Best way to improve sound on 15' DC

Just got an 15' SR5 DC with Entune Plus (no Nav). Even though the cabin has 6 speakers the sound seems muffled like someone has their hand over the speaker. I'm coming from an 02' Prerunner that sounded great once I replaced the head unit with an Eclipse nav system.

From all the others who have done upgrades, where would I start first? HU? Amp? Speakers? I'd like to actually keep the Entune head unit because the bluetooth connectivity is pretty much spot on with what I need and I don't think Carplay is bug free enough to make me want to upgrade the HU at this time. Would appreciate any advice!

 

flowmaster super 44

 

I mean the sound system, not the ambient noise of the truck.

 

Talk to a stereo shop and they'll always say to replace the factory head unit first. Then speakers. And a subwoofer.

I've done the subwoofer first. LOL I like a little bass. Though the bass overruns the lyrics now.

 

Sorry to piggy back on the post, but has anyone here added an amp/sub using the stock head unit? I want to add stealthbox and a 4 channel amp but don't want to get rid of the entune head unit.

 

Yep. Double Cab Long Bed - Custom Rear Seat Box



Here's the box I ordered:

$130 American Sound Connection Compatible with/Replacement for Tacoma 2005-2015 Double Cab Dual 10" Sub Box Enclosure

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IFEBQ1K?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

 

How involved is it wiring it up to the head unit? This is exactly what I want to do but access cab style. Looks sharp.

 

I actually had a stereo shop in town do the install for me while I was at work. They suggested they may likely just feed off the rear speakers for signal. Not sure if that's what they did in the end or not.

 

Good to know. That will probably be the route that I end up going with because the wire clusters in the back of the stock unit look like a grade A+ CF to my non-engineer eyes. Do you have a recommended shop in Bzn? I'm in that neighborhood pretty often.

 

Good Vibrations - Right next door to where I work. They seem to be "the shop" in town these days.

 

Cool man, thanks for the scoop.

 

Makes sense, that totally helped my 02' taco. I can do without the bass (like a little, but nothing like when I was in high school).

 

I added an Alpine 445U amp, Sony speakers up front and kickers in the rear. The stock HU has some hiss to it, and when adding an amp it only magnifies it. I added the speakers first and the sound was no better than stock, but I added lower end speakers. My suggestion is to add quality speakers first and see if you like it. Then move up to an amp if needed. I like the stock HU features but I see myself upgrading to something better in the future. Just for reference, when I added the amp, it did make a huge difference, but I have to keep my amp gain low or I get too much hiss, otherwise it would kick ass.

 

Are there RCA ports on the back of the head unit? Could you give me some insight as to how you went about hooking the sub up to the head unit? I've been wanting to put in my 12' type r but I haven't seen much about whether or not you can directly hook it up like an aftermarket head unit...

Thanks!

 

I had a shop install mine and couldn't tell you.

 

Thanks! This was the info I was looking for. So it sounds like the HU needs to be replaced at some point. I'm like you too...the HU features are fine with me which is why I'm not all over replacing it right now. Once something on the market looks promising though, then I'll say goodbye to Entune.

 

I made this a few years ago for mine, one 10" sub is more than enough for me!! Plus the other side storage bin is open for storage.

 

Very nice!!!

 

From what I've seen, there are no RCA ports and you have to tap into a rat's nest of wires.

 

Crap!