Speakers

I'm looking to buy a pair of rear end speakers for my 2000 Toyota tacoma. What ind of speakers do y'all have in your tacomas? I'm looking for speakers with power, possibly a good bass to them. Thanks!

 

I have 2004 double cab with front and rear door speakers. They are 6x8 factory but you can put 6.5 round in both. The front door requires trimming on the plastic external protective housing to get it over the speaker and the rear requires you to remove plastic stock mount and drill custom mount holes. I recommend 6.5 size because of the great amount of selection at this size. 6x8 are not very common and 5.25 round just don't cut it. I have Polk Audio 651s and each door... great quality at a reasonable price. Of course, you need an amp to get full potential out of them. They are rated at 60Wrms and I have 45Wrms going to each with an Alpine amp. I cannot turn them up all the way because they get ridiculously loud. But even loud, they are very good sound, no discernible distortion, and handle the highest highs, pounding mid range, and some 'ok' bass. You really need a subwoofer if you want bass. I'm building my box for a 10 inch now.

 

I installed Kenwood 6x8s front and rear in my doublecab this weekend. Don't have an amp running to them yet but they sound much better. Much clearer and better bass. Money well spent in my mind.

 

honestly i work in a stereo shop i would get memphis pr or hybrid imagines. best two imo

 

I have 5.25 Rockford Fosgates in front and 6.5 Rockford Fosgate in the back And 2 6x9 2 ways Rockford's with a old school 1984 model punch 45 running the 6x9's. It sounds fantastic in my Tacoma. So clear and crisp with just the right amount of bass when it is cranked up.

 

Running Rockford fosgate 6.5s in both with a component system up fornt ran by a rockford amp, for bass ive got a pioneer ran to a jl slash 500W

 

I have the Polk Audio 651s also. Best bang for the buck IMO.

I am powering them with a 2-channel 75 watt amp (Sound Ordinance, got it on sale for $50).

Great speakers. But do yourself a massive favor. Sound deaden your doors properly. It makes a world of difference.

The Polks won't give you bass like you expect from a subwoofer but with properly deadened doors they give some great sounding/hard hitting mids.

 

I have a 1985 Punch amp (75 watts) in my garage from my first car (hell it was a hand me down from my brother).

I can't let go of it.

 

I had a punch sub for a while haha RF makes some quality products for sure

 

Which Polk audio 651s y'all have?!

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB651S/Polk-Audio-db651s.html?tp=105

 

Yeah I know what you mean about keeping it. I have people all the time wanting to buy my old stuff. All I know is that they don't make stuff like what you and I have now. It can make 10's or 12's pound really hard just a Punch45 or Punch75. Alot of people think that the Old School 45 and 75 or just that a 45watt or 75watt amp. But it is like a 500w or more amp the way it is built. Thing is mine is still working, it is pushing those 6x9 2ways hard even though there rated for 150 watts a piece. I have all the rf gain turned down also. It sounds so good with everything working together. Crisp Clean music with not overbearing bass that sounds like thunder coming from a mile away which annoys so many people. But all those young teens look over at this old fart and say to me that sounds good. Watcha got in it and I tell them some old cheap Wal-Mart crap.

 

Tell me about it.

My home system also has, from 1987, an Adcom GFA-545 amplifier powering a Canton 12" passive sub.

The sound is friggen amazing.

 

Same here... they are $58/pair on Amazon right now. You'd be hard pressed to get better at this price imo. But there are better out there, its just gonna cost you.

 

Those polks aren't bad for the price that's for sure. They will not give you a clean sound but will be louder.

Whenever anyone asks me to suggest a speaker I ask "how much are you willing to spend".. Hearing true sound comes with a heavy price tag for most people. I have friends who say a 1000$ stereo in a truck is overkill. Then there are people like me who are saving for a set of speakers that run $5k for the set.

 

I got my truck about 15 month ago and went through the same thing. The factory stereo pretty much sucks ass. I don't need some mind blowing system but the factory system was not going to cut it. I first installed a Pioneer AVH-P2400BT Head Unit. This was great because it has all the features of a modern deck and the Bluetooth is pretty good. I was still not happy with the sound so I installed Alpine SPR-68 6x8 speakers in the front and back. This improved the sound and compared to the factory system its like day and night but it was still lacking in base and mid-range. I think the location of the speakers affects the sound in a way that prevents any good base/mid-range. These trucks are small and that's the price you pay. I then installed a Bazooka8" Subwoofer BTA8100FH. This made a difference that exceeded my expectations. I have a hard time not cranking up the tunes now.

 

Of course "what's your budget" is the first and foremost question.

I was just giving insight to my experience which is on the low-end of what you could spend on a system.

And no matter how awesome the speakers you put up front paired up with a head unit and/or amp... they're not going to give you ultra clean sound if you don't do anything about how resonant the doors are... or to break up the backwave a bit.

I hope you're talking about $5000/pr for home theatre speakers because spending that much on audio speakers is asinine IMO. But hey, if you can afford them (for either home or car) then all the power to ya.

 

I run 5.5" infiniti's in the door
A kenwood head unit circa last year, a 200watt amp hooked to two 6x9's behind the bench seat.

the rear speakers are tight behind behind the seat lol

 

It's funny that you said this; I have been dealing with an inability to properly adjust my sound system to where I like it on and off for years. I had 4 Infinity Reference speakers (they are just OK) a 10-inch RF sub in a box and a very capable RF amp. But I always found that I had too much bass, but yet not enough. In other words, too much boomy bass but not enough of the stuff that you feel in your gut.

By using sine wave test tones and an SPL meter, I finally determined that my doors and rear panels light up (AKA resonate) at roughly 70 Hertz. I disconnected the rear speakers and notched as best I could 70 Hertz using my head unit and what a difference! The super-low frequencies come through nicely now without being overwhelmed by boominess.

That said, I am too lazy to take apart my doors and add Dynomat or a cheaper equivalent. But I totally agree with your suggestion that the doors (and the rear panels in an Xtracab) need to be dealt with if you want balanced sound. I got closer by doing what I did, but I could do much better with some door work.

 

The difference is night and day. I spent $120 on sound deadening material (covered both doors, rear wall and rear quarter panels), $90 on a head unit, $50 on an amp, $100 on a pair of speakers... spent my own time installing everything and it sounds great.

Could it sound better? Of course but for under $400 total I feel like I got the absolute best bang for the buck.

In due time I will add another pair of Polk 651s in the rear and an 8" sub in the rear passenger side storage cubby, powered by a 300 watt amp.

Once that happens my system will sound amazing.