Amp & Speakers

Okay so I am finally fed up with the annoyingly quiet, stock Tacoma speakers. I currently have two 10 inch subs pushing 500 watts with a factory Entune deck including Nav. No JBL Package. I desperately need more volume out of my speakers and I would like to see what some of you audio pros would recommend. I would like to do a 4-Channel amp, but I'm not really sure which one to get and I'm also worried it's just going to make the speakers sound really bad. If not an amp would speakers be enough? I'm trying to avoid buying a new deck.

 

If you are keeping the stock HU you'll need a Line Out Converter (LOC). After that it's all about preference and budget. Everyone will tell you something different when it comes to audio equipment.

Me I prefer the following brands for door speakers.

• Focal
• Image Dynamics
• Hertz
• MB Quart

I've installed a few Alpine Type R's with their matching PDX 4 channel/5 channel amps and they get loud and have 'decent' sound. I'm not the biggest fan of them but so far they've held up really well and get pushed very hard. I'm just not a fan of class D amps for the most part.

With the door amps if you can go class A/B IMO. Much cleaner sound but it costs more typically.

After everything is done then you'll need to tune it all which is the fun part.

 

I've heard good things about the Focal speakers.
I'm currently running a mono alpine amp that I bought a week after I bought the truck and two Comp 10's that I've had for probably six years. I'm actually amazed they're still bumping. Do you recommend I do door speakers or an amp? The key is volume not necessarily clarity.

 

Yes, HU's power out but is terrible. You'll use the LOC to get RCA wires to your amps. You'll defiantly want an amp on the door speakers.

The Focals I have are these and I push 90 watts of class A/B power to them and I hit about 117db's just from the door speakers alone.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOCAL-P165V...ON-6-5-2-WAY-COMPONENT-SPEAKERS-/400649974482

And they are a bit under powered still. I just got a smoking deal on my amp so I went with it.

 

I would say the most important question is...

What do you want out of the end result? Louder music, or louder better sounding music?

followed by....

• what is your budget?
• Do you have a brand you want to go with?
• Do you want to use a Line Out Converter, or a Digital Sound Processor with your stock head unit?
• Do you want to do all 4 doors, or set up a front stage?

A front stage will give you the best sound. I would recommend using a DSP for a front stage set up to utilize the active crossover.

The rear door speakers are not heard much by the front passengers. If you were to remove the rear speakers you would not notice much of a difference in sound. With that said you can get a 4 channel amp and power your front mid-range speakers and tweeter speakers off 1 amp and use the passive crossover on the amp, this will give you a better and louder sound when the gains and crossovers are set properly.

You could also power all 4 doors and get front component speakers that come with passive crossovers that will help you get better sound also.

This should give you an idea as to which way to go.

If you need recommendations on speakers and amps, a budget would be nice to know so we can suggest appropriate setups.

I recently did an audio build in my truck. Check it out, the link is in my signature.

 

• Not really sure on budget.. I was quoted from a local stereo shop for an Alpine and amp and Focal speakers setup that they recommended for $800 with install. Slightly more then I was expecting.. I'm kind of thinking of piecing it together, for instance either speakers, or amp. Not necessarily both at once.
• undecided
• undecided
• I frequently drive with a full car, I need the back speakers. The subs already overpower the backseat way more then the front.

 

Ok so it sounds like you will want some component speakers up front, this will give you better and louder sound. You can find component speakers for about $30 - $50 more than coaxial speakers, unless you are buying high end speakers... I personally have the hybrid audio unity 6x9s and tweeters in the front and the legacy 6.5s in the rear. The rear speakers will have to be coaxial, because there is no tweeter mount in the back, and i would go with a 2 way or 3 way speaker in the rear. This will give you a better sound for your passengers in the back.

Because i have set up a front stage i am thinking about removing the rear 6.5s and only having front speakers, they are not amplified right now and I can not hear them. They are great speakers but if i can not hear them over my front stage, and no one rides in the back, then why have them... right?

For amps you will want to find an amp that pushes good and clean power. You can find this with a certified amp, they come with 'birth sheets' that tell you the max RMS power. This will make sure you get good, quality power so you can get quality sound. Door speakers are very important, with the right set up none of the sound should be drowned out by other speakers. I hate cars that have only 'boom and sizzle', these are cars that only have a lot of bass and treble, no mids, and they sound terrible in my opinion. I want to hear the rest of the instruments in the song! Hybrid audio has won over 150 world championships with their speakers and I have to say they sound amazing, and im not even done tuning them yet!

Budget... throw it out the window. Pay for what you want and leave it alone. If you dont then you will wish you did.

If you want my opinion on anything feel free to ask man. Im not an expert but i have spent plenty of time building home and auto audio.