Audio upgrade

I'm hoping to upgrade the sound in my 2011 Dbl Cab Prerunner without having to replace the entire system.

I called an often recommended on-line dealer and was told that I would experience significant improvement by replacing the factory JBL speakers (which includes a subwoofer) with Infinity Reference speakers while continuing to use the factory receiver/amp.

- Infinity REF-9630CX 6" x 9" with separate tweeters for the front doors
- Infinity REF-6532EX 6-1/2" x 9" for the back doors

Is anyone familiar with these speakers? Experience? Other ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

Don’t forget the adapters you will need for all four doors and possibly the tweeters

 

I know infinity is a very good name in car audio but I am just personally not familiar with it as I always go with either Alpine or Pioneer

 

Way back when I did my own research to find speakers, infinity and polk were both very close. I went with Boston acoustics, who no longer make car speakers. Out with the alpines, in with the BA, wow. Best speakers I've ever owned.

In the taco, I didn't want to go through the time again, so I just went with what my installer suggested, some pioneer 3 way 6x9 with separate tweeters in front, some other midrange 6x9 pioneer in the rear. I didn't have JL stuff. So anything was going to be an improvement. It's plenty loud enough, I no longer wish my neighbors 3 doors down to hear me. Enough bass, I don't need to shake my fillings out. No amps this time. Best of all, very clear clean sounding.

 

Thanks very much. Clean articulation and separation are more important than booming bass and high volume for me, understanding of course that the cabin is a bit noisy. I’ve read a few posts about adding sound deadening to the doors but that seems like more work than necessary for now.

 

I do wish I had the sound deadening done while they had it. I am getting noise, similar to a handful of dimes on a snare drum, from when the mids hit. Certain tasks I’ll do myself. Others I’d rather pay to get it done. Now that I wrench for a living, the appeal of wrenching after work isn’t as enjoyable.

 

Adding some sound deadening to the doors with help the bang for the buck part and quieten the cab down from outside noise. It doesnt take a lot of dampening to make a difference and it will help the speakers come alive as well. You dont have to cover the entire door, mainly the area around the speaker and behind it and you can put a decent size piece on the larger panel around the middle of the door. Take maybe 45mins per door if that long. There are some good threads about the JBL system upgrade in the Audio/Video forum. I would do 6.5 or 6x9 components up front. Dont do a 3-way 6x9 up front. In the rear, go with a set of 6.5 coaxials.

Infinity isnt the brand it was in the late 90's to 2000's.
Decent speakers now are Focal, Hertz, Morel, AudioFrog just to name a few.

Kicker has some budget series CS and KS versions you could look into as well

 

Thanks very much!

 

Honestly I just changed out my head unit. The factory radio was absolute garbage and after putting in a half decent used pioneer Avic 5201nex, the sound is night and day different. Way more powerful. And believe it or not the factory speakers actually produce some bass. Not as much as having a subwoofer or anything like that but honestly way better than I thought it ever would be. I paid about $250 for the radio.
I would love to have a sub still, that's because I like a lot of bass. But being an access cab and having kids let's ride in the back makes that pretty much not an option.

 

When I upgraded my sound system, I started with the head unit. That made a tremendous difference, even with the stock speakers. I did the speakers another year or so down the road. Having a more powerful head unit made a world of differnce for me. Upgrading the speakers made some difference in the bass, but overall I got the best bang for my buck by upgrading the head unit. Your mileage may vary.

 

Infinity has always been a great brand, although most great brands from the past have gone commercial and sold-out, selling inferior products and poor quality components, using brand recognition to make more profit. That said, it doesn't look like the case for those speakers. They seem to have gotten great reviews and look very powerful, I'm jealous!

 

Right now in mine, i have a Kenwood exelon unit and i sound deadened my doors, that made a huge difference with the radio and sound deadening. I have some Morel 6x9 components to go in or either some Hertz 6.5's once my amp comes. I think at that point, i will be done other than adding a small sub to the rear, possibly and 8 or 10"