Audio Upgrade & Replacement

I see what you mean now. When I faded "FULLY" to the rear, the front's don't work. When I Fade it "Only 1 Notch" back towards the front, the Front speakers come on and are then 3x louder than the back.

You would think that this wouldn't have passed as something they would put in a vehicle, because you do have the argument that the Stereo's EQ doesn't work properly. It can fade to the back, but its not a gradual fade like the HU shows.

 

I am wondering if the Gain functions on the 4-channel amp will work to fix the Fade issue for the back 6.5in or if I will also need the LC7i. The dang line converter costs as much as the amp that I was looking at. lol

 

I just replaced my tweeters with the Kicker/Subaru upgrade and they sound great. I replaced the front door speakers with the Kicker KS 6x9 coax and they sound great to me also. I replaced the rear speakers with KS 6 3/4 coax and that made no difference at all. I am keeping the stock hu. I imagine if I add an amp, things may get better. My advice is if you don't want to add an amp to the stock set up, save your money on rear speakers. Money was well spent on the tweeters and front speakers.

 

What HU did you buy? It seems pointless to keep the factory and spend $200 on an LOC to keep the fade function at this point.

It almost seems like a better idea to just replace the HU "if I can find one that doesn't remove the 2022 features".

I am trying to figure out which JOYING HU will fit the 2022.

 

I went down this road and with all the stuff you need to make the factory head unit sound like it should is not worth it in my opinion . I went with a pioneer unit, and audio control acm amps.One for dedicated bass and the other for 4 channel. Separates in the front, coax in back doors and a 10 inch sub in the passenger rear, and it sounds awesome. Not to mention the interface on the radio is ions better

 

I'm also considering replacing the hu, but I never thought about the controls on the steering wheel how much of a hassle and cost is involved with installation and components from Crutchfield to make the steering wheel volume and channel control work with a new head unit?

 

Piece of cake . If you want to make it easy on yourself , when you order the unit they will sell you the interface which goes behind the head unit. But for 30-40 dollars more they will sell you the radio prewired . ( my buddy did that ) then all you need to do is take the old radio out and plug the new one in and your good to go. Of course then you will need to run RCA s and power lines to the amps but that’s
But I’m sure you know that already . The speaker wires I personally ran what they call speed wire .It’s one jacketed wire that has all your speaker lines and a turn on wire ( blue ) all in one jacket .
But to start with you could order a prewired HU from Cruthfield ( which will actually add features to your truck) throw new speakers in front and back and right there it will sound Waay better. Then if you want to save cash get a jL audio 10 inch powered sub and it will sound really good. Just make sure If you go that route you buy speakers that are more rated for the power of the radio. I would say speakers rated for 75 to 100 watts with a high sensitivity . This way if you want to add more power later you can .
I think that could potentially sound really good.
One radio they had good power on its own is some of the Sony units. They really kick

 

I forget which model but one of the jl audio powered subs fits in the passenger cubby btw

 

my thread is likely going to be buried quickly, but this is exactly why i posted what i posted.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/soundmans-super-simple-speaker-stencils-3rd-gen.777169/

short answer, no, those won't fit.
long answer--even if they did fit, they wouldn't ever sound good. i'm running some of the best 6.5" woofers that i've found that have incredible bass, and are extremely forgiving in terms of install locations. and in the back door, they sound so much like hot trash, i disconnected them after 2 days. muffled, low bass output, don't even vibrate the seat much.

there's only 2 benefits to the rear speakers. 1. for rear passengers so they don't feel like they're sitting in the top back row of a concert. 2. for a doors open party setup. that's it...

 

Have you guys seen this 11.6 inch HU? I am emailing to see if JOYING thinks it will fit or not. I haven't found any 3rd gen photos with it installed.

JOYING Double Din Android 10 Car Stereo with 11.6" 1920 x 1080 Touchscreen 8 Core Fast Boot Car GPS Navigation Auto Radio Receiver Support 5G WiFi, OBD, SWC, Bluetooth 5.1, Fiber Optical Output

https://www.amazon.com/JOYING-Touchscreen-Navigation-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B09KLFQTSC

 

not sure what the question is. I bought the loc to increase the signal strength in the rear.

I wanted to keep the HU to keep all the center dash cluster readouts which you lose some with an AM HU. My OEM stereo ( from a Sienna) sounds awesome now with the FIX86 (suggested by another very knowledgeable forum member). Very happy now.

 

I've seen YouTube vids of similar HU going into the Taco. Stinger, I think? I question their performance and longevity at that price point, however. But that's me.

 

I think it lets the cluster stay behind the steering regardless, no? I think the only issue is having them stay on the HU after the HU is replaced, right?.

I can't see buying the stinger for that price. However the Joying are under 500.

It seems like they do more than the standard Big Brand HU as far as functions.

I questioned it at first, but it looks like they have a lot of models and have made them for awhile.

Two year warranty.

 

No you lose some of the screen tab readouts on the instrument cluster center screen

 

I bought a pioneer HU bit like I said some of the Sony high power ones are really nice I’d you want to do a powered sub and no amps for the front a rear channels
The maestro interface lets you keep most of the stuff on the center display and adds info in the head unit you don’t have with the factory unit .I felt if I was going to dump 4 or 5 hundred dollars to fix a
bad signal why not get a head unit that already has a flat signal out of the gate

 

For anyone wondering about the joying units, I have had mine in my truck since July 2019. Not a single problem with it. Works great still.

 

Maybe because some people like the look and integration of the stock HU

 

What year Taco? Did you have to give up any dash features? If so, what are we talking about? Speedometer? Tire Pressure? Cruise Control Radar?

Even the popular name brands are constantly lowering quality and most components are made in China anyway.

You would think Toyota "a popular name brand" would have kept a decent standard for their Audio, but the 2022 Tacoma's factory stereo is three times worse as the 2017 one.

 

Here are 76 pages for you to read about it.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-audio-build-android-3-way-components-3-amps-wow.576729/