JL Audio C2-690tx "anyone have these?"

Does anyone have these installed?

I searched the forum and one guys said he was going to install them and never followed up.
Then the other post was where someone was selling them.

Crutchfield says they don't fit.

I have a 2022 double-cab

 

Don’t have those, but my Morel 6x9 midbass’ are 3 7/16” deep and fit. Those should be fine, with an adapter that is 1” tall. Metra or TT, or make your own from an HDPE cutting board.

 

Oh, I was thinking it was the tweeter that was causing them to not list it for Tacoma. You are saying it is because of how deep the speaker is?

Do you think the speaker cover will fit under the Door's plastic after that?

I would hate to bump it and break the tweeter.

 

My idea was to get two sets of C2 models "6x9 and 6.5", then put the detachable tweeters from the 6.5 in the dash.

Those are a little expensive.

I am just trying to research and see what is possible and what will sound better.

Do you think the C1 has more or less bass since it is a component? I think that I heard it might have more.

I like Rap and Classical Rock.

Anything I get is probably going to sound better than the factory ones that I have rocked most of my life. I did have a pair of 6x9 Pioneers in 1997 that were amazing.

The C1 JL probably has those beat by a mile.

 

Okay, you threw a lot at me, let me try to answer. Let me warn you, stereo upgrades are a “rabbit hole” that’s hard to get out of.

Before we begin, are you using the stock Headunit, or an aftermarket one?


- Yes, the 6x9 you chose will fit. There’s about a 1/2” from the speaker to the door card, you’re fine.

- You could do the 6x9s you chose, but I would choose a co-axial speaker in back, to keep things even. Putting the 6x9 you chose and a tweeter in the dash would put 4 tweeters upfront. Gets shrill fast, especially when loud.

I haven’t heard the JL C1 components, so I won’t comment on those. I’ll let others who have give their opinion.

 

Ah ok, Thank you for the help. I was going off of the fact JL says these C2 Tweeters are more of a smooth "non-harsh" sound than the C1 Tweeters. "for all I know that could just be marketing to make me spend more"

My first idea was using the c1 6x9 + c1 tweeter in front and a c2 6.5+tweeter in back, and was probably a better idea.

I have the Joying 11.6 HU that I plan to install and it has a built in DSP and Equalizer "so they say".

I have dogs, do a lot of hiking with them every day, and minimal company that rides in the back. If anyone rides in the back, it will probably be my mom just a few times a year, and she is a senior.

So I wasn't too worried about the back seat getting the highs, but I also don't want to make the highs in the front too overbearing.

I think another concern was me thinking that the C1 speakers might be JL's more "starter" level, that may have less build quality.

One of my experiences "back in the day as a kid" was buying 15in Kicker subs, figuring out they were not the Competition models, and being very disappointed in their output.

I plan to document the process of everything on video and upload it, but I am very much still learning what audio equipment is good, decent, and poor quality.

LOL I agree, one hell of a Rabbit hole.

 

Okay, first, using a component set in the rear door means you’re cutting a hole in the door card — commitment.

The big difference in sound between C1 and C2 that I can see is the tweeter. The C1s use an aluminum dome tweeter, the C2s - silk. Some people prefer one over the other, for me it’s silk. I suggest you head to a car audio shop, and bring your own music on USB. Listen to various speakers, see what you like.

 

What size are the back factory speakers? I thought 6.5in?
These C2's "component" were the ones that I was talking about for the back doors and the tweeters for the dash. That is why I was thinking about C2 6x9 "coaxial" for the front doors.

However, If that many tweeters in the front is bad, then no.

I am selling the factory HU. It looks like they bring decent money on Ebay. I am fine with cutting/mounting if need be.

Yeah, I went to two different Audio Express shops and both of them barely had any *working* setups.

They did have a Kicker setup and I just wasn't a fan on that one. I guess it had a muddy sound to it.

I will go back to Vegas and see what other shops might have demo systems and I may even wait for some kind of audio convention to roll through.

 

I like that idea of Mid-bass. Did you have to modify the doors a lot to keep them from falling apart?

 

I used the term “midbass” because they have really good power to my crossover point (80Hz). The back doors are 6.5”, but I’d recommend coaxial.

What I did to my doors is a layer of deadener on the outer skin. A layer of closed cell foam behind the speaker. I cut some HDPE cutting boards to seal the holes in the door panel (3 per door I think), then a final layer of deadener.

 

you seem fixated on jl? is there a reason for that? lots of options on the market.

i will say that the majority of audio brands do game their lineups to give the better performance to the higher dollar speakers. generally the higher end speakers justify the price point using more exotic materials and wordier descriptions.

imo, a quality off-brand poly-cone/rubber surround speaker is the same as a name brands 'mid-range' offering that will end up being 2-4 times the price. but the off-brand model won't give you bragging rights in the high school parking lot.

kicker, jl, alpine, pioneer, most of the big go-to brands, you're buying into the brand more than you're buying a pair of speakers. it was an important realization to me, as i couldn't care less what brand something is, i'm burying the speakers into the door panels anyways, so i prefer to care first and foremost how it sounds to me instead.

 

Like I was saying, I haven't purchased hardware for 20 years. So I really have no clue about what companies have lowered their materials quality to save money. I hear rumors and opinions, and like buttholes, everyone has one. lol

The JL thing was only because *most* people said that JL makes good stuff, and no one had complaints other than JL's cost.

So I was going with the one rule that *usually* works of, "you get what you pay for".

I look at something like JBL and see a company that is willing to sacrifice their name for a Toyota deal. Since everyone has said that the Toyota "premium audio" is junk.

I see some companies using shady marketing like 1000W!!!!!, but the Amp can only do like 300w.

I have seen a few bad products from Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, but they have also made amazing speakers in the past.

The issue is just me being an ol' man and not being up-to-date on what the companies are doing.

I have been on a few car audio forums and discords, but it hasn't helped me decide much. Most people that don't have a lot of experience will just tell you to get what they have, which in the back of their mind helps them to justify their own purchases.

So it has just been hard to figure anything out.

 

When I suggested going to listen to speakers, I meant the design not the brand. Listen to some aluminum dome tweets, silk tweets, paper cones, composite etc. Try not to think brands, think what sounds good to MY ear. You mentioned going to Vegas (ROAD TRIP!!!! ) and listening to some speakers. Perfect! Just remember, buying speakers is a compromise. A set may have 1 or 2 things you want, but 1 or 2 things you don’t. Like a marriage, except divorce is cheaper with speakers.

 

Thanks for the insight. That is very true, each speaker has its own profile of strengths and weaknesses. Nothing is 100% quality on every frequency. I like Classic Rock / Rap and would probably go for something that favors Bass, but not so much that the Treble is bad.

 

Then I would look at the Morel Tempo Ultra 692 MkII. Smooth treble, and great low end, from my experience, down to around 60Hz. And with the Metra adapter, they WILL fit. Don’t listen to Crutchfield. Don’t know how they measured, but I have them installed and can still roll down the windows with no interference. You DEFINITELY need to amp them though. I have 150w on mine, and they sound great. I’m considering moving up a bit in power, but don’t want to mess with a good thing.

 

i feel like there's a lot to unpack here

i don't really think that it's a 'lower material quality to save money' sort of thing. it's more like comparing a brand new mercedes s 500 to a brand new toyota corolla le. functionally, they perform the same task, moving people/things from one place to another. they both have engines, they both have wheels. but one starts at $110,000, the other starts at $21,000. toyota didn't lower the material quality to save cost, they simply went for a different set of design parameters to meet a similar end goal.

speakers aren't any different. as the mercedes, there are functional improvements to the basics that can offer a better experience that are sometimes omitted for other models for cost/lineup reasons, but there's also a certain amount of prestige and rarity that is intentionally added on top of those functional improvements to justify the increased price point. not a single one of those high end mercedes customers would be ok with fabric seats. but leather seats in the corolla, we would all expect to have to pay more for.

**fair warning, i've personally "gone off the reservation" in terms of speakers that i run. i refuse to use 'car audio' brands because i got tired of the hidden games, and run speakers that i locate via aliexpress, parts express, and madisound, to name a few-- speakers that have full spec sheets and detailed writeup's denoting their internal component build-up. the speaker review crowd on parts express is generally also more cynical, that will put a 2-star review on a $400 speaker 'because it's not as natural sounding as my fostex home theater speakers'. most reviews generally try to neutrally portray the speakers characteristics, positive, or negative. car audio speakers, just trying to get the t/s parameters is nearly impossible sometimes. and most reviews, are just horrendous. "REPLACED BLOWN SPEAKERS, A/M RADIO SOUNDS GREAT NOW!"...**

so all that out of the way, my experience with car audio is that each brand tends to create a 'characteristic sound' or 'tone', for their speakers. kicker is one of the top brands at this, and by chance of their choice, has excelled in the newer powersports category due in large part because of it-- they're a very loud and in-your-face brand, characterized in their speaker tone, and that's perfect for a noisy open-air utv bombing through sand dunes while cranking 'highway to hell'.

so all this past is building to a point. that point is that you need to try to define what you're looking for. just as you picked a tacoma over a colorado, frontier, or ranger, every speaker brand has similar features in a different flavor. while i understand it's not as easy, the idea of going an trying out different brands is to figure out what flavor works best for you.

generally speaking, whatever the lower/middle range of any brand sounds like, the higher end of that same brand is going to sound better, and more 'full', but still maintain many of the same tone characteristics. so if the highs seem too shrill with one brand that all you can think of is "they must've found the cowbell", try another. if the other doesn't seem to have the singers voice as clear as you remember, try another. just as the colorado/frontier/ranger aren't fundamentally better/worse than the tacoma, speakers need to suit your preference. that's probably the hardest part of speakers-- it's such a personal preference that a simple 'yes, these are the best' is some of the worst advice that just leads to disappointment.

as i said in the earlier post, a lot of car audio focuses on paying for a name. the alpine pdx v9 amps i run have exactly identical spec's to jl's hd900/5. but it retails for $400 less, resells for even less than that. when i'm burying the amp behind the seat, or in a trunk, i can't justify spending an extra $400+ for a name for the same end result.

as far as jbl 'selling out', i refer to the earlier statement-- 'they met a certain set of design parameters'. fundamentally, it is a better sound system than the non-jbl system. but, as i said earlier as well-- everyone's got a different set of their own idea of sound 'flavor'. so the people crying that it's crap, while they have a point, it's not the full story.

i've sat in some of those high-end cars and listened to the sound system. i think those oem sound systems sound good, but not great. that's also why i build my own, and choose my vehicles in a way that i can be sure i can build my own sound system.

the trick here is to look for a standardized rating system. that exists now for amps, but not speakers.

if you decide on an amp later, you'll want to look up CEA-certification ratings. that is a common standard that any model tested against will at least be on level playing field.

the other trick, if you need to look at amps that aren't cea-certified, is to compare specifically with the RMS wattage. there's still methods to trick those numbers, but most reputable amp models are going to hold relatively close to reality.

personally, i haven't seen any 'amazing' speakers from any of those 3 brands in my lifetime. i started with pioneer stuff because i liked their radio's in high school, and kept getting let down. kenwood has always come off to me like a copycat to pioneer. almost everything they do is identical to pioneer in one way or another. many of the adults that i grew up around always talked up sony, so i've always watched their speakers, but the only notable sony speaker i ever recall were the pentagon-shaped subwoofers in the 90's. and even those never caught on...

most car audio brands, believe it or not, are still doing what they were doing in the 90's. there's been significant advancements in amplifier packaging with digital class-d amps, and some of the radio functionalities, but speaker-wise, there's been little to no advancements. the only things that's really changed is a few of the players.

here's a list of car audio brands, though i disagree with their ranking system. keeping an open mind can end with some interesting results. the formative years of my car audio building were with lighting audio speakers, and you can see how they rank..
https://gear4wheels.com/car-audio-brands-list/

go play in some car audio shops there's a lot of brands out there that all do the same thing in similar price points, and sometimes the more obscure brands are the best ones to watch for!

 

Ok I know Im Arriving late to the party on this comment
But after spending money on numerous combinations of tweeters and mids this is what worked better for me
I did installed the 6x9 JL audio speakers shown in this picture and I had no problem whatsoever they fit perfectly with the meter brackets provided by Crutchfield
I also have the C7 tweeters on the dashboard actively powered with a JD 400/4 JL audio and Mosconi DSP (possibly getting a cleaner amp in the future but this is more than enough at this point)
I can assure anyone this combination works I’m able to equalize through the dsp and dial the sound I was looking for.
plenty of mid bass and clear and loud mids and highs.
You can get so much midbass that you won’t even need a subwoofer at times!
However I’m running a tw3 12 inch JL audio with the RD500 amp
If you’re still looking don’t waste your money with anything else.
I obviously invested in some sound deadening material for the two doors
After I showed a few shops in my area they were surprised how good the system sound and they thought I had more expensive speakers
I don’t have pictures of the 6x9 installation but I do for the c7 tweeters

 

do you have pics of the 6.5 install? what model of the DSP did you use?