GX470 Speakers and Amp Install

[@shaunlanier2215]

Thank you for taking the time to run through the process. While I am "mechanically inclined" I do like to see the buts and bolts of things. I appreciate you bro!

[@fastcarseats5317]

Thanks so much for this feedback! I’m glad you found the video helpful.

[@thatone3116]

from one gx'er to another - great job man!

[@fastcarseats5317]

Thanks! What year GX do you have? And how do you like it?

[@Shalmaneser1]

It's great watching someone ELSE fly by the seat of their pants. I did the driver's seat cover; 1st time working with upholstery... It turned out REALLY well. Sources matter for fit & finish. The only thing you left out that I'd like to see is the mods you did with making speakers fit. Why, you ask? I'm considering doing the Focal Performance 165AS3 upgrade for my '07 ML system. The amp ought to be up to it. Stress is cutting/removing expensive or hard to find stuff to make other stuff fit. Despite your difficulties with battery life, you have a good setup and lots of talent for staging your photography. (A bit of zoom would help) I just leave things plugged in if battery life is an issue. There are aftermarket USB battery packs. Worth the expense.

[@fastcarseats5317]

Thanks for the feedback! And you’re right- I’m a total amateur at this and figuring it out on the fly. So I’m glad people watching are enjoying and learning! I also think I benefited from not having the ML system. I really didn’t have to customize the speakers to fit properly that much- just a little bit with the tweeters.

[@Shalmaneser1]

​@@fastcarseats5317 ML is a whole different sort of pain to upgrade.

[@BC_Explores]

Welcome to the gx club

[@ericviger4984]

So I got an 04 GX with the Nav and Mark Levinson system. This is a really well put together video. I'm looking to ditch the ML amp and the speakers on the front doors. They rattle like crazy now.

[@fastcarseats5317]

Thank you! That feedback means a lot to me. I hope this video is helpful. Feel free to message me if you have any questions I can help you with. [e-mail]

[@ericviger4984]

@@fastcarseats5317 some of it very helpful such as the routing of the wires an such. Being where I have the ML system things actually are vastly different. The ML system runs through the vehicle communication bus enabling the dynamics based on vehicle speed and blah blah blah. Changing out the ML is possible but much more difficult. I'll probably be taking the route of replacing the tape player with an aftermarket single din with one of those kits to retain the climate control and stuff. We'll see how it goes haha.

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@ericviger4984 yeah the integrated ML system makes things much trickier! Good luck!

[@kihoon1226]

Awesome video! Would you mind sharing the parts list and diagram if possible? Also does steering controls still work?

[@fastcarseats5317]

Thanks! Glad you liked it. So here's an overview of the parts I used. The steering wheel controls still work because I got the adaptor. Steering wheel controls: Metra 70-8114 Steering Wheel Control Harness Axxess ASWC-1 Steering Wheel Control Adapter Dash Kit: Metra 95-8166G Dash Kit (Gray) Front Speakers: Focal Performance 165AS3 Metra 82-8147 Speaker Mounting Brackets Rear Speakers: Focal RCX-165 Metra 82-8148 Speaker Mounting Brackets Amp: JL Audio RD400/4 I also bought an amp installation kit from Autozone. I think it was this one : www.autozone.com/stereo-speakers-and-audio/amp-wiring-kit/p/metra-electronics-1500-watt-amp-kit/208272_0_0 I also bought the speaker wire from Autozone. I ordered all the parts from Crutchfield. When you do that, they send an installation guide that's pretty helpful. I'd say between that and this video, you should be good to go! Let me know if you end up taking this on and I'm happy to address any questions that come up. Good luck!

[@humanitycantascendwithoutm9160]

Hey did you do any sound dampening when installing your new speakers?

[@user-pq3vu8jl2z]

Armin van buuren is the man! About to do the same work to my GX, and what was the reason you didn’t go 6x9 in the front?

[@fastcarseats5317]

I just used the crutchfield “what fits my car” tool and went with those sizes. Worked well for me, especially since I haven’t done a lot of audio system work previously.

[@skylerlee4393]

The focal 3 way components fit in the factory locations? I was considering the 3 way system but was unsure if the 3.5in mid louder speaker would fit in the factory location.

[@fastcarseats5317]

Yes- with a little modification. As long as you’re comfortable putting a new home in the speaker bracket. I also had to cut back a little plastic on back of the tweeter grille. But after those slight modifications everything fit great!

[@skylerlee4393]

Thanks!

[@raphaelness1239]

Another question is what did you use to refasten the padding with on door panel. Pretty sure I saw you pull it back when changing the midrange speaker? Let me know soon if you can as I'm at that step right now :) Im thinking to use either velcro or hot glue

[@raphaelness1239]

Did you by chance modify or cut back the lip on the door panel that is in the shape of the 6 by 9? It's a very thin plastic that's kind of sharp and it seemed like it made contact with the original bracket on the plastic part but while installing my new infinity speakers it almost seems like the whole speaker enters that casing and it stopped by the lip twitch presses on the foam surround at the base. Let me know I'm on the fence about what to do I guess I should cut it back for safety. Also did you not add a gasket to the back of the Metro amount that makes contact with the door? I installed my first one passenger side without it but then I realize there actually is a gasket on the original and it did seem like I was getting some rattle without it. That said I will probably go back and take the speaker out and add it so it's not plastic directly on metal door.

[@fastcarseats5317]

I just used double sided tape and silicon adhesive.

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@raphaelness1239 no I didn’t cut that back. I would double check that you’re putting the bracket in correctly and have the right one. I didn’t have to do any cutting on the 6x9s

[@raphaelness1239]

@@fastcarseats5317 I think the issue is that the stock speaker is smaller than the new Infinitys. And plastic cover lip actually made contact with foam on the stock bracket plastic.. not the actual speaker which is what I have going on. I can see the imprint in the stock speaker casing foam. That same spot on new speaker hits the rubber surround. The stocks actually measure 8.5" wide and new ones are 9" or 9 1/8th. I'm glad I noticed this before jamming the door panel back on because it probably would have seemed fine but in reality the rubber surround would be slightly compromised. Did you actually replace with 6x9s? It appears that you have a round speaker in there? Would love to be able to chat with you for a moment tomorrow. How can we get in contact without posting email?

[@TonyAlvestad]

What gauge speaker wire did you use for the door speakers? I'm doing the same install soon and I'm wondering if the roll of 16 gauge I have will be sufficient. Thanks

[@fastcarseats5317]

I think I used 14 gauge. It was a roll of speaker wire I bought from doing my home audio install.

[@BradleyJokerst]

I’m doing the same thing on my non-nav non-ML system. I tried tapping a 9 wire speaker cable into the aftermarket head unit harness but the OEM harness still wants to use the factory amp causing my new JBL amp to clip and sound like crap. Tried simply unplugging the factory amp and it just cut all the audio. So it looks like the only way to bypass the factory amp is to run all new speaker wire to the aftermarket amp. What a headache.

[@fastcarseats5317]

Oh man! Are you powering your aftermarket amp from the head unit? Maybe that’s the problem. You shouldn’t be able to power both your factory amp and an aftermarket amp from the same harness. Honestly, I know running new wire sounds like a pain, but the thicker speaker wire makes a huge difference in the sound quality.

[@BradleyJokerst]

@@fastcarseats5317 I’m powering the aftermarket amp from my battery. Something is going on that I can’t figure out. I don’t know if it’s with the Metra harness or what. I tapped my new speaker wire into the metra harness that goes to the truck. The factory harness obviously runs to the factory amp. But when I unplugged the factory amp, it killed the sound. Now I’m getting nothing. Taking the door panels off was easier than I thought. So probably better that I just run my speakers straight into the new amp. What gauge wire did you use for your speakers?

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@BradleyJokerst 16 GA if I remember right.

[@raphaelness1239]

Have you by chance changed the rear subwoofer out in stock gx? I watched some other videos with Mark Levinson and using the Skar sub but really don't want to have to cut the speaker. Wondering if by chance there's a plug and play option for stock 470 and how the stock differs from the ML system in the subwoofer and box? Do yo know? Hoping that there maybe an easier swap for stock and also wondering if it's exactly the same as ML

[@fastcarseats5317]

Sorry man- I haven’t done that.

[@raphaelness1239]

@@fastcarseats5317 so do you still have stock rear sub connected after upgrading fronts? If so, can you notice it or do fronts dominate the sound to some extent?

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@raphaelness1239 I don’t. When I put in the new amp, I didn’t connect it to the sub. With the upgraded amp, speaker wire, and speakers, I get good enough low end that I don’t really notice not having the sub connected.

[@andrewcastro2522]

Did you re wire every speaker to the amp or did you tap into the factory harness that led to the factory amp ?

[@fastcarseats5317]

Good question. I wired each speaker directly to the amp. I didn’t use anything from the factory setup.

[@andrewcastro2522]

@@fastcarseats5317 how hard was it to get the wires from the rear speakers to the front ? I used the existing wires from the factory harness i cut and spliced them into the new amp . Do you see a problem with going that route ?

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@andrewcastro2522 it wasn’t hard at all. I ran the amp under the driver’s seat and there’s a pretty clear path to run the wires from the rear speakers, down the B pillars and under the driver and passenger seats to the amp location.

[@andrewcastro2522]

Becuase I’m having the most annoying static / scratchy sounds and i can’t figure it out lol all my speakers are new . Ive tried another amp and even bought a second double din . Lol all grounds are clean . I’m lost it sounds great when its loud

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@andrewcastro2522 And you said you're using the existing wires? I wonder if those speaker wires are running too close to the new amp power wire? Sometimes that can cause interference. Or it could just be that the factory speaker wire, which is significantly thinner than 12 or 14-gauge speaker wire, is not strong enough for the signal you're sending through the new amp.

[@raphaelness1239]

Do you know if I can unplug the factory subwoofer from the stock amp to make it not play? I'm thinking once I upgrade my door speakers then I may wait to replace sub and hoping there's a way to turn it off without physically unplugging it from the actual woofer. Let me know. Thanks

[@fastcarseats5317]

I think that would be tricky because all the speaker wires get gathered into a harness and the harness plugs into the amp. So I don’t know if you can unplug the sun from the amp without also unplugging the other speakers. At least not without cutting wires.

[@raphaelness1239]

@@fastcarseats5317 yeah I thought that's how it would be. Do you still have the original head unit or did you install a new one? I really would like to find the easiest way to get either a male or female 1/8 inch aux. Can it be achieved without getting new head unit?

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@raphaelness1239 I got a new head unit. The old one is quite limited. I don’t know if you can add aux to it.

[@broken8wt407]

Good god, mark levinson knows how to complicate a cars audio.

[@fastcarseats5317]

My car doesn’t have the ML system, but it was still a pain to work with. That’s why I ended up just bypassing all of it and putting in all new components and wiring. Sounds 10000 times better now too.

[@raphaelness1239]

@@fastcarseats5317 hey buddy, Hoping you can steer me in right direction for easiest plug ang play speaker upgrade to stock GX? Maybe you have become aware of after this video?

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@raphaelness1239 sure thing- if you’re looking to upgrade speakers, I’ve seen lots of people is Skar Audio speakers. It will depend on if you have the ML system or not, but I think they have solutions for both.

[@raphaelness1239]

@@fastcarseats5317 ok. I don't have ML and not to skilled in the field so just want to be able to swap out speakers as conveniently and economical as possible so I can listen to music without flubbing speakers. Are the fronts bottom 6x9 in both ML and stock?

[@fastcarseats5317]

@@raphaelness1239 I totally get it. Honestly I felt quite intimidated the first time I did a speaker upgrade in my car too. I’d recommend starting at crutchfield.com. They have a tool where you can put in your vehicle’s details (year, make, model, spec) and it will tell you which speakers will fit into the existing speaker locations. The fronts are 3 speakers per door. You have a sub, mid, and tweeter. From what I remember, the hardest part was finding aftermarket speakers that would fit the tweeter location without any modifications. I had to modify the tweeter bracket on my installation. If you’re new to this, I’d recommend against making any permanent modifications, so try to find the right size tweeter. Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any other questions you have- I love hearing back from people who have watched my videos.

[@kevinc9416]

Anyone have a amp wire diagram for replacing the stock amp with aftermarket? I am running factory head unit. With kappa components front and rear. I need a sub out amp going to the bazooka. 75 watts only going to sub from factory amp. It sucks.

[@fastcarseats5317]

Hi Kevin, I don’t have a wire diagram, but I’d recommend running new wires. The stock speaker wires are pretty thin- you’ll get better sound quality by running new wires. And it will allow you to run them through the areas of the car that make the most sense for your setup.