Is it true that Entune system does not allow for aftermarket speakers?

Not wanting to replace the headunit and and lose ability to configure vehicle settings, and not wanting to put a lot of money into an amp and sub-woofer (been there done that enough times over the years in previous vehicles), I simply upgraded the front speakers with Pioneer 3-ways. Contrary to what some others say, it definitely improved the sound. As good as a separate amp system? No... but much better than the factory speakers. Those factory speakers are a joke. Must have cost Toyota about 12cents each.

 

Thee idatalink maestro should still allow for full OEM configuration with the 16+ tacomas if installed in a proper pioneer/alpine/kenwood doubledin radio.

 

I used to be a car audio / remote starter installed before my current job, when we had a guy with a 16' sport show up, we did a full Hertz energy speaker up-grade. (6.5" comp in the front and 6.5 coax rear) built custom mounting brackets for all the speakers. Couple weeks later he came back and we installed an Audison BitTen processor, to better tune the speakers and allow the proper frequencies to go to them etc etc etc. Wasn't cheap but was well worth for him, he didn't want a sub for various reason that escape me now. But as per OP's question, 99.99% of cars can have the speakers replaced no problem just depends how much it will cost lol, sometimes it's more complete then just replacing the speakers due to there maybe having capacitors built in or ohm ratings (*cough* GM Bose systems) or sometimes it's just wired to a factory amplifier, there are a lot of variables that can go into that. But the Tacoma speakers are 100% changeable no matter what.

 

The responses will likely be worse in the audio section. Replacing stock speakers without a replacement headunit or dsp and amp to correct the power/eq coming out of the stock headunit is akin to getting a spacer lift. Little to no improvement and in some cases/aspects it can turn out worse than it was to begin with.

To OP, if you insist on going down this route get speakers that do not require much power. Id be surprised if the stock headunit sends more than 25w to each speaker

 

Yea that's why the customer came back to get the audison BitTen from us. The hertz speakers are great but the difference wasn't all that apparent. There have been times where aftermarket speakers sounded worse due to the lack of frequency response they have compared to factory speakers.

 

Any speaker you use to replace the factory ones will an upgrade, cheapest looking speakers I've seen.

 

I ended up with the JBL Entune speaker system. Originally I wasn't going for this and was already planning out my audio system when I got my truck. I got a great deal on the truck with JBL otherwise I wouldn't of gotten it. Its not blow your doors off but it does get loud enough for me. No distortion and just good clean sound. I was surprised.

 

http://oemaudioplus.com/toyota/tcd1600/

This is by far the best upgrade out there for a clean,easy diy kit for your factory head unit!

 

Do not go back to that car audio shop. All they were doing was trying to get more money out of you. Yes you can swap out speakers on a tacoma however you will need adapter rings, but any normal car audio speaker will work as tacomas don't have weird systems like euro cars. Second, if you are going to do this you should get an amp for your speakers. The stock head unit output is not very good and will not drive aftermarket speakers very well. Third, should this not be a big enough change the next step would be to add a subwoofer that is either powered by the amp you already purchased and installed or powered by a secondary amp dedicated to the subwoofer. This will improve the bass response of the system as most 6.5" speakers will not go into the sub bass range. Finally if that if the sound is still not enough I would recommend an audio processor along the lines of a rockford 3sixty.3, audison bit ten, arc ps8, etc. This is not a required step unless you are looking for more and will cost money for the unit plus time to tune, which is arguably longer and more expensive than installing by a long shot. Do not buy from taco tunes, their products are poorly made. If you have any questions on audio stuff please don't hesitate to ask. I run hybrid audio legatia 6's with legatia L1pro tweeters, jl 900/5, a morel ultimo sc 10, and a rockford 3sixty.3 off a factory deck, although not yet installed on my new '17 waiting for a box from Marv. On my 13 it was amazing and I fully expect the same from my '17. I have installed for years and am full of electrical/audio knowledge. So please realize no question is too dumb and ask away.

 

http://oemaudioplus.com/toyota/tcd1600/

Give that a gander

 

I upgraded the speakers accordingly to crutchfield recommendation and ended up the stock speakers back. Enough said.

 

I have it. Do recommend.

 

The entune signal output is filtered and de- tuned for the stock crappy speakers. Aftermarket speakers will not shine there best with this input. Best to upgrade head unit and speakers.

 

That looks like something I'd look into. Liking all the plug and play features, and I like the factory look of it.

 

This is not true.... You do not need to upgrade the stock head unit.

 

Is there a way to run a 4 channel amp, speakers, and get that full performance of the aftermarket speakers, and maintaining steering wheel/equalizer settings on the HU?

 

yes

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2016-bbp-audio-build.430252/

 

You can absolutely replace factory speakers with something better. It may or may not sound better without adding some power. Plenty of posts of users' systems in the Audio section.

 

I love hearing the bullshit stereo shops tell people.

 

Obviously, but some people on TW stated that running a "secondary amp" other than the HU, you lose some funtionality.