My review of the OEM Audio + Reference 450Q system

This is my review of the following system:


http://shop.oemaudioplus.com/16-Toyota-Tacoma-Dbl-Cab-Reference-450Q-TYT-TCD-REF45Q-1600.htm


Shipping/Boxing: Item was shipped from California to Alabama via UPS Ground. It weighed 38 pounds and was sent out on a Friday and delivered the following Wednesday. Item arrived without incident, no damage, appeared adequately packed (I've seen things packed together much "tighter" so I was a little concerned how much extra space was in the box). Attached photos of the box and how it was packed.


Unboxing: Initial thoughts were that everything seemed of good quality. Speakers appeared well made, you could tell the amp brackets are custom and made to order as there were abrasions on it from being formed/bent etc - which are of no concern to me since its out of sight and underneath the seat. I've attached a photo of everything out of the box.


Installation: This was a little more time consuming than expected. Fortunately I took the day off of work yesterday to spend on it, however I was expecting a 3-4 hour job and it ended up taking nearly 7 hours from start to finish. I am very OCD and took my time on things, but a few things took longer than it probably should have. If I had to do it over again I could probably knock it out in about 5 hours, but going any faster than that would likely cause issues with me scratching something or breaking a clip etc. The 7 hour install resulted in no collateral damage.


Areas that took me the longest on the install - routing the wires from the driver’s side kick panel to the head unit and then routing the power wire to the grommet on the passenger side kick panel area - to get it to underneath the hood through the grommet. Both of these were a lot more "crowded" than the instructional video showed - perhaps because of the "tech package' and push button start but I had to run my wires in a different route than advised in the video and it took forever to fish those through and then took away/wire tied to ensure no future issues with hanging/exposed wires etc. Also the installation video states to leave 1 to 2 inches of wiring exposed in the sub compartment to attach it. Unless you have the hands of a toddler you will not be able to get it connected with such little wiring out. I would recommend keeping about 4 inches in there and attaching it by angling the enclosure toward the driver side and connecting from the back side. When you push the enclosure down into place if you have your wiring tight it is going to push the wires back out so the enclosure sits flush regardless.


Issues/problems - The box was only shipped with approximately 3 feet of high temperature corrugated loom - approximately 7 feet are needed if you want to properly cover the power cable for the full length that it is in the engine/under-hood area. I ran to Harbor Freight and picked up a pack for $2.99. Lowes, nor Home Depot had it in-store. Daniel from OEM+ was apologetic about the issue and stated it should have come with a 3 foot and a 7 foot. I believe the 3 foot would work for vehicles that run the power wire through the side the battery is located on. Additionally, the bracket for the amp that hooks onto the seat bracket was curved a little too much and wouldn't go over the seat bracket. I had to pry it open a bit with the nail removal side of my hammer - this didn't take long and was a very simple fix, but still an added nuisance.


So 7 hours later what were my thoughts?


Sound: 9/10 - great clarity in the mids and highs. I have to give the caveat that your musical taste may affect your thoughts on this, but below are the types of songs I really listened to in order to test the responsiveness, clarity and quality: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - "SOB" and "Look it Here". The Lumineers "Ophelia". Shakey Graves - "Dearly Departed".. My only issue with the sound was, despite the low wattage and 8" sub I think I expected a little more bass response. This is not the type of system that is going to have people turn to look at your vehicle at a red-light - if that’s what you are looking for then look elsewhere. This is however a clean, clear sounding system that is a huge upgrade over the stock system (which I would have rated a 3 to 4 out of 10). I've also heard the JBL system extensively and at best it would be a 5.5 out of 10). I will say this, had the OEM+ system came factory I would have never thought or considered spending $ on an upgrade.


Installation: 8/10 - more invasive than I thought, but the directions are pretty good. The mounting bracket issue, loom etc. prevent this from being a 9/10. One point deducted due to the dash area not giving better advice/recommendations on how to run the wires.


Value: 6/10 - though the quality is great, at a price of $1499.00 I am confident one can do a better system for the money. However it would likely require modifications to get a decent sub installed. I honestly think this system is more of a $999.00 type of value (for my listening pleasure). Depending on your budget and preferences you may think the $1499.00 is a solid value.


Customer Service: 9/10 - so far the customer service has been great. Customer service was great as I had a couple of questions during the install and Daniel either answered or returned my call immediately. The one point deduction was due to the missing loom, he didn't offer to ship it to me etc. nor did he offer to reimburse me for the time/cost of going and purchasing what should have been included. I didn't ask for reimbursement, but at the cost of the unit I would have felt better had he at least offered.


***Updated****

One day later and one issue has arose, the front drivers side speaker (I believe its the tweeter but haven't been able to diagnose it and confirm) is making a rattle at low/no volume. I've emailed Daniel and will update once I've pinpointed the issue and know what OEM+ will do to resolve it. It’s not noticeable at medium/high volume but is very noticeable when volume is very low/low.
****
Another update:
I diagnosed the source of my noise/artifact, apparently I had a wire from the head unit touching something it shouldn't have as I removed it, straightened/organized the wires running to it.
In addition Daniel refunded me $10.00 for the missing loom wire (which I replaced at a cost of $2.99 from Harbor Freight) but it also took me about an hour of my time and about 20 miles of driving/gas.

 

Sounds like your thoughts on the product is a bit meh considering how invasive the install is and how new rattles can be introduced from taking a part so much stuff. Super glad I got the JBL.

 

The rattle that I'm hearing is definitely speaker distortion as it does it with the vehicle in park. I'm thinking one of the speakers may have shipped with a defect.

With that said, I've spent several hours in a friends limited with the JBL and this setup sounds much better! He even came by my work this morning to hear it and said he was going to try to talk his wife into allowing him to get it - on one condition, that I help him with the install, haha.

I'm sure once I isolate the speaker causing the current distortion and get that either replaced or clean the plug to it that issue will be null and void, however it will likely be Sunday before I have the time to fool with it. If its the dash speaker it will take me about 5 minutes to get it removed and figured out. Fortunately that is the easiest of all the speakers to access.

 

Makes the JBL at 600 bucks a very good deal. The JBL sub can shake my mirrors if pushed!

Glad you are happy with the sound. Pretty cool there are audio options out there for folks that didn't get the JBL.

 

Not to quibble or argue, but the ability to vibrate mirrors doesn't necessarily equal sound quality.

 

Absolutely not. To me a vehicle audio system is meant to be fun. Not reference quality. I will listen to my sennheiser HD600 headphones with my MG head tube amp on my SACD collection if I want to to do critical listening.

The truck's OEM JBL system sounds fun and lively. I enjoy it more than my BMW M5 with 12 speakers and tries to be 'reference'. People forget, you're driving a car, not exactly the most ideal of listening places.

 

With that said have you taken out and looked at one of the JBL speakers? They aren't much different in quality and weight than the stock paper cone speakers - that are a joke IMO.

 

Its a speaker. I go by my ears and not by my eyes. Sounds fun anday lively to me, and has an amazing punch for what it is.

 

thanks for the post OP...im definitely considering this product.

 

I'm glad you are happy with your setup. I personally listened to the JBL setup extensively prior to purchasing my Tacoma and avoided it as it wasn't up to my standards and I knew I would be upgrading it sooner rather than later had I went that route. Everyone has different wants.

 

Absolutely, that's why I mentioned I'm glad they have a nice aftermarket option for folks.

I only reiterated the punchiness of the JBL sub because it's the same size as yours.

 

Everyone has their own preferences, but to me I found the JBL rather meh ... If I'm going to spend $ on the stereo I'll just put it into aftermarket stuff. Some people don't like messing with upgrading their systems, or it's just not very high on their priorities. That's why options are nice

 

Great review - thanks Chase. I ordered my OEM system a couple of weeks ago - haven't gotten a shipping notification yet. I appreciate having a heads up on some of the install issues to look for. Hopefully mine will ship with the correct length of loom.

 

If JBL was offered on your truck, you wouldn't have gotten it??

 

Nope. I heard it in a truck with the Tech Package, and it sounded muddy to me. I'd rather put the $ towards aftermarket stereo, but I have a lot of experience building that stuff so it's not really an issue to me. If I was looking for something I didn't have to mess with installing myself then the JBL would be the only option to go with. I don't think the JBL was even an option for my truck without getting other packages I didn't want. I think it's probably good enough for a lot of people though.

 

Are you certain you heard a truck with JBL? Just because the truck has the tech package does not mean it has JBL.

 

Thanks man, hope you enjoy it! Daniel has responded to my original email offering to pay for the loom/reimburse me for gas/time but I have yet to respond. He also told me to call him anytime - even on Sunday to talk through diagnosing the artifact that I'm hearing from the drivers side dash area. I'll update the original post once I get a resolution.

One other tidbit - the amp mounting quick set brackets or whatever they are called - were a little tough to get on by hand due to the curvature of the lip - a couple of light taps of a hammer or mallet got it on quickly. Had I used the hammer initially I would have saved myself about 5 minutes of trying to press those on by hand.

 

I keep seeing the JBL system catch a lot of flack on here, but I think the system sounds good for OEM. Yes, you can get a better sounding system with aftermarket components but if one doesn't want to mess with all that, then I think the JBL will more than suffice.

I've had aftermarket systems and spent a decent amount of money per system in all my previous vehicles using multiple high end brand names for head units, components speakers, amps, subs, custom boxes, etc, but didn't care to go that route this time around. I thought the JBL system in a buddy's '14 Taco sounded good for stock and that's part of the reason I opted to go that route. I think the JBL in the '16 sounds better too; as I've read others mention that on here as well.

It's good to see aftermarket systems like this that will help with the ease of installation on the consumer's end, but at the same time hope the negative comments on the JBL system don't scare people from buying their truck. In the end, it's all on the buyer/owner's decision; get the sound you want.

EDIT: Good review BTW OP.

 

Good point and by all means not the intent of my original post. I think for the $700 difference between the cost of the tech package and tech package w/JBL it is a good value for most consumers. Looking back on it, I may have been better served to spend it just for the sub and amp and then replacing the door speakers and tweeters, but would have been about the same cost as the OEM + setup all said and done, and the OEM + with the carbon fiber woofer seems like an upgrade over the JBL from a material/construction standpoint.

 

I would think there is something to the specific tune of the kit to the particular truck. Who knows what impedance/response anomalies you will get using rando speakers that aren't eq'd and tuned appropriately. That's one reason I like the idea of the OEM+ kit...they did all the work for me.