Post Up Pictures Of Your Stereo Upgrades!!

I'm not a fan of the random tablet on the dash look, but even the auto makers are doing that these day. I like when it looks more integrated.

 

My little audio upgrade


Kenwood DDX9702S with Scosche kit. I wanted to try putting the Sirius antenna inside the cab to see if it worked and I have had no issues at all with it in the front left corner of the dash facing straight up (has been 3 months since install). I occasionally use Android Auto on my Galaxy 5 phone for navigation and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I knew there was an issue with my phone and this HU before I started but I couldn't pass up the deal I got on the Kenwood. I'm planning another upgrade shortly using a Rasberry Pi running KODI connected to the HDMI input with FLAC (audio) and MKV (video) files.


I got royally screwed over by SupercrewSound and one of their dual 10" sub boxes so I chalked it up as a learning experience, said to myself "fuck them" and built my own box out of 3/4" Birch plywood.

(during construction)


(post production)


I have plenty of room behind the seats but the plastic backing rattles really bad when these subs start thumping so I will have to remove them

 

Looks great, Nice job. I have my XM antenna sitting in the middle of my dash close to the wind shield and works great.

 

Awesome work on your sub box! I love the built in amp rack you put in there.

 

Thanks guys, I also made the amps removable by unscrewing that brass knob mounted between them so I can get to the controls on the side of the amps. I dont have any pics of it removed but you get the general idea. I have enough coiled wire behind it to pull out about 18" which is plenty to get to the adjustments.

 

Hey all,
Well, I finally got the install done on my 2011 Tacoma Access Cab PreRunner. It took the Car Audio Center in San Luis Obispo about seven hours for the installation. They had to disassemble a good portion of the interior to do so, as well as keeping the truck overnight.
All of my previous components were in boxes in the closet after my '02 Tacoma was totaled when I was rear ended. I had them install my Alpine CDA-9884 head unit and my Alpine ERE-G180 11-band EQ / amp ballancer in the dash, and the Infinity Beta 6.5" mid /woofers and 1" silk tweeters in the doors. The Infinity Beta passive x-overs were a little harder to install, because of their large size and limited location choices, but they ended up hiding them inside the kick panels behind a lot of other electrical components. (I've had the Betas since 1998).
I had no idea just how much additional electronic components are in this truck, compared to my '02! I'm certain that was one of the reasons that the labor took more hours than before.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the previous owner had installed high quality sound deadening material on the inside of the doors, so I didn't need to do so.
I had them run a 4-gauge power cable from the battery, through a large fuse block, to a distribution block under the driver's seat. The block has one line in and two out. One 4-gauge output goes directly to the Alpine 3554 amplifier, that I have had since 1992, and powers the front separates at 150x2.
The other 4-gauge output runs to a location under the passenger seat and will be the location for a dedicated subwoofer amplifier that I will install later. I also had them prewire the second amp with a remote turn on lead and high quality RCA interconnects. I will run a 10" subwoofer in a sealed box in the back portion of the cab, most likely in a custom box between the rear jump seats.
Previously I was running the Alpine 3554 amp in the three-channel mode; 50x2 + 150x1, and I had the sub running off of this single amp. It seemed to me that the front Beta speakers wanted more power, and the sub could have used additional power as well, so that's why I reconfigured the system for the current Tacoma. I figured it would be easier to pre-wire the second amp at the same time, as they would already have the interior of the truck disassembled.
I purchased an AI-Net cable from Alpine that converted the CD Changer output of the head unit to a normal line output, so I could run my Fiio X3 music player (loaded with FLAC files) as well as the 160 gig iPod Classic off the iPod cable, from the iPod output. I record and collect live music recordings and do the majority of my listening in the truck.
However, I can't seem to access the output coming from the line out cable. Either I don't know how to turn it on, or I can't use both the dedicated iPod output AND the CD changer output on the head unit. I've never had cables plugged into both sockets before. If I can't use both outputs I'm going to have to have the iPod cable removed and run the iPod though the line out cable, the same as the Fiio X3. It will mean that I won't be able to use the head unit to display the files on the iPod, which was something that I liked before.
(My iPod is loaded with favorite shows, whereas the Fiio X3 [w/an internal 64 gig card], is more for recordings that I swap in and out for weekly listening. The X3 acts as a small hard drive and is much easier to use than iTunes.)
I figured there would be a few bugs to work out, but the new system sounds really good to me so far.
Currently, I'm running the 3554 at full range to the front separates, but when I install the subwoofer I will use the internal 80hz high-pass active dividing circuits on the big Alpine amp to filter out all low frequencies, and send them to the sub. The EQ has a subwoofer output and a crossover built in.

 

Love that EQ mounted under the HU. Looks good!

 

Thanks,

I use that a lot to EQ the various live recordings individually, as a lot of them (especially the audience recordings) tend to need a little EQ to better shape the sound. I wish I had the space for a parametric EQ, but that's more to correct the specific interior problems. Interesting that the Alpine 11-band EQ is highly sought after and fetches good prices on ebay. I've had mine since '98.

I forgot to mention that they were able to hook up the steering wheel controls to the Alpine head unit. Those are really usefull.

Does anyone have any input on the SubThump subwoofer boxes? I saw a link to their website here at Tacoma World. I'm thinking of getting this box:

 

Hey all,
I finally figured out why my AUX input wasn't working on my Alpine head unit, after searching the PDF of the manual on line. (Apparently the printed manual that came with the head unit wasn't the complete text.)
You have to go into the Setup Menu and Turn ON the AUX input. Duh!!!
(I thought that it would 'see' the source once the cable was plugged into the socket. Guess not.)
Everything works now. But on a side note, I'm getting some crackles through the right Tweeter. Not sure if it's a blown tweeter or a bad wiring connection. Guess I'll have to figure that one out.
At least now I have Both iPod and AUX capability.

Road trip anyone?

ONT-

 

Jensen

 

Love that setup! that layout is exactly what i recommended to most of my clients, only with an external port as low as possible with the amps above it as the space is rather limited for the port internal volume

 

Thanks Man, it's really nice to hear some "kudos" from somebody in the industry. I'm not great at math but I estimate that each enclosure is about .6 cu.ft. Which was plenty for a sealed enclosure but not near enough for a ported box (according to Kicker specs). I think if I had it to do over again I would do a single 10" in a ported enclosure.

 

just installed my pioneer avh-4700bs ordered a metra and scosche ended up using the metra and the stock metal brackets scosche color was a little off and didn't fit as good



very happy with he sound quality over stock headunit

 

yeah there really is only enough space for 1 10 ported.

 

so glad to see people putting hard work and details into their truck audio systems. love them!

 

Love my pioneer head unit

 

After a week with the new system installed I was still hearing intermittent crackling / electronic noise coming through the right channel. At first I thought it was from the tweeter but upon closer inspection I found that the woofer was also effected. My installer thought it could be dust in the sliders on the EQ, as the components sat for a year and a half before being installed after the accident. I ruled that out when I pushed the bypass button on the EQ and the problem was still apparent. Last night I found the problem. The big Alpine 3554 amp was the culprit. I removed it and swapped in my Alpine 3552 which is the smaller four channel of the same vintage. In two channel mode it puts out 85x2.

Immediately I noticed a difference! The sound was rich and full and lifelike, as I had remembered it to be in the past. Also, I think the 85x2 is a lot better match for the Beta separates, as they are rated for 90 watts RMS. I was able to turn up the gains on the amp, whereas on the 3554 I had to have them turned all the way down. The problem went away.

Now comes the subwoofer. Since I had the second amp prewired it will be easy to install the the Alpine MRV-M500. I'm still thinking about the custom SubThump box that sits between the rear jump seats. Anyone have any experience with that company? Are the boxes well made?

 

Just finished installing the subwoofer amp and building a brace for my sub enclosure. I bought an Alpine MVR-M500 300x1 @ 4ohms subwoofer amp, and I installed my subwoofer from my last Tacoma. It is an MTX 4500 10" sub in a sealed angled 'truck' box. I had found before in my last Tacoma that the bass was tighter and more defined if I mounted it in the down firing position. Since the 2011 Tacoma AC has a larger cab I had to build a brace to support the front of the box. (In my '02 Tacoma extra cab I was able to hold it in place by positioning the drivers seat all the way back so it would wedge against the box.)

I removed the plastic cover from the driver's-side storage box (under the sub) because I thought it would vibrate too much with the sound of the speaker. Also, it would have been impossible to raise the lid with the sub box there.

Now, not only does the sub sound better, I can also use the flat top surface for cargo, or for one of my four dachshunds to ride on. Plus, because it is lower it is less likely to be seen.

Here are some pics. I mounted the sub amp under the passenger seat , and the box is directly behind the driver's seat.

 

Nice one! Love the downfired boxes I built back in the 90's. Hard to do in a double cab without the sacrifice. Bet it sounds good!