Best $300 I Have Spent (so far)

I have spent several hundred dollars on accessories for my 2020 TRD OR. These include Raptor rails, TRD skid plate, plus other small accessories. But, IMHO, the best money I have spent so far has been the speaker upgrade I did. I believe my radio/speakers sound as good (if not better) than the optional JBL system. Crisp, clear highs and midrange, and rich deep bass. My radio settings are all in the default setting...no bass enhancement, etc. I know there have been numerous treads/posts about speaker upgrades so no replies are necessary. In case anyone is interested here is a list w/prices of my upgrade:

Amazon: $131.37
Subaru Tweeter Kit
Noico Deadening Mat w/roller
(inside speaker openings only)

Crutchfield: $151.10

$100 Kicker 43DSC69304 KICKER DSC6930 6x9" (160x230mm) 3-Way Speakers, 4-Ohm (Pair)

Kicker 43DSC69304 (6x9)

$80 Kicker 43DSC6704 KICKER DSC670 6.75" (165mm) Coaxial Speakers, 4-Ohm (Pair)

Kicker 43DSC6704 (6.75)

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

Metra 82-8148 Speaker Bracket
Metra 82-8416 Speaker Bracket

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

Metra 72-8104 Speaker Harness

eBay: $17.27
Rear Door Speaker Harness

Walmart: $4.15
Roll of 3/16" insulation foam tape
(put around speaker openings)

Total: $303.83

Opps: A little more than $300!

 

What the hell are raptor rails?

 

So, I will stop you there.
Get a dash cam. Dont look at it as an upgrade. Look at it as an investment that has the potential of saving your a** and your wallet in the future.

 

Plus they are easy to install. I have one on both my trucks and am looking at getting one on both my bikes.

 

Hows the bass on the front speakers? I put in some Infinity speakers but they have very very little mid-bass/need more power.

 

Idk if it's me or what, but I've never had aftermarket speakers that had miss/lows that sounded as good as OEM. Every time I use aftermarket speakers it's mostly highs. Amp or not. Also, I'm not a sound guru either so idk.

 

Step rails...RAP-074-0270 Raptor Stainless 4" Magnum Straight Oval Step Bars. Wasn't trying to be a name dropper but it seems everyone that buys an aftermarket accessory for their Tacoma mentions the seller's/manufacturer's name or brand. I bought an OEM (TRD) skid plate but as with all of the brands I reviewed they all seem to be overpriced POS. My Raptor rails fall into this category as you can find similar ones on Amazon for 60% less than what I paid from Realtruck.com. But, we have choices and companies have to make a profit.

 

I had one in my 2016 SR5. Used the windshield mount for my GoPro. Dash cam is next.

 

That’s what a subwoofer is for. OEM throws every sound together. Aftermarket will spread everything out (tweeter for high, woofer for mid, sub for lows). When you complete the system it will blow OEM out of the water.

 

Infinity makes a great speaker but I went with the model Kickers I listed in my post because the person at Crutchfield said they were very efficient and did require the power that the Kickers I was going to order required. I have a set of Klipsch Cornwalls (15" woofer) in my "man cave" and they can be driven with very low power amps.

 

May i recommend an amp, component speakers, sub woofer, and head unit and sound deading on the doors floorsceiling and walls

 

I have the same setup except I have Memphis Audio tweeters for the dash instead of the Subaru Kickers. For a 6x9 from Kicker...even without an amp, the bass is suprisingly good. It is definitely an upgrade over the stock speakers. Add in the fact that it is a 3-way speaker with a 2" mid and 1" tweeter, the mids come out much better once you mess with the sound settings just a bit.
I am hoping to add a Kicker Key Amp at some point to help clean up the sound a bit. There is a limit without an amp...but the sound is great.
I also did the rear door speaker upgrade. If you can skimp anywhere...it would be on the rear doors. There is not a big discernible change imo.

 

I get that. But it seems like there should be something a lil less than full blown system.

 

OEM

 

I didn't realize I had to spell it out so clearly. Between OEM and full blown system.

 

My set up is similar to the one described, ( I have 6½" instead of the 6¾.) I find that the factory head unit ( Entunes non JBL ) has decent bass at 20 and lower but just doesn't have the power above for decent bass. I plan on installing an amp to power the fronts once the weather improves. And a sub in the future to add some kick.

 

For anyone wanting to do this on a budget, you can get a good dashc app for your smartphone and just get a mount that points your phone forward.

I've been doing this for the last 3-4 years and I love it. It's nice having video directly on my device so I can upload or share without dealing with SD cards and the like.

The only real downside is the phone camera lens isn't wide angle like most dash cams.

I'm on Android and I use Autoboy Black Box Pro. I'm sure iPhone has some highly rated dash cam apps.