Audio control LC7i setup help

One simple answer is high qualify pre amp that have a solid voltage 3-5V the higher being better. Also pre outs are setup for what your sending them to with more controls over the signal and sound. I have not gone full on my Taco but there is no replacement for an aftermarket HU if your going for good sound. I currently have one of the android HU but toy wit going back to my roots. Used to run Clarion or Kenwood back in the day with 5V pre amp to all the amps and it was solid.

For 3rd Gens there are a few different HUs that blend in nice. Pioneer I think has one that fits great.

 

I was in the same boat as everyone else with the head unit. Had stock HU, Kicker Key 200/4, Key 500.1 w/ 10" sub and upgraded speakers. HU kept dropping calls with no solution from Toyota and I wanted a fwd/anytime camera so I bit the bullet last week and upgraded to a Kenwood. Well worth the money. FWIW I preferred to keep the stock HU also but now that it's gone the only thing I miss is the volume knob. Everything else is better in every way.

 

Questions:
- How is the aftermarket HU improve the quality of the sound? I thought I will rely on the amps to improve sound quality anyway rather than the HU? I dont care much about Android Auto or Apple Carplay

amps don’t fix sound, they just make it louder. If you have a good signal, you will have a louder good signal. If you have a bad signal, you will have a louder bad signal.

An aftermarket head unit will provide you with high-quality outputs with some decent EQ and timing customization. Whether or not you want that is up to you. I ran the stock head unit with an upgraded system for 2 years and was perfectly fine with the quality I got. The quality of the LOC, amp, speakers can all play a role into this.

- I was under the impression that LC7i will fix the issue with bass roll off as well as getting better filtering on the sound quality thus I dont need to get an aftermarket HU?

LC products don’t fix any issues other than bass rolloff. Its job is to take an input signal and make it stronger or weaker, as well as some channel summing if the install calls for that. It does not do filtering, crossovers, EQ, timing, or any processing other than bass rolloff.

- What features should I look at if I am getting an aftermarket HU in order to improve sound quality?

higher end units like the Kenwood excelons, top end pioneers and alpines, etc will have more EQ bands, better time alignment functionality, higher voltage pre-outs. And of course, the actual features of the unit itself. CarPlay, camera inputs, hdmi inputs, gps, screen size and resolution, rear entertainment output, among other things.

- Have you guys seen anyone installingKicker 10" or 8" subwoofer tube?

the tube was designed with UTV’s in mind. I don’t think one would fit in our trucks unless you want it rolling around in the rear floorboard. Look at the CompRT loaded boxes with the passive radiator. They fit great against the back wall and have the same speaker and passive radiator that the tubes have

 

the oem head unit has a ton of eq-ing built into it that can't be cancelled. the kicker key's are a popular option as they can somewhat adjust to counteract it, but as destin said, you can only tweak that so much. garbage in = garbage out.

think of it like trying to let someone else drive your truck, and then you control how fast you go from the passenger seat. you'll always have 'some' control of the speed, but you'll never have 'all' of the control from the passenger seat. aftermarket radio's give you all the control. not everyone needs it, but there is a difference.

 

@soundman98 @Articbluedc5 @destin_meeks @nudavinci64 @SuperAir Thank you all for your responses! I think I am convinced to replace the head unit and hold off on the new amp and subwoofer.

@destin_meeks I am looking at the Alpine Halo9 or Pioneer DMH7600. My plan now is to install an aftermarket HU and keep the Kicker Key 200 to amplify my Focal speakers (front and rear) and not adding a subwoofer yet. If I do this, do I set the crossover on the new HU to eliminate/reduce low freq until I install a subwoofer? or do you think this set up is good enough without a subwoofer to get bass out of the Focal speakers? I listen to pop/rock/instrumental music, don't need to rattle my windows but would like to get some bass. Thanks

 

definitely try to find a place you can demo the head units you're considering.

personal preference, i can't stand alpine units. the audio settings are always unnatural to get to, and just plain don't work how i expect them to. i always run pioneer, or kenwood simply because they work the way i think. i can access the majority of functions on them without having to seriously think about it. YMMV, but don't just buy on price, or looks.

you can run your current setup without a crossover set on the new head unit until you have a sub.

my preference is to run a low 50hz crossover without a sub so i can crank it up louder, but my system overall will work fine without a crossover.

 

I second the comment about the alpines. Far away from the best menus and settings. The interface has just seemed dated for years now. I love the pioneers like the 7600. There’s a thread of people getting them flush-mounted in the dash and they look awesome. Features are great too

no crossover is fine for now. The speakers you have can handle the 50w max the key can send them

 

Not sure how kenwoods are now but way way back kenwood excelon and Clarion were awesome.

 

Thanks for your responses folk, I went to a local car audio shop yesterday and it blew my mind and my wallet I think at this point, I know what I want for the head unit (Pioneer) with a mono amp and a 10" sub. Now I just need to start saving. I probably will do all this install by summer once I have the fund ready. I came to this thread to learn more about LC7 and thinking I will spend about $200+ and now I will spend about $3k for this upgrade . Thanks TW!

 

if you're decided on what models of gear you want, now you can shop around. ebay and Amazon offer extended warranties, as well as many online shops that have been around for a while--i've always been happy with sonic electronics, my last head unit came from techronics. there's also tons of reputable sellers on ebay that are fully testing and selling open box gear that works just fine. my last alpine pdx v9 amp came off amazon, the one before was ebay. $400-500 instead of the $800-900 crutchfield listed it at.

the benefit to buying local/'trusted reseller' is that there should be a more direct warranty or DOA replacement path, but in my experience some places are just as convoluted as poorly ran online shops on the other side of the country. besides, DOA equipment isn't an extremely common occurrence anyways. most gear dies from bone-headed install practices, which i personally just chalk up to "sucks, but learn to not do that again".

the local shop has more overhead, and should be more pleasant to deal with, but is going to end up being significantly more because of that.

 

Well, after many sleepless nights, I decided to install a Kicker mono amp 400W and a 8in Kicker CompRT sub for now with a local shop. I will get the Pioneer 6600 after summer once I saved up enough money .

To my surprise, the shop owner suggested that i don need the LC7 after he sat in my truck listening to my current set up (Kicker Key Amp with Focal speakers). He said the sound is clean enough for my set up and he was right! After the install, I couldn't be happier with the sound quality now. I wish I could had the 10in instead of the 8in but I didn't want to remove the rear plastic bin.

Thank you all for your help and I will update once I install the Pioneer after summer!