RAV4 PHV (Prime) Audio Upgrade: Speakers, Door Deadening and a DSP Amp

This is the English edition of a review from my Japanese YouTube channel, iestaLife. I review gadgets from my home studio in Japan, so product links go to Amazon Japan.

Quick take

My Toyota RAV4 PHV (sold as the RAV4 Prime in some markets) is very quiet on electric power, so I had a car audio shop upgrade it in three ways: new front speakers, sound deadening in the front doors, and an added DSP amplifier. It cost about ¥200,000 in total, and I was very happy with the result. Vocals and instruments now sound like they are right in front of you, and the speakers seem to disappear.

Sound-deadening sheets applied inside a RAV4 PHV front door — Deadening sheets applied inside the front door

What was done

Work	Details	What changed
Speaker swap	Stock Toyota speakers replaced with BLAM 165.80 (Signature series)	A natural sound that doesn’t draw attention to the speakers
Door deadening	Damping sheets and aluminum bars in the front doors	Doors no longer ring hollow when tapped, but they got heavier
DSP amp	Pioneer (Carrozzeria) DEQ-1000A added	Door speakers and tweeters driven and tuned separately

What I found

Clear, easy-listening highs. Pop vocals in particular sound great. Every genre I tried was a clear step up from stock.
Enough bass without a subwoofer. The stock speaker weighed 173g. The BLAM manual lists “1kg”; even at 500g each, that is more than double, with a much bigger magnet. The bass is solid but not the booming kind that turns heads at traffic lights.
Deadening works, at a cost. Tapping the treated front doors versus the untreated rear doors shows an obvious difference. I chose a heavy level, and the doors feel noticeably heavier to open and close.
The DSP amp was worth it. The stock display audio sends the same signal to the front door speaker and tweeter. With the DEQ-1000A they are powered separately, and settings like time alignment can be adjusted.

Back of the stock RAV4 PHV door speaker — The stock speaker’s magnet is tiny by comparison

Who it’s for

Owners of quiet hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs who want better music in the car
People who prefer a natural sound over heavy bass
Anyone fine with heavier doors in exchange for better sound (or willing to choose a lighter deadening level)

I also think you can get much of the benefit for less. Around ¥100,000 should cover door deadening and a speaker swap, which on their own make a big difference.

Watch the video

The video is in Japanese, but the before-and-after recordings speak for themselves. Listen with earphones around 1:00 and 3:30, and the door tap test is around 9:45.

Limitations

This is one car and one shop’s installation, judged by my own ears, and the recordings were made with portable recorders inside the cabin. Prices are in Japanese yen at the time of recording. The exact BLAM model I used was not available on Amazon Japan.

Products

Pioneer DEQ-1000A digital processing unit: on Amazon Japan (a Japanese-market Carrozzeria product)

The Amazon Japan links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Check the listing for the exact model, current price and shipping availability in your region.

More reviews in English