Help with simple stereo improvement.

I am going to attempt to upgrade my audio in my new 2014 Tacoma DC. I am just looking for a simple up grade. Something that will make my truck stereo more enjoyable. I don't need to wake the neighbors but I want a little more base and better sounding speakers. I have already purchased Polk DB6501 component speakers for the front doors, Polk DB651 coaxial speakers for the rear doors, and a Kicker Hidaway Compact powered sub. I have figured out and ordered the hardware needed to change out the speakers but I am having a little difficulty figuring out how and where to mount my Kicker Hideaway Sub. I removed the storage compartment from behind the driver side rear seat and have mounted the Kicker sub on a board I then bolted to the rear of the cab. I don't think the wire harness supplied is long enough to get to where I need to make my connections since I will need to route the wires down the drivers side under the toe plates.

My first question is can I pick up my speaker connections for the Kicker sub from the factory rear door speaker harness without interfering with proper functioning of my rear door speakers? I know I have to take the power cable all the way to the battery.

Second question is, The Kicker sub has an Automatic turn-on selection switch with two choices, Remote turn on or DC offset turn on. The owners manual suggests using the Remote turn on as first choice, so where or to what do I connect my +12V auto on harness lead to in order to operate in the Remote Turn On mode?

I am an old guy and certainly no electronics expert so please be simple and as clear as possible with your replies, and any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

If after I get everything set up and I think this set up needs a little more amp I am considering also adding a possible

$190 Alpine KTP-445U Universal Power Pack Amplifier

Alpine KTP-445U or a Clarion XC1410 to drive the Polk speakers, but I want to hear how it sounds before making that decision.

 

Hummm, I guess no one is interested in giving an old guy any instruction or advise. I guess they think I wouldn't be able to remember it.

 

step 1: give me your brand new double cab.
step 2: take my 2007 access cab with $10,000 stereo
step 3: enjoy said $10,000 stereo

 

I'm no expert but when I hooked up my sound ordnance sub the remote turn connected to the blue wire on the back of my head unit (after market) I would invest in a new head unit If you're gonna add speakers and a sub

 

Don't want a new HU. I like the back up camera and other features of the factory HU. I am not a persnickety audiophile. Nothing wrong with being an persnickety audiophile if that is what you want but I don't think my ears are trained that good. I am old and my hearing isn't the best but I can tell the factory sound lacks something to be desired. I believe better speakers, a simple powered sub ( may not even need this but I bought it ), and possibly a small amp will suffice my needs.

I just need to figure out how to connect the Kicker Hideaway Sub and the best place to locate it.

As I stated above, If the speakers and powered sub don't do the trick for me then I will probably get a small 4 channel amp to add power to my speakers.

shaneckc, I am sorry but I can't remember what you said.

 

This is all you need. Get the very very efficient JBL GTO door speakers and a basic speaker harness adapter and you are all set. These speakers are a great match for the Entune Premium HU. I gutted the factory speakers out of the mounts and then screwed in the JBL's and done. For under $150 you have a very nice sounding car audio system.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_20786_JBL_GTO938.aspx

 

These speakers are 3 way - do you have a separate tweeter? And, if so, what did you do with it?

 

PMDclassics, I looked at the JBL GTO but decided against them because I wanted component speakers in the front and JBL doesn't make one in the GTO series. I have Polk Audio for my home stereo system and have had a very favorable experience with them.

North222, I purchased Polk component speakers for the front with a separate tweeter. I didn't use the crossover however since the system already runs a woofer and tweeter for the front. Just plug and play with Metra harness adapters. You have to be sure and connect the tweeter with polarity reversed as the factory ones are or they won't sound right. Not sure why they do this but since they did I thought I should also. Besides I read on here somewhere a post about that is what you should do. There is a reason but I can't remember what it is. I tried both ways just to see for myself and the tweeters sounded better with the polarity reversed. I just spliced into the tweeter harness after it goes from four wires down to two with two butt connectors (about three inches from the tweeter).

The Polks have a 92db sensitivity and aren't extremely expensive. I think I paid around $130 for the component fronts and $70 for the coxial rears. I used 6 1/2 components for the front because Polk doesn't make a 6X9 component. Wish they did because I would have bought them instead. I also purchased a Kicker Hideaway powered sub, but after installing the speakers and listening to my system now I don't really need the sub as I have really good base now. Wish I had not bought it. I also used Metra speaker adapters for both front and rear speakers. I made my tweeter speaker mounts from a template found here on Tacoma World.

My system sounds soooo much better than it did and I am a happy, happy, happy. I am sure a persnickety audiophile would think it could sound better but with these old ears I doubt that I could tell that much difference or justify the greater expense.

 

Shiloh, so all you did is replace the speakers - correct? That's encouraging and sounds like a great place to start and/or finish. I'm like you, I want better than stock sound but I don't need to rock the block. I really like how the system functions and if I can tweak the sound I too will be happy, happy, happy!

 

North222, Yes basically that was it. I did go ahead and install the powered sub since I had already purchased it. I just tuned back the base on the Polk door speakers via the HU and tuned up the treble and mid range a little and let the Kicker Powered sub pump out the base. Sounds really good. You can do without the sub and let the door speakers supply your base if you prefer and it will sound pretty darn good. Since I had already purchased the sub I decided to use it and it does sound good. For me I think the key was to get good speakers with as high a sensitivity as possible without breaking the bank. I looked at a lot of speakers before deciding on the Polks. I am certain there are others who feel there are better ones but as I stated previously I have had good experiences with Polk equipment. I think their relatively inexpensive tweeters are top shelf and their speakers too as far as that goes.

I am sure the JBL GTO's work good also as stated by PMDclassics, but I wanted components for the front and the JBL GTO series does not have them. I looked because the JBL was one of the ones I was considering. I did not want to mix and match so I went with the Polk Audios front and rear. I am not for certain but I think the Polk sensitivity is slightly higher than the JBL. I looked at so many speakers I can't remember them all.

 

The JBL GTO's have a 94 db rating. As far as the tweeter goes I just left the factory tweeter alone.

 

This is not correct. If your polks come with a cross over use it or you can damage the tweeter. The stock wiring isn't already crossed over and that stock tweeter isn't even really a true tweeter

 

Some where I read on here where the factory tweeters, if that is what you call them, had the polarity reversed. When checking out the wiring both sides ended with a black and red wire connected to the tweeters which in turn were connected to a harness connector which had four wires both sides of the connector, two pink and two purple left side; two light green and two blue right side. In both instances the red + wire of the tweeter was connected to the - purple and blue and the - black wire of the tweeter was connected to the + pink and light green wire. It sure appeared to me they had reversed the polarity on the stock tweeters. I initially connected my Polk tweeters the same way but after packrobottom's post I was afraid I might damage my Polk tweeters so I installed the Polk crossovers and connected them per specs. My sound is slightly different. Still good but a little more base. I will try adjusting it via the HU.

 

Shilo, did you gut your factory speakers and use the bases as mounts or did you carve up some MDF?

 

This is true. We all learn something. I believe this was part of the post you read while some of us were installing aftermarket speaker and amps.

The "tweeter" (more of a "mini midrange" IMO) on a NON JBL Tacoma system is protected by a "cap" soldered inline (the little black cylinder on the tweeter basket) and the Focal speakers that weendoggy used (iss 690) also have integrated crossovers built into the tweeters so they are capable of being wired directly to the factory wiring as he did however if you are using component speakers with outboard crossovers you must use those to protect your new tweeters (if you remove the factory tweeter and install an aftermarket tweeter directly to the red/black wires without some sort of protection ie an appropriate cap inline or the passive crossovers provided you run the risk of making your new tweeters paperweights since they will be getting a full range signal they are not designed to play).
Side note: Some component speakers with integrated crossovers have them built into the mid basket so you cannot wire those tweeters directly to the factory tweeter wires.

My Focal's didn't need the extra crossover because they were built in. Just needed to use the reverse polarity when connecting. The Polk's don't have this and you need their crossover.

I too didn't want a big sub putting out stuff I may not need so I opted for just the Clarion mini amp and it sounds just fine. Plenty of bass (which I read is not something you wanted, but got) and can really crank up to hear clearly. Everyone is different and I'm learning (at my age) just a little bit more to be dangerous again.

What you explained is exactly how Toyota's wiring the "little speaker" and if you don't have built in crossover, use the ones that come with your speakers or and amp that can take care of that for you. Either way, it's a better sound form the stock HU unit. Oh yeah, this is on a NON JBL system.

 

North222, No, I purchased Metra speaker adapters. The front ones on the big auction site and they worked perfectly. Front door is Metra 82-8147, $15.60 for a pair, and these

$10 Mosuch 6.5" Plastic Black Speaker Adapter. Fitted For Toyota 4Runner, Avalon, Celica, Corolla, Echo, Highlander, Matrix, Prius, RAV, Sequoia, Sienna, Solara, Tacoma, Tundra, Venza, Yaris

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZQGZWO/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_dp_3

for the rear doors, $12.99 for a pair. Sorry I don't know the Metra number for the rear doors. You might be able to find them both at the same place so you don't have to order them separately. Metra 72-8104 are the wire harness adapters, around $5.00 a pair. You will need two pair. Since I redid it and used the Polk crossovers I bypassed the tweeter connectors and wired the tweeters straight to the tweeter terminals on the crossover. Finding a place to mount the crossover was a bit challenging. I mounted mine in the door. Some folks say don't mount them there because they may get wet but I wanted to use as much of the factory wire harness as possible and not have to run new wire. I don't plan on getting into water so deep it will get over half way up on my doors.

 

weendoggy, Yes, what I read was something very similar to what you have posted. What I didn't read or missed was the "cap" soldered inline. I saw it on the tweeters but it didn't register. I am now very glad I went back and installed my Polk crossovers. Thankfully I do not think I hurt my tweeters since I had not played the radio much since my initial connect. They are still putting out quality sound since I connected them to the crossover.

 

I installed Pioneer 6x9s in the front and 6 1/2s in the back and my sound definitely was better, now I am thinking of installing a mini amp to add more power from my factory stereo. My sound seems to be hindered or not as powerful/loud as it should be. I looked into replacing the tweeters and noticed that there was a capacitor on the back of it connected to the negative side. I cut and removed this capacitor and connected the negative directly to the back of the tweeter (which is right next to where the capacitor was connected) and omg the sound was soo much better, even on the new speakers I installed. I would recommend others trying this out as it looks like Toyota was doing something quirky with the sound haha. All in all I left factory tweeters in there now that they sound 100x better. Good luck guys.

 

I would recommend against cutting the cap... Its very likely that that cap is part of the crossovers build into the stock speakers and is acting as a high pass filter for the tweeters.

 

Yes this is possible but since removing that cap my sound is soo much better and I do not need to add an amp now (6x9s and 6 1/2s also sound amazing) just saying.