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Hi all. Just purchased a brand new 2016 8 passenger Sienna about 2 months ago with the intentions to be able to install a new stereo system that does not take up any useable space for people or crap. After taking apart the entire van to sound deaden it, I started planning on the equipment that I would install. The stereo would be installed in two stages, the interim phase and the final phase. During the interim phase, i'd install everything that is necessary to quickly upgrade the sound with some new equipment and stuff that I already have from past builds on other cars. For the final phase, i'll be constructing a hidden fiberglass sub box and a-pillar pods for 3-inch widebanders and AMT tweeters. Here is a list of equipment that I will be using during each phase.

Interim Phase
1. Peerless NE65W-04 2" Full Range Woofer
2. Helix 265G 6.5" woofers
3. JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3 Single 8W3v3 Ported box
4. OEM headunit
5. Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.3 DSP
6. Alpine KTP-445u 4 channel Amp 45watts x 4
7. Alpine MRV-500 Mono Amp 500watts x 1 at 2 ohms

Final Phase
1. Dayton Audio AMT Mini-8 Air Motion Transformer
2. Tang Band W3-1364SA 3" Bamboo Cone
3. Dayton Audio LW150-4 6" Low Profile
4. Image Dynamics ID8v3 dual 4 ohm 8-inch Sub
5. OEM headunit
6. Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.3 DSP
6. 2 Alpine KTP-445u 4 channel Amps 45watts x 4 for each; 1 for the AMT and 3-inch, 1 bridged for the Dayton 6-inch woofer
7. Alpine MRV-500 Mono Amp 500watts x 1 at 2 ohms

Now onto the build of the interim phase and some pics. I wanted to keep the OEM headunit because my wife, who mainly drives it to work likes the interface and setup of the OEM headunit. So I took a chance and gathered some measurements using the rockford 3xisty.3 OEM integration signal normalizing feature and found that the OEM unit didn't do too much in terms of equalizing the signal on the top and bottom octaves, but the equalization does change depending on the volume. You are able to turn the volume up to 51 before there is enough distortion for the 3sixty.3 to not be happy. Therefore, when setting up the 3sixty.3 I set the volume to 26 and went through the process. To get the signals from the OEM headunit to the 3sixty.3, I used the high level outputs and made a new cable with speed wire and some factory plug adaptors from metra and scosche.



I ran the speedwire down the center area, under the center console, and to underneath the drivers seat where I plan to house the rockford 3sixty.3 and 1 Alpine KTP-445u amp. I ran some 4 gauge power wire from the battery, across the engine bay, to a grommet behind the glove box, and then to under the passenger seat where the power distribution/fuse box is located. I installed the Alpine MRV-500 under the passenger seat, but not directly underneath because there wasn't enough room. I just let half the amp hang out and covered it with the carpet floor mat. The peerless 2-inch speaker is the exact same size as the OEM speaker up in the dash. I made a bracket using some delrin and made sure that the height was right in order for the dash speaker cover trim to seal against it. For the woofer in the door, I just used a cheap scosche plastic adaptor for the 6.5-inch helix woofer. The JL Audio 8-inch was installed right in front of the Alpine mono amp on the floor since my childs car seat is on that seat. No one will be sitting there, so no feet to worry about for now. Once I got everything working and tuned to my liking using an RTA and test discs, I was satisfied with the outcome. I can get all technical with how I did everything, but i'll spare you the reading. Overall, the sound is ok and is good enough for the interim term. The 2-inchers feel a little hollow/brassy at the moment. I'm going to try and build small enclosure for them to see if that'll make the sound more full. The bass from the JL is a little muddy and high strung. Def could be better. Only temporary, so I am ok with it. I've been listening to the system like this for about 2 weeks now.

 

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The final phase is currently in the works. When disassembling the car, I was able to find a fairly large cavity behind the glove box that could accommodate an enclosure with about 0.3-0.4 cu.ft. of space. This would work well for a nice 8-inch subwoofer. Perfect for what I want since i'm more into sound quality than quantity. I knew I wanted a sealed enclosure so I looked into my inventory of speakers and found that I had a 8-inch old school solobaric, several ID8v3, a couple peerless SLS 8's, and of course the JL8W3v3. The peerless SLS 8's would not work since they require a fairly large volume of airspace to work so that was out. The 8-inch solobaric would be a good choice, but I was always happy with the ID8v3 subs. They are able to play fairly low and will allow the Alpine amp to put out 500 watts at two ohms. The JL can play just as low as the ID8, but would only be able to extract 250 watts from the alpine amp, which I felt might not be enough power. One good thing is that the cutout diameter of the JL and ID subs is very similar, so I could test between the two in the same box and choose what I like. Happy with the choices I had, I went on with the build. I masked up the entire area and started laying a total of 4 layers of fiberglass. I then cut out an MDF ring, glued it in, and used some felt to build the front plate of the box. Once the resin soaked felt set, I installed 4 layers of fiberglass on the inside area of the felt, ring, and interface between the original mold and felt. The internal volume of the box came out to just about 0.3 cu.ft., which I felt was a little too small, as I was hoping for 0.35 - 0.4 cu.ft. Therefore, I stuffed the box with quite a bit of polyfill. To mount the box, I used 2 4-inch long 1/8" thick metal strips that attached to the box using bolts and to a bracket with 2 6mm studs under the dash. The lower portion of the box was secured to the stud used for the plastic kick panels. Once installed, it is invisible and no one would know that I have a sub in the van. I set the lowpass on the sub to 1khz and turned off all the other speakers and took some measurements. Looking at the frequency response allowed me to set my initial crossover point of 45hz at 12db. This allows the sub to play pretty flat to about 25hz. The bass is well defined, but a slight hint of muddiness in the very low octaves. I think I put in too much polyfill stuffing...Will try to play around with that a little later. I def like this setup 100x more than the factory JL ported box.

Now onto the a-pillar build. This is where i'm currently at right now. I made some MDF rings for the Tang Band 3-inch bamboo speakers. I can't make a decision on rear mount or top mounting the speakers. I've uploaded pictures of each one. I really like the rear mount, but I'm not 100% sure I can do that because of access to the speaker after I build the pods. I think I can, but won't know until I build them. I haven't had a chance to listen to the speakers on the a-pillars yet to set the angle, but will be doing it soon.

 

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Sorry for the lack of updates. Just got way too busy with other stuff to work on the sienna audio. I did make some test brackets for the Dayton LW150 speakers for the door. They fit nicely in the door, but need some small adjustments to raise the smaller oval up approximately 1/8" so that it will mate up with the oval on the door panel. This separation helps to send all of the speakers front cone energy into the cabin and not resonate behind the door panel. It greatly improved the sound compared to using the temp brackets that do not seal to the door. Someone posted a thread about making these sealing type speaker brackets available for sale. I believe he is making it using a 3D printer and costs approximately $50. Mine will be made in HDPE, which is a nice solid material. However, the material alone for mine costs about $60 a pair. Can't help that expensive cost since I have to have the material shipped to hawaii. Booooo I cut mine out from a CNC Router and its awesome! In about a month or so, i'll update this thread again with pics of the old brackets compared to the new HDPE brackets, my door sound deadening, and the door speakers installed. I haven't worked on the A-pillar speaker pods yet because of other fabrication stuff I have to do, but I promise you that it will be coming soon!

 

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Yesterday I ended up finishing the HDPE speaker brackets for the front doors. I had some problems with my CNC machine skipping because of HDPE swarf getting stuck on my x-axis wheels. I also forgot to climb cut this set so there was a lot of chatter while cutting. This set isn't pretty, but it still works. The first picture shows the HDPE block being milled with the CNC machine. The second picture is with the Dayton LW150 installed onto the bracket. Third picture is with the Helix speaker that I had previously installed. Last picture shows the new speaker installed on the door.

Now I just let these break-in for a month or so before I start tuning them. Next up on the list is the A-pillar speakers.

 

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Wow, its been 2 years since i've updated my build. Well, its because i've been way to busy with life. We ended up selling our old place, buying a new one, building another house next to it with a big 4 car garage, and a new son. Now that things are slowing down I finally had a chance to work on the Sienna again. While moving houses, I found a bunch of speakers, amps, etc that I had packed away and forgot about. Therefore, the system design changed. This is the new system now.

Kenwood DMX907S Headunit
JL Audio C5 3 way components
Kicker KSC350 temp midrange
Kicker KSC650 for rear fill
JL Audio 12TW3 Subwoofer
JL Audio XD700/5 Amp
JL Audio XD400/4
Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.3 DSP

My wife and I love the wireless carplay on the Kenwood headunit. As for the speakers, I have everything except the JL Audio C5 4-inch mids and 6.5-inch midbass installed. I'll be glassing in an enclosure into the A-piller where the small useless window resides. Kicker KSC350 coaxials are currently being used as the mids in the factory tweeter location. The JL Audio C5 Tweeters are installed on the sail panels and aimed slightly up and toward each other. Kicker KSC650 coaxials are used as rear fill for my son when he is in the car because he always complains that he can't hear the music. LOL The subwoofer is placed in a moulded fiberglass box that fits in the rear driver side cubby. I haven't completed the box yet, but it is installed because i won't have time to complete it just yet. I'm currently working on the audio system in my Audi A6.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, just wanted to speed through the installation. The rockford fosgate 3sixty.3 dsp is mounted in the center dash right behind the pushout cupholders. There is just the perfect amount of space after using 1/4" plywood to make a flat mounting baffle, sorry no picture. I'll grab one someday when I have the van apart again. The XD400/4 is under the drivers seat and the XD700/5 is under the passenger seat. These fit perfect in those exact locations because there are slight indentations in the carpet that hold them in place. There is no way to reverse them because the XD700/5 doesn't fit too well on the driver side and the XD400/4 is too loose on the passenger side. Both are tuck far forward where no feet will ever touch them, unless you're a size 20. If you guys want any specific picture, lmk and i'll grab them as long as it is easy to access.

 

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Had a chance to install the JL Audio C5 woofers yesterday. I ended up using the Tacotunes brackets because they're much cheaper than what I can get the material for. Now its time to do a full tune on the system. I currently have the following crossover points:

JL Audio C5 Tweeters - High Pass @ 6000Hz
Kicker KS 3.5 Mids - High Pass @ 400Hz, Low Pass @ 6000Hz
JL Audio C5 Midbass - High Pass @ 80Hz, Low Pass @ 400Hz
JL Audio 12TW5 - Low Pass @ 80Hz

These are just starting points and will most likely be different after taking some RTA measurements.