Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

I’ve only got about 800 miles on the truck. My goal is to make it to 2500 miles and determine if I can live with stock. The tweeter upgrade sounds like a must do, but just enough people were not thrilled with the lack of power on the doors it makes me nervous. If I’m going to add speakers and an amp, I’d rather do it with components I prefer, ie. Alpine / JL. Kicker is getting more love on this forum than I’ve ever seen. I know, the whole point is “budget build”. Appreciate all the comments and feedback throughout the forum.

 

I may have to update my opinion. After getting out of my mustang (fully done system with headunit, amps, sub, noico, etc) I'm disappointed with the kickers. However, after spending the last five days out of town for work in a rental piece of SH*T chevy cruze, getting into the tacoma and turning up the stereo felt like heaven.

 

Ok so I got the Kicker Key amp installed behind the dash. I Velcro’d it to the bottom of the deck. Tight squeeze but it fits. Now for the sound. It’s definitely louder. I used to be able to turn the volume up to 40ish, now 25 is blaring! There is also slight white noise when the deck is on but not playing music. When I turn off the truck there is a quick high pitch squelch/squeak before it turns off. I used the auto set up with an aux cable playing pink noise. Did I do something wrong? It now sounds like I have too much power for these Kicker CS speakers. Should I try and auto tune with the pink noise slightly lower in volume? I had it on 46 for the set up.

 

If you change the kicker amp over to 12 volt for on and off and run an ignition switched wire to the blue wire on the amp the chirp will go away. You can get this ignition switched wire from an "add a fuse" off the fuse block under the steering wheel. Did you set the gain on the amp? I used pink noise to get it close and then some good blasting R&R like AC/DC from a CD that was recorded at around +10 DB. I ended up having to turn the gain down just a bit from pink noise settings. This lowered the sound floor and reduced the little bit of hiss in the silence between tracks. I can't hear the hiss when the truck is running.

 

It seems like I’ve lost some of the lower end bass that came out of the 6x9s. They sound punchy. Definitely louder tho. I am going to try auto tune again tomorrow.

 

If you have done big builds, this is going to disappoint you.

You can do a quality build with better speakers for short coin (not $250 short). I think there are way too many tweeters going on with this package, which most don't seem to mind.

I did a hodgepodge using the rear kickers and the dash kickers, but had some regular woofer drivers, and it was ok, until I decided I wanted more, and then more again. Coming from a truck that had a really good build in it, I decided I wanted a better build this time. I didn't exactly regret the $250 set, but it didn't blow my skirt up......

 

I’m thinking that’s exactly how I’d feel.
Pricing out 4 good door speakers and a JL Audio 10” TW3 with hand made enclosure with 5 channel amp for just under $1,000. A little bit of wiring work to do. Will need something to work on in the garage this fall.

 

I'm probably going to end up getting a different system eventually. My big draws to this upgrade were the learning experience, chatting with people on how they like their system and taking pics along the way to share with the forums. I think the OEM Audio system is next, but I'll use this one for now. So in case anyone wants a heavily discounted, gently used system with a pre-wired kicker key amp this coming spring, let me know!

 

I was just Messaging someone about the OEM AUDIO plus system. I actually was getting myself excited about the convenience of it all. Then came to my senses. You can build an equivalent system or much better than half the price. If you are nervous about building/installing yourself...it’s not worth $1000 up charge. I’m no expert on audio builds. Always needed to read every word/check forums, but I’ve always got through installs. Even without building harnesses you can go wire by wire with patience and a little forum help. Good on OAP for making a quality system and positioning themselves where people convince themselves the extra $$$ is worth it. IMO half the great reviews are people not willing to admit they overpaid on a $1500 system. At $250 or less like this forum more are willing to admit they were unimpressed.

I’m the proud (a little embarrassed) owner of a Sonos home theater. I Thought how convenient to be wireless. Sure it sounds pretty good, but there are about 5 things I’m disappointed in but not too willing to share because I paid like $2k plus for it.

To be fair I’ve never heard the OAP live and some value the convenience. You CAN do a build yourself for much less though.

 

When installing the Kicker Key, do you place the fuse that came with it in the power wire leading to the unit from the makeshift harness?

 

These speakers are good for 2nd gen?

 

I don’t. The radio power is already fused so no need for double fuse

 

Doors yes, dash tweeters no

 

Ok you hit the nail on the head. I thought the dash tweeters were different.
Thanks.

 

Your tweeter is in the door, not on the dash

 

For your fronts, go with the component versions of the 6x9’s instead of the 3-ways posted here. The CSS69 will be the ticket. This will replace your tweeter and woofer

 

I got it all done. Took several hours to solder my own wiring harness. It was difficult at first but then I got the hang of it. I stuffed the kicker key in the compartment above the glovebox behind that textured panel and secured it with several portions of Velcro tape. I left it exposed and shut the car off and it did indeed cool down so I know I got all of the wiring right and it’s not constantly on.

As for sound quality, I’m happy. Not thrilled, but happy. I’ll give it a few weeks before I make my final judgement but knowing how much I like to tinker, I’ll probably rip it out and do something else (likely starting with a decent head unit).

If anyone in the Salt Lake area wants to hear what it’s like we can meet somewhere public like a shopping center parking lot and you can check it out.

 

The main thing is to make sure it's on the "tuned" sound and not the "un-tuned" sound. Made that mistake on my first Key install. Then, tune the bass/mid/treble on the radio to taste.

I think most people would be happier with better speakers. I have done the Key with kicker KS, alpine type-s, and JBL. Very pleased with all of them. I personally don't like the CS series used in this thread. Highs are too bright for me. Thats the negative of titanium dome tweeters.

If you notice that the highs seem harsh, go with speakers with soft-dome tweeters and keep the amp.

 

Your set up looks almost identical to mine. I recently made adjustments to the switches in the Key and it made a huge difference for me. The last 2 switches I moved from down down, to UP UP. How did you configure yours?

 

You mean for the high pass filter? Right now it's off. I tried it on the 60 Hz and it sounded super flat. I have figured out that my biggest gripe is the door rattle. The plastic panel on each door rattles with how much bass there is now. I love my tacoma, but it's not built as solidly as my lexus or the stinger. The doors just aren't meant to handle that much bass. I may just end up going back to stock speakers (except for the tweeters) and adding a powered sub like the alpine unit that's about $100 less than the hideaway.