EASY tweeter upgrade! (3rd gen non-JBL)

Well, everything finally arrived and got some time to work on the truckster.

So, I went ahead and added a lot of sound deadening material to the doors as well, so it did take me longer than expected. I did put some behind the speakers on the outer door skin as I wanted to try to lessen the sound reflection. There is not much you can do as there is a crash bar just behind the speakers, so you have to work w/ what you got.

Front driver door:

Front passenger door:

I didn't get pics of the rear doors, but you get the idea.

Couple points:
1. The Kicker tweeters are awesome and super simple to install. My only issue was that I did take the safe route and disconnect my battery. Problem was I was working in the driveway and clear skies turned grey and added an hour to my work there. Once the A-pillars were done, I reconnected the battery so I could test each speaker out before putting it all back together.

2. The base speakers in the Tacoma are absolute junk.

Picture of the magnet on the stock speaker:

I don't think that would hold my kid's report card on the fridge.

What I put in and pretty basic 6x9:

Much improved.

3. You better get a few door trim panel clips. I had to replace one in three of my doors. They smashed them during assembly and just crunched the panel bracket that the clip snaps into and I had to fix that as well. I figure other folks would probably have the same luck. Autozone had a decent selection and I found a clip for a Nissan was a near drop in replacement at my local store.

4. Don't be like me and "be safe" and order "some extra" sound deadening material. What you get in one box will cover all four doors... trust me. I now have two boxes to return to Amazon. I did read that someone said that one would be enough, but I am the type that hates to need something and not have it, so I ordered more than enough.
* Also - get a couple rollers for the sound deadening material. They are cheap and make it a lot easier.

5. Do NOT get the FAST RINGS. They are useless and they are much too big to use. You can save some money and just use Mr. Marv's idea of regular old weatherstripping material. I used the 3/4" x 3/16" for between the speaker and the speaker mount. I then used 3/4" x 5/16" for around the speaker and the door panel to seal it up.

It is much easier and you will have to cut so much out of the FAST RINGs that they are pointless. Also, since you have that door beam right behind the speaker, you can't even use the big sponge that is to deaden the sound reflection.

6. If you get the Metra adapter rings from Crutchfield, you will have to slightly modify the rear 6.5s.

I had to take some diagonal cutters and remove some extra material so the speaker could sit all the way to the rim.

Also, the screws they provided w/ my speakers to mount to the adapter ring were way too long, so you may want to be prepared for that as well. They extended through the ring and that sits flush on the door panel, so no good. I got lucky and found enough in my stash that I was able to finish without a trip to the hardware store.

All in all, pretty easy. The worst part was putting the sound material inside the door to try to kill some of the reflection. I did take my time... been a while since I've worked on speakers, so I did not rush. The wife was wondering what this grand project was and when I told her it was just replacing speakers, her eyebrows raised a little and she just walked back in the house.

I don't know what the sound material will do yet as I've not driven on the interstate, but the speakers are amazing compared to stock. For those who liked the tweeters and did not go further, I can understand, but you're missing out on a much better sound experience. I can see why folks think that just replacing the tweeters make such an improvement... these speakers are just terrible, so any improvement is amazing from where you started.

You can go up in amperage on what you put in, but keep in mind that the base head-unit does not have a lot of power, so unless you plan on adding an amp in the near future, you may be better off getting speakers w/ more efficiency/sensitivity. To goose443, you can go up to the GTOs if you want, but I do not think the base head-unit will push that much power anyway, so these sound great.

Sound is much cleaner. I think I may actually have too much treble now w/ the tweeters, 3-way 6x9s, and 2-way 6.5s. I had to turn up the bass a little, but I kinda like what I go. Folks may want to look into component type speakers at this point if you go w/ the Kicker tweeters.

I hope this helps some folks... if not, eh. It is a great improvement for only a little investment, so I'd recommend replacing all the speakers if you want some decent sound.

 

Ok, just swapped these guys in. Installation was an absolute breeze. Remove a-pillar panels (one bolt under the "SRS" cover on the drivers side, 2 bolts holding the "oh crap" bar on the passenger side) and then the tweeter panels, a couple screws, reverse order and done. I took a few audio-clips of before/after. I could only leave it at volume 10 since my kid was asleep in the floor above my garage. I used a program to increase the DB on both audio files by 15 so you can hear the difference between both tweeters. Hopefully this helps but from my first listen (at volume 10), the high tones are MUCH more pronounced and clear now. I have felt that the high tones that come out of the tweeters with the stock Premium audio system have always been dull and muddy. With a sub in the back, the highs just can't really get to where I want them. These upgraded tweeters should help things a bit. Bought these off of eBay for $88 shipped. Also love how absolutely direct plug-n-play they are as well. That alone is worth the extra cost in my opinion. Here are the sound clips (you may have to download them... sorry!):

Stock Tweeters:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByRxHjc-JU2WUDZVQThvYmUyMFE

Sub/Kicker Tweeters:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByRxHjc-JU2WNlp2NFpJNmRJR3M

Also, @jsey21, not trying to be a dick (please don't take this the wrong way) but I think your install post probably should have deserved its own thread. That's a full on speaker installation you did there! Nice work but I think your post may steer the thread away from the easy/cheap tweeter option/install. Had I run into your post with the great pictures first, I would've turned away running like "the whole door panel needs to be removed and sound deadening material installed just to replace a tweeter?". Lol.. you get my point I think.

 

I just ordered these Tweeters in hopes that they improve the sound quality.

 

Hey thanks for the info jsey21. I kinda figured it would have more treble with that many tweeters.

 

Is the bass much better than stock? Is the speaker volume comparable? Thank you for the great info!

 

You're right... I probably should have, but the conversation was already in this thread, so I just left it there. If folks want, I'll post it in it's own thread.

 

Everything is much cleaner... bass is better than what I had, but I've got a lot more high end than I expected, so be aware of that.

 

Just curious if anyone here has added the focal 690toy's to the kicker tweeters looks like another plug and play option according to crutchfield for the front door, they are pricey but still remember trimming my door panels drove me crazy on my 1st gen, and like to keep everything intact if possible. Or if it's even worth it

 

Whatever you put in the front and rear doors will still require speaker mounts but no trimming at all.

 

By the looks of it I was figuring it was built in

 

https://www1.crutchfield.com/p_091IS690TY/Focal-IS-690TOY.html

He meant this one.

 

Hi,
Thanks so much for the links and details.
I have a 2017 Tacoma Crew Cab with non-JBL sound. When I look at the "what fits" using the Metra wire and speaker adaptors, Amazon says these items don't fit my vehicle. What kind of vehicle do you have?
Thanks again.

 

2016 access sport. Get bestbuy product numbers then go to Amazon.

 

Ordered the tweeters. Waiting for someone to find a stock fit 6x9 woofer.

 

Don't quote me on this, but I do not think you will find a stock fit 6x9 unless you try the upgraded JBL speakers and find those on eBay or something. Not that I would or would not recommend, but I would think you would get better speakers for the same money by using an adapter. It's a not much harder to install.

 

Is there an "upgrade" aftermarket woofer door speaker? All I see are components that comes with tweeters already.

 

Look at Post #112.

 

Ditto what @jsey21 said. Everything I added from post #112 has given me awesome sound. The best I can get without adding a sub. And I am extremely happy with my sound system with the stock entune premium head unit.

 

Just ran up to the store and put Green Days "American Idiot" on the music box. At volume of 48 the kickers in the doors sounded like they would crack the windshield with the bass. And the tweeters sound perfect. Best sound I ever had in a vehicle including the one that came with Bose. And trust me I have had many many sound systems over 40 years. I have no need for an amp or a sub in my truck. This entune premium is the ticket as long as you install the right speakers.

 

Do you have a link to the speakers you intalled?