Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

If you are going to push them with an amp then I would recommend a good pair of components with a silk tweeter. The subaru tweeters are a silk so that is why I recommend them unless you like the in your face tweeters then some titanium dome or similar could work. You could possibly even skip the rear doors unless you want the rear fill.

My suggestion for comps would be Image Dynamics if you can find them or Morels. There are plenty of good ones out there and you can go down a rabbit hole trying to figure it out. I have had the best experience with IDs and Morels. Their tweeters are excellent and the mids sound warm and put out good mid bass in my experience.

 

What morels are you using? I was checking them out on lunch today and they seem like a pretty premium speaker.

 

I got the Maximo Ultra 692 Coax. I caught them on sale but they are usually 189 at Crutchfield. I really wanted the Virtus Comps but they would definitely need a quality amp. I went back and forth for a while and went cheap to make my wife happy.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_210MAXIU92/Morel-Maximo-Ultra-692-Coax.html

 

I installed my kicker tweeters and the kicker DS 6x9 and 6.75 in the doors this evening. I'm fairly impressed at the difference over the factory speakers. Here is what they look like. Amazing they made as much sound as the did



The bass is much better than before. More clean sounding overall and unlike with the dixie plates they put in at the factory the Kickers don't start to pop and crack when you turn the volume over 35.
Now I just need to figure out how to mount the Sound Ordnance powered sub and I think I'll be happy.

 

I’m not sure why kicker gets hate in this site. I used them in my wife’s car and they sound fine.

 

To be fair it was the first time I bought Kicker. I would have chosen Kenwood or maybe Alpine but nothing was available in the price I wanted to pay.
The Kicker CS series would have been preferred and the KS was more money but probably worth it. To keep it around $250 with the Subaru tweets I went with the DS series. I think they are a good improvement. I can tell they are louder then the stock ones, more bass and highs and clearer too. Like I said the factory speakers are crappy at higher volume.
I have to drive around and listen to a few different kinds of music and adjust the levels a little yet but I'm happy so far and can't wait to hear it with my sub installed.

 

You’ll love it makes a huge difference. I went with fairy expensive stuff and it sounds good to my old ears lol but I now believe I probably could have got more bang for my buck with Rockford Fosgate. They have a pretty good cost to performance ratio but there subs tend to use a bit more space.

 

I drove around to Lowe's and other places got to experience the speakers a bit more. For sure it's an improvement. The DS series I can't say anything bad about even it they are closer to entry level in the line. They sound good.
I can only imagine how much better it will be when I get the sound Ordnance sub from my old Jeep installed.

I'm sitting in the truck now listening to The Wall by by Pink Floyd

 

I have a 2020 tacoma trd sport double cab, what speaker wire adapters do i need for front and rear?
I get mixed answers on what i should get?

 

I'd have to see if the part numbers are on my Crutchfield invoice. But at any rate when you by the speakers from them they include all the mounting adapter rings and speaker wire adapters at no charge with your order. Been a customer since my first car they are a great company.

 

$11 Metra 72-8109 METRA - Toyota 2020 Speaker harness - pair (72-8109)

Metra 72-8109 for rear door double cab

$18 Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wire Adapters for Select Toyota Vehicles - 4 Total Adapters

Metra 72-8104 for front door

 

Replaced dash speakers with subaru tweeters. Definitely more crisp an clear. Didnt need to remove A pillars, passenger side little tricky as it has tab that hooks under A pillar.

 

I did not remove them either. I used a trim tool and an index card so I didn't mark up the surface. They came out with some careful prying. The Crutchfield instructions actually said to do it that way. I Needed a stubby 10mm wrench to unbolt and bolt in the New ones in. Not a lot of room to work near the glass.

 

Thank you!

 

I have a 2020 Off Road with entune, not JBL. I wanted to upgrade the sound while spending as little money and time as possible.

Side note that the Toyota speakers and magnets are almost identical to the ones in a 2008 Lexus ES350; considering this; and the lack of power in the entune head unit (I’m making an assumption it has little power); and my not wanting to add additional components (amps, new wire, capacitors, etc), I was able to get in at $210 plus tax and shipping from Crutchfield:

Hertz speakers (on sale, never heard of them)
K165 up front (tweeter separate, 6.5” round)

$18 Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wire Adapters for Select Toyota Vehicles - 4 Total Adapters

Metra 72-8104 wire adapter

$20 Metra 82-8147 Toyota Multi 02-up 6-6.75" Plate - pair

Metra 82-8147 speaker mount

X165 (6.5” round) in the back (as others have mentioned, not sure if its necessary to replace the back speakers)

$11 Metra 72-8109 METRA - Toyota 2020 Speaker harness - pair (72-8109)

Metra 72-8109 wire adapter

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

Metra 82-8148 speaker mount

$110 Dynamat 10435 – Pre Cut Noise Dampening Kit for 2 Standard Car Doors – Easy Self Adhesive Install – Made in USA – 4 Sheets 12”x36” Each, 12 sq ft total

Dynamat 10435 door kit

I followed install instructions from the great postings on this site. However, for the front dash speakers, I cut corners. I removed both Toyota front dash speakers (I had to remove the pillar trims, I did not disconnect the battery). I used a soldering gun to un-solder the wires connected directly to the speakers (I did not touch the wires on the base/bracket of the speaker).

I then soldered the K165 tweeter wires to the the freshly unsoldered wires on the base/bracket of the Toyota speaker (the Toyota speaker is no longer wired to the base/bracket). I then glued the K165 tweeters directly to the surface/diaphragm of the Toyota speakers. Reinstalled.

For the doors, I stuffed the interior of each with the dynamat until I had no more left. Using existing screws, I swapped speakers. For the front door speaker adapters, the rounded plate faces up.

Sounds AMAZING (compared to stock).

 

Buyers remorse...

I installed the Subaru tweeters which was a big improvement and have just installed the 6x9 kicker ds in the front and I have to say I’m underwhelmed. I have to crank the volume way more than before (even reached max) and I’m getting less bass.

I have yet to Install the 6.75 ds speakers to the rear because the harness for the rear was on back order... Will installing the rears help balance and add more?

Im not sure if I was expecting too much maybe?

Any one have any words of wisdom?

 

Do you have an Entune Premium HU? I believe it comes down to the power output of your HU. If you don't have Entune Premium, you may need an amp to give your new speakers the power they need to sound good.

From post #1:

Fortunately, I fall under the "extremely happy" category, but I do have the 7" Premium HU.

 

I didn’t use the kicker stuff but this is exactly what I experienced. My goal when I started the upgrade was to use an amplifier but I had them for awhile on deck power and the sound quality was awful. If you are only going to use your head unit for power I would definitely recommend a cheaper speaker that’s made to run on lower wattage.

 

Thanks, tbh honest after I installed the tweeters I was like wow, no need to do anything else. But I had already ordered the DS from crutchfield and was thinking that things would improve even more...

I have a 2020 8” HU, non jbl.

 

I had read this also and went for the DS and not the CS.

If I knew I would need an amp I would have sprung for the CS also. Not sure what Crutchfirlds return policy is from Hawaii