Speaker Upgrade

It's miles ahead of what we paid for and received in a rav4. There is a guy trying to get a class action lawsuit together. The rav4 premium with JBL sounds about as good as an alarm clock.

 

I'd get in on that if it's for the tacoma...

 

Seriously? You had a chance to listen to it, and if you didn't and paid for it anyway, how is that someone else's fault? That's like saying you paid for a blue car, and later decide it's not quite as blue as you want it to be. I can understand being disappointed, but that is about as frivolous as suing over hot coffee. The JBL system in our 4Runner actually sounds pretty good, but it's not the same level that you can get going aftermarket custom and that's not what anyone should expect.

 

I'm not suing, lol. I said someone was. My comment was that the Rav4 JBL sounds terrible compared to the tacomas JBL. It has about 25 percent the volume my 13 year old Tacoma with JBL has. Toyotas response was that it's designed to save energy or something like that. You should listen to it, my dad's 86 Ford sounded better. FWIW I found the Tacoma JBL to sound quite good, I just can't fit in it because of the moonroof.

 

Sorry, when I said "you" I really meant anyone in general that thinks this is something you should sue about, like the guy trying to get together a class action suit. Sounds like the RAV4 system is really bad, but once you buy it, you are pretty much accepting it's performance. TBH, I didn't even realize my wife's 4Runner had the JBL system at first. She had to have the moon roof, so I guess it came along with it. When I got my truck, I was disappointed that the sound was so much worse than hers, then I saw she had the JBL and was like, duh, I knew she had a sub in the back. Hers is great for a stock system, but I don't expect much from stock. My 2012 non-Entune sounded better than the Entune Premium in my Pro until the speaker upgrade, but again -- I don't expect a lot from a stock system.

Cars used to come with a single speaker in the middle of the dash. And there's this thing called "AM Radio" that we used to listen to.

 

In my case I had to order the truck in the color that wasn't available in my region and there were no JBL tacomas within a 100 miles to demo...
So had to order it sight unseen.
This was my first Toyota and all I heard was how dependable and great they were. Aside from well documented issues I've been pretty happy especially after the OVTune I installed but for the extra $800 they charged for the upgrade I expected better sound.
Honestly it's very mediocre but I took a chance so that's on me..
Now if someone knows if a speaker upgrade can significantly improve the sound quality without replacing the head unit I'd be grateful. Seems the non JBL crowd is having decent luck. Has anyone done a speaker upgrade on the JBL with good success...?

 

Probably not lot of JBL guys combing through this thread. I'd start a new thread about upgrading 3rd gen JBL and see if you get some hits. Good luck.

 

How plug and play are these? Wiring isn't an issue it's more the mounting I'm concerned with.

 

Yeah, sucks having to pay that premium for something not so premium. I didn't even notice when haggling for the 4Runner, now I need to look at the window sticker to see how much they were screwing me for that. But, the wife got her moon roof.

I think @ToyoDrew had some knowledge that he shared in another thread. Somebody posted pics of the stock JBL speakers, which seemed to have bigger magnets than the non-JBL, but they looked to be about the same general construction. I believe the front speakers are also wired in series rather than parallel, so wiring gets a little more involved. Just plugging your info into Crutchfield reveals some options that are quite different from non-JBL. Seems you could do Memphis Audio in the front, but rear they only have component and you'd have to mix another brand in.

Might be best to call Crutchfield and talk through options . . .

 

The Focals made for Toyota should bolt right in. Order from Crutchfield, and if they don't work it is easy to return.

 

What he said. The Focal IC 690Toy is plug and play. Has the Toyota mounting brackets installed and plugs into the OEM connector. The RCX-165 came from Crutchfield with the no charge Toyota mounting brackets and wiring pigtails to plug into the OEM connector. They also provide concise install instructions specific to your vehicle. Crutchfield is very customer service oriented and will gladly accept returns if you are not pleased with the item after installation.

 

The stock HU powers em fine?

 

Yes. The guy at Crutchfield said that the Entune head is actually a very good unit and no need to upgrade.

 

Word. Thanks for the info

 

I think you will be very happy with Focal. I just installed the IS690Toy kit which includes the front tweeters and the sound is night and day from stock.

 

It's not too treble-y is it? I appreciate a full sound with decent mids and lows.

 

I was reading about those in the 2nd Gen Area and sounds like some guys removed them and sent them back because they thought it was all highs.

 

I don't think it sounds to trembly at all but I am no audio expert by any means. The reason I upgraded was the stock speakers just sounded dull and like they were underpowered when I would turn the volume up and the focal speakers just sound so much better to me.

 

It’s a 6x9 component set with a separate tweeter you can put where you want

 

No pu

Put the tweeter in the door. Component sets sound better with the woofer and tweeter close together. That way you have full sound range from the door. Keep the kicker dash tweeters!