Seeking Audio Advice

I drive a 2022 TRD Sport. Stock head unit, stock speakers, non-JBL. I think everyone on this Forum knows the stock system and speakers leave more to be desired. I'd like feedback on this regarding a speaker only upgrade and whether if pursing an upgrade is even worth it. Let me tell you something about me. I'm no Audiophile. Of my hour and a half roundtrip daily commute, 20 min of it is listening to actual music which I stream from Pandora. I very rarely listen to FM radio. Most of the time I'm listening to either News or Sports radio, or Podcasts. But those moments of when I am listening to music, I think I would appreciate some more clarity. I'm not looking necessarily for more power or to bump music. I would like for it to sound a bit crisper.

Today I walked into a Car Audio store. What I was looking for was an education. What I got was a thick sales pitch which actually turn me off and everything I was being shown to me was very over the top for what I needed. I started to feel that maybe what I was looking for, to him, was a waste of his time. He said speakers alone will do nothing for me, that I need an amplifier....which to be fair, I don't think he's wrong, but for me maybe its a bit over kill for what I would really use it for or am trying to achieve. Would a speaker only upgrade really be worth it, or am I just better off leaving it alone? Thanks for your guys time. Cheers!

 

speakers can definitely change the tone of an audio system. but there are also characteristics that they can't change, like being louder, or having more bass. both of those things are going to require more adjustment and equipment than just speakers

the first step is to better define what's lacking to your ears. do you want more high frequency clarity? is the middle voice section garbled?

next step is to somewhat define how much effort and money you're willing to dedicate to the cause. are we talking keeping it simple, and hands-off, where someone else does the install, or are you willing to pull your own panels and do more complex things like pull wire?

i would probably suggest the subaru kicker tweeter upgrade first. it's a relatively common upgrade, and is relatively simple, with no extra stuff needed. it's not for everyone, i personally find them really harsh, but everyone's tastes are different.

 

Get high efficiency speakers. Something above 90 db.

 

Most people doing a speaker only upgrade do not make a good speaker selection and get disappointing results. This is the only speaker-only upgrade that I think is worth doing.

https://www.audison.eu/products/prima_apk690_system/

Here’s where I talk about doing the upgrade.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2020-entune-factory-integration.691221/#post-24413034

Keep in mind that I did not install the AP1 that comes with the set, I used the AP2 initially. I bought the 6x9 and AP2 separately. I think either way is an improvement. I’ve installed the APK690 set with the AP1 tweeter in two other 4Runers that were not mine, one is amplified and one is not and both had good results.

What makes these speakers specifically better as an upgrade on a Toyota is the accuracy and especially the sensitivity. They work as a speaker only upgrade, but also have enough power handling to amplify.

My truck now has a heavily processed, biamplified system with the AP690 and the AV 1.1 tweeter in the dashboard and it sounds very good off of the factory radio. Without all of this stuff, speakers only will give you about a 3dB improvement, and a crisper more accurate response in the high end.

 

Thanks for your reply. Would I appreciate more volume and more bass? Sure, but i don’t find it necessary. Im not sure how to define what my ears are lacking because sound high frequency and middle voice are foreign to me. If it was pointed out and explained what i was listening to, maybe i could define it better. But i know what I don’t want. Its almost like there’s a white background noise. The more I turn it up, the louder that white background noise grows along with the music. Its that sound that id like to eliminate at any volume. Doesn’t necessarily have to be loud. Does that make sense?

As far as budget, I’m also not sure whats a good median for stuff like this. I’m guessing a good baseline budget i can start around $500. Maybe not push past $700 parts/labor out the door. At that point, i think i might just stick with stock and not ask for too much.

 

I used kicker door speakers that had their own small inline amps. The bass is noticeably higher imo

 

Thanks for your reply. I like your point about most people not making a good speaker selection in a speaker only upgrade. If I go this route (without amp) it makes sense to get the top quality speakers since there is no amp to assist in the work.

 

Thats cool. I did not know there are speakers with amps integrated. Thanks man, ima look into this.

 

do you have a link? i don't think i've seen those, and google fails me. knowing what little i know about ohms law and physics in general, this seems impossible...

 

'high frequency' stuff is generally going to be the cymbals, maraca's, or similar. vocals are typically slightly lower in frequency than that, but the upper part of vocal frequency range tends to affect legibility.

it sounds to me almost like you feel the cymbals/background instruments are taking away from your music experience. have you tried looking at the eq page in the radio and dropping the 'treble' down a couple notches already?

 

Hey, what's up! I'm glad you suggested the EQ page. I actually did mess with that yesterday and I'm happy with the results. I mean, I don't know what exactly I did, but I went with what was more pleasing to my ear and I did hike up the bass a bit but not too much. The Humpty Dance sounds a heck of a lot better now I think someone with a more finely tuned ear can improve it. I'll probably go back into it now that you've suggested about dropping the Treble a few ticks and see what results. One thing that I did do was bring the Audio further up. I have the Double Cab model. I very very rarely have passengers back there and if I do, no music is playing, it's conversation. I moved the Sound 3/4 of the way up, and I really dig it now. I'm pretty pleased. Thanks for your help man!

 

I did a full removal of the speakers and replaced with Focal component and crossover for the tweeters. 100% change. Sirius and streaming sounds the way that they supossed to be. I have to say: better than the JBL.

 

I just installed Infinity Reference 9630cx, it was an amazing improvement except for one major flaw which is the very high end was unbearable to me so I'm going to return them. I really don't see how anyone can deal with that supersonic piercing high end for more then 10 minutes.

I'm considering Polk DB 502, Kicker CS and Kicker KS components. I'm leaning towards Kicker CS 6 3/4 in part because the warranty is 2 years vs Polk 1 year and from what I can tell there's not much of a difference between CS and KS at 50 watts.

I've got a discontinued Alpine 4 channel amp form a previous vehicle that I'm very happy with (50x4 Watts, channel 3&4 can be bridged for the sub which gives 150watts at 4 ohms worked great in my last set up).

As of this writing I'm going to say the best bang for the buck and effort is Kicker CS (would like to hear opinions on CS vs KS on a 50x4 amp), with the cross mounted in the door using industrial strength velcro. My impression is kickers are the go to around here and the standard answer to the "budget speaker upgrade" question esp. for folks like me who don't like supersonic high end.

Any thought on Kicker CS vs KS at 50watts/channel? I'm also wondering how the Subaru tweeter compares to 3/4 inch component tweeter.

 

Id keep looking, instead of the Kicker CS/KS. I have the KS, and I’m constantly adjusting the system gain on my H/U to cut the tweeters. I’m moving to Morel Tempo Ultra 692’s soon. Morel are known for “laidback” tweeters, which really drew me to them. YMMV

 

I did the "YouTube setup" on my 22. Subaru tweeters in the dash, kicker speakers in the front doors and in the rear access cab doors.

I'm happy with it for a few hundred bucks. Sounds way better than stock. Just my opinion.