Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

Has anybody experimented with a different brand of speakers (other than the kickers) that our pretty much compatible with the same specs that are plug and play?

 

With the right harnesses (

$18 metra 72-8104 speaker wire adapters for select toyota vehicles - 4 total adapters

metra 72-8104) pretty much everything is plug/play

I really like alpine, jbl, Rockford.

The kicker CS were just the best option for the money, to provide the most improvement over stock. You can dump as much money into audio as you want luckily.

 

How do you mount the feont kicker speakers to the metra adapter?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-new-audio-build-thread.552764/

 

Not trying to be a dick here, but I believe post #1 covers that.

 

If you order from Crutchfield, you get the harnesses and adapters that make any speaker that fits plug and play. I went with the JBL GT7 series front and rear. Since I was not planning to amplify, I wanted to get the best sensitivity and lowest RMS speakers I could find, and the JBL has slightly better specs than the Kickers. But probably not enough to make a noticeable difference, LOL. They were on sale at the time and a little cheaper, so I said WTH.

 

Nope

 

It's been covered in this thread, but the holes don't exactly match up. Start the screws at a slight angle and get them all started before tightening them all down.

 

Well, I installed the Alpine power pack today, and I will have to say it wakes the Kicker speaker mod up considerably. Made a couple of newbie mistakes, as I planned on putting the amp under the dash for easy access. Cut my ********* harness too short for my location, so had to Plan B and mount it in with the radio, which made the harness way too long. Took a little while to get it all sorted and stuffed into the radio cavity, but finally got it. Sounds pretty good, but need to adjust the gain a little more. Slightly annoying that some music from iTunes is at different levels so I have to fiddle with bass and mid settings on some songs. Pretty pleased overall.
As a side note, if your considering the harness from TT, just go to Amazon and by the Metra plugs, some wire, and a roll of solder, and save yourself some cash.....

 

Oh sorry though that was talking about screwing it into the door

 

My Kickers got here yesterday and the tweeters are arriving today. I watched the video you posted in the OP, and I saw the two cables that go to the door handle. I was wondering if you could maybe elaborate a little on this part of the post. What does "locked shut and had to work at getting them reopened" mean exactly? Is it because the cables were reinstalled incorrectly and locked them out or something else? Thanks again for this thread. I have a 700 mile road trip coming up this week and I'm excited about a "new" sound system in my "new" truck.

 

Yes, the door wouldn't open because the cables were inoperative but inside the closed door panel.

Just pop the entire handle assembly out of the door, eliminates the cable issue.

 

Above post covers it. Basically folks have shut their doors without the cables seated completely which has required some acrobatics to get the door reopened. You can remove those door handles out of the door panel pretty easily then you don't have to worry about the cables at all (which is contrary to what's in the video for that one piece)

 

Thanks!

 

Great member name. Steely Dan fan?

 

Yes indeed. Best band in the world.

 

Donald Fagan-The Nightfly. Pretty damn good disc also.

 

Done! Holy dawg! Don't think twice about this mod, just do it! I don't need no stinkin' amp. The speaker swap sounds fantastic! I also added Kilmat behind the speakers on each door outer skin. Front driver door was first, took me about an hour from start to button up. Rear driver side door was next, went much faster, maybe 40 minutes. By the time I got to the passenger side doors, I had it down and it took about 45 minutes combined.

The tweeters were the toughest part for me. My 1/4" drive 10mm socket wrench was too big to get to those bolts closest to the windshield. In the end, I "made" a wrench. I took a 10mm driver bit and jammed it into a 6mm wrench. And by "jammed" I mean beat the crap out of it with a BFH until it fit nice and snug. Improvise, adapt, over come. It worked. lol

Compared to the Kickers, the factory speakers feel like toys. Impressive how thin and light they are, surprised they make any sound at all. Thanks agains @bshammer0 for this thread.

 

I had the whole taco tunes set up sent it back... was not happy with it at all. Ended up doing alpine power pack and a kicker hideaway under drivers seat. Truck sounds awesome