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what would an added amp do to stock

Discussion in 'Audio & Video' started by Tommy, Dec 11, 2010.

  1. Dec 11, 2010 at 11:10 PM
    #1
    Tommy

    Tommy [OP] Well-Known Member

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    If I added an amp to the stock HU and speakers would it improve the volume level? Sound?
     
  2. Dec 12, 2010 at 12:45 AM
    #2
    dolbytone

    dolbytone Well-Known Member

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    It would eat your stock speakers.
     
  3. Dec 12, 2010 at 9:31 AM
    #3
    mrmumbels

    mrmumbels Well-Known Member

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    I just added an aftermarket hu and it made it sound a little better.
     
  4. Dec 12, 2010 at 10:28 AM
    #4
    daggertats

    daggertats Well-Known Member

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    undercover tonneau ,bug deflector, removal of all tacoma emblems added a set of component speakers behind the rear seat egr in channel window visors
    i added 2 speakers in the rear of my reg cab and changed out the 2 in front doors with the same ones i added in back. kept the factory radio and it sounds alot better with the new speakers .
     
  5. Dec 12, 2010 at 10:31 AM
    #5
    Sproulesxrunner

    Sproulesxrunner Well-Known Member

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    Too much for TW to know
    I think it would be a lot of work and not much benefit. If your going to take the time to wire all of that up, do it right and get a HU and some decent speakers.

    If your looking for a quicker alternative you can change the speakers, then you don't have to run new speaker wire to each speaker.
     
  6. Dec 12, 2010 at 12:12 PM
    #6
    liinxcore

    liinxcore Well-Known Member

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    It all depends on the size of the amp you use. your speakers will definitely play louder, though you will want to replace the speakers ASAP. the tweeters are really good that come with the truck, so you will be fine not replacing those and getting a cheaper speaker (non component) if money is your issue.
     
  7. Dec 12, 2010 at 3:38 PM
    #7
    btuner

    btuner <<<<>>>>

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    I've ran amps to stock speakers in vehicles before with surprisingly good results, it's always better to over power speakers then to under power them.
     
  8. Dec 12, 2010 at 5:23 PM
    #8
    81shark

    81shark Well-Known Member

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    just spend a few dollars are replace the stock speakers. they are junk
     
  9. Dec 13, 2010 at 8:01 AM
    #9
    Mr Marv

    Mr Marv 1-831-383-0308 7am-10pm pst Vendor

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    I'd also spend the money on new speakers before buying an amp to put on the stock ones. :)
     
  10. Dec 13, 2010 at 10:21 AM
    #10
    btuner

    btuner <<<<>>>>

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    Aftermarket speakers powered by the factory headunit over stock speakers powered by and aftermarket amp? The factory HU is terrible.
     
  11. Dec 13, 2010 at 10:38 AM
    #11
    dolbytone

    dolbytone Well-Known Member

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    This is the order in which I upgraded my stereo. Each step was a vast improvement.

    1. New HU - you'd be surprised how much better your stock speakers sound through a new HU, (get a good one).
    2. Subwoofers - I had a low 120W amp and it ran out of sack before the door speakers but it helped fill in some missing low end and sounded fine at low/moderate levels.
    3. Door speakers and 5 channel amp - This was the final step. It gave my system the power I wanted.

    I had to install this system in stages because of the expense. It wasn't feasible for me to run out and spend 4G on a stereo all at once and I didn't want to compromise on equipment because of price, so I did it in this order. The order in which you do things may vary, I for instance had an amp I could use for sub temporarily until I had the cash for the one I wanted and I already owned the sub drivers. If you do not, you might want to do the door speakers before the sub. On weekends I would take small parts of the truck apart to deaden and run wires. By the time I had all of the components for the system I had all of the wiring and deadening done.
     
  12. Dec 15, 2010 at 11:28 AM
    #12
    DevL

    DevL Well-Known Member

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    No... over powering speakers burns the voice coil. Underpowering just means less volume. The factory speaker have magnets the size of a thimble.
     
  13. Dec 16, 2010 at 10:24 AM
    #13
    Mr Marv

    Mr Marv 1-831-383-0308 7am-10pm pst Vendor

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    It appears I didn't actually answer the OP's questions :eek: which were "If I added an amp to the stock HU and speakers would it improve the volume level? Sound?"

    An external amp would make it louder as mentioned however the stock speakers cannot handle much more power than they get now before melting (they put the bass limiter in the headunit for a good reason ;)) so I'm not sure how much benefit you would get from more power.

    Improve the sound?
    There is no amplifier I am aware of that can reduce/eliminate the excessive objectionable distortion from the speakers nor can an amp miraculously allow the so called "tweeter" (it's actually more of a "mini midrange") to extend higher than it is physically capable of so IMO unless you like louder distortion with limited top end ambiance I would say an amp will not improve the sound.

    Ideally I would say replace it all :D however I know that is not feasible for some. In my experience with these trucks I have found that keeping the factory headunit while replacing the factory speakers with a "good sounding" fairly sensitive 6x9 component set that has adjustable tweeter level and doing a little acoustic phase manipulation goes further in initially "increasing SQ" so IMO that gives more "bang for the buck" where sound is concerned when doing your system in steps.

    On the other hand I have found that adding an aftermarket headunit while leaving the stock speakers makes it sound "different" for sure and possibly a bit "better" probably since you usually get more processing ie crossovers/eq than the factory headunit has. The drag is an aftermarket headunit still cannot correct the shortcomings of the factory speakers however I find a lot of people that need to do their system in steps prefer I change the headunit first mainly so they can have things like navigation, video, bluetooth, ipod control etc.

    "Sound quality" is very subjective and in any case I cannot hear what you can hear and you cannot hear what I can hear so our results may differ! :)
     
  14. Dec 18, 2010 at 1:08 AM
    #14
    Tommy

    Tommy [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Thanks all for the replies! I think I may go for the new HU first even though I really like the way the stock one looks.
     

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