Why does the audio suck in the 3rd gen? (Solved)

I replaced the head unit in my 2019 TRD Pro (JBL), with the Pioneer DMH-WT7600NEX. This unit is similar to the 6600 and the 8600.

the sound quality has improved drastically compared to the JBL Head unit. I did not upgrade the factory JBL speakers, amp or sub. I agree with what JRLeBrasseur is saying.

 

So, other than a microphone replacement, does anyone have a quick list of stuff the etune head unit does which pioneer doesn’t do? Is it that much of a no brainer (ignoring cost)?

Edit: seems like one major hurdle is the factory mic, no obvious / easy way to reuse if you upgrade the head unit.

I have no special love for etune nor any major concerns with cost but I would love to keep all modifications reversible. Perhaps replacing the factory mic for new head unit qualifies if it’s possible to stash the factory mic out of the way.

 

You don't need to change the head unit for good sound. Just add an amp (I went for an Alpine PowerPack that goes behind the HU), and the Subaru tweeter upgrade. That is enough for the sound to be pretty decent. Throw in a sub and you're golden.

 

I went with the Sony XAV-AX1000, kicker speakers front and rear, with the subaru tweeters. It's so much better than the stock setup.

 

I was going to disagree with you on the adding 2/3 way speakers to the front until I read the word coaxials.... yes, I dont know why everyone is buying 3 way coax, then putting in the kicker tweeters... too many damn tweeters up front.
I run a 3 way component set with the mids in the dash, tweeters in the sail panels and woofers in the doors. tweets and mids are very close together. Having each individual speaker time aligned is great. I have individual control over each of the 9 speakers in my truck due to the 10 channel DSP, two 4 channel amps, and single mono amp.

 

I partially agree with the other posts that there are some issues with the stock head units but i wouldn't call them garbage. At reasonable volumes, the distortion is great. The 3 bad EQ is lacking but overall, really not bad.

- Adding the 2" mid like you did made a massive difference.
- Adding a DSP (Kicker IQ) helped correct but not nearly as much as the 2" speaker did.

 

Yeah, adding the 2 inch mids made a huge difference. In my old rav4, it has the JBL system in it. It just sounded muddy all the time, so I installed some JBL gto220 in the factory tweeter locations. They are a 2 inch mid with a tweeter mounted in the middle, part of a really old 3 way component system and they fit perfect into the OEM mounts on the rav4. I was going to put these in the tacoma, but they are just so old (like 20 years at this point)

 

I completely ripped put the stock sound system, was too weak for my liking. Kicker tweeters, pioneer 6x9 front, hertz 6.5 rear, alpine 5 channel amp, 12inch kicker sub, equalizer in the glove compartment. Sound quality is amazing! Makes my drives that much better

 

Where can we get update 0101A1? Does it affect ApplePlay at all?