OEM vs Focal vs Kicker

JBL system on my TDR Pro.
Looking to maybe replace the OEM system with a plug and play kit from Focal or Kicker.
Won’t be doing any additional sound deadening or replacing the amp or subwoofer.
Focal lot is about 2x a kicker kit.
What are your experiences?

 

If you care at all about audio quality, Focal is much more of an audiophile brand.

If you mostly listen to the radio and MP3's, or want to push a ton of watts for hip hop bass, Kicker will probably be good enough.

I suggest to bring what you listen to (in the format you listen to it in) into a car audio dealer and listen to your options. That will give you the best idea of what you want.

 

Compared to many of their offerings, the Focal speakers for Toyotas aren't anything special. At least, not special enough for $380 for the fronts and $330 for the rears. Also, they're aluminum dome tweeters which is far from my favorite, but that's a personal preference.

Just keep in mind something mentioned in every JBL replacement thread; The JBL speakers are 2ohm, so replacing them with 4ohm aftermarket speakers will get you a noticeable reduction in volume.

 

I was wondering if the Focals would be worth double the price if the plan is to leave the OEEm head unit and amp.

Like a lot of modifications, it can be a dark hole to keep looking and justify spending just a little more….

 

If you are gonna keep the OEM HU, don't spend a bunch on speakers. I wouldn't spend double the price for the Focals in that case.

 

Having run Focals in a couple of cars (DFS and Flax), they are worth every penny, but I wouldn't think the simple pnp kit that they offer would be amazing just due to the limitations of the factory headunit, plus the JBL system is weird. I'd upgrade to high end aftermarket JBL's on that system so the ohmage is happy along with a better sub. A few users on here have done that and are very happy with the results.

IMO, don't spend money on anything Kicker ever. Their pnp tweeters are a decent upgrade over the tweeters in these trucks with the stock audio system, but anything else they make would be a downgrade on the JBL system, if compatible at all.

 

My personal opinion is to either leave the JBL system alone, or gut it entirely. Or plan on building in steps and living with reduced performance in the mean time.

With better speakers, your sound quality will marginally improve. Your volume level will noticeably decrease. The amp is doing the work so you hit a ceiling pretty quick. A full gut will run you 2-3 grand all said and done.

As for adding JBL aftermarkets, they are typically 3ohm so you'll still notice some volume loss.

 

I had Focals in my 4Runner for years and have Kicker 6x9 components with 6.5 rears in the Tacoma....the Kicker's sound much better than the Focals did.....

 

Going down the rabbit hole now, but would replacing the existing JBL amp with a better JBL amp help get the volume back on upgraded speakers?

 

Yes but it’s expensive. I believe you need something like a PAC amp pro because the JBL sends a digital signal to the amp and it needs to be “decoded” for lack of a better term.

The kicker upgrade is good if you plan on adding an amp down the road. I have Kickers in my Chrysler 300C with the factory Beats Audio amp and they take an amazing amount of abuse.

Otherwise you’re just emptying your wallet for a little better sound and less volume. I went ahead and installed the

$70 JBL GX328 3-1/2" Coaxial Car Audio Loudspeakers

JBL GX328 dash speakers in my JBL system and it made a nice improvement in the “staging” of the system. Speakers are 2.3 ohms so no loss of volume, highs and mids are improved to the point that I swear my woofers in my front doors sound more pronounced. This will keep me happy until I have the means to drop about 2K for something special.

 

those two quotes are perfect examples. absolutely no speaker is 'better' than another. each have different characteristics that lend themselves better to what each individual listener desires.

the good news is that most brands tend to keep to a characteristic tone in their products. if you can find a local shop with the similar models of the brands you're interested in that would allow you to listen to them, that would be the fastest way for you to make a decision. and if you can't tell a difference, there's no reason to spend extra money.

i see where you're going, and the answer is yes, but no.

yes, a different amp will offer improved volume response. yes, jbl offers aftermarket amplifiers that would work. but no, there's not an oem-alternative amp. meaning that you must go into the car audio aftermarket arena. and once you're there, there's absolutely nothing that demands or requires you to stick with any particular brand.

but it also is a rather large rabbit hole. the dilemma is that the factory jbl system gets a digital signal from the oem head unit, with digitally-encoded volume/eq/fade/balance information. from there, it digitally splits up the audio signal, and separately amplifies each individual speaker, so there are 7 separate speaker outputs from the factory amplifier(2 dash tweeters, 2 front door, 2 rear door, subwoofer).

i should say, what's always been fun for me about sound systems is that there's really no wrong answers. all of it comes down to identifying the problem, identifying how to fix the problem, and then coming up with a solution that fits the individuals needs, as well as fits within their budget constraints--because none of us ever have an infinite money tree to do absolutely everything.

lets start with the signal from the head unit to the ampifier. to change only the amplifier, you need to get the signal into the new amp in a way it can be understood. this can be done two different ways.
1. keep the oem head unit, purchase adapters (like the pac amp pro) that can convert the digital signal into something the new amplifiers can use. the advantage here is that all of the factory radio stuff 'just works'. the disadvantage is that there are fewer in-the-seat sound adjustment capabilities with this route.
2. replace the head unit with an aftermarket model. almost all of these have outputs that can go to an aftermarket amplifier. the advantage is that sound adjustment tools are typically more refined, and generally offer more or better audio options. the disadvantage is that it can cost more, and many times don't integrate into the vehicle as smoothly as the factory radio. sometimes steering wheel buttons don't work the same, or dash displays don't get the data they need.

after that, we need to connect 7 individual speakers to the amplifier. again, there's a few options here as well. each has it's own cost and audio difference.
1. the cheapest-equipment method is going to be getting a 4-channel amp and a mono amp, or a 5-channel amp. you'd also require 2 passive crossovers(they split up the audio signal after it's been amplified) to combine the front dash tweeters and the front door speakers. the disadvantage here is that there's lots of gear to conceal somewhere, and lots of wiring to do. depending on your needs, installing passive crossovers to split up the audio signal can be less than ideal in some cases. they to sap away some power, but are very simple devices, which only require an understanding of how to connect wires to them. there's also very little adjustment in most cases to how it ends up-- it could sound good or better than stock, but there's not a ton of adjustability built into a sound system like this.

2. 7 or 8 channel amplifiers do exist. but they are all in the $800-1500 range for only the amp. some models have similar internal digital audio processing that can be programmed to be similar to the factory jbl amp. others would require an external sound processor($180-500) to perform the task. this is a more expensive option, but offers the most adjustment after all the gear is installed. the disadvantage is that for the system to properly work at all, all the adjustments must be made, and if you're the tinkering type, it's very easy to adjust too far and make things sound worse than they were before.

1&2 are probably the most generic 'distilled' solutions. there's also always going to a 3rd option, where anything goes, and could include variants of all the things in both 1&2, or use entirely different parts in different ways.

the big part is to come up with an idea of how far you're willing to go, or what parts you might want to keep, and what parts must go.
after that, it's time to try to come up with a realistic budget for the project, as well as goals for sizes of equipment, and their power output. 50-100watt per channel amps are everywhere. but 250-500 watt per channel amps are much more rare, and significantly more expensive.

something to keep in mind is if you're doing the installation yourself, or if a shop is going to do it. if you do it yourself, you can save a ton of money on labor costs, and make the project far cheaper. but if you're unsure of it, and would prefer a shop to do it, it really just means that at least 1/2 of your determined budget will need to be dedicated to labor/installation costs.

neither way is wrong, i've got plenty of respect for people that readily admit they want something done, but don't have the skills to accomplish it. the biggest difference you'll see in the end product comes down to the gear used. if for instance the budget is $3,000 to completely replace everything, but installed by a shop, it means that the gear to be used can't surpass about $1500 total. but the same budget to install yourself or by a buddy that works for good times and beer, that full $3,000 can be dedicated to all of the gear installed.

there's always going to be differences and choices, like picking between a lexus and a toyota. to some people, the extra cost and features of the lexus is entirely worthwhile for double the cost. to many others, the reliability and less-frills option of the toyota is much more worthwhile despite the lower price because those extra frills weren't needed by them anyways.

 

What if I wanted to be cheap and keep the existing head unit and amp. Could I get better speakers that met the OEM amp 2 ohm resistance? Would it make any difference, or just too weak an OEM amp?

 

yes, there are a few brands that make 2 ohm speakers, though they're primarily from JBL.

the majority of your issue is going to be with the amp.

changing the speakers can change some of the tone of the system, but it won't change the overall volume.

 

Well, did you ever "pull the trigger" on any of the options discussed?