Premium Audio Upgrade- Second Gen Specific

Purpose of this post:
The purpose of this post is to provide a similar level of information as the other premium audio upgrade thread but this will aim to answer a few specific questions that may be lingering for us second Gen-ers. The other thread was geared towards 3rd gens with second gens chiming in This is a quasi write up meaning that I did not go into full detail of every step but rather an outline of the process and highlighting the questions that you likely have.

Things you will need for this upgrade:
- A second gen Tacoma. I have a 2014 with the touch screen entune unit.
- A desire to upgrade your sound system.
- Some very basic wiring skills
- Tools to remove door panels, trim pieces etc.
- 6x9 speakers of your choice, 6.5" speakers of your choice, and tweeters of your choice. see note and the Q&A below.
- NOTE ON TWEETERS: I recommend getting something with a built in cross over like the Rockford Fosgate R-1ts. This makes this as plug an play as possible.

I used the following speakers ordered from CrutchField. Order from them and they will supply all the necessary mounting brackets and plug and play wiring adapters for the 6x9's and the 6.5s:
-Pioneer TS-G690 3 way 6x9 speakers for the front
-Rockford Fosgate R165X3
-Rockford Fosgate R1T-S

other parts:
- The only other part that you will need that has not yet been mentioned are tweeter brackets these can be found on Amazon.
I used these:

Ardour Van Tweeter Adapter Compatible with Toyota Tundra Tacoma Prius Subaru Lexus

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NCZ9PMS?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image

you will have to cut the opening to make your tweeter fit. I used a dremel to make the hole larger.

So here is the juice......
Alright so I was planning on doing this little upgrade for a while now but I ran into some questions and comments that seemed common for other second gen ers. See below:
- How do I upgrade the tweeters?
A- Buy replacement tweeters that are 4ohms, and are small enough to fit in the factory spot. If you want this to be as simple as possible buy ones that have a built in crossover. Buy the mounting brackets for the tweeters that I mentioned and install them onto the brackets. Then for the connection piece... see below on re using factory harness.

- Can I do the Subaru tweeter plug and Play?
A- If you really want to yes you could- there is a thread on here where someone literally modified the plugs so that the factory 2nd gen plugs into the Subaru tweeter. I am not going to find that or recommend that for 2 reasons. 1- those tweeters are 100 dollars and are still probably sub optimal quality to a true after market tweeter. 2. you will spend more time modifying your connector to make it plug and play than doing what I recommend below. If you can make 2 butt connections... then go my route.

- "putting in after market speakers with the stock Head-unit is a waste and will make it sound worse"
A- yes and no. Simply put the issue here is the factory head unit is only capable of delivering so much power to any speakers plugged into it. Chances are that you are buying speakers that can handle way more power than the stock unit can provide. HOWEVER to those that say this is a waste of time to replace factory speakers on stock head unit are... well... naive (to a degree). I say this respectfully because for the AVERAGE person that wants an all around audio upgrade- this is worth it. **Given that your components work properly and you do not lose any specific sound ranges when swapping speakers.
Some people have mentioned that they lost specific sound ranges when they swapped speakers on the factory head unit. I am sure that is the case- but with the components I installed it truly ENHANCED my audio experience. So I cannot speak for every speaker... but if you were to install exactly what I did- you will not be disappointed. It is more of a case of "you will not get 100% utilization of the speakers you put in without an amp. So if you want to make full utilization of the aftermarkets get a 4 channel amp to supply power to the speakers. I did this thinking I would want to ad an amp; but I feel there is no need to. I am satisfied and this is coming from a 23 year old that constantly blasts music.

- The original front speakers are not 3 way like the 6x9's you have mentioned, will this make it sound weird?
A- No. I don't know the specifics so I will not try to explain. In my opinion there is nothing weird that I hear...

- Can I reuse the factory tweeter wiring harness to wire my new tweeter?
A- YES! this was the most interesting bit for me to explore when I was planning my upgrade. here is what you do to reuse the factory wiring harness of the tweeter.

1- remove the tweeter.
2. Cut the tweeter wires AT THE TWEETER as close to the connections on the speaker as possible.
3- CRITICAL TO UNDERSTAND- the wires that are attached to the tweeter are flipped- as in the red wire on the tweeter is the negative, and the black is positive.
4- get your aftermarket tweeter and the harness you cut from the original tweeter and some butt connectors...
If you followed my directions to cut the wires at the speaker you will have a red wire and a black wire (from the original tweeter harness)
5- connect the red wire from the factory harness to the NEGATIVE of your new tweeter. Generally black.
6- Connect the black wire from the factory side to the red (positive) of your aftermarket tweeter.

Install all the other speakers and most important of all... enjoy!

Let me know if you have any questions. I genuinely hope this quasi-write up helps.

 

Nice info

 

I assume a DMM set on DC would indicate which tweeter feed wire is positive/negative.

I have an '06 planning to do this in the future using Pioneer (TS-A692C) up front with Pioneer (TS-A652F) in back.
Then after the speakers and when budget allows, the HU will be replaced with a Kenwood unit including GPS.

BTW, nice detail to clear a few questions for those of us not wanting an audiophile type spend.

FWIW, resistors are not directional. It could be on the either +/- side of the speaker.

 

Great information. Good to know there’s an alternative for the tweeter speakers.

 

You will not be disappointed. Sure thing! That was the goal of this- it is far too easy to get lost in information that is influenced by different expectations.

I appreciate the resistor bit- I'll edit so I don't catch too much hate . In any case simply put- the black wire on the factory tweeter is positive.

let me know how your upgrade goes! I appreciate the positive feedback.

 

Of course. If you go with these tweeters you will NOT be disappointed. I appreciate the feedback.

 

This is not the case. You need to use a phase testing tool.

 

Ok.....what is the downside if the +/- get crossed in the connections????

 

phasing and/or wired jumping around of the soundscape image

 

ummm.....please rephrase that for a grade school education in audio.................

 

phasing when the music starts around 1:00 https://youtu.be/iG-tQSvLt2k?t=60

sound jumping around would be a high pitched sound (like a classic Whitney Houston high note or a guitar solo going for some high notes) that is supposed to be center in the image would ether jump to one side or sound like it is coming from the extreme left and right with a hole in the middle

 

When speakers are not in phase with each other you get cancellations, time alignment will be 180 degrees out on that speaker, total output and staging will be affected, and unless you have a DSP you’ll have no recourse to resolve it without correcting the wiring.

 

Got it. The 180 out with cancellation falls into my experience.

Used sound cancellation to "quiet" enclosed industrial air compressors.

+/- switch doesn't really matter, if all speakers are wired the same way........yes?

 

depends on the crossover(s) and/or filter used
without going to deep:
capacitors pass high frequencies and block low frequencies
resistors pass low frequencies and block high frequencies
hooking the filter in backwards may change the way it works do to seeing the compoints out of the intended order

 

Which wiring harness did you all use to retain the factory steering wheel controls after replacing the radio?

 

Im the OP I did not replace the stereo unit. But... if you want to: crutchfield should have the harness if you buy a unit from them.

 

Thanks, i was able to knock mine out this weekend using a Maestro and TO1. Kept steering wheel controls and kept rear view image in the mirror and on the new radio

 

When did audio stuff get so confusing

 

@Chris(NJ) Love the truck in your avatar. This is my dads

 

Thanks! Looks like he has a beautiful example as well! These trucks are amazing. Don't ever let him sell it!