Best speakers for Tacoma (front)

Installed these infinity reference speakers yesterday. They are 3ohm load. The kit came with tweeters and crossovers but I did not install them since i just installed the DS18 tweeters.

These infinity 6x9 by harman bring out pieces of a song that I did not hear before. They are clear, but not distorted at higher volumes.
Truck now sounds like a tiny music hall as it should.



Also I purchased the metra adapter but it seemed too flimsy. It actually broke on me during install the first try. So I went with the taco tunes heavy duty speaker installation adapter kit. They come with longer screws too so you don’t have to worry about them backing out over time.

 

Changing out original stereo today with the Sony 6000 from Trail Grid and all four speakers are being swapped for Memphis Audio… can’t wait to hear it.

https://www.memphiscaraudio.com/car-audio/speakers/pr-speakers/toyota/

 

Sounds like a good setup! 55w to each door is plenty of power.

 

Outta be awesome!

 

I did the exact same thing and kept the factory head-unit ... I also soundproofed the panel behind the rear seat, ... well worth the effort! And to top it off I installed a powered sub (

$280 Rockford Fosgate P300-8P Punch 8" 300-Watt Amplified Subwoofer in Ported Enclosure - Slim Design for Tight Spaces - Black

Rockford Fosgate P300-8P) behind the passenger rear seat ... sounds awesome!!

 

WOW what a difference… I’ll have to spend some time tweaking things however first impressions is well worth the upgrade, huge improvement over stock.

 

I'm looking at those same speakers. Out of curiosity, when you pulled the factory "premium" speakers, did they say if they were 4 ohm (or something else)? I've heard people say that all 6 OEM speakers are 4 ohm but I'd like to confirm if I could. If you just swapped out the tweets and doors would you mind checking if you still have them? I don't want to overload the factory head unit if I can help it.

Thanks!

 

Not the OP, but all of the speakers I replaced in our non-JBL system are 4 ohm.

 

Awesome, much appreciated. I haven't taken delivery of mine yet so trying to purchase a lot of stuff before it arrives.

thanks again...

 

Understood. My advice? Space it all out a little. That way you'll always have a little something to work on. I've found that when I sort of rush all of my upgrades, although it's satisfying to stand back and go "Wow, nice!", that it can be a bit depressing later because there's nothing else to do to it.

Oh wait... we're talking about a Tacoma right? Pfffft. Never mind. Nothing else to do to it. Right.

 

I was going to do DS18's immediately. Then I'll start cosmoline'ing the frame and undercarriage and taking stuff apart and starting the sound deadening. I just want to make sure I have stuff on hand for whenever I get to those areas. It might by 6 months before I get to it all for all I know. There's SO much to do on this thing and I don't even have it yet! This place is a terrible influence.

 

Wow... first time I've ever heard someone utter that last sentence.

 

I just ordered the Sony XAV-9000ES bundle from Trail Grid and can’t wait to install it. There are A LOT (sorry for yelling) of speaker/sound control parameters on these Sony HUs. I would recommend having a look at all the things you get with an aftermarket unit. I primarily listen to .wav files so I’m looking forward the the nice 24-bit DACs in the Sonys. Should be a nice big jump up in sound quality (you know the saying: garbage in, garbage out).

Soundman98 suggested some Dayton signature 6.5” speaker for the front doors so I gave them a shot. They do make the OEM speakers sound a little crude. They have a really nice smooth response but are a little low in volume/bass compared to the stock 6x9 speakers with the OEM HU. I think this is because: 1) the stock 6x9 speakers are simply bigger. 2)The stock speakers have a yellow foam baffle to direct the sound closer to the grill and 3) The OEM speakers are somehow more efficient than the 91db Daytons (also the Daytons are probably best in a box) 4) The OEM HU is equalized for the OEM speakers. Probably all of the above to varying degrees.

I will listen to the Daytons with the new Sony HU first…and then fabricate a plywood spacer to get the speakers right up to the grill. I really like the sound of these Daytons and am hoping these tweaks will help. If the Daytons don’t sound up to par, I will somehow build a sealed box for them in the door…but not looking forward to that challenge.

If all is good, next step is to apply a few strips of dynamat to the rear wall and roof. I will probably disconnect & block off (for door noise) the rear speakers and add a subwoofer and amp behind the rear seats.

BTW, even at $49 each, these aluminum coned Daytons appear to be way above the quality of anything I've seen offered by the car audio brands. They almost seem too nice to be in a car/truck.

 

For those who want to keep the stock sound volume of the tweeters while upgrading the speaker itself: you can remove the resister and wiring harnesses on the stock speakers. Just need to pry up on the plastic connector on the back of the speaker. Inbetween the two pieces of plastic. Underneath there is a screw you take out. Then pry up the glued down harness connector mounting plate. This cross over can then be reused and glued on the back of the new speaker. I noticed the highs of DS18 tweeters to be very loud. Just saying, because my ears are sensitive to this frequency range, I put a small circle cutout of cheap speaker box carpet over the tweeters behind the dash to help muffle the bullet tweeters for the time being. But I do see myself installing these stock crossovers as well. If the DS18 come with crossovers on the back then they don’t put out enough resistance and the sound is too loud. I don’t remember seeing one on the back of them when installing.


Going to try and install these with the infinity reference tweeters. Should be good once it’s all installed. The treble on my Eq is turned all the way down right now and I feel like it’s drawing sound away from the other speakers as well.

 

Home made plug n play with the factory connector.


Red wolf speaker adapter and then using the install equipment from the infinity kit.

 

That's interesting and good info. First time I've heard anyone complain about the

$80 DS18 PRO-ST OEM Subaru/Toyota Upgrade Bullet Compression Tweeters with Crossovers 1.9" - Car OEM Tweeter Upgrade Kit for Many Subaru/Toyota Models - Replacement for H631SFJ101 and H631SFJ100 (Pair)

DS18 tweeters (love ours), but everyone's hearing is different of course. They do have a built-in crossover. The frequency response ranges from 1KHz to 20KHz. (More here) Adding additional resistance could lower the volume, but it will also increase the load on the OE non JBL stereo's amp which is designed for 4 ohms. No idea if it would be enough stress to overheat it or make much of a difference though.

Rather than going to all of that work, if you're still within the return period (30 days for Amazon), I'd suggest replacing them with the PNP

$105 Subaru Genuine Tweeter Kit Kicker WRX STi Forester Crosstrek Impreza H631SFJ101

Kicker H631SFJ101 tweeters. I say that because that's what I initially installed. They did sound better than stock, but were certainly no louder. After reading other reviews I swapped them out for the DS18s, which as you've found are definitely louder. I like them much better and it seems so do most others, but if they're not what you were hoping for, I'd think the Kickers would be the best option in your case.

I installed Infinity Reference speakers in all four doors along with Rattle Trap sound deadner on the door skins and like the sound overall. I'll probably pop a powdered sub in one of these days, but for now, for a more-or-less OE stereo, it's not bad.

Hope that helps and let us know how it goes!

 

Thanks for sending that Subaru part number and link! I might give those a try if this tweeter doesn’t work out better. It most likely will since it’s a stock head unit and resistor. The speaker takes the rest of the power from the HU.
i am weird about what I install in my cars.. I am definitely a DIY reuse materials if they’re good kind of guy. I do have a kicker 500.1 amp also, so the head unit isn’t sending much power to the doors for bass, should free up some power for the highs and mods without warming the unit up too much.
The DS18 tweeters are really clear sounding which I like. When I was testing the tweeters on a home stereo system with and without the resistor, a lot of the background noise was removed and they sounded perfect to my ear so I’m excited to swap them out again.
I like how the infinity reference 6x9 speakers also shake my door panels. Adds to the experience overall.

 

Nice! Looking forward to hearing about the results. See what I did there?!

 

They sound amazing btw. I can turn the treble back up again. Sounds just like stock but much cleaner and clear. 100/100.

 

Congrats and enjoy!