Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

They've said it many times over changing the rear speakers will not make much of a difference because of the oem hu. Replace tweeters and sound treat your doors then go from there.

 

Following the OP’s line of install is there any merit in upgrading the speakers beyond the original? For instance, going with Kicker KS components or JBL? Keeping the head unit the same (or upgrading to Pioneer) but staying away from amps and subs. Or are you putting perfume on a pig at that point? I’m no audiophile but I am discerning enough to know stock sucks. Thanks.

 

I've read many positive comments replacing the tweeters vs few positive comments that mentions replacing the door speakers made much a difference due to the oem hu. I've also read a comment or two sound treating doors with stock oem speakers made a difference, didn't read that didn't do anything bad of it. It all depends how far the owner wants to take it, what's gonna satisfy your listening experience, the amount of money your willing to spend, etc., LOL, it's a subjective matter.

 

In short Mark it's complicated. I am not an audiophile but I have been building my own systems for years. Since I'm not an industry insider I rely on Crutchfield (pick anyone you like) to help me build my systems. I do a fair amount of research to buy compatible equipment based on Crutchfields' recommendations. We're lucky here that a number of people have first hand experience with the Tacoma and we get the benefit of that. I came into this conversation purely by accident, not realizing how poorly designed the 3rd Gen Tacoma sound system is, until I bought mine. I was shocked frankly. It's something of an oxymoron to run wires and only 5 watts power to rear speakers in any modern 4 door vehicle. Toyota would save money by saving the wire and speaker money rather than installing something so useless.

Having said all that...and to be clear I have not done this work to my Tacoma yet.... Mine is a '22, had it 2.5 months and just haven't gotten to the sound yet. I am building a plan to upgrade my SR5 DCLB that will include keeping the stock HU and adding Subaru tweeters, Kicker speakers in all 4 doors/Noico, and a Kicker Key Amp. Later I will probably add a powered sub to round out the install. This is largely based on my install experiences and recommendations from people here. I have changed out several HUs in other vehicles (for me and for friends), installed patch products to retain steering wheel controls, installed powered and passive subs, amps, run hundreds of feet of heavy guage wire, and prefer to work with Kicker equipment because I've grown comfortable that they are quality components. Of course everybody will have an opinion there but I find something I like, that works, and that I can afford and I stick with it.

I'm choosing to keep the stock HU because frankly I like it, 5 watts to the rear aside...it looks good, has all the controls I need it to and properly amped will be easier to work with than installing a new HU.

You asked about Amps...in my opinion you can't get the same quality (volume and clarity) without an amp properly matched to its environment. I am an electrician by trade, originally in aviation, now in traffic lights. I set up my amps with a multimeter and ensure not to overdrive the HU or the speakers. It's an important part of the install and widely overlooked or done wrong by people who don't know what they are doing. I never run my HU more than 3/4 volume because across all my reading, that's the distortion point. So at no more than 3/4 volume from the head unit an amp gets me where I want my volume. The clarity comes from buying quality products and there's a long line of opinions out there on that topic. Typically I set my Amp gains at no more than 50%. Again, I've seen distortion (signal to noise ratio) set in over that threshold and then you have diminished sound quality and run the risk of breaking speakers/equipment.

So, the answer to your questions, in my reading here and knowing what I want from MY sound...if you can tell your stock system is lacking and want more then go with an Amp for the 4 doors, that means replacing the stock speakers because they won't tolerate amp wattage. The improvement in sound quality over stock will be night and day. Can you replace the factory speakers without amping? Sure but I'm in there already anyway, might as well get the most out of my work. And unamped, while improved, you'll still be limited in volume by your HU.
The Subaru tweeter upgrade alone, is the only change that doesn't require amping...it's a 30 minute job, literally swapping out those two little speakers, and is night and day difference. That will be the first $100 I spend on sound. All totalled I'll spend:

Tweeters:$102
Speakers: non-component, 2 way coaxial 6x9 up front and 6.5 in rear-probably Kicker-probably around $350.
Noico: $40-50
Wire: $50 maybe
Amp: $500. (Yeah I know)
And then $300ish for a powered sub (probably Kicker also).

I don't think $1500 is too much to spend because sound is important to me. For that money you'll have volume and be able to hear every instrument being played. I'll save money doing the work myself, not everybody can do that. That's an additional expense if you can't.

Let us know what you end up doing. Love hearing the results!

 

Thank you for your time. I will probably do the same. Just do not want to over do it. I've done that in the wrong places on my Tacoma already.

 

I just upgraded the tweeters and have some Kicker front and rear door speakers being shipped. I have never upgraded a system before but my buddy can help me with install. It looks like from your write up that I should go ahead and add an amp.

which one and whats a basic rundown of what the install will look like? I dont need step by step bc my buddy will be able to handle it.. just asking right now to build my understanding of the process.

 

Hi, welcome to the conversation, and congrats on your new truck!

In short, it sounds like you're on the right track...starting with the tweeters. I'd enjoy hearing how big a difference that made for you...having not even gotten there myself yet.

What I intend to do is pull the HU out to gain access to the speaker wires coming out the back. I usually splice into them with heavier 14-16 guage wire and run each one to the amp...it'll be 2 wires for each output (1 positive and 1 negative), 4 speakers so a total of 8 wires that you'll make heavier gauge wire and run to the amp. Then coming out of the amp that's another set of wires (8) that will be the same heavier gauge wire and run From the amp To the 4 corners (each speaker). Being sure not to accidentally cross polarities anywhere in your work. You want all your speaker positives to be connected to amp positives, and then to the HU positives in turn. Crossing or introducing a negative in there somewhere will likely give you diminished output to or from that speaker.

Again I haven't done this work on the Tacoma yet but I assume there is a port in the back of the HU to hook up your connection for a sub if you chose to run one. I'd be looking for that now while you have the HU loose and make those connections now. Then run that wire to the back (usually 12 to 20 foot) depending on the routing. The same way you would the sub in a home theater system. Most people want their sub booming under and behind them in what industry people call "establishing the sound floor". If you have no intention of ever adding a sub none of this matters. I want it. It's a big part of my builds.

As for amps, sounds like everyone is liking this Kicker Key listed in the products below, but that one says it's $499. It's not the one I'm going with. The Kicker Key I want is the 200.4. It is only 50 watts per speaker and I'm hoping that's enough. What I do like about it is it's compact. It can be mounted in the dash behind the HU and keep an awful lot of that wiring tucked up out of the way. Here's its info:

"Automatic high-fidelity
Now you can get fantastic, high-fidelity sound without shelling out a lot of money for complicated gear or spending too much time tuning the system after installation. Kicker's KEY200.4 compact car amplifier features automatic signal processing that tailors the sound for your specific vehicle's interior space. This 4-channel compact power pack will send 50 watts RMS to each of your front and rear speakers — way more more than twice the power of a typical aftermarket receiver, three or four times the power of a typical factory radio.

KEY Auto Setup tunes in minutes, not hours
After installation, you set up the included calibration mic, start the test noise (downloaded from Kicker), hit the activation button, and the KEY Auto Setup software automatically sets the crossovers, 40-band EQ, and time-aligns the sound for the front seat driver. Then later, with the button, you can A/B the before- and after-processing sound, to amaze your friends and family.

Advanced features
You can manually enable Auto Compression, for a more consistent and safer power output. A limiter kicks in and lights up when it detects clipping, letting you know that something's too loud. A Bi-Amp mode lets you actively run tweeters and woofers without a passive crossover, by applying customized active crossover settings during the KEY Auto Setup process.

Start-Stop problem solved
Some eco-friendly cars actually turn off their engines when stopped, and then start up again when the brakes are released. The voltage dip during starting could shut down an amplifier or allow it to pass a dangerous clipped signal to the speakers. The KEY200.4 prevents these issues by automatically engaging its limiter in these circumstances.

Integrates well
This amp's so tiny, it'll fit almost anywhere in almost any vehicle. Kicker's FIT2™ technology, using speaker-level inputs with DC offset sensing turn-on, ensures this amp will work in just about any system, even one with a factory radio. The Radio-Detect switch makes sure you never get a "No Speakers Detected" message on your receiver's display when you install this amp."

They make it sound like it does all the tuning for you.

That's it for now...that's all I know right now.

 

With the kicker amp, its rated 4ohm and the JBL setup is at 2ohm. Wondering if you had a plan for that?

 

Hi, if you're asking me? I've been talking to folks with non-Entune/non-JBL Systems which is what I have. If you have Entune and JBL you have a higher model TRD, TRD OR, etc...and I think most of us assume you folks are happier with what Toyota put in your truck.

 

Yes, I was referring to your post. The title of this post was talking about “Premium” audio so I made an assumption theat meant JBL but that setup makes sense for the non-JBL. I really wish I didn’t have the JBL as it’s making things harder and more expensive. Ha

 

Why not just keep the factory amp and stereo with your factory JBL system and just upgrade the speakers? Lots of options available in 2-3 ohm that would work. JBL makes several.

 

Back when this thread was created, there were 4 stock Entune head units:

- Audio
- Audio Plus
- Premium Audio
- Premium JBL Audio

This thread is specifically for the Premium Audio Entune head unit, as Audio and Audio Plus don't have as much power as Premium, and Premium JBL already has upgraded speakers.

 

Wow....I've been wasting a lot of people's time talking about non Entune issues on the wrong thread. My bad. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Yea, this thread has kinda evolved into a discussion about any speaker/sub/amp upgrades. it's all good.

 

Hey! I have changed out my front door speakers and the sub and I have not had success in improving the sound. I think it needs more power to run better speakers in my opinion, I saw someone else mention this as well. I am considering a new amp for all the poor speakers to supply better quality power and more of it.

 

I’d be concerned on burning up your head unit. You just lowered the impedance it sees.

 

I've got the Subaru tweeters on order...I'm thinking I'll be happy with just swapping the front door speakers with the Kicker CS and not doing anything else. I don't really care about having audio in the rear at all and it sounds like without an amp or HU swap those won't produce much sound anyway. I am cool with keeping the soundstage up front.

Has anyone done just the tweeters and front door speakers and are you happy with the setup?

Also maybe a dumb question...but if I don't care about rear sound...would setting the Fader all the way to the front send any extra power to the front door speakers or do they get the same amount of power regardless?

 

Wow! Lol.

 

After finding out that 6mt trucks do not get the JBL system i have now looked into this option.

I’ve read a good bit of this thread and have come down to what I think is the best option for now

I am planning on only replacing the tweeters with the Subaru ones, and then replacing the front door speakers only, while adding some sound deadening to the inside of the doors. I am looking at using the JBL Club 9632 for the fronts.

My question is if there is any better options for the front doors?

 

I'm curious as well.

Interested to know if going with a speaker that's rated for a lower power better matches the stock head unit and would work out better.