DIY: Basic Speaker Upgrade- 2nd Gen Access Cab

Has anyone heard these? http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Prod...300&i=500SPS69C3&tp=91&tab=features_and_specs

I understand that the sound coming from the speakers is only going to be as good as the head unit that is pushing them but i am curious if anyone has heard these. According the *********, their mounting brackets will work on 6x9s with up to 3.25in top mounting depth and these have a 3 1/16in mounting depth. So i know that they would fit.

I've noticed that sometimes when I get close to the speakers when the volume is turned up (around 35-40 on the stock unit) the stock speakers distort somewhat. Possibly due to the low wattage output of the headunit. Distortion is one of those things that will drive me up the wall. I eventually want to upgrade my head unit to an dvd/nav
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?search=IVA-W205&i=500IVAW205

I'll probably have to get a nice security system and the funds before I start doing that stuff.

 

any ideas?

 

I'll probably have to get a nice security system and the funds before I start doing that stuff.

I added a Clifford alarm as soon as I bought my truck. Best investment so far, neighbor's have had their vehicles broken into twice. I have mine set extremely touchy a mouse fart will set it off.

 

i bought some sony speakers today, 2 6X9's for the front and two 6 1/2" for the back access cab... the guy at best buy told me i would see a diff. but REALLY NEEDED an amp....

this will be the first auto audio upgrade i have ever done and don't know much about it.... what he said sounded ok, he said my stereo probably put out about 7 watts, and the speakers were rated for 40 and 50W's.... so i wasn't putting enough power to them, but if i got the amp that was rated for 40W, i'd see a night and day diff.....

should i upgrade my speakers first and see what i think or u guys think i will definatly need an amp??

ps. i have the bottom of the barrell stock set up, but am not looking to supply sound to everyone at a traffic stop, just a good clear, reasonably loud set up.

thanks!

 

I have not heard the particular speakers that you are looking at, so I can not comment on how they will sound. What I can say is that if they are a well made good quality speaker, then the difference will be night and day compared to the stock speakers.

With this mod done I regularly listen to my stereo in the 45-50 range on the volume dial on the stock radio and everything is completely crystal clear, there is no distortion, or anything. I nly hear the music as it was intended to be heard.

I also doubt that the distortion of your stock set-up has asny thing to do with the low wattage of the head unit. I am pretty sure that it has everything to do with the tiny magnet, paper sincle coil cones, and foam rubber surrounds of the stock speakers.

Pictures of the stock speakers to illustrate my point

 

In general my opinion of any of the guys at best buy is that they couldn't find their @$$ with both hands, a flashlight, and a road map.

Unless you bought some really high impedence speakers (read as over 4-6 ohms) then I would believe that even with the base stock radio you'll be fine driving them. I say just upgrade your speakers, and then take a listen for a couple of days. I suspect that you will be quite pleased and very impressed. If not, then you could add an amp later, change to an aftermarket head unit, or probably pick up the factory six disc changer for cheep on here from one of the guys who has already changed out their head unit. Long story short do one project at a time and listen to it before listening to some highschool kid at best buy making minimum wage and trying to to sell you more crap so he can try to get you to buy the extended warranty on more shit, (that warranty is the only thing they make a commission on by the way)

 

thanks guys!!!

yeah, i'm gonna do my speakers first and then see what i think....

might do it later today, if so i'll throw up some more comments this evening

 

put some sony 6X9's in the front and put two sony 6.5"s in the back.... can tell a diff. but not as much as i had hoped... gonna throw an amp in next and i think i'll be happy.

 

So, I read Maverick491's great how-to on the speaker install and I wanted to add a few pics and tips to help make it go even smoother. His post really covers the main points and my items are just an addendum...

I PMed Maverick to make sure it was OK to post this on his thread so I don't steal any thunder...

First the front doors

I didn't want to drill into the speaker mount adapter so I just routed the wiring harness through an existing hole in the door



Of course, a solution like this can create other problems. I was worried about the wiring harness getting in the way of the window track when the window was rolled down. So, I put a little two sided foam tape on the harness and stuck it to the inside of the door -- and out of the window track.




The next step was to install the speakers once they are mounted on the adapters from *********. However, they are cut so precisely that, even though they *appear* to line up, they are difficult to install.



The first problem is that the provided bolts need to be pre-threaded so they are easily screwed in.

 

The next thing to do was to create a little extra room for the bolts in the speaker mount adapter. I just found a drill bit the same size as the hole and spun it around at various angles to take of just a bit of material for more bolt clearance.



You'll notice that the provided bolts don't have much clearance but they work just fine once you've pre-threaded and made some bolt "wiggle room" on the speaker mount adapter.




I recommend sitting on the door sill and holding the speaker up with your knee to help line things up.

 

Rear Doors

I was able to figure out how to get the rear door panel off -- you need to remove the seatbelt bolt at the bottom of the door.



Close up of the seat belt with bolt removed.



The rear door panels were a pain in the ass to remove compared to the front...but I got them off.



Like the fronts, I didn't want to but a hole in the speaker mount adaptper. And again I was able to route the wiring harness through an existing hole in the door. I had to cut some electrical tape off but it worked perfectly.

 

Unlike the front speakers, the + and - terminals didn't clear the mounting adapter.



So, I removed the speaker and whittled a little off the area for some clearance.



As mentioned in Maverick's How-To, the provided bolts in the ********* kitsfor the rear speakers are completely wrong. Go buy 6 hex head 12 x 1.25" screws from your local hardware store. They work perfectly!



Hope this helps!

 

That looks easy and like it will sound good. Can you install 6" subs in the access door portion of the Tacoma?

 

Access cab doors are set up to take 6.5" speakers. I suppose if you adapted the brackets somehow you could use 6".

 

After talking to a Crutchfield rep, he says that there isn't enough top clearance to mount 6.5" in the back doors of my Access cab, and that I would need to use 5.25" components because they have a lower profile. Can someone please confirm that this is not true and just about any 6.5" coaxial speakers will fit in the rear doors? More specifically, I'm looking at the Infinity Kappa 62.7i.

 

Here's the specs of the Kappa's that you're looking at versus the Pioneer's that I have in the access doors of my truck. They seem to be pretty similar in size. And according to them, it seems as though you would have no problem with those speakers in a ********* mount. My guess is that the problem may be with the crutchfield mount in your case, so the question that you have to ask yourself is if you are set on those speakers and want to pay the extra to buy the ********* rear mounts or if you want to save some money and get a speaker that will fit in the crutchfield provided mount.

Here is what *********.com has to say about speaker size.

"Our mounts are a full 1" thick. This is very important in your Tacoma. Our trucks only have 3.25 inches of mounting depth before the speaker comes in contact with the window. To save you money,we offer some 1/4 inch thick mounts but your speaker selection will be narrowed greatly. We offer 6x9 and 6.5 inch speaker mounts for the front doors and 6.5 inch for the rear doors. The 6.5s are for standard 6.5 inch speakers. Some 6.5s will run larger than others. So enlarging the mounts may be necessary when installing high end components. Have not had any issues with the 6 x 9 speakers. Read our FAQ for speakers that we have tested to work with our speaker mounts. We also offer some custom sized mounts to go with our turn key installation systems."

Specifications Pioneer TS-a1672R
Sensitivity 90 dB
Frequency Response 30 - 33k Hz
RMS Power Range (Watts) 2-35
Peak Power Handling (Watts) 220
Impedance (Ohms) 4
Top-mount Depth (Inches) 1 3/4
Bottom-mount Depth (Inches) N/A
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) 4 15/16

Specifications Infinity Kappa 62.7i
Sensitivity 95 dB
Frequency Response 45 - 25k Hz
RMS Power Range (Watts) 2-75
Peak Power Handling (Watts) 225
Impedance (Ohms) 2
Top-mount Depth (Inches) 2
Bottom-mount Depth (Inches) N/A
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) 5 1/8

 

Does anyone have problems with door vibrations? I just ordered a new amp (Infinity Reference 475a) and speakers (MB Quarts)and have been reading about dynamat, etc. Has anyone used this, and is it really necessary?

Thanks.

 

i just replaced all my speakers and i have some vibration on my driver's side access door.... not 100% sure where it comming from.... i used the orginal speakers as brackets... i cut the cone out of them and used their plastic shell as my mounts, and just screwed my new speakers to them.....

 

Mav491,

Not to steal the thunder from your feet, but to "supplement" your fantastic write up on speaker install, I found this site that also provides pictorial how-to on speaker installations.... I thought may be it could be useful....

http://www.starmanage.com/installation/speakers/


Beside, the chick doing the install is FAR OUT !!

 

Will the factory tweeters hold up to an amp? I have a 70wx2 amp that I'll be installing in my truck for the door speakers. I may just wire up the 6 1/2's to the amp and leave the factory tweets hooked up to my Pioneer 5900ib deck.