I give in. I'll get a head unit. Wanna help?

I asked that exact question at one of the shops today, if it would be worth getting a more powerful amp to make sure it was always running on less than full power in the interest of cooling and longevity. They looked at me like I was nuts.

If you think the Dayton is the way to go I will take a look at it. Best place to get a box? I am a woodworker but not sure if I can quite get exact enough to meet these needs.
If you are a wood worker, definitely build your own box lol. @shredder2 can hook you up with a design thats easy to follow.   The dayton is best bet for sound quality under 300$ range.    if you want loud boom spl, it'll be another woofer. 

Definitely avoid those shops. they sound like they have no idea about anything car audio other than selling to you and making a profit.

 
If you are a wood worker, definitely build your own box lol. @shredder2 can hook you up with a design thats easy to follow.   The dayton is best bet for sound quality under 300$ range.    if you want loud boom spl, it'll be another woofer. 

Definitely avoid those shops. they sound like they have no idea about anything car audio other than selling to you and making a profit.
I think you sold me. More power than I need but that is a good thing really.

Is there a need to have a shop hook this all up for me? I am a DIY guy but have been so overwhelmed with research I never even thought about it. 

How hard is getting steering wheel controls and such to play nice? Worth the 120 they wanna charge me for the HU install?

 
I think you sold me. More power than I need but that is a good thing really.

Is there a need to have a shop hook this all up for me? I am a DIY guy but have been so overwhelmed with research I never even thought about it. 

How hard is getting steering wheel controls and such to play nice? Worth the 120 they wanna charge me for the HU install?
If you buy the head unit on crutchfield or sonicelectronix they include the dash kit, wiring harness and the steering wheel adapter for a discount.  The steering wheel adapter is easy to figure out and  you can always call their customer support team to walk you through the installation.  Your amps and wiring are all a lot easier than you expect.  For wiring i'd actually recommend running underneath the car if your corolla doesnt have a convenient fire wall location.  You dont really need a shop to do any of this plus you know exactly whats been done vs a possible shoddy install where they might cut corners especially if they cut the stock harness which is an absolute nightmare.

 
If you buy the head unit on crutchfield or sonicelectronix they include the dash kit, wiring harness and the steering wheel adapter for a discount.  The steering wheel adapter is easy to figure out and  you can always call their customer support team to walk you through the installation.  Your amps and wiring are all a lot easier than you expect.  For wiring i'd actually recommend running underneath the car if your corolla doesnt have a convenient fire wall location.  You dont really need a shop to do any of this plus you know exactly whats been done vs a possible shoddy install where they might cut corners especially if they cut the stock harness which is an absolute nightmare.
Guess I gotta put my big boy pants on and figure this out! I appreciate all your help. I'm sure I have been a pain!

 
Bought the HU and goodies to go with it. I am going to try my hand at installing it myself. It has been years since I have done any soldering so I chickened out and got the harness service Crutchfield offers. It was 25 bucks and it would cost me more than that to get a decent iron. Heres what I bought. Once it comes in I will start a thread in the install and wiring section if y'all wanna follow along while I fumble around.

Screenshot_2019-04-16-17-24-01.png

 
If you buy the head unit on crutchfield or sonicelectronix they include the dash kit, wiring harness and the steering wheel adapter for a discount.  The steering wheel adapter is easy to figure out and  you can always call their customer support team to walk you through the installation.  Your amps and wiring are all a lot easier than you expect.  For wiring i'd actually recommend running underneath the car if your corolla doesnt have a convenient fire wall location.  You dont really need a shop to do any of this plus you know exactly whats been done vs a possible shoddy install where they might cut corners especially if they cut the stock harness which is an absolute nightmare.
Didn't wanna start a new thread for a simple question here:

When looking at amps for the car speakers, how many channels do I need? One per speaker? My Rolla has 2 door, 2 back, and 2 tweets in the A post. I see a lot of people recommending a 4 channel amp. Are the tweets driven by the same channel as the woofers in the door?

 
If you run component sets the tweeters and mids will be ran off the front two channels. The passive crossovers connects the mid and tweeter.

If you run active crossovers you will have tweeters on channel 1 and 2 and the mids on channel 3 and 4.  This is the better option.  Rear speakers are pretty pointless. If you must have rear speakers just run them off the headunit amp.

 
If you run component sets the tweeters and mids will be ran off the front two channels. The passive crossovers connects the mid and tweeter.

If you run active crossovers you will have tweeters on channel 1 and 2 and the mids on channel 3 and 4.  This is the better option.  Rear speakers are pretty pointless. If you must have rear speakers just run them off the headunit amp.
I certainly like the sound I get with my rear speakers but that is with a completely stock setup. I am installing a new HU tomorrow but am keeping the stock speakers for a bit. It is nice to know I can just get a 4 channel amp and have good results because 6 channel is a huge jump in price.

 
I certainly like the sound I get with my rear speakers but that is with a completely stock setup. I am installing a new HU tomorrow but am keeping the stock speakers for a bit. It is nice to know I can just get a 4 channel amp and have good results because 6 channel is a huge jump in price.
The goal is to make it sound like the concert/music is coming from in front of you, not behind you. Rear speakers can complicate that, even though it doesn't seem like you're going full SQ.

Regarding some previous comments of yours I read.. you can outsource just the headunit install to the shop if it's an excessively complicated vehicle and radio wiring harness. Considering the fact that you're a woodworker though, you can easily build the box yourself and run some wires if you simply take your time and think about where to run the wires so they're not torn up due to a brute force method of doing it 

You'll benefit from getting a 9 wire conductor and using it to relocate the speaker wires from behind the headunit to the amps location

 
The goal is to make it sound like the concert/music is coming from in front of you, not behind you. Rear speakers can complicate that, even though it doesn't seem like you're going full SQ.

Regarding some previous comments of yours I read.. you can outsource just the headunit install to the shop if it's an excessively complicated vehicle and radio wiring harness. Considering the fact that you're a woodworker though, you can easily build the box yourself and run some wires if you simply take your time and think about where to run the wires so they're not torn up due to a brute force method of doing it 

You'll benefit from getting a 9 wire conductor and using it to relocate the speaker wires from behind the headunit to the amps location
Thanks for the info. I am gonna try ny hand at the HU install tomorrow. I got the Maestro so it looks like it is basically plug and play after a quick PC set up of the unit. We will see. I'll post my progress here whether yall are interested or not lol

 
Tuned-in...

:popcorn:

Good luck

I love to see people actually make the effort... it's refreshing
They're either afraid, don't wanna take the chance of perhaps messing up or don't have time, or don't have the right tools.

Either case, OP....the more you get your hands on, the better you'll know. Sometimes in life we just have to take chances, weather its a good or fail. Basic HU install is one of the easiest things to do in car audio. If you get to a stuck point, let us know, post up a pic and a brief description.

 
Tuned-in...

:popcorn:

Good luck

I love to see people actually make the effort... it's refreshing


They're either afraid, don't wanna take the chance of perhaps messing up or don't have time, or don't have the right tools.

Either case, OP....the more you get your hands on, the better you'll know. Sometimes in life we just have to take chances, weather its a good or fail. Basic HU install is one of the easiest things to do in car audio. If you get to a stuck point, let us know, post up a pic and a brief description.
Thanks yall. I am a tinkerer and love learning new things. Unfortunately this car audio stuff is exactly the type of rabbit hole I love.

I built guitars for a bit and I thought THAT was a money pit.

 
Alright. Got her taken apart and the obvious connects made. I am incorperating the Meastro idatalink here. I have two connections that don't seem to belong anywhere in the new system. Any Idea what the far left and far right connections are?

0420191219.jpg

 
Alright. Got her taken apart and the obvious connects made. I am incorperating the Meastro idatalink here. I have two connections that don't seem to belong anywhere in the new system. Any Idea what the far left and far right connections are?

View attachment 5041
Don't mind me. I'm dumb. I figured it out. They are for the hazard button and the airbag lights lol! Took me 2 hours to figure that out.

 
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