19 SR utility plug and play head unit upgrade recommendations

Afternoon,

Asked this years ago, just didn’t get around to upgrading head unit.. now that the 3rd gen is at the end of it’s produced run.. what is the recommended plug and play head unit for utility SR? Is there one that works with the CD player in the truck? Or will the CD player still work regardless of the head unit?

 

Had no idea a CD player was still available. That being said if you are looking for OEM you’re probably looking at 2021+ head unit to get Apple CarPlay. But those have no CD. But they will retain all the menu and steering wheel controls.

 

Those 2021 units, are they plug and play, pop off dash panel remove wiring then re wire new unit simple? Would just having a new head unit add any bass or better music sound quality?

 

IIRC my factory 2021 headunit did not have a CD player. It did support AA and CP but barely worked (very glitchy with multiple devices, cables, etc). The 2021+ units are not directly pnp with the older years and you will need to grab a wiring harness that is a couple hundred extra on top of the headunit itself. IMO, not worth it for how crap the stock headunit was and how much everyone wants for them. I swapped mine out for a

$930 Pioneer DMH-WC6600NEX Digital Multimedia Receiver with Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 9" Floating Capacitive Touchscreen, Modular Double-DIN, Built-in Bluetooth, WiFi and Amazon Alexa

Pioneer DMH-WC6600NEX which was mostly PNP with the iDatalink kit + a few extra adapters. I mostly wanted wireless AA, but a more affordable option is the Stinger 10" unit (only wired AA/CP though, which was a dealbreaker for me). Very happy with my Pioneer choice, but there are so many variables when it comes to headunits, need to figure out what works best for what you need & fits your budget.

A new headunit itself usually will not 'add bass' but it will give you much better control over your audio system EQ and allow you to increase the frequencies where you want to. IMO door speakers should not be used for bass, and adding too much is a good way to blow them. But generally, you'll pick up a good amount of sound quality and volume by changing a headunit. The Tacoma stock speakers are pretty terrible and will be the bottleneck to your output after changing the headunit, but it will sound better than it did 100% stock. Beyond that you can upgrade the door speakers, add an amp to boost the volume/rear speaker levels and add a subwoofer to add some lows. Audio is a slippery slope, but a very worthwhile thing to upgrade.

My audio build if interested: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/let’s-see-some-subwoofer-setups.571122/page-38#post-28568827

 

I know there is a thread where a 2021+ unit was swapped in successfully but can’t locate it. I have not done it myself. May be cost prohibitive a stated above. And they are right the performance isn’t that great as far as sound quality. If you really want something that sounds good you’re probably better off just talking to Crutchfield and getting something that has been verified to work properly.