1999 Camry LE stereo sound imbalance (problem!) for me, the audiophile

[gammasphere]

Hi,

I recently bought a used 1999 Camry LE, and it is great, but it has a few quirks. One of them is that the stereo sounds GREAT...from the right side, that is...THE LEFT SPEAKERS ARE QUIETER AND NOT AS CLEAR SOUNDING. The left speakers are more muffled for some reason, and I don't know why. I am not very knowledgeable about the inner electronics of a car, but I do know that it is probably a signal degradation problem. Don't you think? I mean, it's probably not the speakers, right? Do you think it might be the car stereo or amplifier (does the CAMRY LE even come with an amp?). Or do you think it is the cables? Please give me some guidance, becuse it is driving me insane!!

-Nick

[ice745]

Camry LEs have an amp as an optionaly package. The standard is just powered by the factory head-unit. This may be a dumb suggestion but have you checked the balance? Each speaker has its own circuit in the amp (whether it be external or head-unit powered). If both left speakers are muddy it is possible that at one time the balance was to the left and someone turned up the system too loud and damaged the voice coils (the part of the speaker that drives it). I doubt that the right side could be newer because you always replace speakers in pairs by location (front, rear, dash(if available)). As for the signal degradation problem, it is also possible. If you are confident enough to remove the head-unit and test each speakers wiring with an ohm-meter and make sure each speaker is within an ohm of each other. For factory speakers it should either be 4 or 8 ohms, I don't know off the top of my head. The actual ohm reading isn't too important just that all 4 speakers have the same reading. For optimum performance with stock equipment it should generally be between 3 and 8. If you are not confident with trying this, you can adjust the balance and fade (similar to balance but instead of left to right, it adjusts front to rear) to compensate for the problem. Do you know if the speakers and head-unit are still stock? If so, as an audiophile, you may want to get after-market installed. The installers will be able to tell you if the wiring is good. If you plan on getting aftermarket equipment, let me know I can recommend some stuff that would sound really good for whatever your price range is, and what you want out of it. Car stereo is really my thing along with electrical, I'm not too into the mechanical part. I hope this helps you solve your problem, or at least to figure out what it is.

[ice745]

I must make a correction to my previous post. I just checked my old stock speakers for my '94 Camry. They may be a little bit different, but my front speakers were 4 ohm, and rear speakers were 6 ohm. In this case just make sure both front left and right are the same, and that both rear left and right are the same. The stock speakers for me were only 15 watt, which is about 1/4 of what most after-market are capable of.

[gammasphere]

Thanks for the quick response,

I am fairly sure that my Camry has the amp-option installed. I assume this because I usually put the bass setting at -4 because it is TOO loud, and the volume is never set beyond the half-way mark. Anyway, I know that my muddiness problem is either a signal problem or a connection problem or a speaker voice coil problem as you recognized. When I find the time, I will take out the head unit and test the wiring (do you know of any good directions on how to remove the camry's head unit correctly WITH the intention of putting it back correctly WITHOUT damaging anything?).

Just as a curiosity, what would you recommend for a head unit with a price range of up to $300? I don't need a lot of base, but I want absolute clarity and absolute balance (similar to the clarity and balance that is heard when listening to musics on good headphones).

Also, if I do decide to replace parts of my sound system, would you suggest replacing the speakers first or the head unit first? And would you suggest replacing the wires in case they are the true culprit of the muddiness?

Sorry, this is a lot of questions, but I am fairly new to the car stereo world, and I would like as many opnions from experienced car stereo experts as I can get.

[ice745]

For a good clear head-unit, I would try Alpine. You can get one of their lower end models, since you probably won't need any of the features on their higher ends, for under $300. Alpine makes top of the line equipment. One of my friends had one for 17 years, and it only broke because he punched it when he was mad one day, lol. But they make really clear and enjoyable sound. However with the amp option installed, you may want to try replacing that, or bypassing it (just have the speakers hooked up to the head-unit). Since this is a stock amp, it is not too good of a quality, and can distort the sound. You said you didn't like having it too loud, so you can probably get away with bypassing it and having the speakers hooked up to the head-unit directly. You can get about 25 watts of undistorted sound with most Alpine head-units, which should be fine for someone who just wants clear sound. I would try that first with the stock speakers, and see if you like the sound. If you still have that muddy effect after bypassing the stock amp, I would see about getting it rewired. I don't really know how much the wiring installs go for. For speakers, if you don't need them to get loud, you just want clear then you could try pioneer. These speakers should be on display at most retailers. They are also at a good price, about $50 a pair. For how to get the stereo out safely, go to www.installdr.com . Look for instructions on how to replace the stereo. This will show you how to take the old one out and put a new one in, in this case the old one will be the new one also (just taking it out and putting it back in). Toward the bottom of the guide it labels the connectors so you can know which wire is which. You may need to stick a paper-clip in the connector so you have something to touch the ohm-meter to. For any part where you need to pull a piece of the dash off that doesn't have screws, there are clips that hold these pieces in. For yours it says to pull from the ashtray, pull firmly, but don't jerk it to speed it up. Look a step ahead for rectangular holes that are visible once the piece is removed, I see 6 of them for your car, these are where the clips are, try to aim the force to these. As you get the two closest to the ashtray, move your hands up to the next two, then finally the top two. Just be very careful here. Try not to pull too hard until you know what you're pulling. Clips break all the time, so it is imperitive that you do this carefully. You should be fine if you know where they are first by looking a step ahead, and you pull firmly at those spots without jerking. The first two might take you a while to get used to, because the first time you work with them you get the feeling that you are going to break something. But once you get the feel for it you should be fine.

[gammasphere]

Thank you very much for the explanations and help,

I had a few other somewhat trivial questions about car stereos,

As far as quality goes, how high up the dollar chain do you think Alpine reigns supreme? At what price range do other brands like Nakamichi and other top-of-the-line stereos surpass Alpine? Also, how is Apline's radio?
If I was to get an amp along the way, what brand would you recommend? Also, as far as car speakers go, is there one brand that out-does the rest in regards to the quality vs. cost ratio?

-Nicholas

[ponchonutty]

Originally Posted by gammasphere

Thank you very much for the explanations and help,

I had a few other somewhat trivial questions about car stereos,

As far as quality goes, how high up the dollar chain do you think Alpine reigns supreme? At what price range do other brands like Nakamichi and other top-of-the-line stereos surpass Alpine? Also, how is Apline's radio?
If I was to get an amp along the way, what brand would you recommend? Also, as far as car speakers go, is there one brand that out-does the rest in regards to the quality vs. cost ratio?

-Nicholas

Personally, if you want to stay under $300, I would pick just about anything from Pioneer or JVC. Alpine was the bomb back in the early 90's but fell off a cliff since then. Clarion Pro series are good and so is Nakamichi and Elcipse but I think you'll spend more $$$ than what you'll get back. There's a guy on Ebay that I've bought TONS of Pioneer stuff off of. He's real honest and product is good. He's actually a Pioneer dealer and goes through it all before listing. Look under selzitall.