Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

Checked and everything is secure and all the wires are in good shape. The sound quality isn’t terrible it is just lacking compared to where it was a couple years ago. Less clarity in the tweeters and mid range. Bass isn’t as loud or pronounced as it used to be. I can can no longer hear as much detail as I could before. Seems to me a gradual degradation rather that something broken or loose because it took me several months to notice. Not terrible and for $250 I wouldn’t hesitate to throw the same speakers in again if it does in fact get gang sound quality back to where it used to be. The truck has had a hard life, being subjected to a lot of off-roading harsh conditions and miles.

 

I've had all Kicker speakers for about 4 years / 40k miles and noticed that my passenger Subaru tweeter is blown. I have a random mix of kicker equipment--- started with the popular Subaru OEM Tweeters, then went with a 5 channel amp to power my doors and Kicker shallow mount 10' sub (Comp RT). For the doors I went big in the front with the Q Class (pretty pricey and not sure they were worth it), and the rear I just CS like most others.

My long winded lead is to see if anyone has suggestions on getting a better tweeter than what most of us have gone with? I didn't mind them, but I also think its weak that the only non powered speaker in my truck, is the first to blow.

 

I haven't tested them, but the ds18 seem to be a popular alternative given the price...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ds18-pro-st-tweeters.750464/page-3#post-27398942

 

How do you know if you have the non-jbl base head unit vs non-jbl premium head unit?

 

Should be able to tell by year and model Tacoma.

 

Start with this post to determine the model number of your HU:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...r-less-than-250.510424/page-236#post-27359742

and use the results to determine what you have here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-entune-radio-head-unit-comparison.682700/

If you don't have a "premium" Entune head unit, only upgrade the tweeters... unless you want to go whole megillah.

 

2023 offroad

 

In addition, your truck's sticker should have "Premium Audio" on it if you have a non-JBL Premium HU installed. Entering my VIN into mytoyota dot com lists all the options my truck was outfitted with. I bought used, so didn't know. I have a Premium non-JBL based on both the mytoyota site and doing the test I wrote of above.

 

Mytoyota dot com doesn’t seem to work for me. I get a generic website. It says ED Audio Plus: factory under my truck specs on the Toyota app. Not sure if that’s what you were referring to.

 

Or toyota dot com / owners.... My truck's "Specs" read, in way of interior options and audio: "Entune Prem Audio w/Integ Nav & App Ste: 7" Hi-Res Tch Screen, AM/FM/CD, USB/AUX, Bluetooth, HD Rad & SXM w/3mo Trial"

But "ED Audio Plus" implies, to me, that you have a non-Premium Head Unit. E = Entune. I assume the "D" refers to "Denso Ten". Look at the second link in my post above that describes the variants of factory head units. "Base" and "Plus" are non-premium. There are two flavors of Premium: JBL and non-JBL.

 

Ok thanks for the info. My interior options just says: “Fabric-Trimmed Seats w/ Power Driver Seat Audio- 8-in.Touchscreen w/6-Speakers, Android Auto & Apple CarPlay Compatible SiriusXM w/3-Month Platinum Trial Qi Wireless Charging Dual Zone Auto A/C w/ Rear Vents” so I assume it’s not premium.

 

You can also go out to your truck, turn it on, press and hold the AUDIO button, and turn the headlights on and off three times to put the radio into service mode to look up the model number, and then compare the model number to the list to see what you've got....

 

or just tip the rear passenger seat forward. if you have the oem sub, you have the jbl system.

 

PO

Or just look at a speaker grille...

If you need to determine what non-JBL system (Base, Plus, or Premium) you have, it takes a little more work...

 

It’s the 86140-04230 which confirms I have the E Tune 3.0 Plus.

 

So with this bit of information what's your opinion on ditching the tweeter and fitting something like

$45 Kicker 47KSC2704 2.75" Mid-Range Speakers, 4ohm with Brackets for Select GM/Chrysler/Subaru/Jeep and Toyota Included

Kicker 47KSC2704 KS Series 2-3/4" midrange car speakers and then doing a 3 way in the door? I know I'm quoting something from 2018 and I still have alot of reading to go but I try to get as much input as possible so I can do this once the right way instead of the trial and error way. My wallet nor significant other will allow for trial and error

 

Not who you asked, but that's a lot of tweeters. It has been done though. Were you planning on keeping the factory radio, upgrading the radio, adding an amp, adding a sub? What's the budget? If you're keeping the factory radio and not adding an amp you don't have much to gain beyond upgrading just the tweeters with the kicker Subaru versions or the kicker 2 3/4 versions you linked. That would yield noticeable, but minimal improvement.

The best results would come from replacing the factory head unit even if you kept the stock speakers until funds were available to upgrade. I would suggest components for the front doors/dash and coaxials for the rear doors over dash tweeters and 3 ways in the front door.

 

Maybe I misunderstand car audio..... lows=woofers, mids= well.... midrange, and highs=tweeters? So in my suggested scenario I'd be removing the dash tweeter and replacing with a mid and then putting a 3way (low, mid, high) in the door. So only one set of tweeters. Am I wrong in that thinking? I'm no idiot but my experience goes back to 6x9s in boxes and a dual sub box in an old s10 extended cab. Been awhile since I've done major audio mods. I do plan to keep the factory radio for fear of losing all of the extra stuff I paid for.... surround view cameras and such that came factory. I haven't gotten into what the maestro adapter will cover if I were to replace headunits. An amp isn't out of the question but want to do speaker swap as a hopeful starting point. Doesn't even have to be done at once. I'm ok with one pair at a time like alot of people have done.

 

I'm also not who you asked, but I'm trying to understand this myself so I'm going to spit out that understanding in the hopes that someone will rage correct me if I'm wrong so we'll get to the right answer eventually



2 way vs 3 way
just refers to the number of drivers in one assembly ... I assume it can be any mix, but with car speakers I seem to find more 2 ways being tweet(high) /mid and 3 ways being tweeter(high)/mid/woofer(low)

Component vs Coaxial
Components are high/mid/low speakers that are separate and a coaxial has everything in one assembly, whether it be 2 way or 3 way



I *think* it was being suggested that you take advantage of a component tweeter / mid/full(?) setup for the front doors and dash, and then go with a coaxial 2 or 3 way in the rear doors to cover more of the low end behind you and limited placement options back there?


What are we doing in 2023?

I have a 2022 with the low(est) power Entune head unit, which means I'm not going to see any real improvement besides doing just dash tweeters, apparently, unless I'm willing to spend more than the $250 that started the thread.

But I'm leaning towards...

- Keep the 2022 low power Entune head unit...
- Run a small aftermarket amp behind the head unit for more power
- Aftermarket component tweeters in the dash
- Aftermarket component mid/full/woofer(?) 6x9" in the front doors
- Aftermarket composite 2 or 3 way tweeter/mid/full(?) 6.5" - 6.75" in the rear doors
- sound matting in all four doors

I want to try this and THEN I'll see if I really need more bottom end (SUB-woofer) that will take up additional interior space.

I'm open to parts suggestions for sure!

This thread is definitely to the point to where we could use some "this is what I did, I'll explain it like you're five" 2023 updates due to how much there is to search through here. Bring'em on, folks!

 

The 2 3/4” speaker is a mid/tweeter in that it plays upper mid and high frequencies. Thus, putting a 2 3/4” in the dash, and a 3-way in the door is “peel-your-face-off” level of high frequencies at volume. If you, however, like clarity at lower volumes, go for it!

A better option for putting a speaker in the dash and a 6x9 in the door would be https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20648KSS26/Kicker-48KSS269.html?tp=106 . A little extra work over using the factory wiring for everything, but worth it.