General Car Audio FAQs

I love this feature - built in adjustable parameteric eq used to be a feature only in a competition grade head unit way back in the day. I went with the CDE W265BT.

I'm still driving my speakers from the built in amp, and unfortunitely, what happens is if you find a great setting for one particular song it will sound good only for that one song..but will sound bad, sound like something is missing, or require for the volume to be adjusted for just about anything else.

 

OLD THREAD REVIVAL>>>>>>> SORRY GUYS AND FOR HIJACKING THREAD

@Mr Marv

2014 TRD sport double cab non jbl system

I want to do a little upgrade from stock speakers, I want to keep the factory head unit, I don't want anything crazy just a better sound, for stock the bass isnt to bad at all, but my rear door speakers are blown so I figured might as well replace all of them while im at it.... I just need help deciding, I hear if I spend alot on top speakers I wont get any gain since I have the stock head unit system, so I want to make sure I dont spend more than I should and get bad results.

For the rear I will go with a Coaxial 6.5"

rear Option 1
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_1131666S/Kenwood-KFC-1666S.html?tp=78072

rear Option 2
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206DSC6704/Kicker-43DSC6704.html?tp=78072

rear option 3
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206CSC674/Kicker-43CSC674.html?tp=78072

For the front I get a little confused..... Should I stick with the 6x9"s coaxial or should I go 6.5" component? the truck already has the 6x9 and a separate tweeter so think it might be best to stay that way.
I was looking at the 6x9 front components but their isn't a lot of options and they are really pricey.

front 6x9's Option 1
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_130TSG690/Pioneer-TS-G690.html?tp=91

front 6x9 option 2
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_1136966S/Kenwood-KFC-6966S.html?tp=91


or...... these are the 6.5" front component.

front 6x5 component option 1
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_575R1675S/Rockford-Fosgate-Prime-R1675-S.html?tp=78072&avf=Y

front 6x5 component option 2
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108P6500CS/Infinity-Primus-PR6500cs.html?tp=78072&avf=Y

front 6x5 component option 3
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_236TERM65/MTX-Terminator65.html?tp=78072&avf=Y




any help would be appreciated.... thanks guys

 

I still got the Springs very buddy 1 months from June 1st 2018

 

I still have the Springs if anybody wants them

 

Anything that's not paper cones and can handle at least 200% of the power output from the HU should give a somewhat noticeable improvement. As cheap as new head units are getting these days, you might want to look into replacing that as well anyway (the one in my 2010 started having issues 3-4 years ago, so you might be due for some trouble soon with a 2014).

For the fronts, since the tweeters handle very little power in general, you might do well enough to keep the factory crossover/tweeter in the door and install nearly any kind of 6x9 you can find. If you go that route, don't get too picky with the high range quality on those since a lot of that will get filtered out by the crossover anyway, something that can handle the bass and some mid would be sufficient.

That's all general-knowledge stuff though. it's been too long since I really looked around at speakers to offer any informed opinions on any of the specific models you linked to. If they're a reputable brand (which all of yours seem to be), they should all be fine for your purposes though. Best bet would be to find a stereo shop that has them on demo and check them out in person.

 

Thank you for the info

 

My apologies for not seeing this sooner and hope you got it sorted out. I actually have a few minutes today so I'm just gonna add my 2 cents in case anyone else see this.

Best bet as usual is to actually listen to speakers in a similar vehicle however that is not always possible so you have to rely on others opinions. When looking at reviews I would try to find those from people who are comparing to other aftermarket speakers they have heard as opposed to comparing to factory speakers as it not hard to get better than those. If you are not planning to use a subwoofer and powering from the headunit I would recommend a set of 6x9 components with high sensitivity up front to get the most volume and additional bass from the larger cone. Rear speakers are a personal choice and in any case I would prefer 1 really good set of speakers up front over 2 sets of so-so speakers front and rear to fit the budget. Also, contrary to some belief it's not the shape of the cone that determines sound quality it's the design of the speaker so don't fall into that belief that round speakers automatically sound better just because they are round.

Everybody has different tastes in sound as well as different objectives and as I have been known to say "I cannot hear what you can hear and you cannot hear what I can hear so our results may vary".
That said I like very natural/dynamic music and the top 5 speakers I have ever heard happen to share one thing in common which is they all have paper cones. This is not to say "you" will not be happy with speakers that have cones made of one of the fancy names for plastic or other exotic sounding materials commonly used but don't eliminate a speaker based on cone material since as they say "it's not always what you use but how you use it" (obviously Toyota didn't use paper cones well or you wouldn't be wanting to change them!) BTW, if you look at some "better" speaker manufacturers different levels of speakers you'll notice many use plastic etc cones at the lower levels but interestingly enough their higher levels have paper cones....

Also, I am a fan of keeping the factory headunit whenever possible and contrary to some belief the quality of this headunit is better than many aftermarket units. From a friend who was an engineer for Ford, the factory is more stringent in the oem quality requirements for one simple reason...they don't want you in the warranty aisle having to replace your headunit (same reason for the bass limiter in regards to blowing up the crappy factory speakers)

 

wow.... that was extremely helpful. your a car audio god....

but I couldn't wait, so I called over to sonic electronix and they pointed me to

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-hmDBHOJdAah/p_109CL9630/JBL-Club-9630.html
for the front

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_109CL6520/JBL-Club-6520.html
for the rear

 

Glad you found that helpful and hope your new speakers sound great!

 

Hi Mr Marv, I have a set of elemental designs speakers that can be installed as a coaxial set or as components with the tweeters mounted separately, and a phase plug on the mids. Considering the stock locations of the Tacoma, which installation do you think would result in better sound quality?

 

I have a gen 2 Taco that came with unconnected amps. Does anybody know the alternators reserve capacity? I have the bigger 130amp (towing package). So my worries about overloading the system might be unfounded but the amps are pretty big:
Mono 600W subamp + 100W x 4 channel speaker amp (plus epicenter plus signal processing)
So quick and dirty math says it would draw about 50 amps... I know, only at top volume which would make your ears bleed...
Thoughts anyone? I also off-road this truck and don't need to be stranded in the boonies

 

I'm using a similar amount of power ( just a little more ) with a stock 1st gen charging system. You're fine.

 

Anyone by chance have any experience powering 90.5 dB sensitivity speakers non amped? From what I have been reading , it seems that 50x4 watts on an aftermarket head actually means about 14 watts RMS ( pioneer 2440nex). Looking at Morel Maximo 6s at a pretty good price.

Also....does anyone know if the speaker holes in regular cab doors are smaller then other models? I am told by installers the 6 series will fit with out cutting, Crutchfield says no....

 

With the install complete I can answer my own questions, so in the interest of information sharing, some lessons learned:

All of this information applies to a 2010 regular cab with stock head unit only.

The Regular cab woofer holes are round, not Ovid. A 6x9 will not fit. The doors will however take a bigger speaker then Cruchfield says. The Morel Maximo 6.5s fit fine. Note the basket on them is larger then most 6.5's...... You could go a tad bigger, just watch depth.

For the Maximos I used the Taco tunes 6.5 adapter with a 5.7 cutout. I had a bit of room, I suspect a 5.6 would have worked also. I forgot to measure them, but the actual door holes are at least 6 inches.

I also used the ********* metal adapters to mount the crossover. It fits behind the armrest portion of the door panel. Just be sure to hold the panel up and take a peek behind the door before you mount it to be sure its positioned right. There is a small amount of space....but not a lot.

I have read some negative reviews on them, BUT ********* responded to my emails promptly, shipped on time, and I had no issue with them. The videos on their website where also very helpful.

There is a connecter with a single pale yellow or light orange wire in the factory harness. It is the Dimmer wire. (in a truck with steering wheel controls I think there would be more wires on this adapter. There was one wire on mine.) I would suggest not hooking that up to your new headunit. If your looking for the illumination power, it is in location 10 on the main harness. I believe it was brown. The stock harness connecter is numbered....for my set up, I wired the orange and white pioneer harness wire(pioneer calls that wire "Illumination") to the matching orange and white on the Metra harness (I believe metra called that "dimmer"). That matched up with location 10 on the factory plug. So far its been a week...and the radio has not fried.

The Pioneer 2440 is plenty powerful for a 90.5dbl sensitivity speaker. It gets painful at half volume, and I have some hearing loss! Having said that, if you are really bass oriented consider an amp or a powered sub. I ran RCA wires for a sub and tucked them behind the dash, for future use.

Pioneer HU have a auto calibration feature that requires a mic plugged into the aux port on the back of the HU. It does make a difference. to use it, run an extension. I plugged the Mic directly in while installing, and forgot to unplug it. I guess the good news is we can always do the calibration now.....​

Oh..when removing the time sub-display be very careful...there are are very good youtube vids on this....trust me, watch them. You do not have to remove the factory head unit from its face plate to remove the clock.....just pry some tabs and push the display up.

I guess that's it. Hopefully this will help someone else out in the future.

 

My experience with Pioneer auto tune has been something less than awesome. Auto EQ got somewhat close, but time alignment was WAY off...like several feet off. I'd set that with a tape measure.

For the power question, you gain about 3 dB every time you double the power. So you start with 1W at 90.5 dB. 2 watts gets you 93.5 dB, 4 = 96.5, 8 = 99.5, and finally 16W=102.5 dB. Not earth-shaking but well within the range that most people will listen.

 

I think I finally have my search narrowed down for my setup.... can anyone comment or tell me if I have everything correct?

Keeping my stock headunit and only want to add some bass. This is a 2014 non jbl package double cab.

Sub and enclosure
https://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosgate-P3S-1X12-Subwoofer-Enclosure/dp/B007A

SPECS: 400watts 2ohm wired as a single ohm woofer

Amp

Kicker KXA4001 KXA400.1 400w Mono Class D Sub Amplifier

https://www.amazon.com/Kicker-KXA4001-KXA400-1-Class-Amplifier/dp/B01N0ZAQHJ

comes with a bass knob and according to crutchfield this will work with my stock head unit I will only need this

Accessories
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_136XDCLR2S/JL-Audio-XD-CLRAIC2-SW.html

everything look ok? Trying to keep it budget friendly

 

Does anyone know how to remove the little grill for the bluetooth mic mounted on the roof of the 2019 Tacoma with out the sunroof?

 

Should I install an aftermarket head unit?

My install is going to be:
Hertz Dieci DSK 165.3 component set (fronts)
Hertz Uno x 170 (rears)
JL Audio 10" W3
Alpine PDR V75 amp to power all speakers + sub
Taco tunes box

The amp has built-in HPF & LPF so that takes care of that. I'm not sure what other benefits I'd be missing from an aftermarket head unit.

Thanks

 

Does your factory HU have pre-amp outs? If you're not using shielded lines from the head to the amp, you might get some RF/EM interference that'll just be literally amplified into the speakers.

 

Hmm there's limited info about the head unit in the owners manual. I'll have to email the shop doing the install and ask, unless you know where I can find that information on a 3rd gen 7" screen?