Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

should be the ks 6.5"

 

actually looks like crutchfield doesn't have them right now.

best buy looks like they may have them

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/kicker...lene-cones-pair-black/5712390.p?skuId=5712390

 

Awesome!!! Thanks!!

 

According to crutchfield, 44KSC6504 doesn’t fit at all. But 44ksc6704 shows that it fits the front doors only?? Is the 6704 the newer model? And I wonder if there is an adapter to make that fit the rear doors??

 

Look at some Infinity Reference. I am quit happy with the units I installed in my access cab.

 

65xx vs 67xx is 6.5" vs 6.75".

I put the KSC6704 in the rear this past weekend. Thanks at least 1/2 inch clearance.

For the front, go KSS6704 and do not look back. The is a HUGE difference between the sound out of the KSC6704 and KSS6704.

Tell Crutchfield they fit and to include the adapter and cable. They did it for me just last week. You will need the

$17 Metra 82-8148 6" to 6-3/4" Speaker Adapter for Select Toyota/Lexus/Scion 1998-Up Vehicles, Black

Metra 82-8148 Speaker Mounting Brackets and the

$15 Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wire Adapters for Select Toyota Vehicles - 4 Total Adapters

Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wiring Harnesses.

From the front it is the

$20 Metra 82-8147 6"-6 3/4" Speaker Adapter for Select Toyota and Lexus Vehicles,Black

Metra 82-8147 Speaker Mounting Brackets and the same wiring adapter I listed above.

 

How does one go about adding a mono amp from the stock non-JBL entune HU? I’m also wiring in the kicker key amp for the door speakers. Maybe best to return the key amp and just get a 5ch?

I wouldn’t mind adding a 10” in the cubby behind the rear driver side seat, for a reasonable price.

Most likely case is that I’d take both cubbies out and build a custom setup with 2 10’s in closed boxes.

similar to the below, obviously not the prefab boxes though.

 

You just grab your signal for the sub from the front channels before the key. you want the signal straight out of the radio, without the key's processing added to it.
However, if you're serious about your audio install, I would look into 5 channel amps with a DSP, or something like the

$674 AudioControl D-4.800 4/3/2 Channel High Power Amplifier W/DSP & Matrixing

AudioControl D-4.800 and then a non-DSP mono amp.

*Addition*
The Kicker IQ500.4 and IQ1000.5 are both great options for the price.
AudioControl D-4.800 and D-6.1200 are amazing (though come with a price tag)
Same with the JL vx/i series.

but like I said, these are serious options if you’re willing to drop some coin on the full audio setup. This route is not for the faint of heart and needs good speakers (Kicker CS series need not apply) and is worth doing good sound treatment/deafening as well. When you’re looking at a grand just for the amp/amps, you could hit the $2k+ mark real easy.

 

Sub box, a generic box turned into a down firing box with a simple steel bracket. The box is for a 10, I didn't have a 10, I stuck a 12 in it, it's powered by a pioneer deck that's bridged with no external amp, and it sounds pretty decent. Is it going to win sound off shows? Hell no, but it definitely sounds good.

 

I took the day off to get some projects done, for the truck I decided to use the rest of my Noico to deaden the back wall of the cab.



I have a Kicker CompRT 43cwrt102 loaded 10” enclosure showing up tomorrow so I had to pull the panels out to trim the passenger side anyway.

I also spent some time with the Key amp, resetting the gains as I think I had it a little too high. Mainly because the highs are a bit too bright. I decided to turn off the low pass crossover, and man I think i should have given the speakers alone more of a chance. These JL C1 6x9’s thump with the KEY powering them!

 

Much improved! For $150 from Crutchfield I’m happy!

 

@bshammer0 is there a 2nd gen version of this?

 

Is that the 10”? Good to k ow it fits below the seat belt latches

 

Yup it’s the 10. There’s maybe 1/2 between the hook and the top of the box. It also clears the seat back when folding the seat up and down. I’ll be trimming my rear cubby panel to get everything to fit like stock. Eventually...

 

I appreciate your take on sound without an amp for such a small space. Right now I need to find tweeters that aren’t shrill. The stock tweets with 20 watts are very harsh. Any suggestions?

 

Just a "tad" long winded reply, lol. Written to be applicable to any vehicle.

Hard dome tweeters sound more harsh and shrill than soft dome tweeters. I don't know what type of dome the stock tweeters are, they could be soft dome, hard dome, or an actual cone like other speakers are built. It really doesn't matter what the stock tweeters use for a dome/cone as the basic sound qualities of each type of tweeter don't change. A complete guess would be that the stock tweeters have an efficiency rating around 90 db. The closer you match the stock tweeter efficiency with the aftermarket tweeter the closer the volume of sound will be to the stock tweeter but with a better quality of sound with an aftermarket tweeter. If you typically raise the treble up on your head unit like most people do then a tweeter replacement with a higher efficiency or a lower ohms rating will eliminate that need to adjust the treble up as much. The more you change the sound quality by speaker choice instead of by an EQ or bass/treble controls the clearer the sound will be as EQ's and bass and treble controls increase distortion levels as those control's levels are increased. Loudness buttons are the worst as far as distortion increase. As far as actual brand and part number recommendations I haven't been active in the industry for 8 years but the basic principles of sound never change. If you think you'll be happy with a low powered system that's properly designed try to get speakers with low power ratings because if you install tweeters that can handle a lot of power that will make the tweeters with a high power rating eventually fail (takes a long time) due to lack of movement because it was designed for more power and will move less with less power. I would be looking at entry level aftermarket tweeters (or one step above entry level) with an efficiency of around 93 db, that have a soft dome, are 4 ohms, and have a RMS power rating anywhere from 25-75 watts. If you want to make an even more informed decision look at frequency response charts (usually in the owners manuals of the tweeters which are usually viewable online) of the tweeters you are considering and look for the smoothest response curve you can find. The smoother the response curve the less likely the chance of harsh sounds and the need to constantly adjust the EQ/bass and treble controls based off the music source. You know how if you listen to a certain song and you like the treble level on your head unit at 3 but when you change the source (say the first song is hard rock and the second song is classical) you need to lower the treble to 1? That's because of spikes in the frequency response curve which you want to avoid. Personally I'd check out Pioneer first, Infinity (might be 3 ohm instead of 4 ohm which will make the tweeter about 1.5 db louder than a 4 ohm tweeter with everything else equal, can be used to your advantage), Polk Audio, Kenwood, and Sony (if you have to). From what I remember entry level MB Quarts are hard dome. Hard dome tweeters usually have a silver colored dome, soft domes are always black. I think your priorities should be as follows:
1. Soft dome!
2. Frequency response curves (if you decide to check them).
3. Efficiency and ohm's at the same time (the lower the ohms the less efficiency required, 1 ohm= ~1.5 db).
Point the passenger mounted tweeter straight to the drivers head and vice versa. Optimumly if the mid is in the door put the tweeter in the door. If the tweeter goes in the dash hopefully it's pointing at the windshield and after the sound bounces off the windshield it will point straight at the opposing sides passengers heads. If the tweeter has to go in the dash pointing at the wrong passenger (happens a lot) pick a tweeter with a lower efficiency rating or a higher ohms rating to compensate.
When you install tweeters in a vehicle without the matching mid range speaker you run the risk of overlapping upper mid range frequencies creating a huge spike in the frequency response curve of the system. It's an easy fix. After the tweeters have been chosen, look at the frequency response curve of the tweeter, it'll say something like 5Khz-18Khz. Then you just go online and look up the correct choke/coil to cut off the mid range speakers at the frequency that the tweeters start playing (in the above example 5Khz). A choke/coil is a 6 db passive crossover, you can make a 12 db crossover just by adding a non-polarized capacitor and you can easily find the specs for that capacitor online. Chokes/coils and non-polarized capacitors are very inexpensive and well worth the slight bit of effort required to choose them and install them. In my vehicle I would use a 12 db crossover that I would make myself as described above.
If you decide to replace the mids and the tweeters, with the proper research you can cost effectively build a better set of mids and tweets for your application than a pre-comprised matching set. I would replace both the tweeters and the mid range speakers.
I don't recall what I've written previously in this thread but sound quality is difficult to describe. In my professional history I've installed thousands of custom systems. My truck's audio system sounds fantastic for what I have in it. With the volume up all of the way in a reasonable manner (ie: very little distortion) I can drive down the freeway with my windows down and not hear the average car passing me - barely. There are no audible spikes in the frequency response and I never touch any EQ/bass and treble controls once it's been set regardless of what I'm listening to. For the record I listen to all forms of rock, country, jazz, and old school rap.

 

Btw, in a low powered system you can change speakers ohms by adding ceramic resistors and with that knowledge you can effectively change the db coming out of the speaker without touching any control. For example you're all done installing your speakers but the tweeters are too loud, in that case you can add a 8 ohm resistor in series to a 4 ohm tweeter and effectively make the tweeter a 6 ohm thereby lowering the db of the tweeter around 2db.

 

Hotboatrod,
Thanks for the in-depth explanation. That gives me some direction. I really appreciate your considerable time and effort.

 

On top of all that, I found that the treble reducer EQ setting on my iPhone helped with the shrill highs with the Subaru tweeters and JL C1 690x door speakers.
Do you have an EQ setting on your head unit or music source that you can adjust before throwing parts at it?