Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

Is the bass at least still the same for the door speakers if not better? Past experience with speaker upgrades I typically lose bass without an amp on aftermarket speakers.

 

I would have to say the bass is a little better, nothing earth-shaking, you'll need an amp & sub for that. It's definitely not worse than what I had with the stock door speakers. My EQ set for two marks above middle for bass and it thumps adequately for my taste.

 

Would appreciate help please! I have a 2019 TRD PRO, which here in Canada comes with 7" premium model (NOT JBL, that's only in the US). I have 30 years of automotive engineering background so the swap itself is manageable, but have some issues afterwards. The front door panel on the driver side rattles when playing mid amount of bass-oriented music (there is also some minor rattles on the passenger side, but not as noticeable). If I put my hand against the OEM speaker grill and put some firm pressures by hand, the rattle will stop. I noticed that that OEM speakers had foam materials on the plastic "lip" that goes against the door plastic trims, so I replicated and put some foams on the kicker speakers as well, but this did not solve the problem. I did not put any sound deadening materials, but upgraded all 6 speakers with the same spec as it's outlined in this thread.

By the way, I don't think putting coaxial speakers in the door panels are good idea (easy to say after the fact, I suppose), because the high treble from these speakers get conflicted with the already excellent Subaru tweeters and overall, the sound is actually not natural. I think the tweeter replacement is sufficient for those with premium entune... the door speakers only made marginal - if any - improvement overall (perhaps this may be due to lack of sound deadening materials). Anyhow, would really appreciate the best way to eliminate the rattle, which happens every time a music with mid to heavy bass is played. Thank you so much.

 

$120 at Crutchfield for the Kicker CSCs I think they are and found the tweeters for $85 on eBay, makes a world of difference in these things...

After the upgrade:

 

Thanks for the info!!! I used to like loud thumping music and turning it up all the way but as I’ve gotten older, just good all around quality sound will just do. My first 4Runner when I was 17 had 4 JL Audio 12” subwoofers with 2 amps and those days are long gone lol

 

Sorry, can't help you with the rattle but I did share you're concern about having too many tweeters... turned out to not be an issue for me - all i hear are the highs coming from the dash, not the floor.

 

holy smokes? Did you have multiple batteries setup for that kinda noise?

 

Lol no I was young and stupid and went with only one aftermarket battery. Never had my stereo on when the engine was off. Definitely not the right move since all the lights would dim every bass hit so probably the wrong setup. But you live and you learn.


I will say though, it was one of my favorite truck/suv I’ve ever owned.

 

I'm definitely doing this upgrade. For those that went with the Kicker CS speakers, was the volume noticeably better? Did it get louder than before? I'm considering Infinity Reference and Alpine Type-S speakers as well. I don't plan to amp my speakers.

 

Louder, no. Overall better sound, yes. If you want louder, get an amp.

 

Well, that sucks.

 

If you think about it, the power is coming from the head unit, not the speakers. Replacing the speakers isn't going to get you more power, you need an amp for more power. But the good news is, your new speakers can handle the the amped power and you'll have the loudness you want.

 

I just did the infinity reference 6x9 components in front and coaxial in the back. It was 100% worth it. The sound quality is miles ahead of stock. I did lose a little overall volume and a small amount of bass. My wife is a music person and she was telling me she felt it was a little lacking, but she noticed the difference in quality immediately. So I will be asking @destin_meeks for more advice for adding to my setup. Will be looking for a small amp for the doors and then a small sub for the back

 

I think it’s the plastic bolt(clip) holding the panel to the door that are rattling.

 

I installed JL C1-690x 6x9’s in the front of my truck last Friday for reference.

If the stock speakers did anything well, they made a lot of boomy, loud but poorly controlled, bass and mid bass. As others have said it’s amazing they make any sound at all being that they weigh all of a couple ounces at most, hell I think the adapter for the new speakers was heavier than the old speaker, but that probably works ok for the 5w per channel the stock head unit can send.

With just the kicker tweeters, my highs and higher vocals were very clear and clean but lower notes were muddy and if there was any bass it was boomy. Adding the JL’s was like clearing the air of fog sonically; everything is clear now and the speakers don’t distort at higher volumes even if I crank the bass setting all the way up. Up to about 30 they have the same volume and timbre but with way more clarity, but beyond that I can hear them run out of power as the highs stay high but the bass fades.

Add an amp and most of that should go away. I’ve got a Key amp waiting to go personally and I can’t wait.

 

Thank god I found this thread. Just ordered all 6 speakers and am looking forward to doing the install. Been looking at doing a speaker swap ever since I got my truck.

You would think even the non JBL speakers in a $40k truck in the year 2018 would sound good, but nope.

And my god... after seeing pics of those horrible paper tweeters, I can see why. Holy hell those things look awful.

 

First off, and this is just a personal pet peeve, but these are not $40k trucks. They’re $25k trucks (assuming DC) with upwards of $15k in options as you climb the trim levels.

Second, the tweeters are arguably more robustly built than the door speakers. It really is amazing how light and flimsy they are.

 

Right. So it makes it even more crazy that you still get bad speakers even when you upgrade to the higher trim levels, unless of course you buy the premium package which includes JBL. From what I've heard even that speaker system isn't very good though.

 

how do you like those JLs? I'm assuming those oare the the coax and not the component version?

 

Correct, they are the 2-way Coax versions.

So far I like them a lot. They complement the kicker tweeters really well. They aren't overly bright together on the highs, and the mids blend seamlessly between the two. Bass is lacking at higher volumes but I think that's a power issue more than a speaker issue as I hear the lows and mid ranges roll off as the volume goes up so I'm withholding final judgement until I install the Key amp. I have noico'd the doors, though not as extensively as some as I think I covered around 30% of the outer skin, less on the inner.