Tacoma OEM+ Stereo for those interested

I noticed two different systems for the Tacoma on their website. Same price. Does anyone know the difference?

 

On the third gens it is a different system needed in the Access Cabs than the Double Cabs. Same prices but sub location is different (behind the rear drivers side seat in a DC, replaces the arm-rest/console area in the access cab.

 

Finally received my OEM Audio + Reference 450Q and thought I'd share my experience.

Great thread with a lot of great info. I will try not to repeat.

First...Daniel from OEM is a rare find. His customer service is off the chart and I wish other vendors would give half of his effort.

Cost.. Black Friday Sale $1346.78 with the understanding it would not ship until 1/2017 (just received it yesterday).


I also wanted to give a shout out to Jason at RAAMaudio http://www.raamaudio.com/ with an excellent package containing mat and ensolite. This was my first time ever doing this on any of my vehicles and it was very easy to work with. Simple scissors cut the mat and ensolite in workable pieces. No fumes. I purchased the "Package 1" and I still have some left over. I did all 4 doors but not the back of the cab as I was running out of gas. Very pleased with the "thud" of the doors now.






Sound Deadening $185.96 (I now see it listed for 159.96...). Use promo code raampack1 (worked for me for a slight discount).

My goal was to keep the factory head (I have the Tech package) but to get the same sound as was in my 2016 435xi with the HK package. I can tell you the sound blows away the stock unit. Is better than the JBL (wife has 2014 T4R limited with JBL...very similar setup as in the Tacoma JBL). But not quite as good as the 435. I think I would have to sound deaden the entire cab to get close to that setup plus I believe that has more power and speakers.

That being said, I'm very pleased with the results of the sound. It's not the boom boom window shaking sound you may expect with this price tag, but it's very clear...very full...and very satisfying.

The kit is literally plug-n-play. Definitely looks like a factory option. Some notes..

- The speakers alone are a huge upgrade. Stock speakers are very weak. Here are some pics comparing stock and oem. My buddy asked me what one weighed so I also have a pic of the weight of stock vs OEM.












- Kit has top notch packing. Nothing was damaged. Everything was labeled and very well packed.

- The sub woofer has two connections. It does not matter what connector you use. They are interchangeable. I sent an email to Daniel about this as the pdf and video do not show what connector goes into what receptacle. BTW.. He responded to my email within 10 minutes.



- Expect a full day for install. I did sound deadening so it took me 1.5 days. It's not hard work, but time consuming. Watch the video a few times before doing the install and you will be fine. Take your laptop out to garage for references. "Hard" is relative to experience. I consider myself pretty mechanically inclined but not an audio install expert.

- The grey and white connectors to the DSP... in the video the unit is reversed with the connections facing the drivers door. In the PDF the connections are now facing the passenger door. The pdf has the correct plug placement.

- The mounting bracket for the DSP will need some bending to hook up. Not a lot, but some to make it hit the slip on bolts. No big deal, but don't expect to have it line up perfectly.

- Make sure on every panel you remove (and there are a lot) you make SURE the white or red clips all came off. If they are still in the door or pillar remove them with needle nose and place them back on the plastic you removed. When re-installing they have to be on the plastic part or they won't work.

- The interior door handles have clips that remove easily. I didn't remove the cables (left the handles attached). When re-assembling the door panel the inside door pull clips right back into place. Either option works, but after I removed the cables on the first door, I just removed the door pull assembly on the other 3 doors. A little easier to put back together.




- Get a blanket to place over door sill. Your back will thank you because fishing the cables up under dash is a joy...

- Get a panel pull kit from Amazon. Well worth it.

$6 KLTECH 4Pcs Auto Door Clip Panel Trim Removal Tool Kits Thick Plastic Car Tools for Car Dash Radio Audio Installer Pry Tool with Paper Box

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNMLQAG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1




Would I do this mod again knowing what I know (and hearing) now? Yes. Money is relative to who you are speaking with. For me I believe the results justified the cost. Plus I love moding my vehicles... just like everyone else on this forum.

 

I started my install today also.

I only did the door speakers and tweeters as it was raining and light was fading. Huge improvement with just those alone. I took my time, broke no clips. I also left the handle cables attached

Having smaller hands would definitely be helpful with the front tweeter bolts. A longer 10mm wrench works best I found (after the dash ate my smaller one Hopefully I can find it when I pull the kick panel on passenger side)

I'll run harness and sub tomorrow

 

I did the install on my 2017 Pro this weekend. I also ordered during the black friday sale as mentioned above and got it for the same price. The install took me a solid 4.5 hrs. I was already familiar with removing many of the panels and trim pieces so if this is your first go a removing them then I'd expect to add a couple more hours to the install. The install video they provide is invaluable. The way I approached the install was to watched each step of the video, pause it, then execute that step on the truck. This made the install a breeze...I never needed to refer to the paper install guide. The hardest part I found was running the yellow amp power wire from the head unit area over to the end of the glove box....it just takes a number of attempts to fish over there. I ultimately had to remove the dash speak grill again so I could see when the wire made its way over there so I could then reach my hand up from the under the glove box to grab it. Had I done this from the start I would have save myself about 20 mins (and a lot of swearing). I will also echo the comments about Daniel's customer service...nothing short of amazing. I had a couple questions during the install and each time I called he picked up the phone and answered for me.

The end result is an amazing sound system that puts the factory system to utter shame. If you're looking for a THUMPIN' system with a ton of bass, this isn't for you. However if you're looking for a system that delivers a full, crisp, quality, and very clean sound, then the OEM Audio+ is the way to go.

Well worth the money I spent and would do it again without hesitation.

 

I'm getting ready to pull the plug on this system. I've read a couple of other posts in other areas where 2 people reported their backup camera would not work and the phone would not work thru the speakers. Anyone else have this problem?

 

Nope. Don't even know how either of those could result from installing the speakers and amp.

 

Same as @perkj Don't see that on my truck. The only item regarding the phone is I have better sound quality via the USB hard wire connection compared to bluetooth. But...that is normal. iPhone 6/Spotify 320kbit/s

 

Nope. First I have heard of this. Mine has been installed for quite a while, and works great.

 

I have never had a good sound syatem in a car or truck, I'm leaning towards getting this system.

 

I have no regrets on getting the OEM +. I still think you can likely get an equally good sound system for equal or less money if you don't mind building a custom box and having a more invasive install.

 

Sub for possible future upgrade

 

That adds up to $1450. I'd rather plug and play for $40 more and no permanent mods

 

andrews's solution isn't a permanent mod.

 

Seems you could save a little money buying the system 450q and adding some aftermarket speakers to the doors.

 

Long shot in the dark here but last week I was riding around in a friend's Jeep Wrangler that had the upgraded factory system (factory sub, speakers behind the front seats @ the roll bar, dash tweeters, midrange under the dash) and was blown away by the system's overall quality and volume. We were driving down the highway at 75 mph with the front section of the top off w/ windows up and could hear everything clearly with no distortion whatsoever. The bass was enough to still feel it in the back of the seat.

So the question is...has anyone heard the OEM Audio system in a Tacoma that has also hear the Jeep's factory premium audio system that could give me some sort of a comparison? If OEM Audio can get me pretty close to the Jeep's system, I'll glad spend the $1500 on it.

 

OEM Audio BLOWS away the Jeep factory "premium" system. I have the OEM system in my 2016 Tacoma and it is absolutely amazing. Our Rubicon had the "premium" system in it and there is no comparison. If you thought that Jeep system sounded good, no offense, but your standards are low! Get the OEM system, you WILL NOT be disappointed.

Side note....We upgraded the Jeep system because it was so disappointing. We replaced every speaker with JL Audio, new head unit, JL Audio amp and Sub. Even with those upgrades, the OEM system still SOUNDS better!

 

That's pretty much what I was looking for (minus the insult, of course j/k lol). Thanks for the feedback; think it's time to pull the trigger.

 

Lol...No problem

 

Has anyone on here went from the factory Jbl setup to the oem + setup? I'm not looking to rattle my windows apart but I am wondering if the bass hits much harder than the jbl or if it is not that big of a difference? If you could do it again would you rather go to a custom setup instead of using the oem plus setup?