Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

LOL, yeah, you can go a bit overboard. I understand your dilemma. Maybe @destin_meeks can chime in on what he thinks a Key could do with the 6 inch HU so you retain the factory capabilities. I think it might do fine for the standard 4/6 speaker layout, but not sure how you would get a signal to the powered sub as well without confusing it while it is tuning itself. You could try it without the sub and see if you are satisfied, but if not, you've gone through a lot of trouble to then change direction. You might find that going with a Key and the KS series speakers, you don't need to mess with the sub.

There's probably a way to retain the factory mic, but an aftermarket HU may be tuned for the included mic and it may not work the same with the stock mic. But, that might be the best way to get a sub added and get more power to the speakers. If you plan to power the speakers off the HU, I'd try to find the most sensitive component set for the front and matching rears. But if you are going to go that far, might as well just bite the bullet and build a sub box and amp the whole dang thing.

 

The sub would definitely be the last piece of the puzzle and if the speaker swap goes well it may not happen. I'm actually gonna go a different route for brands and pick up some coaxial Infinity Kappa's for the swap on the recommendation of my co-worker who has tried loads of different speakers and spoke highly of those, especially for running off a factory HU.

I was looking at underseat powered subs for reasons other than simplicity and cost, though. I have an Access Cab and want to retain as much of my limited storage and seating capacity. I identified the Infinity Basslink SM (a cheaper, silver version of the JBL Basspro SL thats mechanically identical) as able to fit under the drivers seat quite a ways so as not to impede storage space in the cab.

 

@TacoToTheHand i am a tundra owner that wanted a basic audio system upgrade (no amp) just aftermarket head unit and slightly better sounding/performing speakers ...my stock front door speakers (long gone now) were the basic yota 6x9s with the stupid adapter/collar built in to extend it outward from the door to not interfere with window clearance ( something that most other auto manufacturers have no problem with ....but ROTTEN toyota seems to make all their vehicles this way to make our blood boil)~~~~~~~~about a year ago when i got my Tundra i looked online and and saw with my tundra it was strongly recommended to replace the stock front door 6x9s with afermarket 6 1/2"round speakers with an aftermarked spacer/adapter ....i did this ..........i am not happy with the performance of the 6 1/2s that i put in and i want to go back to the stock 6x9 size(aftermarket 3 way speakers however)~~~~~~~~i went ahead and ordered the appropriate metra spacer/adapter for toyota doors to accept a 6x9 speaker vs my old 6 1/2 and i ordered the same exact kicker 6x9s that you have ......o0o0o0o0o0o THIS IS WHERE MY BLOOD STARTS TO BOIL~~~~i am having clearance issues with the kickers and using the spacer/adapters....i even tried to rig up some additional home made spacers to allow the kickers to be spaced outward from the metra adapters and it gives me clearance but it also holds my door panel out away from the metal door an unreasonable amt .....

1.) when going from the stock garbage speakers to your kickers with door adapters did you encounter the magnet hitting the internal window/door parts even while using the adapters?

any hints/tricks that corrected this in your install .....or should i assume although the tundra..and tacoma..both require the door speakers to have some kind of stupid collar/spacer,,adapter to be installed the different model trucks have different available backspacing into the door ?

i am trying to avoid having to pack/return ship these kicker 6x9s that i just got and wait for a refund and then having to order a differnt pair of 6x9s that are guarunteed direct fit drop ins no adapter collar required (already built in just like oem ) and wait another week for them to get here ....GRRRR***


THANKS IN ADVANCE ~~i look forward to your reply and any other helpful replies

Dave in Upstate N.Y.

 

@09TundraNY Hey Dave, I'm sure experienced audiophiles will be more than happy to help when they see your post, but I'll suggest positing your querey on https://www.tundras.com/ as theres a chance other (current) Tundra owners have direct experience with the issue and could help with a work around (if you havent already!)

Cheers and I hope it gets resolved, sounds like a bum situation for sure.

 

I have a the 6" deck from the SR5 and a Kicker Key amp. After swapping speakers multiple times and adding the Key amp, I came to the realization that the two rear channels on my Tacoma SR5's deck were defective from the factory but I am past 36k warranty. I ended up running both the front and rear channels off the front channels as a workaround, which of course eliminates fade but I don't use fade anyway. I started with the Subaru tweeters and the Kicker CS 6x9's and also replaced the 6.5" with Morel's in the back after which I came to the conclusion that the puny 6" deck could not push the aftermarket speakers so they didn't sound any better than the factory speakers other than the Subaru tweeter which doesn't require much power so it sounds better than the factory no matter what it is hooked up to. I also decided that I do not like the harshness of the Kicker CS series tweeter. At one point I had some Kicker KS which I wish I had back. After installing the Kicker Key amp and running the tune I was annoyed to find that I did not love the tune, you cannot configure the tune like you can with the much more expensive JL Audio (but the JL does not auto-tune), and you cannot turn the tune on/off when you want to (this really annoyed me). It is either on or off and my amp is hard to get to. The Kicker did sound better and louder (I don't care about loud much) but not where I wanted it. I played with the Deck's treble, mid, bass to get it slightly closer, but I still feel like I need a sub and 6x9's with less harsh tweeters. At this point I wish I had gotten the AudioControl or JL amp with the EQ (much more $$ though).

 

Sub'd

 

Will the Amazon tweeters fit my 2003 double cab or will I need to purchase speaker connectors?

 

@cshrum are you sure these are plug and play for a 2003? I know for sure they are PnP for non-JBL 2016+.

@benfuller do yourself a favor and look at what's in your dash to see if it matches the Amazon picture before you order.

 

Sorry, I ASSumed. Deleted for future reference. My bad, I used my "knee jerk" helpful, instead actually READING all of the question. I am not aware of whether it fits an '03. Thanks for the catch. @mlr69

 

What I did with my front and rear speakers was literally cut the entire speaker from the OEM speakers shell. Then carefully centred the new speakers overtop of the OEM shell and screwed the new speakers into it using 4x small 90 degree brackets. I had first done this on my 2014 Kia Forte5 car, then my 2016 Forte5 and then again my 2017 Forte5.

 

This is what I am currently working on in my 2017 TRD access cab. Might give you some ideas.

 

I did this upgrade with a little twist on the components. Got the Subaru tweeters but went with Morel Maximo coaxial 6x9s and 6.5s and am thrilled with the difference. I got the Morels for $188 total for both sets (on a great sale at Crutchfield) and put them in this weekend. I'm probably going to put an amp in with the thought of doing a sub too, but the improvement over stock was incredible. Most people would be satisfied with this, but I'm not most people I guess...

 

Nice to see someone trying out a different brand. I've been shopping on crutchfield's site, but I need to find the time to really dig in and see if there's one that would sound better than the others.

 

Crutchfield sent the adapters for the wiring and the speaker mounts for free too...that saves about $30-$40 too. Honestly, any aftermarket speaker will be better than stock, the magnets on the stock speakers were so small I was surprised anything came out of them. My daughter and I put the four speakers in with some sound deadening, in about 2 hours. And it's Florida hot, so we weren't moving too fast at the end...

 

Before I upgrade my speakers, I was playing around with the EQ and noticed when I faded it all the way to the rear the volume dropped nearly in half. Is this normal?

 

Yep. Rear channels are severely under-powered. It’s like this in most vehicles with 6.5” speakers in the rear doors

 

Gotcha. Are the fronts 6.5’s as well?

 

6x9 up front.

 

Thanks

 

Would everyone still recommend this upgrade to the CS series?