Unpopular Opinion: Kicker tweet upgrade is a waste of money

The tweeters did nothing for me too. Sold them. To really get good audio you need an amp don’t care what anyone says.

 

I did a better stereo first and then the tweeters and I could def hear an improvement. The stock stereo just doesn't put out a lot of power

 

Tweeter upgrade was very noticeable for me. I'm glad I did it.

 

Hawaiian truck? If I recall dealers outside of the ConUS are able to skip out on parts that would otherwise be considered standard. My 2017 Sport is also supposed to come with the Entune Premium, but I got Audio Plus. Also missing the wireless charger and just standard fog lights instead of the wide angle fogs.

It seems the specs are closer to a Canada market truck.

 

Yup, you could be somewhat right there. Although my wife’s 20 Rav4 xse has premium audio as standard.

 

overpriced and trash JBL cope or stock cope. Which one are you?

 

The kicker tweeters make the stereo sound like hot garbage, unless the sound of icicles shattering into a swimming pool full of dog whistles and broken glass is your thing.

Stock tweeters are 100000% more musical. Bravo Toyota.

I installed the kicker tweeters and listed them on Craigslist the following day.

 

I did all Kickers but did the tweeters first to see if there was any difference, there is a difference to my ears. Then I put in the front doors and again, an improvement. The rears didn’t do much of anything but we knew that. I thought maybe the amp would help the rears but it’s still the front and tweeters that are pushing the sound. Added a 12” sub and that made a world of difference. 5 channel amp, 75x4 and I think 250 on the sub.

It’s definitely different than doing it with equalizers and amps and CD’s years ago. Can’t really tailor the sound much unless you add a bunch more money into it. Playing Pandora there are obvious variations in quality of sound from song to song too. So it seems that the “quality” of sound can be affected by the source, much like when we went from vinyl to cassettes and then to CD’s. YMMV

 

Well I'm not really an audiophile, especially at this point of my physiology. Many years of gunfire, military vehicles and loud, drunken parties in the barracks has taken a toll and earned me substantial hearing loss. Maybe that is why I have noticed an improvement of the stock 'Taco stereo system with the Tweeter upgrade. Everyone's mileage is going to be different with sound.

 

I replaced mine with those Subaru tweeters made by Kicker. Absolutely zero difference in sound quality. After reading all the positive reviews, I was expecting at least a minor upgrade. What a waste of $100 and an hour of my life. Easy install but no difference to my ears at all.

 

I'm this kind

 

Sorry for all the questions, but I think this is likely the route I'll go. Any issues with heat? I haven't looked behind my HU yet. Are there some obvious places to mount and did you need anything special to mount it? TIA

 

I noticed nothing when I put them in. I did it when so many raved about the upgrade.

I ended up doing a full JL audio speaker replacement, added an alpine amp and a FULL length ported sub behind the rear seats and the sound is awesome.

 

The amp simply sits on the mess of wires that I've created back there, no issues with heat, cut outs or anything like that. Some other TW members have put the amp in the glovebox or near the glove box on that side... There is a write up on creating the harness for the amp but be warned the 2020 onwards is NOT the same as the <2020. Have a read through this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kicker-key-in-a-2020-with-8-entune.641008/ GL

 

I'm right there with you but haven't done the head unit yet. I was mad as hell when I pulled the stock speakers out.

I sound deadened everything when I did the speakers, hoping the amp install behind the head unit brings it all together

 

the old door speaker you show in the pic is much bigger (magnet) than what was in my 2016 so the difference for me was much better. what you had in there is not much different than the upgrade, IMO. tweeters however were the same as in my 2016.

 

Personally if I were to do it again I wouldn't do the kicker amp but I would change the head unit to something with a little amp x4 built in. The tacoma head unit is set entirely for front stage...

 

i did not and big mistake, front door panels vibrate when playing EDM.

 

When I put in my Kicker tweeters, my installer crossed them over separately. So the sound quality is much better and they are hooked up to a Kicker Key amp that is behind my head unit.