2021 audio Upgrade, Thoughts?

Sounds good! I hope they’re good! I probably would have gone that route too, but I’ve never heard them in person and for that kind of money, I’d definitely want to know what I was getting.

Let us know how it goes!

 

One thing i wanted to ask people, what about doing 6.5s in front since I am adding a Sub for bass, and doing the kicker key am Would I get better sound doing JL c2600? they are 6.5s instead of the 6x9s

 

I can’t say if you will get better sound necessarily, but to answer your question, you can absolutely do 6.5’s up front. You just need a 6x9 to 6.5 bracket to mount them. They will probably be cheaper as well.

Your logic is correct; if you aren’t intending for the door speakers to have bass, you don’t need the 6x9

 

Last question, when I wire up the Hideaway, I do it with wiring BEFORE the Key amp correct?

 

Correct. You don’t want any of the crossovers and EQ AFTER the amp affecting the INPUT on the hideaway.

 

Sub'd - I'd like to improve the sould on my '21, but I've been out of the car stereo scene for quite a while. - I barely recognize a few of the current brands!

Can you guys please post some pics and recommendations on what is out there?

What is the Amp wattage of the OEM non JBL unit? - It sounds from the comments that it is not powerful enough to drive good speakers, correct?

Where can one go these days to actualy hear some of the available set-ups for Tacomas?

I looked at Crutchfield, but they seem to recommend surface mount tweeters rather that the direct replacements up by the windshield...

I planned to upgrade the small speakers by the windshield, and the 6x9s at the front doors first (along with some sound proofing).

Does infinity still make decent stuff?
What are the reputable manufacturer's these days? - I am most interested in sound quality rather than thumping power - But I do enjoy solid bass when called for!

 

Depending on your budget, I did this upgrade and it was a huge improvement. adding the Hideaway was huge for bass. Not like when i was 18 and had 2 12s in the trunk but it adds quite a bit. but i did that on my 2018. Now im in the 2021 and doing more.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/premium-audio-upgrade-for-less-than-250.510424/

 

I disagree with this. I’m putting my system together one piece at a time so I had the fronts on hu power then amp power and the last this I added was the access doors and they made a big difference in overall sound quality but maybe it’s different in the double cabs.

 

The problem is more that the factory headunit sends almost no sound to the rear speakers. Plus how many concerts have you been to where half the band is behind you?

 

Anyone know if they’ve come up with a plug and play line output converter for a 2020 2021 entune 8 inch without the jbl yet?

 

Yeah that makes sense they didn’t add much until I got them on the amp. I also understand you point about the front stage but that’s not really the endgame for me. My goal is a loud clear surround sound with lots power and bass. I mean Going to a concert is super fun but sometimes the sound quality is actually pretty shitty.

 

I would keep the 6x9 up front 6x9 are a much more awesome speaker than 6.5 in my opinion and it’s vary rare you find them on front door speakers, they offer a really good mid range and slap funky bass that’s different than a actual mono sub that has no mids, also most of your sound quality comes from how well you can seal a speaker inside a chamber, ever seen a Bose surround speaker? most of them are paper and they sound amazing it’s about the quality of the speaker as much as the compartment in my opinion I’ve heard really expensive speakers not sealed correctly and basic pioneers from Walmart sealed correctly that sound much better than those

 

And that is a perfectly fine way of doing it, I did the same in many of my systems in the past. And yeah, adding a amp will overcome some of the shortcomings of the factory headunit.

 

I do wish I would have considered 6x9s. I don’t know if I would have gone that way but I didn’t even really think about it I went right for the 6.5s.

 

Yes 4 channel on eBay. Taps both front and rear pair and sends out as rca with trimpot attenuators. Bear in mind the rear 2 channels are lower output but should be able to balance with trim pots and then fine tune depending on your amp.

easiest path is to use this to send to amp and then run direct speaker wires from amp to each speaker (very easy). Wire amp power and remote turn on independently.

 

Thank you, do you know if the front tweeters are wired to the front speakers like a component system I put in the kicker Subaru tweeters and kicker cs speakers lots of highs and I have no idea what those tweeters are rated at for wattage

 

I couldn’t find it on eBay do you know the link? From when I searched couple months back the entune stereo on the 2020 changed and is not compatible with any plug and play options right now without splicing wires and making your own

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Channel-...io-Adapter-for-some-2018-Toyota-/143597400158

Scroll down, compatible with Tacoma 2020 listed

4 channel add amp Toyota 2018+ including Tacoma 2020 adapter

This also includes the raw-lead return harness adapter to bring you amped signal back into factory wiring then headed to speakers, or you can ignore that and run new speaker wires straight to the speakers as their own channels, for instance if you are using component set up and want to ignore the factory parallel wiring setup of the front door and tweeter that prevents individual volume control between tweeter and front.

Others say to work with just the two front channels since they are highest output, but this harness gives you the back two channels too, in case you want to use them for back doors or route them wherever else, tweeters or what not. You can then level match and/or crossover EQ with any solid 4 channel amp DSP and are then not bound with only two channels to work from. More flexibility. Plus this harness’ RETURN cut leads adapter is g2g in case you just want to run directly back to factory wiring (which routes 2 front + 2 rear) from the amp and call it a day....in which case your new tweeters and front door would require some sort of crossover if you wanted any sort of independent EQ or level for them individually.

most the other harness are just a 2 channel SEND with no RETURN

the simplest setup would be this harness setup, a 4 channel RCA cable running to new amp, 9 lead speedwire from amp back to harness (4 channel x 2 leads per, + 1 remote turn on wire), and independent power/ground wires from amp. You could also splice open the speedwire once you get into the dash to wire to whatever speakers you want instead of the included RETURN harness.

A) factory head output > new 4 channel harness > amp > back to new harness open leads > factory wiring

or-

B) factory head output > new 4 channel harness > amp > directly to speakers via new speaker wire

if your new amp is cranking more than 100 watts a channel then you will def want new speaker wire, the factory watts is like pathetic 15 and the stock wire is only like 18 guage.

 

Thanks man the seller is the next city next to mine I wonder if they have a local store

 

nP I made my response purposely redundant so you wouldn’t have to peck around gathering info here and there and doing a bunch of extra shit with wiring and ghetto rigging. I’ve wired lots of outboard gear and consoles in studios, this should be the best bang for buck and cleanest way to go. If all else fails you just wire directly to speakers from the amp with new wire like you would a home stereo, piece of cake. Lots of folks in here with tons of knowledge.