Bluetooth stereo upgrades for 1st gen

Hi all- just bought my first Tacoma yesterday and will be using as my daily driver. For this reason I would like to put a Bluetooth stereo in so I can talk hands free and play music from Spotify. Any suggestions on reasonabley priced option?

 

You can't go wrong with Pioneer. I've had four different aftermarket head units in my truck, starting with a Pioneer single-DIN. I decided I wanted a backup camera, so I replaced the first Pioneer with a Sony double-DIN touch-screen HU. The Sony turned out to be defective, and instead of exchanging it for another Sony, I talked Crutchfield into giving me a Boss BV960N (same price). DO NOT GET A BOSS PRODUCT IF YOU ARE A TOTAL AUDIOPHILE LIKE I AM! Yes, the Boss head unit had built-in navigation and an internal Bluetooth mic, but that unit in general was very dated (it had a USB port, but this was totally useless because the unit did not have built-in iPod control and I was forced to use the AUX jack). I finally replaced the Boss with another Pioneer that has Apple CarPlay and HD Radio, among other things, last March. I am extremely satisfied with my purchase!

However, my head unit was $325. If you want cheap, Pioneer does offer a touch-screen double-DIN head unit for $200,with AM/FM, CD player, Bluetooth, and USB/aux, but no Apple CarPlay. I almost bought this head unit before my friend sold me on getting one with CarPlay.

If you don't want or need a backup camera, then Pioneer sells a standard double-DIN head unit with no touch-screen for $130-$150. This unit features, in addition to the usual AM/FM CD player, Bluetooth, USB iPod control, and aux jack. I prefer double-DIN over single-DIN because there's more space and the buttons are generally larger as a result.

 

Alpine is also very good, but much more expensive than Pioneer.

I've heard good things about Kenwood, but my only experience with Kenwood is a $110 single-DIN AM/FM CD receiver my dad had installed in his '87 Mercedes back in 2003. It was a good unit, but it predates AUX and USB hookups.

I would recommend against Sony products, and fully advise you NOT to buy Boss products, as stated in the first post.

Welcome to TW, by the way!

 

Great info!! A back up cam isn’t a must but I do like the look of the double DIN touch screens. Did you do the install yourself? Where does the back-up cam mount and how did you run the wiring for it?

 

My neighbor helped me A LOT. 2009-newer Tacomas all come prewired for backup cameras (only SR5 and above have them; I have a base 2WD regular cab), and my neighbor just plugged into the factory "reverse wire". The backup camera is a Clarion CC250 mounted above the license plate. All Tacos with factory backup cameras have them in the tailgate handle. I've driven my uncle's 2nd Gen Tundra which had a factory tailgate handle backup camera (and a tiny little screen in the rear view mirror), and I must say I prefer mine (above license plate).

 

Another thing...

Some head units have integrated Bluetooth microphones but most do not. The wire for the external mic always plugs into the back of the head unit. My neighbor ran it behind the dashboard and up the left A-pillar, and clipped it to the left sun visor.

 

I have a Pioneer HU in both my Tacoma and my 4Runner and they are both great for bluetooth. ALso, I agree that Alpine is overpriced for the features that you get.

 

Ive never seen someone to claim being an audiophile and say they bought a pioneer. I really have never seen audiophile and boss in the same paragraph

Really the most reasonable priced way to just get bluetooth is an fm modulator like a jabra. $30 and done. I had one fior years, it always came out of storage whenever i bought a new car until i would get around to doing a new system. And whenever a brew hu wasn't much of an option like my jeep and bmw.

 

DEH-80PRS
or better yet DEX-P99RS

 

The Boss was essentially free. Why the f*** do you think I replaced it after less than a year?!?! Also, I'm an audiophile on a budget.

I know a guy who's a serious audiophile and also a Sundown Audio dealer. He's got a 3,500-watt system in his 2010 Tundra Rock Warrior, with a Pioneer head unit.

 

My dad had a $150 Alpine single-DIN HU installed in his 1996 Nissan Pathfinder in early 2005. The factory radio started having problems in 2003 and he replaced that with a $140 Sony Xplod. The Sony was good, but my dad hated the small buttons and replaced it again less than two years later.

 

Dude...

WTF is wrong with Pioneer?!?!

 

@Indy

Only my head unit is Pioneer. My system consists of the following:

JBL GTO906C component speaker system

Rockford Fosgate Prime external amplifier

Kicker Hideaway 8" powered subwoofer

 

Nice! I have a similar set up with a Pioneer HU and JBL components. Whats pretty nice about the newer Pioneers is they have a 3-way network mode that allows you to bi-amp your components and set separate crossovers for your tweeters and mids. Doing this made a good improvement in the sound of my stereo compared to using the JBL crossovers.

 

I like Pioneer and have had a single Din 3900BT and Double Din Pioneer 4100 , 4200 and now their flagship model W8400NEX all in my truck over the last 3 yrs !!

 

My first vehicle in hs i went for loud, on a budget. I think i ended up with 13 speakers in a standard cab truck. The "best" i had was no name subs from jc whitney, and the best brand, pyramid. Which i think we're the same quality but had the brand on the box. The rest i think i scravenged from old home speakers. And about 3000w or of those combo amp/eqs you could find in the back of magazines. Probably harv 10w of actual sound and the rest in distortion. But it was loud.... : laugh:

My first real subs were dual coil jbl i put in my mustang, urban amps. After that i was on to clarion, jl, rf. I still have jl and rf sitting in the garage for somedayb when j can play again. The current dd is stock. Bmw audio is tied into the car way deeper than j feel like dealing with. I'd probably get a nastygram from overseas if i tried to mod it. And it sounds ok and plays movies, so good enough.

 

I just came out of high school (freshman in college now) and I went for moderately loud, too. I had a basic $100 Kenwood headunit with a Sound Ordnance M-1500 Amp and two 12 inch Sound Ordnance subwoofers crammed in the back of my extended cab. It could shake all my mirrors including any mirrors in the cars around me. Now I replaced the two 12 inch subs with just 1 and I have an Alpine amp now.

 

I’m definitely looking for the built in speaker. I just don’t like the extra wires and gadgets being clipped on somewhere.

 

I bought a kenwood single din BT322U from bestbuy because they price matched the Walmart price. For $70ish I have flawless Bluetooth even with my phone in my pocket and clear Bluetooth while at Bestbuy they had a deal for pioneer 6.5” 3 ways for 40 so I said why not only to be very pleasantly surprised. They have more low end than anticipated so that made me smile.

 

I've never seen one without some kind of external mic. Without a mic somewhere close to you I'd think the sound would be horrible. I'd spend most of my time screaming at my stereo