Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

yeah that what i was afraid of, thanks for getting back to me! Be careful in those doors! my hands are cut to pieces as well! First one was the worse, kind of got the hang of it after that.

 

Dude! That's how I do my work. Always leave a piece of myself on every home/vehicle project. Not on purpose, but still... I try to be careful and safe, sure enough...cut an arm, leave a piece of skin somewhere...

 

Damn learning a ton In this thread... @destin_meeks seems to kinda be like the audio version of tacomaworld to @crashnburn80 is to lighting... great stuff!

I do have a question as I’m eyeballing some infinity ref 9633ix speakers as well as focal ISS 165 and kicker ks 69304. Can anybody give me a recommendation on which of these are the best for my fronts? I’ve already done the tweeter upgrade and I’m wanting a little more... thanks in advance

 

If you've already done the tweeter upgrade, I would vote for the Kickers. Mostly because the tweeters are Kicker KS series. Always nice to have matching sound in the truck.
Cant go wrong with nay of them though

 

any comments on these infinity ref speakers?

 

Just an FYI for anyone with a 2020, the rear speaker harness has changed. The Metra harness crutchfield sends you will not work. I reached out to Metra (crutchfield was no help) and they told me they haven't verified the 2020 and the picture of the harness "does not look like any Toyota harness they have". I ended up splicing mine.

 

I just placed an order for the Subaru Kicker tweeters for the dash, but am still deciding on front and rear speakers.

For the front, I am trying to decide between 2-way Kicker KS series, 2-way JL Audio C1-690x or component JL Audio C1-690 (I would ditch the JL tweeters if I go with components).

For the rear, either 2-way Kicker KS or 2-way JL Audio C1-650x.

No plans to add an amp or upgrade to a new HU.

Any recommendations on whether I should go with Kicker or JL Audio?

 

I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Kicker DS series have transformed my truck, and all by themselves, with the Subaru (Kicker) tweeters, the system sounds freakin amazing. I do have a powered under seat (10") sub as well, but I rolled with just the tweeters and door speakers for a couple of days and loved it... HUGE improvement over stock. Just the tweeters and all 4 door speakers I was in to it for $230.00.

I sound deadened all 4 doors in the process however, and I can say with 100% certainty that if you DON'T deaden the doors, you are leaving roughly 40% of the sound quality improvement potential on the cutting room floor.

Deaden the doors and unleash the beast. Seriously.

With regards to your question, save the money on the JL's and just get the Kickers, and spend the rest on sound deadening.

Are you anywhere in SoCal? I can meet up with you and let you hear mine and you can get an idea of what it sounds like.

 

To anyone who has installed the Kicker KS tweeters...looks like they don’t have a mounting ring, but are meant to be surface mounted? Can you use the mounting ring from the old stock speaker?

I am planning to have installed tomorrow.

 

No you can not.

The OEM tweeters are made from stamped sheet metal and the so called tweeters part of that assembly.

You will need these if you are going to use component tweeters (and you will still need to dremel a little material as I understand it (read the Amazon reviews):

$18 Speaker Adapters for Tweeters Fits Lexus, Fits Subaru, and - 1.75" Cutout - SAK009_175-1 Pair

https://www.amazon.com/Speaker-Adap...+tacoma+tweeter+adapter&qid=1574538759&sr=8-1

 

are you getting just KS tweeters, or are you getting the subaru/kicker tweeters

 

They are Kicker KS—the only ones available at Best Buy, quite a bit cheaper than the Subaru Kicker CS speakers ($59 vs $99). The only problem is they don’t come with an integrated mounting bracket like the Subarus.

OK thanks. They might have these at Best Buy so they can install them for me tomorrow along with the fronts, otherwise I’ll do it myself. The main problem there is I don’t have a garage, and we’re getting into cold weather (and holidays) pretty soon, so not sure when I can get it done.

 

they also dont have the connector on them, and sourcing the connector is not easy. hope you're comfortable cutting and splicing wires (in a very cramped spot, at that)

 

^^^ THIS^^^ is the main reason I just bit the bullet and went with the Subaru tweets. They are plug and play, so I did not have to cut my factory wiring. I am weird like that tho, so if I can avoid cutting/splicing into factory wiring I do. But what Destin said is HUGE. There is ZERO room up there to deal with soldering, splicing, crimping etc.... Can it be done? Sure. Is it worth the $40.00 headache? Your call.

 

For those that have Subaru Kicker tweeters and 3-way coaxials in the front, has anyone disabled the tweeter driver in the coaxial so that it performs more like a component setup?

 

Plus the cost of the mounting brackets, which are like $15

 

I have that set up and I have NOT disabled the tweeter in the 3way....yet.

I spent a lot of time over the last 2 days driving around and listening and again, I draw the same conclusion I drew a few days ago, and that is , that when I am listening to music on a USB drive, or bluetooth from my phone, the sound is incredible. When I listen XM radio, I cringe a little until higher volume levels, which mysteriously cleans up the harshness of the double tweeter effect. Also, as I increase volume on XM radio, the sound stage raises back up to near the center of the windshield where it should be. At lower volume on XM, the sound stage sort of disappears and there is a harshness to the highs that makes it kind of not worth the effort.

That being said, I doubt that I am going to keep or buy an XM subscription after the trial runs out because for music, I have never thought of sat radio as "quality" sound.

So, at this point, with the sources I use (most) the extra tweeter is not an issue. Is it correct? Absolutely not. But unless it really starts to bother me on USB or BT, I am probably going to leave it. I have thought about putting some foam or even a piece of dynamat like material over the tweeter on the 3 ways to take them out of the equation and roll with it for a few days to see if that nets me anything.

 

I decided to go with 6x9 Kicker CS components in the front and 6.75 Kicker CS coaxials in the rear. Initially, I plan to pair the component woofer with the Subaru Kicker tweeter using the stock wiring, but may end up changing to the component tweeter/ crossover combo if it produces better sound quality. I am also going to install 80 mil Kilmat dampening. Overall, it should be a good upgrade for only a few hundred bucks.

 

You should check this stuff out.

http://www.raamaudio.com/ensolite-i...ended-absolutely-the-best-foam-on-the-market/

 

Those are good points. I should have just bitten the bullet and gone with the Subarus. I still can I guess.

Too bad Toyota doesn’t have a stereo upgrade option with the Kickers like Subaru. I have an OffRoad manual, which for some weird reason doesn’t have the JBL stereo as an option.