2014 Tacoma - Proposed Sound System

Alright guys. I love my new Tacoma Double Cab, and everything about it, except that awful sound system. I purchased it without the JBL with the intention of installing an aftermarket system that would exceed the JBL systems for less... turns out this is harder said than done. I know very little aboutcar audio systems, so I am in desperate need of advice.

My priorities for this system are as follows:

1. Maintain stealth look. I don't want it to look like I have a system in the truck. That means I want to keep the stock head unit, no wires running along the backseat, and preferably no amp sitting underneath my seat. Some minor cutting behind the rear seat is fine.
2. Clear audio. I want to be able to play the damn thing at reasonably high volume and not hear the speakers bottom out. Clarity is huge.
3. Loudness. I'm pretty sure anything that I come up with is going to be louder than stock, 1 and 2 are really most important here.

After a ton of searching around, I think I've figured out a system that will do what I want it to do.

Amp - Alpine MRX 710W (MRX V-70)
Sub - JL Stealthbox (single 10")
Fronts - Infinity Kappa 693.9l's
Rears - Infinity Reference X 6502IX
Tweeters - Infinity Reference X 075TX

A buddy told me that spending extra on the Reference/Kappa series is a waste of time and to just go with the Infinity prime series. Any truth to this? Thanks in advance for the hand, folks.

 

I also like maintaining the stock look, but upgrading and adding to the factory stereo to give the sound after market quality. I can't advise you on your speaker selection, but update us on what you decide and let us know how it turns out.

 

I can provide some professional insight on this for you.

While I prefer to maintain the factory look of a vehicle as much as possible with any stereo or accessory installation, retaining the factory head unit will ultimately bottleneck the sound quality of your stereo, regardless of what amplifiers or speakers you use.

Your equipment selection could use some refining, as well. The Infinity speakers are definitely some of the more affordable options out there, but in terms of quality, they fall short of the standard for a stereo that can provide both loudness and clarity. The Infinity Kappa 693.9i 6x9's are a coaxial speaker, so adding the Infinity Reference X 075TX tweeters would likely result in a surplus of 'treble.' Considering the prices of the speakers you've listed, I can make a recommendation that you will be MUCH happier with. Try to get your hands on a set of the Hertz ESK 165.5L. Power these with the 4 channels from that Alpine amp in bridged mode and they will not disappoint. They are within the same price range of the Infinity speakers you had originally cited (maybe even cheaper). Get a pair of the Hertz DCX 165.3 for your rears, and power them straight from your head unit.

I have sold, installed, and listened to a few of those Alpine amps and, for the money, they're a pretty good buy, so long as you have a carefully tuned gain structure.

Invest in some sound deadening to put in your (at the very least, front) doors when you install the speakers. It's worth every penny.

As for the sub, I LOVE JL Audio stuff. But the stealthboxes are a little overpriced in my opinion. If you have the capabilities to build your own box, if done correctly, can turn out even better than the stealthboxes, and is much more affordable. Which woofer(s) you choose is up to you, but based on the power from your amp of selection, I would recommend two JL 10W0v3's.

Now to address the sound quality of that pesky factory head unit. Getting a more 'clear' signal to your amps is going to be difficult without professional assistance and some type of audio processor. I would recommend checking out some of the devices from Audio Control for some affordable, effective options. With the money you saved from avoiding the stealthbox and going with my speaker recommendations, you could probably pay for a decent processor, but the best solution to the problems that come from retaining a factory head unit is to get an aftermarket head unit.

 

This is the kind of headway I'm looking to make. Thank you so much for the input.

To be completely clear here, I'm much less concerned with cost than with quality. I would hate to drop $1k+ into a system when an extra $500-$1k will make a significant difference. I'm fortunate enough to have some hookups as far as the equipment itself is concerned (distributor pricing) as well as labor, but I'm struggling to get a professional's advice.

With that being said, feel free to completely wipe out the setup I was looking at. Am I really screwing myself by keeping the same head unit? If you just bought a 2014 Taco and had the same goal in mind, what would you do to your truck? I'm curious what you would do with a $1k-$1.5k budget. I'm not familiar with Hertz as a brand. Is this a compromise on your part to keep me within a budget?

 

I have the Stealthbox on my 2013 double cab. Such a perfect fit and it sounds great. I also did the JL XD700/5 amp, JL C5-650 component separates (front) and C2-650x rear 2-way. The whole install is super clean with minimal cutting, only a tiny tiny tiny bit on the rear plastic area where the stealthbox goes so that the wires can go through the hole and appear. Totally not anything to worry about.

I did go with the Pioneer AppRadio3 SPH-DA110 headunit with the Metra bezel. The bezel is painted shiny black with the gray speckles in it like the stock Taco mount, so it looks super clean. Sure the AR3 doesnt have 3 sets of preouts but I simply split the FL to FL RL and the FR to FR RR. I lose fader control (front to back) but you can easily adjust that with the "sensitivity" on the amp until you get it where you want. It is set properly, and honestly when the hell do you really adjust that anyhow?

Sure this isn't a cheap install with all the wiring, Metra AXXESS ASWC-1, fuses, you name it, but I am very happy. 1-1.5k? I bet i spent 2k'ish and i got most of my hardware at a much better than retail rate (all the JL stuff).

Good luck with your install, bottom line I am very happy with my Stealthbox. Oh you are in Oceanside, so I guess if you wanted you could cruise over to San Marcos area and check it out. I'd be cool with letting you see where my setup stands for your reference.

 

I would absolutely get rid of the aftermarket head unit. Ironically, when I first got into stereo upgrades in my truck, I upgraded all four speakers with Infinity speakers and an Alpine amp that I got through my friend that worked at best buy. Of course, having spent money on these things, I thought it was the cats ass... Until I put an aftermarket head unit in. The difference in sound quality just from changing to an aftermarket head unit was like night and day. The way it sounded before the aftermarket head unit was garbage. Based on personal experience and my professional tenure in car audio since then, replacing the factory head unit would actually be the very first thing I did if it were my truck.

As far as Hertz goes as a brand; I've worked in the car stereo industry for three years and Hertz is the best car audio speaker manufacturer that I can recommend right now. The speakers that I recommended before are what I would typically pick out for a good friend who wants a loud, great sounding stereo for a reasonable price, without compromising in terms of quality.

The Hertz speakers, JL subs & custom box, Alpine amp, a little sound deadening, and a nice head unit should fit a $1.5k budget if you can find the equipment for good prices. You might end up spending a little bit more for an in-dash receiver type head unit, though. This tends to have a more 'factory' look to it.

 

Thanks for the great info I will be upgrading this spring but don't tell my wife...

 

Also run your door speakers and subwoofer off of two separate amps. makes a world of difference

 

im in the same boat i will be upgrading the stock system although i will be keeping the stock head unit in order to obtain great sound i will be using an audio control DQ-61 audio processor hertz hsk165xl in the front doors hertz hcx 690 in the rear powered with a Rockford fosgate 800-4ad amp and im still trying to decide on subs open to input either 1 jl13tw5vs or 2 10" alpine type r slim powered by Rockford fosgat t1500bd amp will have to bulid custom box for the jl, and my brother in law has a box for the type r all ready that he will give to me for cheep any suggestions on subs or things to change

 

I'm running into a few problems sourcing a dash kit for the aftermarket head units, apparently no ones working with the new harness for the entune stereo yet so that causes a huge problem with the stereo upgrade.

I have a 2014 DCSB with the entune w/o JBL and crutchfield said there's no listings on dash install kits for the 2014's yet.

 

I too was unhappy with the stock system, especially those two little buzzing things in the headliner, so I stripped the entire system, and had a performance sound shop install, IMHO, one of the clearest, and crispest sounding systems I've ever listened to. The salesman spent hours with me on putting a system together with me. Started with Hushmatting the entire cab, including rear seats,floor, and roof. He made alot of sense about spending a few hundred more on keeping road noise out, and sound in. HU is a Kenwood DNX 6990HD Multi-Media 2 Din, paired with Hertz 165 XL Componet speakers up front with tweeters, and had Hertz 165's in the rear door, Powered by a JL 4-way bridged Amp. For the bottom end the JL Stealthbox which keeps everything stock looking(xcept the inside console)and is plenty for the size of the cab. I have all steering wheel control as well as my USB interface tied in.. Like the comment quoted above, the only thing I'm going to do is add a dedicated amp for sub. I listen to music now and hear things I've never heard in some of my favorite music, Video is pretty good with the Kenwood as well(which I had picked so can watch in gear..I kno, I kno)....total cost for equipment and install was $2800, which to an audiophile who spends alot of time in truck was well worth it...BTW, even being single amped/ subbed, this is about as loud as you can stand in a cabbed truck.....a great balanced system....

 

It's easier on a '13 than a '14 right now, there's no dash installation kits around at the moment for the '14 wiring harness.

 

Give it 6 months with these Tacomas...they are one of the most modded truck out there and the Vendors know it...Before long you won't even be able to hear the rumble of those 33" Dura-Tracs you're gonna' throw on soon with that kick-ass sound system......

 

Lol I hope it comes soon and works with the backup camera hahaha.

 

They'll be a wire harness to interface camera....I have my stock mirror camera, and now a "7"HU camera as well.....and I still back into the Spruce tree in my yard.....

 

I am looking forward to the aftermarket getting on the ball and developing the harness adapters. This is the only thing keeping me from upgrading...

 

Patience my friend...

 

Haha that's pretty funny

 

another +1 for Hertz.

i made the switch from an Infinity Reference "system" to Hertz Hi-Energy 3 way. damn theses speakers get LOUD and sound good. i am sending 75watts to each tweeter and midrange, and 100 watts to the midbass. Ideally i would like to send 120watts to tweeter/midrange and 200watts to midbass but they play loud and clear with the current power levels.

I am using an Bit One for tuning have my doors and rear hatch full sound deadening. next up is the roof as soon as it gets warmer. Sound deadening and proper install are worth the extra expense.

If you can have someone skilled and knowledge build you a custom box, it will serve you better then any pre-fabbed box.

Im running a single Sundown Audio 12 on 1000watts and this thing hammers lol. my wife hates it tho

 

I found out that the harness adapters are unchanged from 2013 to 2014, it still uses the same part number to adapt the two plugs on the lower left rear of the radio. All of the other connections on the back of the radio are for other functions that aren't specific to the basic adapting of the aftermarket HU into the truck.

Here are the parts that I know are for my 2014:


Metra Dash kit: 95-8235B

Metra Wiring harness:

$5 70-1761 Radio Wiring Harness For Toyota 87-Up Power 4 Speaker

70-1761

Metra Antenna adapter:

$11 40-LX11 Antenna Adaptor Cable - Select 2009-Up Lexus/Toyota

40-LX11

Metra Steering wheel interface: AXXESS ASWC-1

Metra USB Adapter:

$9 AX-TOYUSB - USB-Auxilliary Retention Harness - USB adaptor to retain the OE USB in select Toyota vehicles

AX-TOYUSB


The back-up camera harness is being sourced from a guy on eBay.

Some of these have multiple options or at least multiple vendors that you can source parts from.

At this point, I don't know what I don't know yet, but I am learning...