Upgrade speakers in DblCab?

Just went to talk with a local car audio place here to see what they could quote me for a speaker upgrade.
$300 = Alpine S system. Front and rears. Installed.
$500 = Focal Access system. Front and rears. Installed.

Thoughts?

 

Seems a bit excessive to me, but I'm an old fart that isn't looking for more hearing loss than I already have!

Personally, i just ordered NEW BOSS CH6CK+CH6950 6.5"+6x9" Car Speakers Package from Amazon.com. Has all of the speakers I need. Admittedly they arent kick ass speakers, but they have to be better than whats in there!

Terry

 

Will check these out. Thanks Terry.

 

Did they mount in okay? Any special bracket needed, etc?

 

bump

 

I just installed an Alpine INE-W940 Nav unit in my truck with stock speakers. It made a huge difference in quality of sound. Ill be hooking up my 10" Kicker sub this weekend.
Just my $0.02

 

Was going to use the stock hu.

 

There are many models of both Alpine and Focal, so to really know if you are getting quoted a reasonable price I'd need to know specific models. And more details if you know them...

1) Will they be pulling new speaker wire or using the pre-existing wiring

2) Are those all 6x9s, or 6.5", or a mix

3) I assume you have "full-range" speakers in the rear and "component speakers" up front

4) Is this the stock stereo

5) I there an AMP in the truck

I ask all these questions because speakers is like saying "ice cream". Anyway, my off hand guess from your figures, it looks like they are charging you $200 for labor. Is that correct?

 

He did say he would be doing mat behind the speakers too.
No worries. This is why I am asking. Thanks.

 

bump

 

Do the door speakers yourself and buy them from crutchfield they will come with brackets you need free and wiring harness. It took me 45 mins last weekend to do te front and the back. Fronts are 6x9 and the backs are 6 1/2.

 

I just upgraded my speakers yesterday in my 2014 double cab. I am keeping the Entune Nav Head Unit. In a nutshell:

JBL GTO speakers is all you need plus the generic speaker harness. They fit like a glove right inside your factory spacers or other words after you gut out the 10 cent factory speakers you have the original brackets to use...takes 5 minutes to do this swap. The sound improvement is excellent. I do plan on adding an amp and hideaway sub in a couple weeks.

 

Wow this is all great info. I think I am going to have to rethink this a bit. I wanted to keep the factory hu because it is hooked up to the steering wheel. I think that may be a bit of a PIA for me to hook in.
Now have other options to consider.
hmmm....

 

I haven't received them yet, but I don't expect any issues. They are the correct sizes for the speakers I have. I expect them to arrive on Monday.

I'll let you know what I wind up with

TB

 

Great. Will be waiting to see how you did.
Thanks

 

nightbump

 

Lots of good advice for you. Thanks for answers to my questions.

Keep the HU. The speakers are the source of the good sound, all head units are pretty much the same in sound quality. The weak link in the factory setup is the speakers, when you pull them out you'll see what I mean, they weigh almost nothing, just complete junk.

Keep the factory wiring too if you like, changing it will only make a small improvement.

Ideally you add an amplifier MOSFET type to drive your new speakers, they will be power hungry. These MOSFET amps are cheap and have low distortion and slim profile install easily under passenger seat. But if you add an AMP they'll need to run wires anyway, so might as well have all new wire harness. The more powerful AMPed signal is better carried over heavier copper wiring.

So, I recommend something like this:

Alpine MRV-F300, retail just under $200. A simple 4 channel 50 watt amp
********* mounting adapters, about $100

Focal Integration ISS 690 front speakers (6x9 component speakers, with separate tweeters) $250
Focal 165AC 6.5" full-range speakers, $200
DynaMat sound deadening material, enough for all doors $100

As others have stated, if you go through Crutchfield they throw in cable and mounting harness, etc. I like to use 12AWG wire for good power handling.

The install price at a local shop is reasonable for about $200 labor for this project, especially if they are installing some matting in the doors, like DynaMat. The Tacoma doors are really "rattle/empty" sounding so the mat is very helpful.

 

You can buy an adapter to hook a new hu to the steering wheel. I upgraded to a Pioneer head unit. Still have my steering wheel controls plus I have my back up camera on my uh now. Speakers are next.

 

As a long time fanatic of Car Audio, although I know rather squat about the inner workings of Head units, speakers, and subwoofers I still have a little experience under my belt with Tacoma audio. I noticed in the OP you said you have a Double Cab Taco. I started out with a Rockford Fosgate P-200 amp (not the most powerful in the world but gets the job done quite nicely and nowhere near breaks the bank) on a single 08' P1 10 sub in a sealed box running stock speakers and a Alpine head unit. I did all this and install for $500 even.

A little down the road I added another P1 10 for the passenger side and had both sub sitting behind the seats in the floorboards (As you can tell there was not much foot room in the back seat unless you wanted to straddle a sub, which worked out for the girls if you catch my drift lol)
A few months ago I put 6x9 Kenwood Excelon door speakers all the way around. Believe you me I was very wary of going with anything other than the larger brands like Rockford or JL. I am very impressed with the Excelons, and you can get a full set + install for around $200-$300 depending on the shop you're looking at.

Also, I am currently borrowing a Jl W3 8 in the JL premade ported box, retail about $200-$400, again depending on the shop (a local shop is actually cheaper than Amazon at $219) Im currently running it bridged through my P-200 amp with the gain at 0 and this little 8 still outperforms my two P1s by far.

Overall Ive put about $1000 including in the JL im about to purchase so I can give my friend his W3 back.

So to close it all off Id like to say, I know where you're coming from. The choices are just about endless and a little overwhelming at first. Once you upgrade though you'll love your Taco even more. Ive attached a photo of the current state of my backseat with the JL 8. Honestly, in my opinion, this is the way to go, Head unit of choice (some can be wired into the steering wheel), a rather simple amp like the Rockford Punch P-200, and a JL W3 8 box like the one I have pictured with Kenwood Excelons in the doors. Trust me, this setup will make your ears bleed and sounds better than most setups Ive ever listened to.

In my experience, less is more when it comes to Tacomas. Even with the double cab you still have a rather small airspace inside the cab and with this setup you dont need much more than this for it to sound great, then again this is just my two cents. Apologies on the long answer but if youre gonna upgrade it, might as well upgrade it all.

Hope this helps,
BehindUranus

 

[/QUOTE] Apologies on the long answer but if youre gonna upgrade it, might as well upgrade it all.

Hope this helps,
BehindUranus [/QUOTE]


This is what I am starting to gather.