Unpopular Opinion: Kicker tweet upgrade is a waste of money

I purchased a 2021 TRD DCOR this year and immediately started doing research and one of the things I found people replacing were the Tweets to the Kicker Tweets.

So I have a bit with car stereo installs when I was younger, so I know a bit about sound and when I installed these, I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I had to put one on and leave the original and still couldn't hear the difference. I'm wondering if they changed the tweeter in the 2021 year, or if its because of the package I have? I've posted pictures of the magnets, and to be honest I don't think the magnets on the kickers are that much bigger since a plastic case is surrounding the actual magnet.



I also see a lot of people complaining about the rear speakers and how replacing them does nothing. I'm guessing Toyota took 80% of the power in the head unit, and pushed it to the two front speakers, that's why no matter what you do, the rears will always be faint. I haven't tested the power going to the speakers but when I take off the door, I will to see if this is the case.

 

I also have a ‘21 OR DCSB with the Canadian premium package.

I have the faint rear speakers too, so I’m anxiously awaiting your findings!

 

They’re all like that

 

I did a full kicker replacement for all speakers in my 2021 OR. It is very much worth it, speakers are cheap as hell and an easy mod for the QoL improvement you get out of it. I'm not how much the tweeters factored into the equation, but replacing all of the speakers definitely fixed the audio quality for me. It's a very easy mod with the Crutchfield kits. If I wasn't babying my door panels so much it's really like 5 mins of work per door. I took my time and it was about 2 hours of work total.

Rebalance your speakers in the audio settings if you think the rears are too faint. Every speaker setup has the sweet spot with the EQ as well - things rarely sound good when left on a flat EQ. A slight bass boost and treble decrease sounds great on my kickers.

 

The kicker dash tweeters by themselves I really couldn't hear the difference. Drove like that for a couple years because I thought I'd be wasting my money to change the other speakers.
Finally changed the door speakers though and it made a noticeable difference. I thought I was going to need an Amp but after listening to them I am happy with the sound for the amount of $$ spent.

 

If you wanted to be really stingy, changing the front door speakers and doing an EQ balance gets you like 80% of the way there

 

@RacerX1911 I put the 6 kickers in my 2020 OR and was underwhelmed.

I have the base head unit (worst of the 4 available in the Tacoma) and needed a small kikcker key 200w amp to make the system work. Now I’m very happy. I push the fader 3/4 to the rear and I get immersed in sound, theatre style not front staged. My sweet spot for sound now is around 30 on the volume @ 60mph

Check and see what HU you have, should be on your window sticker when u bought the car.

 

My rear speakers have a Alpine amp pushing them.

 

Sound stage is in the front. Rear is just for fill if someone is sitting back there. A real stereo should be in front. Unless you are into surround. Factory head unit is not capable of that.

 

Is it just me and my old ears, or are the rear channels in the stock non-JBL head unit severely band limited (I.e., no bass, no treble) in addition to being very low volume?

 

I did all 6 kicker speakers at once. Definitely could tell a difference. But was not really thrilled.

Added the Kicker 200w amp behind the head unit, and now everything is right.

 

It's not you. The system is set up for the rear speakers to be "rear fill" only - not full sound.

 

That is pretty wild. I have an ACLB and the Kickers change was so dramatic that it put me off other audio mods.

Here's the weird one. My rear speakers are at a balanced volume also. I have even tested this with both doors open and the volume is equal right in between them.

I might chalk it all of to weird differences between Tacos, but sparks are sparks.

 

I didn't know there were 4 head units. I thought it was just the JBL and non-JBL. So which are these 4 and what differentiates them from each other (at least the major ones)?

 

Knowing Toyota's treatment of the AC vs DC there's probably some funny business with the speakers. Smaller cab, maybe they figured it was the best choice because the rear speakers are still basically right beside you?

 

It could be? I could also see them thinking the opposite. Most folks think the rear is a dungeon and peeps back there should be made to suffer.

 

Good thing all of my friends have their own vehicles.

 

I've been wanting to go for a ride in the back since we got it. My daughters fit back there and it seems good enough when I jump back there.

But, yeah. It certainly limits the amount of folks that want to pile in, esp my one friend that reaches for the passenger seat adjustment every time he gets in.