I'm looking to get a 2005 Toyota Highlander from a friend. Mechanically it's in excellent condition. But the sound system needs work.
It has the stock system, non JBL.
I'm thinking of upgrading the head unit and adding a subwoofer with an amp to start. The units I'm looking at are Alpine or Pioneer and put out 14-18 Watts RMS x 4.
Any recommendations? I have no experience doing car audio - is this something a novice can do or is it better to leave it to the pros? I say that you have to run a wire from the car battery to the amp that looks complicated.
Is it better to go all the way and replace all the speakers at the same time? Rather than just head unit and adding a sub?
I'd like to put a sub in a custom enclosure in the back to preserve cargo space. Here is a picture of how I'd like it to look:
Any tips would be appreciated.
It has the stock system, non JBL.
I'm thinking of upgrading the head unit and adding a subwoofer with an amp to start. The units I'm looking at are Alpine or Pioneer and put out 14-18 Watts RMS x 4.
Any recommendations? I have no experience doing car audio - is this something a novice can do or is it better to leave it to the pros? I say that you have to run a wire from the car battery to the amp that looks complicated.
Is it better to go all the way and replace all the speakers at the same time? Rather than just head unit and adding a sub?
I'd like to put a sub in a custom enclosure in the back to preserve cargo space. Here is a picture of how I'd like it to look:
Any tips would be appreciated.
I did this once on my camaro which required me to take out all my seats, some of the dashboard panels, door panels, lift up the carpeting, etc... It wasn't fun but what I did do is replace everything. I even reran new 12 gauge speaker cable all throughout the car which isn't easy with seperates when the crossovers are located in the trunk. I would say leave it to the pros as it seems like you're not totally understanding what needs to get done. In a lot of these new or newer cars the radio also controls other parts such as climate control which makes it nearly impossible to replace the radio and adds to the complication/expense of adding aftermarket equipment just to get an amplifier installed and working. I'm not familiar with the vehicle that you're looking at but considering it's a 2005 I'd say that it's highly likely that the radio is integrated into the car.
Im not really experianced with doing easy builds in car audio (deck + subs) cause it always becomes a full FULL system rework at 5x the budget i originally planned. 
