DSP recommendations and opinions for our double cab trucks?

I’ve decided to back my ass up a bit before I spend $2,000 on speakers for this truck.. I’ve decided and finally ordered my speakers and went with Focal PS 165F performance expert line component 2 ways for front and the same line coaxial 2 ways for rears. I just didn’t feel like getting myself into a headache trying to do an active setup or cutting up the interior of the truck so I went with my original plan in getting the expert flax series speakers. As good as their entry level coaxials that I’m currently running sound to me i imagine these will be a big upgrade to my ear. I feel like these will match my current amp perfectly pushing them at 75w rms each and I bought them from Crutchfield at a great price as they were open box speakers which still have full warranty from them. This saved me some room for budget wise for other equipment or goodies. Thanks to all for input and help!

@5nahalf @destin_meeks @dolbytone @JDattilio @rob feature or anybody in the know..

I do have a couple of questions before they arrive tomorrow and I do somehow get into a headache.. these will replace my current Subaru tweeters I’m hoping and planning. With me running new speaker wire from my amp a few weeks ago and doing away with using any factory speaker wiring my Subaru’s aren’t even running currently anyway, correct? I’ve ordered some pods that supposedly fit the tweeter inside it and can be placed in the dash corner factory tweeter location by drilling a couple holes to bolt them

also audio control dm 608 or JL audio TwK 88? With me going 2 way up front instead of 3 way how many channels can I actually control with a dsp like one of these? Is it 5 or 7? If it’s 5 I’ll probably try an Audison bit ten hd. If it’s 7 I’ll go with the JL twk 88 most likely bc I like the smaller footprint and I’ve been playing around with the software. The speakers I chose aren’t biampable if this makes a difference in what I’ll be able to control on them with a dsp. I started to realize that with as little actual knowledge and hands on experience in car audio it’d be foolish for me to spend so much on speakers alone and I need to start simple then graduate up to 3 way and active setups in time if I find it necessary. I’ve also looked into the dsr1 by Rockford Fosgate and it looks like a great unit but i don’t think it’ll do much more than my Kenwood head unit will do. The audison looks like a very nice piece on the level of the JL and audio control units

 

I keep it simple. I disconnect the REAR DOOR Speakers of all my trucks. Put the best Component Seat my money can buy up front and a SUB in the back. I've always had great sounding systems this way. Of course a good 3 or 4 channel amp is a must.

 

Guess it depends on how you have your speaker wires run. Sound on the tacoma goes from the headunit -> tweeter -> woofer. JBL systems go headunit -> amp -> tweeter/woofer (each speaker has its own channel)

2 way front can be run from either 2 channels or 4 channels depending on if you are using the crossover that came with the system or are going with a full active system where each tweeter gets a channel on the amp and each woofer gets a channel on the amp and the dsp sets the crossover points.

3 way full active system
8 channels for speakers, 1 for subwoofer (9 total)

2 way full active system
6 channels for speakers, 1 for subwoofer (7 total)

Passive system
4 channels for speakers, 1 for subwoofer (5 total)

I would say to go with the passive system right now, get your dsp, but use it for time alignment. The people that tell you not to put speakers in the rear generally dont have friends in the back seat, or they just dont care if their friends can head the music. I run rear speakers, but I dont have any time alignment or anything set up on them. They are simply there so my kids can hear the music without me having to blast the front speakers super loud.

As for the rockford unit, I had one for about 3 days. While it was a great unit, the app to control it was on a ipad and was very clunky, kept disconnecting and making me start over. I ran it for a little bit, but In the end it didnt have enough channels to run what I really wanted to do. Sold it to my neighbor for $100. He likes it and he is running just normal coaxials in his f150.

 

Thank you @5nahalf just finished a passive install and about to go for a ride!! Initial impression is mid bass is waaaaaaay better in front. Coax be here for rear in morning. Tweets set at minus 3 dB and sound great to me so far. I put the stinger foam and baffles in this time up front and may have something to do with bass sounding a lot fuller

 

I think I’m going to do the exact same as you’re doing. I have kids too so they’re always with me and don’t wanna mess their little ears up. Man these sound wonderful to me so far. I ordered a JL audio twk 88 processor last night from Crutchfield but after thinking of what you just said I may not amplify my rears and just get a new JD amp from JL. Probably the 4 channel in case I decide on amplifyimg the rears again in future. Lots of options now. They actually think the sub is cool back there lol

 

The rear speakers dont get very much volume from the OEM headunit, so just be advised that the rear are going to be very quiet without amping them.

 

Well I may reconsider lol. These speakers get 5 stars from me. Highly recommend them. I’m sure it is possible to be better but man idk how. These are by far the best speakers I’ve listened to. I do have to crank it up a little more than the coaxial focals I just took out but man they’re super clear and full of bass. Counting crows- good time sounds amazing

 

When I first did my system, I used line level from the entune headunit. I had the front speakers giving signal to the front 3 way, and rear giving signal to the rear speakers and the sub. I had to turn the sub all the way up and it still was pretty quiet. I switched it to run off the front and it was instantly way louder. Now I have a andoid headunit so I get signal from RCA cables and the output from the front and rear is equal, though I have it adjusted where I cant hear the rear speakers, but in the back seat you can hear them. Dont want them so low that the back seaters cant hear the music over the subwoofer.

 

Yeah I’ve currently got my rears down -4db. Ill probably turn them back up and play with the rears some once my expert coaxials get here in the morning and I get them installed sometime tomorrow. I’m running all high end stinger rcas to everything and I like them. got to listen a lot today as I drove an hour after work! I’m very very impressed with these focal experts they’re 5 times clearer on top end than what I just took out and have a lot clearer mid highs than the coaxials did. These tweeters sound phenomenal compared to the Subaru’s to my ear. I guess to each his/her own but they don’t sound harsh to me whatsoever. Just clean. @5nahalf you still considering the focal K2s?

 

Yeah, I’m on the fence still. I would love to upgrade my speakers and maybe put some higher output amps in. But I also want to get some skid plates and bumpers too

 

Sweet! I’m in the focal tit club, officially! Lol I have been eying the cbi t3 push bar and back bumpers for a while now too, myself. After twk install that’ll be my next mod/addition most likely. I just ordered a usb extension to use my factory usb slot so I’ve been listening to lesser quality music since my excelon head unit install. Still sound amazing on hd radio and Apple Music. I’ve yet to use CarPlay bc my units not wireless

 

Few pics from my speaker install. I had to rip some of the sound deadening off the doors to get the other speakers and brackets off so it looks like shit afterward but I’m gonna redo that area soon

 

Glad to read that you didn’t get coaxial speakers for the front! And personally I love the flax line it’s my favorite speaker to sell from focal!(besides the m series) if you ever wanted to there 3 inch midrange also sounds great

 

I’m very happy with them and I actually came across a deal from my audio shop who’d opened a box for install of some morel ccwr 254 2.5” wide/midrange speakers for $120 so I bought them. I may end up getting the 3 inch focal flax (bc that was the initial reason I went into the shop and they didn’t have them) if I don’t like how these sound together but I figured heck why not try them for the price and the shop swore by them with a small amp that’ll push them 40-50wrms. I’ve had them a couple weeks now and still haven’t decided if I’m gonna install them or not bc the 2 ways sound so good as is with the twk 88

 

Here is my current setup behind passenger back seat. The big wire is the usb to my computer btw and I’m going to tidy up the remote wire this weekend when I get the chance

 

I’ve got a new question following up on the dsp for y’all. Does anybody have experience with the rta microphones from dbx or Dayton audio? I know about the audio control and I’m sure it’s really good but are these cheaper options any good? There is like a $125 difference in price in these others compared to the Audio control unit. Thanks in advance

btw I’m sure these won’t be as accurate as the real rta units but not being a pro installer I don’t care to spend much more then $200 on one of these things

 

Ive been using my iphone along with the audiocontrol app (only on iphone)

Ivs been able to dial my system in pretty good with it. I have often thought about spending the real money to buy the equipment for a good rta, but every time I look at the price, I feel like I should just take it to a pro shop instead.

 

I actually have that app for when I had the dq 61 I may give that a try! Any advice on settings as far as the generator goes? Yeah I totally understand on price man. If I did it for a living I’d definitely buy one but just to tune my truck it’s a little steep imo or at least for me it is although it’s definitely interesting to me

 

I used the auto eq on my dsp, it flattened out the input signal so I had something clean to work with at the speaker level. Using my phone rta I played pink noise (on headunit) at a good volume and just adjusted the peaks and valleys till the output of my speakers was flat. From there I fine tuned it to my own ears, certain frequencies are higher or lower for my ears, so I adjusted it for them. But starting with that nice flat point helped a good amount.

I was also able to turn up the signal to certain channels to boost lower freq output (midbass in doors)

Here is something I put together that shows what the OEM entune headunit outputs. With the dm810 I can adjust all those points (though I am running aftermarket headunit now)
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-entune-audio-curve-graph.608790/

 

Man I’ve been using the audio control app rta add on that I bought for about an hour and my Steve Meade disc playing pink noise and I’ve damn near gotten it all flat and under 3 dB everywhere. Under 2 dB in most areas. I’m still working on a couple dips in the low 31hz range and it’s hard because 45hz-70hz are somewhat spiked to highest when set to flat. 500hz range has small dip and 20khz has the largest dip.. even not having it completely flat it sounds Pretty damn good. Gonna tweak it some more in the morning before work/at work lol