Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

Hi all. Finally did the Subaru tweeter swap today. It really was super simple. My take on it is it really is worth the money. I've had the truck for a year and a half and always felt something was missing in the sound. From an audio perspective, I'm getting a better sound all around now (bass, treble, and mid). The main reason why is because the tweeters give you a better range to balance an increase in bass and treble. If you try to get a deep bass with the stock system, you will not have a good sound balance with the muddy tweeters. These tweeters allow you to get a better sound all around. Definitely worth the $100. The Kicker door speakers are next but in a couple of months. Thank you for the instructions.

 

I'm a Bit skeptical on this set up … I see a lot of people are happy with this set up but do these actually sound good on a stock head unit I have the entune premium system not the jbl one. Will this unit actually push these speakers to where u have good bass treble and mids . Better than stock ??? I've heard these speakers in a store display but they were running on a aftermarket stereo head unit .. I ordered the Subaru speakers already gonna try those out first since I feel the stock stereo does lack the clarity . The reason I'm asking about these speakers is that if you go kicker website they recommend these to be ran with a amp . max power handling is like 350 and the rms on these 150 ?? running a stock head unit is like 22 rms I believe but it might be even less . for those guys who have done this install what's your 2 cents . I tried even googling this set up with no videos on this .

 

Noticed you have an Access cab and did the speakers in the rear doors as well. I'm going to upgrade the front door speakers but I'm unsure if I will do the rear door speakers.

Did you notice a big difference in sound quality by doing the rear upgrade (assuming you didn't do both sets at the same time)?

 

I originally was just going to run the Subaru/kicker tweeters (I started the “EASY Tweeter upgrade” thread way back) and keep the factory speakers. The improvement made just by changing out the tweeters is pretty dramatic.

When bshammer0 came out with this thread, I was intregued.....and then i finally decided to change out the door speakers with what he recommends here. Honestly, i think it was completely worth the cost to do the doors. The factory head unit powers the kicker CS speakers well and bass response is great.....sometimes I’m actually a bit surprised that I get as much bass as I do from these. The kickers are a huge improvement over the cheap-ass stock speakers in terms of clarity and punch.

My advice.....install the tweeters.....try it for a while and see if the improvement is enough to satisfy you (it may be). If spending a bit more for door speakers is no big deal for you, then I would not hesitate to go ahead and do them. There is significant improvement using the kicker CS.....totally worth the price IMO.

I will also mention that these kickers need some “break in” time. Initially I was not blown away by the sound after install.....but after a couple of weeks, bass output had increased and the sound improved significantly. Been running them now since last winter.....no regrets....sound great!

 

I did the full kicker upgrade.
4 speakers and 2 tweeters with the non jbl setup.
While it is a great improvement over the stock setup, it doesn’t really increase the volume if that makes sense.
It is much better “sound quality”.
However, it isn’t too much louder.
I feel like the full upgrade, which includes an amp and sub, is the way to go.

 

I did both at the same time.

 

Yeah, unfortunately more volume requires more power.
I would actually say that you lose some volume when replacing the stock speakers. Those factory speakers are thing paper and tiny magnets. New speakers are much thicker cones and MUCH heavier magnets, which require more power to match the same volume level.

That being said, loss of max volume is 100% worth the gained clarity. But adding an amp will always be worth it, and adding a sub will round out the system for sure

 

I just did this to my access cab last night. Tweeters and 4 door speakers. Very pleased with the sound quality. I can’t tell that the sound is any louder, but it is much clearer. I lowered my volume by about 10 on my drive to work this morning and I still feel like I’m hearing it more clearly than before. It actually cancels out more road noise than I thought it would. I’ll eventually do some sound deadening to the doors and roof, but it performs great for now.

Very pleased. Nice job OP!

 

Looking to maybe change out my door speakers as well now and I'm considering getting the JL Audio C1-690 components 6x9's. They have an in-line crossover for the tweeter, so would I be able to use the ********* adapters (or build one myself if anyone knows what kind of connector I need to order as I've already thrown away my stock tweeters) without running new wires through the door? I'm thinking I would just need to create a Y above the connector so that the full signal flows to the door woofer and the tweeter, so long as I don't remove the in-line crossover to the tweeter correct? Pardon my paint skills:


Otherwise I might just keep the Subaru Kicker tweeters in and toss the JL tweeter but that seems wasteful to me...

 

Are this plug and play?

 

Yes it are......

 

I've read through some of the 156 pages on this thread but not all, so forgive me if this has already been discussed. I've got a 2nd Gen Taco (2012) with the tweeters in the door. Do the Gen 2 trucks use the same tweeters as the Gen 3? I'd rather not tear my door apart to find out.

 

Ehh, not really how these are wired up. Glad you drew the diagram though so we know what you are seeing in your mind.

At the tweeter connector, two of the wires are coming from the radio, and the other two are going out to the door woofer. To use the JL speakers you listed, there will be some cutting and splicing involved. This can be done with simple butt connectors and a pair of crimpers. Or you can solder if you prefer

for the drivers side for example

connector will need to be cut off (cut it with maybe 2 inches of wire left on the connector so it can be re-attached later if need be)

Purple/black (+) and purple/white (-) are coming from the radio
Dark green (+) and light green (-) are going to the door woofer. Splice these together, and also splice in the + and - for the tweeter crossover. Now, you have a signal going from your radio to your door speaker, with the tweeter wired in as well

passenger side colors are
purple/red (+) and purple/green (-) from the radio
grey (+) and blue (-) to the door woofer

 

Are those Subaru tweeters the best bang for the buck. Or is there a better option its kind of odd to replace Toyota tweeters with Subaru tweeters.

 

Well, the tweeters are made by Kicker.
They make a full custom-fit system for some subaru models. The tweeters just happen to fit in many toyota vehicles as well.

 

I now see that after I looked at the tweeter. Thank you.

 

2nd Gen Tacos are not a direct swap for these Tweeters and will require a different option given the tweeter location for your vehicles.

 

Thanks. I saw this other post about different tweeters in the door, but are there other/better options?

 

Can you mount the ones up front without cutting a hole in the screen? Just want to keep that factory look if possible if not I will probably end up going a different route to avoid cutting holes in my door panels.

 

Yes, just remove the door panel and mount it in the original tweeter mounting spot