I’ve got $1,000 & some requirements; what to buy?

Hey all,

Here’s where I’m at:

• I’ve got a 2021 dual cab Off Road
• I’ve got $1,000
• I want to improve the sound quality
• I don’t want to put a sub behind the rear seats
• I want to keep the factory head unit
• I’m sure I’d greatly benefit from applying some Dynamat

What would you recommend, considering all of the above?

 

Dynamat, good quality set of components up from and some coax in the rear with a good DSP amp

 

could be done

 

Hey neighbor.

I firmly believe the sound is only as good as it's source.

Better speakers will improve the sound, no doubt. However, don't drop a nut on speakers and expect a dramatic improvement.

On the other hand, a decent head unit, will dramatically improve the sound of these crappy speakers. You'll have more power, greater control of equalization and overall you will have a much cleaner source to drive your speakers and or an amp if you so desire in the future.

I replaced my head unit with a single din Kenwood. The improvement in sound quality, even with these OEM speakers, blew my mind.

I'm writing in a vote for replacing the head unit and installing sound dampening in the doors.

If you're intent on replacing the speakers and keeping the head unit, go with components over coaxial speakers.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/premium-audio-upgrade-for-less-than-250.510424/

 

The morel ultra 692 is what I have going up front. I will leave the rears stock and have them running off deck power of a Kenwood excelon. Fronts and single sub will be pushed by an Audio Control LC4.800

 

I have the kdc-x701. This hu drives these crappy OEM speakers pretty damn good for what they are.

 

You are right about that. I’m currently running my Kenwood on the stock speakers but I deadened The doors and it made a world of difference

 

if you got time, the door cards are easy enough to remove and replace and you'd get better at r/r the door card doing it mult times, lol. You could try to sound dead'n the inner door skins to start off with and go on from there. I believe I used 16sq/ft(<$100) to cover the inner door skin. Pretty sure that was at least 50% coverage, if not more and having a little left over pieces. Can't tell you how good that sounded only with the inner door done as I covered my outer door skin between the door skin and door card at the same time, it REally brought out the mid bass in my doors. I decide to replace the JL C1 6x9 front door woofer after the fact with better 6.5" woofers, looking for more mid bass detail, as I have a subwoofer to cover the lows. Everyone has their opinion of the sound they want or to their satisfaction having a limited budget or not.

edit: if you spent $200 on the doors sound treatment you still might be able to get as an example, Kicker 47key200.4 dsp/amp, Morel 692 component speakers for the front door and dash tweeter(read the woofer might be a tight fit although a lot of owners said the set sounded great), plugnplay amp harness and the odds/ends that may put you a little over $1000. You could opt for cheaper front door components and sneak in a set of coax's for the rear doors, maybe?. Some have their opinions of the rear door speakers, they want the fill in, not needed, not worried how it sounds behind them...

 

I've heard sound deadening should be applied to the inner frame of the door and I see yours is the outer or inside the frame. I know you can, and probably should do that as well, but I thought the whole point in adding dynamat is to not only eliminate vibrations and echos but also to create a makeshift speaker box like subs go in. To do that you should cover the holes in the inner door where the vapor barrier is that's normally there to access the inside for repairs and place a small sheet directly behind where the speaker sits. This creates a chamber for your door speakers making them sound their best. If you know different let me know cause I planned on deadening my door panels this weekend.

 

correct afaik

 

You’ll never make a “speaker box” out of your door chamber because it’s entirely too leaky, and any “port” functionality simply isn’t there because all of the openings are two dimensional (window slat, weep holes).

This is what pods do, not doors. Car stereo speakers are designed with this in mind so there’s no benefit in covering and sealing all of the holes unless you are addressing a specific issue like ringing or flapping the vapor barrier.

I did it both ways in my Tacoma and the real benefit comes from reducing vibrations and making sure you have a solid mount solution that places the speaker at the proper depth in relation to the door card.

 

I also have mine on the outside skin covering the big open areas you cant see. I didnt want to do a full bake potato of the door. There are 2 big sheets covering the top area that you cant see in the pic as well as more running along the middle and bottom. It has made a huge difference in sound for the amount of time and money invested. I used Noico on all 4 doors and im happy with the outcome of it for deadening. When i replace my components up front, i will do the inner door card in places as well to add some more stiffness to it.

 

I'd do a kicker key 200.4, components up front, rear coaxial, maybe a powered sub if funds are left. Otherwise, a cheap headunit with the factory speakers as others have mentioned maybe a powered sub if funds are left.

My dream audio setup was easily 4k (focals, pioneer headunit, jl stealthbox, jl vxi dsp amp). Don't want to spend that. I'll probably start with the key 200.4, but do something other than kicker for speakers. Maybe Focal PS165F fronts, Focal RCX-165 rears, and a sub of sorts. CDT and morel make nice speakers too.

Edit: agreed on sound deadening too.

 

Don't bother doing anything with the rear door speakers unless you add a DSP or use an amp like a Kicker Key 200.4 that has a DSP built in. The factory head unit sends almost no power to the rear doors. As it comes from the factory, the rear door speakers are just decorations.

 

This is very true, I had a 2021 as a rental for a couple of months and the rear speakers were almost silent. If you arent replacing the headunit, the definitely look into an amp with a DSP to help bring the rears alive.

 

Rear speakers are around 2.5” in a 6.5” baffle. If you have a speaker around, hook it up and test the output of the deck. I’m not optimistic, being they made the rears 2.5”, but it is an option.