last option is to get a quality dB meter. That is my ultimate goal, but I don't think I have the funds to do that at this time.

Thanks for the patience, I hope to start removing panels and doing sound deadening soon.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, so no pics yet, but I was able to do some testing. I found that the cars internal noise floor while driving at 75 MPH, on a smooth highway, no radio, and no A/C is around 66dB. This was done utilizing audio tool box on my iPhone 5s. Probably not ideal, but will provide a good reference level as long as I repeat the same process using the same criteria. 

I will redo the test once I finish doing all the sound deadening I want to do, or at this time afford to do. This will provide a good dB difference between the before and after result.

edit: I also did a noise floor reading at idea in my garage. Again radio and A/C off. The car averaged around 35dB. Noise outside the car was minimum. Again, a good reference to compare between the two, once I get sound deadening done.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

So I was able to start doing some work on the car this weekend. I was able to take the trunk apart and start placing some of my Kno Knoise Kolassus CLD. Here are some pics of the work done. I have a few more pics to take and some additional CLD to do in the trunk. I also need to order some MLV and CCF before I start placing any panels back on. The good news is I only broke one plastic anchor. Progress for me.

Some before pics of the trunk lid:









Of the trunk floor before removing the carpet:



























Pics of the trunk lid with the factory cover removed. Note: to remove, pop out the center section of the trim bolt and the panel comes out very easily.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Here are some pics of the CLD installed on the lid:













































Before I replaced the wire harness, I placed some Tesa tape on the nylon holder to help keep those from making any noise:


















Trunk lid with the wire harness placed back into place. I do have to say the Tesa tape did a good job of isolating the noise from the Nylon holder for the wire harness. I also place it around the emergency release cord for the trunk lid as it ran through the Nylon holders as well.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Now some trunk floor pics:



























Back seat side of the trunk:









Notice how Toyota overdid the CLD at the factory: 


















Also, the nylon trim piece I broke was on the rear wall panel of the trunk. In order to get this off, you have to remove the grocery bag hangers on each side, and lift up on the panel. You can use a panel remover but you will need to get under the lip of it where the weatherstripping meets up with the panel. Here are some pics of the holes you have to deal with.









This pic shows that the panel actually slides into place on this one. No nylon trim bolt here:









This is all I have at this time. Hope to get some more done tomorrow and upload some additional pictures.


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## Guy (Feb 16, 2006)

Nice; staying tuned as my car is on order. 

Even though I was smashed up when i took the test drive and had (hopefully temporarily) no hearing from my left ear, I could tell the car was loud. 

I don't expect it to be as quiet as my current car but I am very interested in your sound deadening work.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Nice progress. Not sure what else you have planned for sound deadening but I did CLD tiles from Dynamat and I also did MLV. That all helped but the biggest difference was new tires. The factory ones were super loud.


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

This thing should sound wonderful! I havent heard the CX3 and the C8 together but I have heard them by themselves and both sound killer. Should give you a very nice sound stage.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Guy said:


> Nice; staying tuned as my car is on order.
> 
> Even though I was smashed up when i took the test drive and had (hopefully temporarily) no hearing from my left ear, I could tell the car was loud.
> 
> I don't expect it to be as quiet as my current car but I am very interested in your sound deadening work.


Thanks Guy, This car is my quietest car I've ever had. It is a little noisy, but most the people that ride in it say it is extremely quiet. I'll let you know how much it improves.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

vwdave said:


> Nice progress. Not sure what else you have planned for sound deadening but I did CLD tiles from Dynamat and I also did MLV. That all helped but the biggest difference was new tires. The factory ones were super loud.


Thanks vwdave. I plan to use as much MLV and CCF as my budget allows. I am hoping to do the doors and trunk mostly. Floor will be factory with the possible additions of the CLD.

I agree on the tires as well. This Avalon came a set of Michelin tires. I have been pleased in the past with these tires on other cars. In my RX8 I had in 2005, the factory Bridgestone tires were loud. I finally replaced them with Dunlops and OMG, it made such a large difference in noise. Not to mention handling as well.

Thanks,


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

LaserSVT said:


> This thing should sound wonderful! I havent heard the CX3 and the C8 together but I have heard them by themselves and both sound killer. Should give you a very nice sound stage.


Thanks LaserSVT. I have changed to the C6 for now. The dealer talked me into the C6. I should have tried to stay with the C8 but he gave me slightly better deal on the C6's. I may still try and get the C8 instead. If I find a pair for sell, I may snatch them up and see which one I like better.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Final update for the weekend. I got most of the CLD installed in the trunk. I tried to go for a 25-50% coverage over the 50-75% I did on the lid. The lid is probably a little too much, but I kept finding areas that the metal was too thin and needed some additional coverage. Probably a more strategic placement would have helped. The trunk still opens and closes fine.

I also removed the horribly provided factory CLD from the side quarter panels. I did not place any CLD on the factory asphalt type deadeners.































































I will add more once start on the rear deck deadening. I finished 9 sheets of CLD for the trunk and trunk lid and was tired of all the sweat running into my eyes, so I called it a day.

Thanks for following. Hope to get some more stuff done next weekend. I'm getting very excited.

Also, my 7 yr old son helped out on the trunk floor. Slowed down the process but was fun to teach him the install process and why I am putting this into the car. Love that little man.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Some updated pics. This is my Trunk lid replaced with CCF between the panel and the lid. I should have cut much smaller pieces and pieced areas together that only touched the lid. First time using the CCF, lesson learned.



















I also added some CCF to the License plate. Helped some. Need to isolate the plate from the holder. Maybe some outdoor tesa tape.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I did one door this weekend. I started on the back passenger door. I wanted to start with something easy, or hopefully easy.

Panel before removal:









Door Handle area. Remove the plastic cover to reveal the screw.









Remove screw from side of panel:









Remove handle cover to reveal the screws to remove:









Panel remove:









Backside of panel:


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I'll post more images tomorrow when I can load more.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, sorry for the delay. I had to figure out another way to load pictures. So, here are some more pictures of the passenger rear door with CLD. I didn't get MLV/CCF pics as I finished late on Sunday and I just wanted to get the door finished so I could take my boys to school the next day. Life of a dad.
Picture of support bar for door handle:


Picture of a black still box that looks to support the door panel away from the metal of the door.


Wiring and moisture barrier removed. I was careful to remove the moisture barrier so I could reuse it again since I wasn't covering any of the holes.


Outer skin of door with Knu Kolossas CLD


Entire Door with CLD


There is a support bar that the door handle screws to. I removed it and placed some CLD on it as well.


I used Tesa tape, no pics, on all the wiring tabs that tied into the door. Picture of moisture barrier back on.


I took some pictures of the 3" driver in the door and show what a Illusion Audio C3CX would look like in the door. I also bought a handy little precision ruler at Harbour Freights Tent sale for $10 so I decided to show some measurements of the OFE speaker as well.












I wish I had time to show the MLV and CCF installed as well. I will with other rear door. I am planning to do that this weekend. 

Also some observations. The Knu Kolossus is really easy to work with. Use a good straight edge and sharp razor. it cuts easy. I did get a sample of the SDS CLD and it is a better built product. The smaller size also helps when using smaller pieces. If I had the money, I would have used the SDS CLD, but I have been pretty happy so far with the Knu Kolossus. Also, I am using MLV and CCF from SDS. The CCF is easy to cut and work with. The MLV is very nice and easy to cut with a good clean razor. Heavy duty scissors work as well, but cutting around curves, it is better with a razor.

If you have any comments/questions on the install so far or how I got the panel off, please feel free to ping me.

edited: Finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I was using the wrong link.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Sorry the pictures are not showing up. I need to figure out why. I am using photobucket. Is there something I am missing?

edited: Fixed picture links.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I was able to work on it this weekend. Here are some pics of the left rear side door. The biggest plus is I had most of the CLD cut and mirrored from the other side. Made putting the CLD go quickly. I also mirrored the MLV template I made out of packing paper. I really wish I had some of the translucent green Tesa tape. The 1-2 places I have found it are way too expensive.

The door before removal and replacement:







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A shot of the door handle with the door handle removed:







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Door panel removed:







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Door handle support bar w/ CLD applied







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The black support box located at the bottom of the door. I removed it from the door, place CLD around it and replaced it.







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Everything removed prior to CLD:







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CLD applied to both inside and outside skin:







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CLD and moisture barrier replaced:







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I removed the red reflector from the door and placed Tesa tape around the opening. Helped to tighten up the fitting of the reflector:







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Reflector replaced:







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I placed some Tesa tape on the Styrofoam support that sits right on top of the black support pictured above. Not sure if this will help, but it didn't take long to add:







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I took the door handle out and added Tesa tape around the areas that rubbed up against other parts of the door:







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I then removed the chrome piece from the door handle and placed some Tesa tape around the section that connects to the other part of the door handle piece. Helped tighten up the fitting and provide some isolation:







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CLD placed on the door panel itself:







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Alright, finally test fitting the MLV:







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First attempt failed, Second attempt a success. I missed the Styrofoam section of the door panel when I cut out the MLV the first time.







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I used industrial strength Velcro from SSD and the support bar for the door handle:







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Door panel fit perfectly. So much better than the other side, so I will probably be taking that off next week to help the door panel fit better.







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I hope you enjoy. I am really enjoying the time to spend on this. Can't wait to move to the next set of doors or whatever I get time to do.


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## sicride (Oct 26, 2014)

Was hoping for an update on this build... Really enjoyed the documentation so far, I know a lot of owners complained about door rattles in the front, did you find the solution? Ever get speakers in?


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Yes, thanks for the compliments. Life as a Dad and Husband have delayed me from working on this. I've still been planning and figuring out what I am going to do in the trunk. I am hoping to look at the front doors next weekend and maybe start working on the baffles. As soon as I do more work I will update. It never goes as quickly as you would have liked. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## SQLnovice (Jul 22, 2014)

Glen305 was selling an inclosure an avalon. Don't know if it will fit your car. He closed the thread and stated that he toss it in the trash. However, it might not hurt to shoot him a pm and see if by chance, he still has it. 

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...rglass-single-10-enclosure-toyota-avalon.html


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, I was able to do some work on the car this weekend. I was able to place some CLD on the outer skin of the front passenger door. I was able to create some templates of the door speakers and start some templates for the holes in the door. Here are some pics:



Something to note: When removing the door panel, there is one door panel clip in the middle of the door panel. Its hard to get any leverage on it. You will see the hole just slightly above half way in the pic below. Should give you a good idea where it is located.


Here is the back side of the door panel. You can see the door panel clip here:


Some pics and sizes of the OFE speaker. The bad thing is the speaker is actually bigger than the Illusion C6.




Door speaker hole size:










Side by side comparison of the OEM and new speaker:


Door panel with everything removed:


An odd place for this:


Another hole I need to build a cover for:


My first template made with my new router table:


It worked out very well. I also did a template of the speaker oval, which I may use to build my speaker bracket with. I am really liking the router table.

I am looking forward to doing more work on this car. Hopefully in the next few weeks.

Also, the depth of the OEM speaker bracket above the door is about 1.4". So basically you should have about 3.4" total depth between the door panel and the window when rolled down. I would probably stay closer to 3" to be safe.


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## derudog (Oct 24, 2015)

Great work! Thanks for the updates.


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## sicride (Oct 26, 2014)

Love the updates, Thanks again for documenting.

Wish I could find a good detailed build on the '05-'12 generation. I have a 2011 that's still stock JBL and I am planning a build hopefully next summer...

Hoping to learn something from this that may apply to my build so I will continue to follow closely. None the less just enjoy these cars and these builds.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

derudog said:


> Great work! Thanks for the updates.


Thanks derudog, 



sicride said:


> Love the updates, Thanks again for documenting.
> 
> Wish I could find a good detailed build on the '05-'12 generation. I have a 2011 that's still stock JBL and I am planning a build hopefully next summer...
> 
> Hoping to learn something from this that may apply to my build so I will continue to follow closely. None the less just enjoy these cars and these builds.


Thanks sicride, Glad I am able to do as much documentation and work on this. Too bad I couldn't work on this full time. 

Hopefully you can find some ideas from my experiment.


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## NIU_Huskies (Feb 24, 2011)

I really like the new Avalon's. Thanks for taking so many pictures. Interesting to see what everything looks like when you get under it.


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## slowsedan01 (May 4, 2008)

Looking at getting a 2014 Avalon myself, this thread is very helpful. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?

1. Does your car have the JBL Green Edge system?

2. What's your plan of attack on replacing the OEM speakers? From what I understand the base stereo and JBL both use 11 locations. Will you be replacing all 11 or just select locations?


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

slowsedan01 said:


> Looking at getting a 2014 Avalon myself, this thread is very helpful. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?
> 
> 1. Does your car have the JBL Green Edge system?


No, it is just the basic non JBL branded version. 



slowsedan01 said:


> 2. What's your plan of attack on replacing the OEM speakers? From what I understand the base stereo and JBL both use 11 locations. Will you be replacing all 11 or just select locations?


My car has 8 locations. 
3" speakers mounted in dash
6-7" speaker mounted in Front door
3" speaker mounted in rear doors
6x9 speaker mounted in rear deck

I plan to replace the dash speakers with the Illusion Audio C3X speakers. I still need to figure out how well they will fit and what type of bracket I will need to build to get them to fit.

I plan to replace the front door speakers with Illusion Audio C6 midbass driver. Although I have looked and you can get a larger speaker in the front doors. Here is a list of possible options from 6.5" to 8" that should fit the depth available in door (May want to double check before buying):
Audison AV6.5
Dynaudio Esotar 650/MW162/MW172
Illusion Audio C6/C8
Hybrid Audio L6SE/L6v2
Audio Frog GB60
JL Audio C5 65
JL Audio ZR 65

(Those are the ones I have looked at before deciding on the Illusion Audio C6. There maybe more options. You have somewhere between 3" and 3-1/4" to be safe. I measured almost 3.4" where the glass comes down. All the speakers above are below the 3.25" mark.)

As of right now, I am not going to use the 3" rear door speakers, but I am thinking about replacing them and then not using any speakers in the rear deck. I am looking at possibly getting another set of Illusion Audio C3X or maybe just a full range 3" speaker to replace the factory. I would like my boys to be able to hear in the back as good as possible without interfering with my listening experience.

Rear deck as of right now is the Illusion audio E69CX. 

In the trunk, I will be using a JL Audio 12W6v3. Box location is still being determined.

I have done some more work on the front passenger door. I will try to post more pics tonight.


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## slowsedan01 (May 4, 2008)

johnbooth3 said:


> No, it is just the basic non JBL branded version.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Can you help me accurately count the speakers? The Limited's have three 3" speakers in the dash (3), one 7" in each front door (2), one 3" and one 7" in each rear door (4), and two deck speakers (2). Total of 11. Perhaps this is only accurate though with the JBL System and the base system doesn't include the center channel and two extra ambient rear speakers. This would equal 8 according to my math.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

slowsedan01 said:


> Can you help me accurately count the speakers? The Limited's have three 3" speakers in the dash (3), one 7" in each front door (2), one 3" and one 7" in each rear door (4), and two deck speakers (2). Total of 11. Perhaps this is only accurate though with the JBL System and the base system doesn't include the center channel and two extra ambient rear speakers. This would equal 8 according to my math.


Yes, that count is correct. I have 2 Dash, 2 Front doors, 2 Rear Door, and 2 rear deck. A total of 8 for the base non-JBL system. The limited seems to add the 2 speakers to the rear door and 1 center dash speaker for a total of 11. I am not that familiar with the limited.

I would keep the center speaker OEM if it is only doing voice commands, prompts, etc and not being used for music playback.

To bad I didn't have the limited as I would have removed the 2 rear deck speakers and put a 2 way 6.5" component set in the rear doors, then used the openings in the rear deck for the subwoofer audio to enter the cab more effortlessly. Which gives me a thought. Maybe I can get the limited rear door panels and see if I can put a 6.5" in the rear door with a tweeter in the stock location. Hmmm.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, so some updates. I got the front passenger door 90% done. All I have left is installing the new speaker and bracket adapter I built and running the speaker wire into the door. Right now I have 12ga Knu Kconcept wire to run. Here are some pics and descriptions of the items I did to the door.


Picture of the opening at top near door handle. The two black cords you see are the door handle and lock cords. I pushed them back to make the correct adapter size. The silver studs you see are the mounts I riveted into place. I did scrap, as much as I could, of the factory butyl that help the OEM plastic shield in place.


Picture of the ABS plastic I build to cover the hole above. I had to do some work to allow the wire harness to be plugged back into the exact spot it was before. I also cut the hole in the middle. Then I heated up the ABS and formed it to allow the door handle/lock cords to move freely in the hole. I then placed weather stripping on the back side and some CCF with a small slit in it to allow the cords to mount through hole. It also helps with water proofing.


I also tried to form the edges to meet with the metal closer.


ABS located in hole. This one worked better than the 2nd one for the larger hole show below.


Test fitting of the large piece of CLD to cover most of the door and allow the wire harness to still be mounted in factory locations and access to any of the bolts if needed in the future.




Some of the CLD mounted:


Pre form fitting of the bottom hole cover. Since I did not verify the exact largest hole size before ordering the ABS, I ordered too small of a size of ABS. You will need to order at least a 16" wide x 10" tall piece. Be safe with a 2'x4' piece. I used CA glue to piece the two pieces together to form the needed size.


I did not get a picture of the cover piece before I installed the CLD. I had to cut a hole into the bottom right. You can see the CLD formed to fit the opening to allow the door panel to fit that space. I used butyl rope to fill in any gaps. I also formed the holes the factory harness comes out on to allow the factory harness to not bind.






Test fitting the MLV. As you noticed I do not cover the entire door panel. Mostly due to how the door panel meets with the door.


I didn't take any pics of the chrome piece removed and tesa tape applied wherever there is connection to the other piece.


Door panel with CLD applied as much as I could find places to put it.


Enlarged pic of the tesa tape in the hole that holds the Nylon panel holders.


Also, I bought the Helix DSP. Non pro version. I didn't need the additional output and the price was right.


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## slpery (Jan 14, 2011)

In my 08 camry, the window switch unit makes an annoying rattle that I struggle to get rid of. Of got all sorts of moulding clay and deadener hanging off of it, but every once in a while the switches rattle. Just keep that in mind.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Watching this build. Keep up the good work!


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

slpery said:


> In my 08 camry, the window switch unit makes an annoying rattle that I struggle to get rid of. Of got all sorts of moulding clay and deadener hanging off of it, but every once in a while the switches rattle. Just keep that in mind.



Thanks slpery. I actually removed the switches as well and placed Tesa tape between them and the hole they sit in. Seemed to help. When I tried to make it rattle it didn't make a sound. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Black Rain (Feb 27, 2011)

Awesome build so far. Definitely sub'd.

I was wondering why place a small 6.5" mid in an 8x10 opening? It seems to me, that you would get more impact from a larger speaker like an actual 7" or 8" midbass. I have seem others doing the same, just seeing what your point on this is?


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Black Rain said:


> Awesome build so far. Definitely sub'd.
> 
> I was wondering why place a small 6.5" mid in an 8x10 opening? It seems to me, that you would get more impact from a larger speaker like an actual 7" or 8" midbass. I have seem others doing the same, just seeing what your point on this is?


That is a good question and one I really don't have a good answer. I initially wanted the Illusion Audio C8-W but allowed myself to be talked into the C6-W. I was able to get these cheaper than MSRP so I went with it. After looking into it more and seeing how much space I actualy have, I have been thinking about changing it but I have spent too much money on this project and I will probably just stick with the C6 until I can get a good deal on a C8 or Hybrid Audio L6SE. I can also get the Dynaudio MW172 in that space. The JL Audio ZR 8" model is too deep. There maybe other possible solutions.

Of all the mentioned speakers above, I have heard the C6 and it sounds good. All the other ones, I have not had the opportunity to hear.


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## stylngle2003 (Nov 2, 2012)

excellent log so far. tuning in to this one. yours looks almost like the same color as mine, but I have an '02 XLS. Either way, nice work so far!


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

stylngle2003 said:


> excellent log so far. tuning in to this one. yours looks almost like the same color as mine, but I have an '02 XLS. Either way, nice work so far!


Thanks, I wish the process was going faster. I have done a few items but I haven't uploaded new pics. Hopefully, I can get this uploaded this weekend. 

Thanks all for the great comments. I am working on the car, it is just going slowly.


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## Black Rain (Feb 27, 2011)

> Originally Posted by johnbooth3
> That is a good question and one I really don't have a good answer. I initially wanted the Illusion Audio C8-W but allowed myself to be talked into the C6-W. I was able to get these cheaper than MSRP so I went with it. After looking into it more and seeing how much space I actualy have, I have been thinking about changing it but I have spent too much money on this project and I will probably just stick with the C6 until I can get a good deal on a C8 or Hybrid Audio L6SE. I can also get the Dynaudio MW172 in that space. The JL Audio ZR 8" model is too deep. There maybe other possible solutions.
> 
> Of all the mentioned speakers above, I have heard the C6 and it sounds good. All the other ones, I have not had the opportunity to hear.


I wouldn't get too discouraged about it. If you feel like you want to upgrade you can always put the C6 For sale and use those funds for the larger midbass. Another option for midbass that you can look at is Scanspeak, SBAcousitcs, or Morel and there are many more brands. The great thing about this hobby and love of music, is that we have so many varieties when it comes to speakers and allows for a lot of experimentation.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

So I did some work a few weekends ago and I am now just able to get the files uploaded. Here are some plastic brackets I made, I may redo them again, for the rear door 3" speaker. I am going to add an Illusion C3CX to the rear door and need to mount the speaker to the plastic mount that mounts the speaker to the door. 

OEM speaker with OEM bracket:









Pre circle cut custom bracket:









Bracket with hole for speaker cut. I used my plunge router with the sacrificial wood. I used lots of template tape to keep it in place. The plunge router and spiral up cut bit worked perfectly.









Custom bracket inside the OEM mount:









Speaker, custom bracket and OEM mount. I will need to do final assembly once I get the wire pulled and ready to install these.

















These are the custom brackets from MDF for the front doors. I used three pieces. One 1/4" MDF to be the same mounting size as the OEM speaker. The next two are 3/4" to mount speaker and 1/4" to make the speaker look flush and get me with .1" of the actual height of the OEM speaker. I did a 6x9 to mimic the exact bracket size so when it sits inside the door it will be very close to the exact size of the opening in the door panel, so I will use weather stripping to get the same affect as the OEM. I will also prime and cover the bracket with trunk liner. I know ABS/HDPE would be better, but I will try this. I also have some plans for behind the speaker to help run water away from the speaker, so with all that in place it should work fine. I may want to upgrade anyways and would then redo them in HDPE/ABS.

























Thanks again for all the great comments. I am getting excited but know I still have a long way to go and I am taking my time so I do it right. I was hoping to be further along by this time but perfection takes time. Dang my personality.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I know, I Know. This build is taking forever. Now baseball season is getting into high gear and I know I will have even less time than I do now to do any work on the car. However, I have finally figured out my sub box. Still working out the details but here is a mock up of the available space on the right side of the trunk.







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Using Sketchup, I was able to determine that I had over 1.3 cu ft of space based on the basic dimensions of the crazy contraptions I built. 







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I kept resizing the info in Sketchup until I got to these dimensions. (I removed the top to show the braces.)


Next step is to take the outside dimensions and rebuild the cardboard box to make sure it actually fits before cutting any wood. 

Sketchup will tell you the volume of a group or component. So I make a group of the inside volume, then for each brace, I took the calculated Sketchup volume and subtracted that from the total volume. I have approx. 1.11 cu ft. Recommended sealed enclosure for the JL Audio 12W6v3 w/ displacement is 1.105. I think I am pretty darn close enough.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Also, I worked on getting the covers for the trunk lid arms back on.
1) I wanted to verify clearance of the cardboard box.
2) I wanted to say I actually got something done.
3) I found them when I was cleaning out my corner of car parts before friends arrived to stay in the bedroom for the weekend.








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## sicride (Oct 26, 2014)

Wow, really nice work and nice equipment. I'm surprised more people aren't chiming in when you post these updates. I guess it's because of the grandpa car. My grandpa car should be getting its install in the next couple weeks. Hopefully I will be able to document and post a thread like yours. Very impressed with the way you are making your box, I know some people will say why didn't you just glass it? But I feel like your way is better. Feels like old school furniture vs new school plastic chairs. Can't really describe it much better. Honestly don't know if quality is better but the concept seems more solid. I'd be tempted to use a wood baffle that you could stain for a polished look.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

Very nice work & top notch equipment. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
Your sub box looks to have a lot of angles. That'll take some time but with all the bracing, it should be rock solid!


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

sicride said:


> Wow, really nice work and nice equipment. I'm surprised more people aren't chiming in when you post these updates. I guess it's because of the grandpa car. My grandpa car should be getting its install in the next couple weeks. Hopefully I will be able to document and post a thread like yours. Very impressed with the way you are making your box, I know some people will say why didn't you just glass it? But I feel like your way is better. Feels like old school furniture vs new school plastic chairs. Can't really describe it much better. Honestly don't know if quality is better but the concept seems more solid. I'd be tempted to use a wood baffle that you could stain for a polished look.


Thanks sicride. I thought about the fiberglass, but really prefer a wooden box. I really don't want to do fiberglass if I can avoid it. I basically removed the OEM beauty panel and took up all the available space. There is a lot of space behind the panels that is not used, so I worked out as much useable space as possible. The stain look may look good. I will be building out of plywood, maybe Baltic Birch if I can find it locally, to keep weight down.



juiceweazel said:


> Very nice work & top notch equipment. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
> Your sub box looks to have a lot of angles. That'll take some time but with all the bracing, it should be rock solid!


Thanks Juiceweazel. Yeah, I basically have two angles. 45 and 30/(60). The 45 is the upper right corner of the image and the 30 is the long sided one. My hope is, it won't be too bad. Just get the blade set correctly before I cut. 

I added the bracing to make sure it was solid and not have to utilize a thicker front baffle at the same time.

Thanks for the compliments. I hope to get the fully mocked up cardboard box done this weekend.


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Any progress on this lately? Thanks for sharing the detailed pics your taking. Looking forward to see how you tap into the factory hu to see if it's an option in my 2015 camry with non jbl nav hu. Camry has the same 3in dash and 7in door & rear deck speakers.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Truthunter said:


> Any progress on this lately? Thanks for sharing the detailed pics your taking. Looking forward to see how you tap into the factory hu to see if it's an option in my 2015 camry with non jbl nav hu. Camry has the same 3in dash and 7in door & rear deck speakers.


Thanks, no real good updates. With both boys playing baseball this year and I was coaching both teams, I was pretty much doing baseball Monday - Sunday from beginning of March to end of May. This past weekend was the most time I spent on the car, which still wasn't a lot. Baseball is almost over, so I will be able to dedicate a few weekends to get this moving along quicker. 

I have rebuilt my door baffles. I ended up getting a pair of Illusion Audio C8W (8") speakers, from another DIYMA member, and rebuilt the baffles to fit the larger driver. I haven't test fitted it yet, but it should fit. Depth is not the issue here, more like the width of the speaker, as it is at least 1/4" wider on each side than the original baffle. I built it up some to help offset the wider size. I just need the time to remove the door card and test fit it. Here are some pictures of the new bracket.



























I will paint it with some trunk liner to help seal out any moisture. Since I did these three times in wood, I would be kicking myself if I did this three times in plastic. That would have been much more expensive. 

I also trimmed down the area where it bolts into the door to better match the thickness of the OEM bracket.









I will try and take pictures of the new C8W speakers in the brackets and test fitted to door. I need to get some threaded inserts to mount speaker to wood. I also have something additional to add to the bracket, but I will surprise everyone with that design inspiration once I know it works out. 

I also did some more investigating on the electrical under the hood. I will need to take some of the engine compartment apart to make sure I know where all the ground wires go as well as power. There are a lot of cables bundled together with a lot of other cables. It's a little crazy.

I have also done some more design work on the subwoofer box. Hoping to have a final drawing and cut sheet ready this weekend. Who knows, maybe I will have enough time to cut the wood, if I can find Baltic birch plywood locally. 

One last item I worked on was how the amps and DSP would be located and wired. I think I have two possibilities. Hopefully I can do a sketchup design of each to see which one would be better suited for what I need. Trying to minimize loss of trunk space.

I am really get excited to get this done, but I am a high "C" (DISC profile) and I tend to double, triple check, and redo items I don't feel meet my satisfaction. At some point, I will say, screw it, and it will get done. 

Thanks for your patience. Still a work in progress. Very Very Very Very Very slow progress!!!!!!


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, I have been working on the sub box for just over a month. I know,"A MONTH?!" I started 4th of July weekend and have been working on it each weekend. Some weekends more than others. I had to redo a few of the pieces due to my attention to detail flaw. Here are some pics of the process.

Picture of the bottom cut and sized to fit the space. As you see I have a notch in the side to allow the car metal to clear and allow me to utilize ever inch of space I can. Note to self, make sure board is level in car before attempting test fit of other pieces. You will have to redo them!!!









Faceplate with sub to verify perfect fit!!!

















I then did a quick test fit of the sub with the braces. I wanted to make sure the middle brace would fit. Unfortunately it did not. I had to do some modifications the next weekend to fit the sub. I did not calculate the dimensions of the speaker terminals correctly. I have a picture with the fix as well.
























The fix with the notch for the terminals to fix through. It should work out great.









Test fitting side piece that needs to be notched out for car metal. This piece I had to redo due to the misstep of not having the base level.









All the pieces pretty much finished and ready to be assembled. I did have to do some trimming of the pieces with bevels on them to better fit.









Test fit with some of the sides and top. Sides are glued, but top is just screwed down to test fit. Perfect fit!









This is a picture of all the sides screwed/nailed/glued to the bottom piece. The braces are just temporarily set in place to verify fit. I used screws on any part that was longer than 3" and not at an angle. I used my new cordless nail gun to do the angles as this seemed work better. I also used nails instead of screws for some of the smaller pieces so not to split the wood as I already did on one piece. I didn't use a long enough pilot hole. The nails seemed to hold just fine. This is my first time using the nail gun and using one to build a box. Seemed to work out just fine.

















This is where I stopped tonight. I was able to work on it for most of today, which was nice to start putting it together. I am hoping I can work on it some tomorrow and hopefully finish it. I have to wait till after my mother-In-laws 70th Birthday party at our house though. Life of a dedicated husband.


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

That is some extravagant DIY bracing!
Do you have a background in carpentry/cabinetry?


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

Truthunter said:


> That is some extravagant DIY bracing!
> Do you have a background in carpentry/cabinetry?


I second this. This is a work of art that's just going to be covered up. Really nice.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Truthunter said:


> That is some extravagant DIY bracing!
> 
> Do you have a background in carpentry/cabinetry?




Thanks, but I don't have a background in carpentry. I just watched a lot of videos and bought a nice Bosch router and Bosch router table. With a good flush trim bit, this was pretty easy. It does take time though. It's nice to see my sketches come to reality almost exactly as I had planned. This box will be the exact required volume for the sub even with the braces. I am getting excited to get this done. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

I can imagine how much time it took to build that work of art :thumbsup:

I'm very interested to see how your going to extract your audio out of the Non JBL Toyota Entune - speaker level or pre-amp level.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Thanks Truthhunter. Since this version doesn't have an amp, it would be straight from the deck so most likely speaker level. I need to do some research/testing to make sure it will work and if I need anything else. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

That's what I thought... speaker level. Does your Avalon have a stock dedicated sub in the center of the rear deck? If not, I believe its the same Non-JBL entune premium audio with navigation that is in my 2015 Camry XLE V6 just different buttons. I am planning on source replacement myself but I did look into utilizing the stock headunit and I believe that no summing is needed as all four speaker level outputs are full range. And if it's the same as mine, there is absolutely no information below 40hz - I verfied this myself with a PAA2 handheld RTA playing pink noise track on Chesky system set-up disc.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Truthunter said:


> That's what I thought... speaker level. Does your Avalon have a stock dedicated sub in the center of the rear deck? If not, I believe its the same Non-JBL entune premium audio with navigation that is in my 2015 Camry XLE V6 just different buttons. I am planning on source replacement myself but I did look into utilizing the stock headunit and I believe that no summing is needed as all four speaker level outputs are full range. And if it's the same as mine, there is absolutely no information below 40hz - I verfied this myself with a PAA2 handheld RTA playing pink noise track on Chesky system set-up disc.


My version of the Avalon doesn't have the sub. It also doesn't have the entune or navigation. That's the downside of this version. I will do some research/testing to make sure the total frequency response as much as I can. I am hoping I get enough low end that I don't have to buy an aftermarket radio and loose some of the functions of the OEM.


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

I know idatalink makes a maestro rr integration unit for the Camry. I have all the same integrations you have in your car and the only function loss is the voice activated command ability (though if you have a compatible smartphone you get some of that back). It should be basically the same for the Avalon as they share a lot of components and I would assume the bus communication is the same but you would have to check on idatalinks website. Just don't know if anyone makes a dash kit for the new Avalons though?


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Thanks. I looked at the iDataLink Maestro RR. It says it integrates the steering wheel but doesn't say anything about car info, so I think on this version, it doesn't allow it. Also, the amount of space the existing unit takes up, an after market unit, just wouldn't look good. There is a mounting kit for it, it just has a lot of open plastic. Maybe a good place to mount a DSP controller. I will see how the OEM works first.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, So I was able to do some small work on the box. Taking 30+ minutes to setup, teardown and clean, only gives me about an hour a night to work on it and some nights none at all. Here are some additional pictures of the sub box build.

I caulk all the interior cracks to make sure there are no leaks. I also added the filler piece to cover the notch in the side.

















I placed all the braces back in, did another double check to make sure sub fit, and it does. I also took some pics of the sub temporarily shown in box. The braces are not screwed down yet. That assembly should be done over the weekend.










































I am hoping to have the final product by EOD Sunday. However, my weekend gets busier with family stuff as the minutes get closer to Saturday.


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## carlr (Feb 27, 2011)

That box is really coming out nicely!


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## dougc (Oct 24, 2009)

Nice work on the sub enclosure with proper material. Very nice!


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

Nice build. That's the car I'm lusting after.


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## j4gates (Jan 1, 2016)

Very nice work. Always love seeing accurate cuts with angles.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Ok, So the box is done. Need to do some small clean up but it is done. Finally. This is by far the best box I have built. I have only built 6-8 sub boxes over my life time, but this is by far the most complicated and yet best tolerance box I have ever built. I am usually way off on something and have to use a lot of sanding/caulking to make it fit. Not this box. I took my time, studied others success, bought quality tools, and the results speak for itself.

Braces in place, glued/nailed/screwed together and placed inside box.


















Box with front placed on it:

















Box Finished:

























































Moment of truth. Does it fit in its finished form? YES!!!

































I hope to start working on amp racks next. Maybe I will get them done before the end of the month, then move onto wiring which will take some time. I may end up taking a Thursday/Friday off to work a four day weekend to take the car apart, pull the wire, finalize the sound proofing and put back together. I see the light, although it is still very small. Enjoy

Edited: Fixed Picture links. Had issue last night with PhotoBucket, so hopefully this fixes it.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

Photos aren't showing up?


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Try it now. I had an issue with PhotoBucket last night not loading pictures, so I went another route but it seems that didn't work. PhotoBucket seems to be working now, so let me know if it doesn't work.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

Photos are coming up now, thanks. This box build is pretty awesome. Where most would have just done glass, you took wood work to a whole new level. Great work! I'm looking forward to hearing your first listening impressions.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

juiceweazel said:


> Photos are coming up now, thanks. This box build is pretty awesome. Where most would have just done glass, you took wood work to a whole new level. Great work! I'm looking forward to hearing your first listening impressions.




Thanks. I don't like fiberglass boxes as you can't guarantee box size. This provided me the exact box size. I'm glad it looks exactly how I imagined it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## adrianp89 (Oct 14, 2007)

Awesome work on the box!


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## cmusic (Nov 16, 2006)

I recently bought a Z150.6LX and I am highly interested in how this build goes. It might be a while before I get mine installed since I probably will wait till I get a new vehicle in 6-18 months before I install it.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

the727kid said:


> Awesome work on the box!


Thanks, Getting this box done has given me some inspiration to get this done. I still have a lot of work to do but I feel the juices flowing again. I was super excited last year about this time when I started the planning, buying phase. It tailed off some as family life took over most of my time. Coaching my boys teams takes a lot of time, but I wouldn't miss it for anything else, including this hobby. 



cmusic said:


> I recently bought a Z150.6LX and I am highly interested in how this build goes. It might be a while before I get mine installed since I probably will wait till I get a new vehicle in 6-18 months before I install it.


It maybe another 6 months at this pace, but I am hoping it till be sooner. I'll have some time in the next few months to work on it in the evenings, and some weekends. If I can get it to a place where I can work on stuff without making alot of noise, that will allow me to be more productive. I can't wait to get the Z150.6LX hooked up.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

the727kid said:


> Awesome work on the box!


That's what she said (sorry couldn't resist)


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

Any other updates on this?


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

juiceweazel said:


> Any other updates on this?


I so wish I had an update. As you will notice with the delay in this post. 

I have figured out how my amps will fit in the trunk. I just need to do it and get this done or at least to a point I can make sound. 

Dad, Husband, Family, and Work life have certainly put this on hold. In the process, I have found another passion I love. Coaching!! Although I don't get to work on this car and get the stereo system I will love to listen to for years, I have found coaching my two son's sports teams baseball and soccer has been more than rewarding. With Baseball winding down and a few months before Soccer starts, I maybe have a little time to work on the car. Hopefully get the amp rack built and installed and then on to wiring.

With all these delays, I may change out my DSP to something else as the newer models are looking very intriguing. 

Thanks for checking up.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Wow, its been 5 years since I started this thread. I can't believe it has been so long. 

So there is Small update. With the COVID-19 situation, I have been doing some work on my car. I have started some adapters for the Illusion Audio C3CX in the dash and in the rear doors. The rear doors adapter is a challenge. I am on my fourth try, which has been the most challenging but fun to figure out. Below are some pictures of my adapters and thought process. I still need to convert my MDF adapters for the rear doors to ABS or Acrylic once I am 100% confident the adapter works.

Existing OEM Dash Speaker (Drivers Side):










Dash OEM Speaker (Passenger Side):









So my first run thru on this adapter was to copy the speaker and bracket onto 1/4" MDF. Then I cut out a circle that is the same size as the Illusion Audio C3CX. Then taped them to gather to create this template bracket out of MDF. 

The C3CX is about 3.5" (3" Surround to Surround) total diameter of driver. The OEM is about 3" (2.5" Surround to Surround) total.
Passenger side pictured below. Area around adapter is different on both sides but this template did fit both sides










Picture shows C3CX tested fitted with bracket in dash (Drivers Side). Notice it barely fits the dash cutout. 









Now that I have this. I did not like seeing all the open space around the adapter and the dash. So I started to work on expanding this adapter. That took longer than anticipated but was worth the work. I first created a template out of tape, traced it on a piece of cardboard, got it to fit the area better, then traced that onto a piece of MDF and using curve templates and other items to create the final shape. 

Passenger side cardboard template:









I did not get a picture of the MDF templates separately, but here is the driver's side with the speaker test fitted. There is a small gap around the top of the speaker. I will most likely had butyl rope or something else to help seal up that area so the back wave and front wave can be seperated as good as I can get it.









Passengers side test fitted.









ABS Brackets using the MDF as a template. (Drivers Side)










Passenger Side (ABS bracket):









ABS Dash brackets without the speakers and tapped for screws









I did do a quick fitment test with the dash back in place, and it looks like we have enough room clearance.

Note: These speakers use a #4 sized screw hole. It took me some time to find a #4-40 tap and then some screws to fit. Speakers are not installed yet, but this is getting me closer


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

Here is some pictures of the A-Pillar with some Sound Skins CLD added. I added the Sound Skins to the trunk floor due to the existing CLD getting a little messy when weight was added on top of them in very hot weather. This helped provide a floor with some padding so when I add some additional items it won't just rest on the metal of the floor. I will try and take a picture of the trunk floor. 



















Dash Cover. Speaker grills are on each end.









So here is the rear door with the bracket shown on door with the OEM speaker not installed. The OEM speaker mounts to the bracket then to the door card. This uses the same speaker as the dash. 










This area isn't fully level and the bracket isn't either. This made making a bracket a lot of work. 
My first few attempts I tried was using a template that I created by tracing the OEM bracket. That just wasn't going very well. One of the reasons is who the speaker grill is in the door. It mounts right where there is a slop in the door so adding holes in that area was not possible 

As you will notice in the picture below, the opening in the door card for the speaker is offset from the hole of the 90% complete bracket. I had to shift the speaker to fit in the door. I will drill out additional holes for additional area for audio to penetrate and not cause any reflections inside the door.

Below is a temporary design I created using 4 pieces of 1/4" MDF. Sort of a stack layer approach. I still need to verify how the speaker mounts without rubbing the door card. Once I am complete with this, I will transfer to ABS or Acrylic. Prefer acrylic if I can find some locally. I will also add some additional pictures of each layer.










Some items to note, I added additional area in the top of the photo to give me more service area for rigidity and a good point of reference for each layer to stack on top of each other. This area in the door card is flat and makes a good starting point for each layer. I may add screws once a final product is put together to keep the pieces together once assembled. I like this design the most as my previous three sucked.

On the dash cover, I enlarged the opening for the larger speaker by drilling a lot of 3/32" holes in the dash at each detent area that matched the speaker holes. 3/32" drill bits were a pain to find. This took me a long time to complete.



















Hopefully more updates coming in the near future.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

I will get this finished before the end of the year. Subwoofer test mounted in car before I stain and prep box to fit.



















I put a hole in the box so I can bolt the box down to the wood that is bolted to the frame.




































I created a platform to mount the sub to the car from the bottom as well. 










Platform painted and some SoundSkins CLD added.


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## jpkjr58 (Feb 26, 2021)

Hey John, I just found this thread, nice work! Your thread will make my diy life a lot easier.
I just purchased a 2014 Avalon non JBL with navigation. As soon as the weather gets warmer I will begin my full audio system replacement and sound deadening. My questions are, did you run all new speaker wire or did you tie into the factory speaker wire? The L&R&C dash speakers and the rear door L&R speakers are powered by the factory head unit. Were you able to figure out what harness connector going to the factory head unit ran to the dash and rear door speakers? There’re conflicting thus confusing threads about what powers these speakers. I unplugged the under the drivers seat factory amp speaker connector and the dash and rear door speakers still worked, the front door and rear deck woofers stopped working. Hopefully you found the time to finish your install.


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## johnbooth3 (Feb 26, 2008)

jpkjr58 said:


> Hey John, I just found this thread, nice work! Your thread will make my diy life a lot easier.
> I just purchased a 2014 Avalon non JBL with navigation. As soon as the weather gets warmer I will begin my full audio system replacement and sound deadening. My questions are, did you run all new speaker wire or did you tie into the factory speaker wire? The L&R&C dash speakers and the rear door L&R speakers are powered by the factory head unit. Were you able to figure out what harness connector going to the factory head unit ran to the dash and rear door speakers? There’re conflicting thus confusing threads about what powers these speakers. I unplugged the under the drivers seat factory amp speaker connector and the dash and rear door speakers still worked, the front door and rear deck woofers stopped working. Hopefully you found the time to finish your install.


Sorry for the long delay in my response. Glad to hear this will be helpful. I am planning on running new speaker wires to the doors and dash. Hopefully, next weekend so I can finish the install. The rear doors will be the hardest as I need to run 2 speaker lines thru the existing door boot. I may use the existing speaker wire if I feel I can't get wire into the door. The front doors maybe the hardest. I haven't looked at those yet. 

All the speakers in my car are ran off the headunit. There is no external amplifier. I have the lowest cost audio system. So I won't be very helpful on this side. The iDatalink TOY2 harness seams to work fine for my setup. 

Be aware that adding an aftermarket headunit will be very difficult as the documentation isn't correct. I test fitted mine last weekend. I have to find a way to let the radio know I am in reverse as there is no wiring behind the existing radio to allow this function. I found some info that I need to verify that the signal can be picked up at the kick panel. Also the rear backup camera harness isn't documented well either. I had to get a different harness from PAC to tie into that. Still don't have that working. If I don't get to it this weekend, it will be next weekend.


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## Keevanfk (10 mo ago)

Hey John, this is an incredible journey to follow, thank you for keeping us updated!

I just recently decided to tear my 2015 Avalon apart for sound deadening, then I plan to make an enclosure seperating the trunk from the cabin with a front firing 12”.

I have the factory Premium audio and don’t intend on swapping any speakers, but both front doors and the rear speakers create a lot of rattling parts. I have figured out the front doors for the most part, but am having trouble with the rear. Have you had any of these rattles, and have you fixed them?


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