New England B.S. Thread

Shoot, my bad. Let's see if this works.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_113X8025/Kenwood-Excelon-X802-5.html?tp=115

BTW; the problem with the stock radio is not how it functions but as to how it sounds. If you looked at the output signal you would see that Toyota has played with the sound and not in a good way what so ever! Aftermarket radios have a much more pure sound. You can change all the speakers, amps etc you want but if you have a shitty (stock) signal to start with you're only polishing a turd.

 

this is what I’m considering mostly. A new HU for that reason. Ditch entune. Get wireless phone integration and better sounds. I’ve heard a few people say the tweeter upgrades are good and others say meh. So if I’d spend 100 for meh I might as well save that and just buy a new HU ultimately instead.

 

50x4 seems low for door speakers, no? The Pioneer GM-DX975 has more power at roughly the same pricepoint.

I know it's crazy, but I'm not interested in changing the HU. The only ones I've seen that I like are the large Pioneer ones like the

$1,190 DMH-WC6600NEX 9" Amazon Alexa Built-in, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth - Modular Solutions Receiver

DMH-WC6600NEX, which at $895.00 doesn't do it for me. I have zero interset in the cheapie Joying Androids units running around here. The mids / highs in my truck are fine, it's the low end I don't care for. Between the sub and an amp which gives me channels to play with, I can get 90% of what I want without a $1,000ish investment which works for me.

 

I got the tweeters to put in my taco, but ended up putting them in Subaru and when I’m ready, I will get another set for the truck.

 

Don't get too caught up in the power numbers. One thing we should all know by now is that they do not publish the power numbers of amplifiers accuracy. The 50 watts per channel is probably a conservative number for the upper Kenwood Excelon line whereas the numbers from that Clarion unit you originally posted were probably boosted quite a bit.
It's really about the components inside the units that make up the biggest difference. The caps and the power supply on something like that Kenwood would be not only higher quality but also much bigger. Where the brick style amps will have chips (like a HU would have) the other ones would have the bigger, higher quality pieces. What that does for you is to have more power and sound for when you really need it. It's called headroom or better yet dynamic power. So when a bass or louder passage plays it has the omph to move the speakers the way they should be moving. That Clarion amp is most likely just rated at an single, easy to play frequency. Hence 50 watts of good dynamic power sounds way better and plays louder than 70 watts of some much cheaper unit. Even if the numbers are real.
The best - easy way to tell is to look at the fusing. If a small amp only requires a single 25 amp fuse and the larger one has multiple 30 amp fuses obviously the larger one has a higher demand. Obviously efficiency has something to do with this but since almost all of these are class D amps these days they are all going to be on par with each other in that respect.
It's your truck and your money I'm just saying without going too nuts you can do much better than that Clarion unit. Even that Pioneer unit would be a big upgrade from the Clarion but I still like the specs and flexibility of the Kenwood amp better. But thats just me.

That's a killer HU though!!!

 

Good points all well taken. The Clarion one wasn’t something I had in my cart or something, it was just one that caught my eye at the time. Everything you’ve said when I take a step back and think it through makes perfect sense.

I’m probably 1-2 months out from ordering anything, so we can circle back. I’ll shoot you a PM with my thoughts then.

 

I forget where but I saw that Pioneer elsewhere for the same price, not sure if it's just out for the moment on Crutchfield though. I've been happy with the Pioneer radios and amp I have/had before

 

Sounds good

 

5 to 10 here tonight chaps! My day is shaping up to remounting my rusty sliders (potentially and probably), I guess clearing out and remaining snow bits that gotta go before this storm.

 

Only 2-4 here. The storms seem to track south pretty often over the past couple years.

 

Dammit...you guys sent me down a saturday morning car stereo rabbit hole...
Oh wow look at that..
Hmm...Do I want to go bigger...
Hmm...
No I'm thinking get rid of my steel wheels first...

 

I was planning sliders but those aren’t a need for my road trip so priority today will be starting the sleeping setup. Ripping out the passenger seat and then starting my sleeping platform build.

If I have time this afternoon I’ll start do the sliders. I think it wouldn’t be the worst idea to wait until the salt goes away for the summer too. So yeah this afternoon adios seats!

The idea is to have the passenger seat easy in and out. I need the cable to recal the sensor but the rear seat is probably semi-permanently coming out.

you can have it back.

 

I could use a new drivers seat...I got it with 78K and the previous owner was heavy and ashed cigars in a cup in his lap...Seat smells like cigars in hot summer sun and there are burn holes that were repaired but now have re-appeared...and the seat has lost some comfort...

 

My black truck was owned by a smoker, I bought this stuff online to get ride of the smoke smell. It’s an aerosol that you spray the interior with, close the door on a hot summer day and let it bake in. That, coupled with some charcoal absorption packs under the seats and a cabin filter change and I got rid of the smell. I can take a picture of the can if you’re interested (or, if you’re close, you can have the rest of the can if you want it).

 

It's funny....I've had the truck for 8 years now and I never tried a spray...Let me know what it is. I did the charcoal stuff and it just seems to never end. At least it's a cigar and not cigarettes...
I'd take it in the can too...
I mean take the can..

 

Go to a pick and pluck yard or whatever they’re called.

 

Tacoma seats, in tact...Not an easy find. The air bags are almost always deployed or the seat is covered in blood...

 

I feel like there might be a correlation...

 

My research indicates they are using a human blood based propellant for the air bags...

 

@TreeFortRichard heres the stuff I used/have: