My 2010 DC Audio Build Chronicles, Kenwood, Hertz & more

I picked up my taco last fall and realized how bad the radio and stock speakers were so I started researching on here to see what my options were. I’ll chronicle my steps and decisions made here as it progresses. My desire is clean sound with mild to decent bass while not losing the mini storage enclosures in the back. I would love to have a 10 or something bigger but i also want a stealth look behind the seats which you will see further down as i list my plan or idea to achieve that along with some bass. I havent been in audio in over 20years and my old shop that i use to work at is having trouble getting equipment as most places are which had me searching for a few items on here. Still needed is an amp for the Front stage/sub so that decision is still being researched. I missed out on a couple of nice JL Audio amps on here but something will pop up or the inventory will get better out there as shipping picks back up.
I’m going to start by thanking those who either answered questions or sold me some items on here. Thanks and much appreciation go out to the guys below and many others who have chimed in on my post or created helpful detailed threads; @destin_meeks @Purpleman @CLVol1255 @dolbytone @FreshPots @bconrey
I appreciate the info and fast shipping and legit products.

What I have so far consist of;
Kenwood excelon DDX8905s
Hertz Energy 6.5 components or Morel Tempo Ultra 692 Components (torn on which to go with)
KnuKonceptz Kolossus 4guage 4ch kit
Noico 80mill deadener
Fast rings to go in later with speakers, amp and sub TBD




We started by removing the OEM radio, seats and door panels to get started. I know a lot of these pics will look like others but I’ll share anyway




We also took this time to run the amp wire and my brother made a nice fuse holder out of some aluminum stock and rounded the edges. The KnuKonceptz wire is extremely flexible and we were both very impressed with the kit and the RCA’s for the price. The new speaker wire, RCA’s and amp wire were all ran under the front seat








After that was done, we worked on some sound deadening and running new speaker wires to the front doors. I will be leaving the stock rear speakers in to run off deck power for rear fill. I haven’t decided on an amp yet so I left the factory speakers in running off deck power until then. The sound deadening and the nee Kenwood radio really brought those turds Alive. I used a 24” zip tie to get the 12guage wire into the door. Pulling both boots out in the door jam really helped this process.



As you can see I gorilla taped the wire in place until I put the components in.



I didn’t go too crazy with the sound deadening but I did cover all the large areas on the outer skin of the door and some smaller places in the inner skin. I also put some on the maintenance panel that covers the access hole. I do have some fast rings I will be adding up front and I may add a couple of sheets of deadener to the rear doors after seeing the huge difference it may on the fronts with the stock speakers.




As far as the HU, it is idata compatible so I went with the Maestro RR & TO1 harness which gave me all the cool features of the ECU read out. I was also able to keep the backup camera in the rear view mirror and add it to the new HU screen as well. This was done by running a 6 ft RCA from the video I put on the Kenwood to the camera signal wires to the left of the steering wheel behind in the fuse panel. There is a thread for this which worked perfect. I used a good RCA cable purchased from KnuConceptz vs the cheaper yellow RCA cable. After cutting the cable to length. We spliced and soldered the wires vs trying to add a pin to the existing plug. It made them too bulky and the connection didn’t seem as secure. I used the Schoshe dash kit and was very pleased with the build and fit of of it. For a brake bypass, the PAC TR01 was used and it works great. I did pick up a PAC step down piece incase I had to tap off the mirror signal but didn’t have to use it. It concerts the power from 6v to 12v





The steering wheel controls work great with the Maestro and I’m very pleased so far. I can’t imagine the sound after I decide on an amp. I’m leaning towards a JL Audio 400/v4 or possible the Audio Control 4.800. I did pick up a factory OEM JBL sub that I will put behind the passenger seat in factory location but I will replace the sub with either a JL 8w3 or a Kicker CompRT. Im planning on 75-125 watts to the front speakers with 300w to the sub. When I do decide on the sub and amp, I will deaden them box as well along with the panel on the back of the seat. I will update this thread with my next steps after sourcing an amp that will complete everything. That will include pics of the crossovers and how we mount those inside the doors with quick disconnect in case the panel needs to come off.






Since this radio has Apple CarPlay, we ran the USB cable from the Kenwood down to one of the knockout panels below the AC unit and will be changing a factory USB to hold the cable in that location. I ran out of time that day as I met my brother at his shop 3hrs away to work on the install but you can see the plug below and what will be going there in it’s place. I’ll take the OEM plug apart and fit the USB end into the back of it with some CA glue to hold it in place. I mounted the Kenwood bluetooth mic next to the rear view mirror and haven’t had one complaint since installing it last Sunday





Sorry for the long post and all the pics but I’m excited to finish this up and hopefully it helps others. I will be updating this with my next steps to keep anyone interested up to date

 

Noceeses

 

I know this thing didn't cost much and also Kenwood may have changed something, however, you probably could have simply connected that to ground instead of using the PAC doodad. That's how I did my XR unit. The XR units are big titties btw, best radio out right now IMO.

As far as the factory USB/AUX goes, I removed mine during the original stereo installation in 2010 and installed a panel mount USB extension and I was all super content like that forever. Then I put the second stereo in and reconfigured things because I then needed two USB ports for the radio, but I also wanted AUX back because I needed it to send noise through the system for transfer function measurements. I know you'll probably never do that but who knows if some day you may be thinking "damn, I kinda want that AUX back" for whatever dumb reason or thing you're trying to do, for instance, if you end up with a DM-RTA, it would be the easiest way to send test signals through the stereo from the RTA unit. So, if you can retain that and just add your USB inputs to another blank space I recommend doing that.

 

Thanks @dolbytone I do still have the plug so it would be easy to add it to the other knockout blank. Next to the USB one I added a dual charging USB blank as well. The PAC using was cheap, under 10$ if I recall. I have heard about those XR units. Top Dawg status there.

Once i decide on an amp, i can get started on the rest of the items. I think i am going to add a few sheets of deadening to the rear doors even though they will retain the factory speakers, it will help with road noise and improve their sound for rear fill. The rest of the deadening will go on the rear wall and a few strips on the back of the seat plastic separator that the sub will be behind.

 

Found these in storage but definitely too big for this truck. Hopefully I can sell them to fund a truck amp






And a few more dinosaurs from the past

 

It’s been a while so I’m back to piecing things together. I had picked up some Morel Ultra Tempo 6x9 components but I’m worried about clearance in the front doors and I don’t want to trim the door panel so I’ll be going back to the Hertz 6.5’s. I picked up an Audio Control LC4.800 finally and after spending some time on the phone with Mr Marv today. I have some brackets for the Hertz going in the mail tomorrow. It was a hard decision not to use the Morels since I love a good deep mid bass but I didn’t want to risk a headache. Now I have to decide what to do with them. side note- Mr Marv send me a pic of the brackets and I asked him to sign them. They won’t be seen and I’ll use a clear stain in them but I’ll know who they are by



I think these would have really sounded great

 

I've had the Morels installed recently in my 2013. No fitment issues and they sound amazing.

 

Do you recall what size speaker bracket you used for them?

 

I had a local shop do the install, but the 6x9s just used the standard metra 6x9 bracket (don't have the model # unfortunately). I'm not sure about the tweeters but they did fit it in the stock location.

 

Cool. Is your tweeter on the door in that model? I may order the metra ones to play with and test. Everyone including Mr Marv said the way the window rolls down in this model that it will hit the magnet

 

Yep. Tweeters are in the door. Not sure if there are any big differences between the 2010 and 2013 as far as door clearance goes but I guess it's worth a shot.

 

Cool. Guess it won’t hurt to try 20& for the brackets. If they work. I lose $80 on Mr Marvs but have more midbass up front. I could probably Re enforce the Metra ones to make them stronger.
What amp did you go with? And have you added a sub yet? @herecomesace

 

Love this build..and Marv is fantastic, got a couple of things from him in my 2010.

 

I have an Arc Audio X2 and a JL Audio 8" Microsub. I had sound deadening put in all the doors and the rear of the cab. Sounds great to me.

 

Thanks. Think I’m Going with a kicker comp RT 8” so should be similar

 

Still gathering a few items. Things have been busy lately and had to replace a furnace in Jan, that really dips into Taco funds. Prepped the Mr Marv brackets with a stain over the weekend incase I decide to use these for my Hertz vs the Morels