A Review and Experience with my OEM Audio Plus Install

I know this is a bit lengthy so I tried to bold different segments so you can read what you want. In advance I am no writer, cut me a little slack.

http://oemaudioplus.com/


Before I get started I know listening to music is really subjective. That being said I am no audiophile just a guy that has been interested in sound for a long time and probably spent way too much on equipment over the years. In the past I’ve been able to be in recording studios back in the day and listen to playback in some pretty neat environments. I have also spent way too much time in my 07 DC Pre-Runner trying to get some decent sound out of it. I ran an active setup with a Pioneer 24bit DAC and 720PRS’s for my front stage and an ED Kv 11 in a Taco Tunes box behind my back seat. Powered by an ARC 4150 and a Memphis 500D. I sealed all the doors with dampener and closed cell foam on the interior of the doors. So I have messed around in this stuff a bit.

What I have noticed when it comes to car audio that a lot of folks want that great sound… go to Crutchfield or read to their face is blue over on DIYMA, go over a list and order a bunch of stuff then spend three hundred on dampener, paste it everywhere. Run massive 00 wires everywhere and do the BIG 3. And truth be known still with minimal results for time and effort. I’m not talking to you guys that this is a hobby or just have fun much like others do with suspensions. You know what I’m saying.

That’s what made me interested about OEM+. My wife made me promise when I got my new 17 DCSB TRDOR TECH NON-JBL there would be no tearing apart of the truck for sound. To me it was almost unbelievable that you could get a factory head unit to even make a good sound let alone the speakers. I’ve done a lot of reading over on the Scion boards that have a tendency to take things like this a bit seriously. And heard nothing but good reviews. So I bought it before my truck was even delivered.

Quality of product

I found everything to fit perfectly and was clean. I’m not sure of the manufacture of the speakers but seem to be built well. The baffles fit as if they were factory and bolt on with no issues. The harness is really done well, all connections and cable lengths fit as you would expect. The sub box is just down right cool and fits in place as expected. The amp, if you are not familiar with newer stuff, the size will probably scare you a little… don’t worry. It fits under the seat just like the video and really is in a good place to mount such a component.

Installation

By now you probably have seen the install video so I’m not going to go over that. If you are not happy with a screwdriver in your hand or pulling a door panel off makes you go into sweats… find a friend who it doesn’t bother and watch the video.

I would rate this as “5” on the DIY meter or difficulty. This generation of Tacoma is almost built to be modified, it comes apart way too easy and has plenty of room to do what you need to.

Replacing the door speakers was way too easy, the ONLY problem I had was the back doors. Pulling at the bottom to break loose the white tabs was really hard. They did not want to come out in so much it was bending the door panel. At least with mine, be aware that when it breaks loose the whole equal and opposite rule will come into action and you will find yourself on your butt with a door panel in your hand. Plus the door handle assembly is loose unlike the front doors.

The tweeters went in place just as the video. Just be aware, if your truck is equipped, the light sensor for turning on/off your lights is located on that grill and you will have a wire connection that is not mentioned.

The sub went in with no issues. When you look at the foam piece that lays in the bottom you will notice that it cut out of square… that’s because it should be, do to the fact that the bottom of the shelf is like that. Don’t do what I did and square it up. I used a one inch wood paddle bit to cut my hole and worked fine.

Running the harness went great. The front half that sits under the door sill on the driver’s door will be tight, message it a bit, close the clasps and hurry and put on the sill plate. When you run the cables to the seat area, I took the time and sanded the paint under the ground lug.

The amp hanger has had an engineering change and the connectors will fit toward the center of the truck AN NOT facing the outside as in the video.

Running your cable to the head unit, to me you have PLENTY of room to do this. It went easier than I thought. Just an observation, when you undo your connectors from the head unit, keep track of them. Mine fell down, like way down and was a bit of a pain AND press your connectors back in firmly. I had loose connections.

Running your power wire. The path of least resistance will be what the video tells you to do. That right firewall hole is a lot easier to get through. I know you will notice that there is a shorter path by going through the left firewall. YES you will see a nipple and you can use it BUT IT IS NOT easy to get through. In fact I ran my wire through the one that is used and ran it by the black cable. I used some Herbal Essence shampoo and went through like a greased pig. One reason I did this as I have a Ham Radio that I was installing and I wanted to keep all my RF on one side and my audio on the other. I think even if I didn’t have a radio install I would go through the left side just for neatness, but that’s me. Just be aware it’s a bit harder and depending on your skill level you may not want to do it.

Other installation observations. The fuse you see in the bag is NOT an extra. Plug it in or no sound…Doh. Also depending on your AC/Heater buttons, tape those things up with blue painter tape, especially if you got the tech package with dual climate controls. It’s easy to rest the head unit down there and scratch something. I WOULD pull the B and C pillar plastic all the way off like the video says. Especially if you done this before, you think you can just break the bottom loose and you can run the cable… YOU NEED to pull them off.

SOUND

First it lit up with no problems (after you install the fuse). I first started listening to it and though… Oh Snike-ees. This isn’t too good. I caught my breath and looked at my (what I will call EQ), about 90 seconds later I had the thing sounding pretty darn good.

Like I said this is subjective. If this is your hobby and you go to SQ meets I’m sure you will have something different to say. This is not that type of system… HOWEVER I bet most that would listen to it that mess in those areas would agree that it is quite an improvement.

What you will immediately notice is the CLARITY. You can get this thing to sound quite BRIGHT. I have a tendency to lean towards that direction anyway so I was happy with the highs.

What shocked the snot out me was the whole front stage. I’m not into rear stages and I’m sure the rears have some purpose in filling in something but the woofers in front (act more like mids to me) come crazy alive. They are very snappy and clear. I will tell you at times I could not get my 720 mids to do what these are doing.

About the bass… there is PLENTY! I heard folks thinking that there was not enough and a bit weak. Unless you are wanting something to cruse the Wal-Mart parking lot with, don’t buy this. BUT if you want overall great sound you’ll do fine. It shook everything I wanted to shake.

What surprised me was the EQ adjustment in the head unit. If you are running a well-tuned active set up you typically don’t change the EQ whole lot with different types of music. You will with this set up, that’s not saying anything bad. The head unit responds well and is not complicated. I listen to a lot of live performances and those can be all over the map. A couple of simple taps on the screen and I’m happy.

Talk radio on FM. I don’t do a lot but I did notice… WOW it makes a great difference.

XM RADIO. It’s better, don’t get me wrong. It’s not the systems fault but the stupid compression they use will cause it never sound a good as other inputs.

Customer Service

I was almost getting tired of hearing people talk about how great it was. Well it is. I had a couple small questions I wanted to answered, nothing an email could not handle. Daniel LaBlanc called me instead, wanted to make sure everything was fine. After our chat he told me to text him if I ran into any problems at all. Even texted me out of the blue to make sure everything was going good. I interfaced with him a couple times over the past week and I can say you can’t find this type of service anywhere. Feel VERY confident you will be backed up with your purchase.

THE BAD

The ONLY thing I found wrong with the system… There is a bit of noise running around. Nothing major and most will never hear it. I’m sure YOU will have your own list of how it handles the bass or the high end. It is what it is.

Bottom Line

I have nothing to do with this company our know anyone involved other than a phone call and a few texts.

I personally feel it lives up to what is described and sold as. To me it’s a minor miracle to have a stock head unit deliver this type of quality sound. If you feel the stock sound is just fine, don’t bother. If you are bit picky and wanting more this is the option.

If you are wanting to go and buy a bunch of components and you never did it before and it’s NOT your hobby… I’d drop back and consider this instead. Tuning to make those parts can be/will be frustrating. Oh and all that dampening that they tell you that you need… that’s a heck of a lot of work that pain vs. reward will be leaving you wondering what you just did.

For not a lot of effort this thing puts a really decent sound systems in most peoples grasp. A system that you will be happy with.

Just MHO.

 

Nice review, thanks for taking the time to post it

 

Have to read this later

 

Good write up. I've had my OEM system now for 5 months or so and it continues to impress me with the clear sound.

 

Great write up, I'm a sound guy build my own gear for home use. Your statement :

What you are talking about right there is the "noise floor" - for that kind of coin ONLY a very very low noise floor would be acceptable FOR ME. If you can hear it... you're not done with the installation.

Noise can come from a lot of places, not usually found in 12V circuits from a battery! Again FOR ME that would be a no go. Maybe one of your grounds is not connected properly.

I would put an X/Y polly capacitor across the line (POS & GND) right where your power cables bring power to the head unit. That will get the noise out of the circuit IF it's upstream of the head unit.

 

To me it's hardly nothing. I guess I said for the others that are the ultra picky.

It's hard to say there's nothing wrong with the system. I know folks will look at it as a SQ type system. It's not.

But it is a HUGE improvement. And I mean HUGE.

 

Congrats on your sound upgrade. I installed mine about a month ago. Very pleased as well with the sound and clarity. Only semi complaint is there is a bit of a hiss from the amp at very low volumes. Only install issue which I have yet to remedy is the wire harness on the driver side doesn't fit snugly in the track and my floor plate will not snap down in place. I hope I can rejigger it some to get it to fit.

 

It is tight . I had to take the time and twist the wires and make them somewhat lay flat, message them and actually did some controlled cramming yo make them fit.

 

Thanks for doin this, I just installed mine this Monday and was just gonna do a review you covered everything. Super straight forward on the install. Everything fits perfectly. Sound is tons better than the stock system, the FM stations sounded like they were tuned to AM ones before install...really bad.

 

Nice (and thorough) write up.

 

Thanks for writing this. I've had mine sitting in the box for the last few weeks. Being busy sucks. So anxious.

 

Great write-up !
How long did it take to install?
I'm still on the fence.....

 

This is a very well engineered system and is by far the most impressive sound system you can buy for the money! Period! I use to build custom systems back in the 90s . Built many systems back in the day and before I bought this I went to a local shop to hear what they had. I sat in the shop owners truck for awhile and played Spotify on his system and wasn't impressed at all! 1200$ just for Focal front components, 2 ported 10"s and a pioneer deck and a 5 channel amp cost unknown didn't care to ask but I bet it was in the 4-5 K $ range for his system.The sound quality was awful, very unbalanced. You couldn't hear what the artist intended you to hear and that bass knob is joke imo all it does is lower the input. The shop owner didn't even know what a quad coil sub was lol. Having this 450Q for a few weeks now and she's breaking in , one word is WOW! Not only is this system easy diy plug and play, the sub enclosure is down right sexy! Last but not least Daniel is the best customer service you will ever receive!

 

I concur with Oldman. There simply is no comparison with the stock system. Just simply on another level with the sound clarity and depth. It's been a while since I installed a system, still the OEM has by far been the easiest system I ever installed. Pretty much all plug and play with only one hole having to be drilled for the sub wires.

The amp install did give me a bit of trouble. The bracket was a bit tight and was actually reverse for me so the plugs that are supposed to be facing the door were facing the passenger side. Still not too bad though. I haven't had any issues with noise either. Maybe it's because I went through the passenger firewall like the video instructed? It could be that by going through the driver's side the OP could have introduced interference with the power wire. Not sure though, as it seemed like he also had issues with the radio connectors. Mine all plugged in with no issues.

The only thing that was a bit annoying for me was that the rear seat did cause a rattle when secured. This isn't OEM Audio's fault though as any sub back there would have had this issue. I found it was caused by the latch that locks the rear seat in place. I tried using rubber tubing to insulate the bar the latch locks onto, but that didn't help. It seems to be coming from the metal hinges on the latch itself. As long as I do not push the rear seat all the way until the latch locks there is no rattle. Also when installing the sub make sure to keep that foam piece in place on the bottom, and it may help to line the rear of the sub with some dampening material so it insulates the sub from the plastic enclosure it sits in.

Finally, I have to say OEM Audio has phenomenal customer service! Daniel is super helpful and patient. I was a bit on the fence before my purchase and had a bunch of questions. So I decided to contact them and Daniel did a great job of answering them for me. A few things to note if you are considering this system:

1. All O+ components are built to OEM specification and certification (original equipment manufacture). This ensures the highest standards of reliability (10 year / 100,000 mile tested) necessary to meet both our (OEM Audio's) and Toyota's standards. In addition to the quality of our components, the system is a true plug-and-play installation that does not modify your factory wiring or electronics whatsoever.

2. The system is completely optimized and tuned for the Tacoma with the stock head unit. However, if you decide to upgrade down the road, no problem. They'll retune the amp to the new output characteristics of the new head unit for free! You just have to pay for the return shipping, or drop it off at their shop in Anaheim if you're local.

3. If you do decide to go with the OEM Audio system, do yourself a favor and pick up the panel tool. While it's not required to do the install, it's inexpensive and really makes removing panels and those plastic push pins a lot easier. Also, while the video states you will need a 1" hole saw to drill a hole for the Sub wires, I had a hole saw kit with a 1 1/8" which seemed to make it just a little easier to fit the connectors through.

 

Is this OEM Audio Plus better than the JBL system some of the Tacomas have? Anyone done a comparison between the 2?

 

I haven't had a chance to compare it to the JBL, but I highly doubt the JBL system will be better than the OEM Audio Plus. I think the more important question is, do you have the JBL system already and are you happy with it? If you are, than stick with it. However, if you are looking to upgrade, I highly recommend looking at the OEM Audio System. Especially if you plan to diy.

 

Well I have the stock non JBL system so that's why I ask. However I've been looking to upgrade to some Focals but for around the same scratch I could go with the OEM's... Plus the install might be easier

 

Also, they are located in Anaheim if you wanted to make the trek to check out the system firsthand. I'm sure they would be happy to show it to you. Just give them a call and ask to speak to Daniel.

 

@TacomaGinger

Im not trying to start something but i have heard all 3... non JBL, JBL and O+. I owned the non JBL and now the O+. The non JBL and JBL arent far apart. The most significant difference is the small sub that the JBL has. In my opinion the O+ blows the JBL out of the water...

Itd be something like
4/10 non JBL
5/10 JBL
9/10 O+

Just my 2 cents

 

Nice one @Doggman !