MGMDesertTaco's audio build

I weren’t lying’. Dirty in there too.

 

i learned that one on my first car. in my case it was "i'll mount the amps later" then the amp flopped over, shorted the outputs, and cost me 2 amps because i didn't learn the first time!

now it takes me months to install everything!

 

Yup. Thankfully the jacket on the wires is still solid, or I wouldn’t be posting, I’d be routing. As it is, it’s another “when I get to it” project. Too many house projects right now.

 

Working at a snails pace, but I'm making progress.

I'm a couple sheets short on deadening for the drivers side front door (front inner doors took 4, rear inner doors 3), so I ordered another box from SecondSkin with their 15% off Memorial Day sale. The replacement CDT unity 8.0 will ship tomorrow and will likely be here within a few days. The metra speaker adapters aren't the best quality, but they'll do for now. My aqua VLED's footwell light kit should arrive tomorrow as well.

Just the deadening and Focal RCX-165 rear speakers running off stock power have made a huge difference. The CDT's running off stock power absolutely suck, but that's to be expected. The amps and sub will fill in the blanks.

 

Progress is always slower than hoped, and supplies needed more than expected. But the result? So sweet. Looking good man.

 

@MGMDesertTaco how much clearance did you have behind the front door speakers and the window track/whatever else might be in the way? Are the CDT slim speakers a must or could the regular ones fit?

Possibly pulling the trigger on the wide 4D set you got tonight, and was gonna make a similar request to John @ CDT

 

Y’all are crazy with your wiring! Driver side, though firewall, kick panel, door panel, under rug below seat. Can’t remember if you’re using the kicker key 200.4, but if you are, please let me know your settings. Killer sound already, but unsure if I should be adjusting for crossovers.

 

The deeper model is only a hair bigger by a little more that a 1/3 of an inch so not sure what/if any difference it would make.

i had John substitute the 6x9s for the hd690cfs which is the same depth as the other slim set. alot of people raved about them, they do sound very good and can get down with the bass.

https://www.cdtaudio.com/sep_components/subwoofers/hd690cfs.php

 

I replaced all speakers with Kicker and the sound quality improved greatly. I would have left it that way but found a great deal on the Kicker Key 200.4 and a powered sub from another member here. I just installed the Kicker Key yesterday and the sound is much louder and lower volumes. Yay amps!!. I mounted the Kicker Key under the driver seat and ran the cables along the door track. I haven't tuned the DSP yet but it is definitely worth the upgrade no matter what product you use.

 

Which Kickers did you go with? Tuning is a breeze by the way; though, make sure you used the mp4 rather than the wave file if you are using your phone. Will help you avoid the headache I went through. I'm still trying to figure out if I have the correct settings on the key, but it's fantastic.

What did you plug your amp into? The key or...?

 

For the rear doors I went with

$77 Kicker 46CSC674 6.75" 6-3/4" 600w 4-Ohm Car Audio Coaxial Speakers CSC674

Kicker 46CSC674. Front doors got

$111 Kicker 46CSC6934 Kicker CS Series 150 Watt 6 x 9" Car Audio Coaxial Speaker Pair, Black

Kicker 46CSC6934. Dash speaker were

$45 47KSC2704 2.75" Mid-Range Speakers, 4ohm with Brackets for Select GM/Chrysler/Subaru/Jeep and Toyota Included

47KSC2704 - by far the best upgrade if you do nothing else.
My setup for the amp is going from the head unit to the amp then out to the speakers using cable and Metra adapters so I didn't have to splice anything. Luckily the cables came with the amp already made so I didn't have to do any of the hard work.

 

I actually meant sub, not amp - my bad! Yes, I did the same, though I bought the KS version, with the fronts having crossovers to make things a bit more complicated for this noob.

 

The sub is self powered. https://www.alpine-usa.com/product/pwe-s8 I plan to tap the front door leads before the Key amp for the inputs to the sub which is why I mounted the Key amp under the driver's seat. This powered sub is in the storage space behind the rear seats on the driver side. I don't really need that much bass in the family truck. If I decide to go with a custom box, I have another Alpine amp I will mount under the passenger seat going to the storage space behind the rear seats on the passenger side.

 

Oh, brilliant! I'm sure you caught it, but just make sure not to have your sub setup while running the auto EQ. I might pull the trigger on this amp; though, aligning with what you're saying, the speakers put out a decent amount of bass for what I need. I'm finding this whole thing to be a slippery slope, however...

 

Everything with the Tacoma is a slippery slope. I bought it in March and keep finding just one more thing I want to upgrade on it. The audio, while the most important item to me, was not the first add-on. a Redarc brake control was the first thing now am looking at getting a Magnuson supercharger. Going from spending $600 in audio components all the way to $7k in no time flat.

 

Here’s what I fit under the driver seat if it helps.

 

@j-utah - whacha us showing there? I assume amp & xovers, but which models (out of curiousity)

 

I looked around for a single sub box, and I kept coming back to this one. It slips in great and will hold a 12” sub. I do like it and the sound is great.

 

yep that’s amp and crossovers.

Front: Image Dynamics CXS64 component speakers with the crossovers;
Rear: Image Dynamics CTX65 coaxials;
Sub: Image Dynamics 12" ID12V4 4 OHM;
Amp: NVX VAD110005 5 channel amp. 4 ohms: 80 watts x 4 chan. + 350 x 1 chan.

 

I think that the amps and crossovers work great behind the rear back seat especially if using a wiring harness and the stock head unit. You can even throw a DSP back there. I had a new head unit and new speaker wire and under the driver seat made the new wiring easier.