Door Speaker Upgrade: Total Amateur Perspective

Hey guys, I have zero experience upgrading car audio. Decided to make a video of my experience with upgrading the door speakers in my 2017 OR.

I've also upgraded to the Subaru tweeters, which was easier than this.

Check out the video below:




I haven't had much time listening to the upgraded speakers. There is a difference, but it's not earth shattering of course. It will take time for me to truly judge the difference.

These speakers are on sale now for $25 less than I paid at Cruchfield.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206CSC6934/Kicker-43CSC6934.html

If you're interested, go get them. It's a cheap mod and will take you only a few hours of time. Just watch my video and see if you're up to the task.

 

Did the same to mine, give them a couple weeks to break in. I was very happy with the tweeters, but was not impressed by the speakers at first. After a couple weeks they got better.

 

Yeah I pretty much just listened to part of one song to make sure they were connected. Good to know that there might be a break in period as well. I could definitely tell a difference, but for $99 ($75 right now), its a worthwhile upgrade IMO.

 

I changed all my speakers on my TRD OR. Part of the equation is the signal the new speakers get. Frankly, the entune system JBL or not, is not very good or even clean sounding. I switched mine to an aftermarket unit, amp, door speakers and sub. That is truly the best way to make it sound good. Obviously, just my opinion. But you can change the door speakers but if the signal going to them is crappy or low power then you aren’t truly listening to how the new speakers can truly perform.

 

That is true. I'm not sure if I'm ready to part with the stock system. I like the built in GPS and other features. I'm sure that an amp and aftermarket head unit would improve the sound though.

 

I thought the same. But I use Apple car play and it’s nice. I have a choice now between Apple, Google and WAZE maps. And those update traffic conditions much better than the other GPS units I have used. And the other features, to include monitoring of the vehicle systems are retained in my Alpine unit.

PS: adding sound deadening to all the doors and back wall really helped with clarity. It’s a truck and not a high end sedan. But I have experience with both and was truly impressed with how I could get it to sound by doing what I did.

 

I actually never use the build in GPS, but I consider it a good backup to my cell phone (if something happened to it). I guess I could get a gps enabled aftermarket system. Only concern is "does it look good, or cheesy?" Show me a pic of your head unit if you can. You have me interested... I like how seamless the stock unit fits into the dash, not sure if aftermarket systems would look the same.

 

I have all my pics on the magnetic grey thread to include my stereo system. I’m truly happy with it. Alpine , along with pioneer include a GPS antenna. I’ve noticed even when I lost signal I had some guidance with my GPS through the app. Not sure, but I think the extra antenna helps load the data for GPS. I’m going to test it this weekend when I go off grid again.

 

I appreciate your honesty during the install as not being an expert but still doing your best. You provided good, helpful, relevant information on your install that I have not seen anywhere else. Thank you.

 

Has anyone thought about or tried just adding an amp to the stock system? I went to a local sound shop to get a quote and the tech there said that the only advantage the JBL factory system has is that it is equipped with an amp. The speakers are virtually the same. I personally would like to upgrade everything and add a sub. The guy explained that I may want to just go with the amp and sub to start with which is $500 cheaper than replacing all the stock speakers. Just curious if anyone has tried pushing those stock speakers with an amp and what it sounded like.

 

stock speakers are not made to handle power. upgrade the speakers. and replace the Head unit. put sound deadning in while your at it. youll be glad you did. there are alot of audio threads on here with a ton of info to help you put together a system youll be happy with.