I’m so confused planning Audio upgrade

So I’ve read many of the posts in the audio threads, watched the Taco Tunes and other utube videos, also checked some other audio forums. I understand that if you have the JBL system (which I do in my 20’), and want to keep the factory head unit (I do), that you cannot simply replace the factory amp and upgrade the speakers/sub. I know there is a need for processing the signal, but some say you need to keep the factory amp, add a processor, then run that to your new amp. I thought you could pull the crappy JBL amp, add a processor (ie. DSR1, AC LCQ1, or the TacoTunea EzCurve) then run that to the new amp.

I’m curious what you guys have done and found good results with keeping/pulling the factory JBL amp.

For reference this is what I was looking to do:
Hertz components, Mille Pro up front, lower grade in back. JL audio 5 channel amp, sound processor (undecided on model, though I did have an LCQ1 in my old rig and liked it). JL audio sub (holdover from previous truck).

This keeping or pulling the JBL amp question is really the thing I’m unclear on.

Thanks

 

You’re going to be pulling the stock amp if you’re installing a new 5 channel amp.

 

That sounds logical to me, and that’s exactly what I did in my last vehicle with great success. The confusion comes when some claim that you need to keep the stock amp as well when adding an aftermarket amp -something specifically required by this particular JBL system in the Tundras. Trust me when I say I hope this is not the case, and new amp and processor will do the trick.

 

@james@tech12volts I may be wrong. But James can answer any and all of your questions.

 

I have been doing similar research and I have found that the factory H.U. and the factory amp are linked, as in you can't just replace one and not the other. And the factory sub box and woofer is another weak link and replacing them will improve the system. I have a thread going about the OEM+ upgrade to factory JBL equipped Tundras. Do yourself a favor and price out a complete system upgrade and see where you end up, cost-wise. I don't have it in my budget to do that. YMMV

 

I replaced the factory amp with a DSR1 and added four Kicker amps under the rear seat. Two tens behind the seat, 3.5” in the dash, 6.75” w/ 1” tweeter in the front doors, 6.5” w/ 3/4” tweeter in rear doors and a 6.75” sub under the drivers seat. All Kicker speaker components and new speaker wires ran to all pieces. I retained the factory head unit. 2,800 watts total.

 

Wow that’s quite the system. So you were successful adding the amps and the DSR1, without retaining the factory JBL amp? That’s what I am looking to do

 

I did DSR1 and a new amp courtesy of James(along with all speakers and a 12" sub). Nice thing is he preprogrammed the DSR1

 

Yeah, omit the JBL amp and put the DSR1 in its place.

 

we do it everyday . www.tech12volts.com

 

Adam, did you also pull the factory JBL amp? How were your results?

 

I did pull the factory amp and used the setup from tech12volts. It sounds fantastic. It was a group buy similar to this set up except it had all the dash speakers as well...https://www.shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=574&categoryId=137 If you want to talk to James, he can get you set up with everything. Dude is second to none with customer service.

 

I can second this. James is very helpful in this department.

 

That sounds like quite the system...very nice - I am a huge fan of JL amps and subs. James is getting some great feedback from you guys who have used him, I’ll have to give him a call and jump on that DSR1 if he recommends it for my situation. I am also very interested in Hertz Mille Pro components, they consistently get very good reviews on all the sites I’ve checked.

I’ll probably try and build this system a little on the slow side - after buying the new truck and slapping some tires on it, I gotta be smart with the truck upgrade budget.....but really can’t stand that JBL setup much longer. I’d rather get good gear slowly than jump on an entire setup that doesn’t really do it for me (ie Taco Tunes).

 

SMART MAN!! Shoot us an email we can help you put together a quality system with quality parts tech12volt@gmail.com

 

The dsr1 is a great sound processor. It can integrate with you current head unit if needed and it has a lot of tuning abilities and its not crazy expensive like the audison, helix, and mosconi.

The hertz Millie's are damn good speakers too. If you already are leaning that direction then do it. There's plenty of good offerings that you could rack your brain over, and all would make you happy, so might as well make it easy on yourself since you won't be disappointed with the Millie's.

Definitely get in touch with James's. He's earned an amazing reputation here at the forums.

 

I have had my system with and without the factory JBL amp.
First setup - headunit > factory jbl amp > JL Fix86 > JL amps > speakers
Current setup - headunit > DSR1 > JL amps > speakers
I prefer the DSR1 as my factory amp was adding a slight hiss sound even with no audio source. Once James confirmed the DSR1 worked in JBL tundras, I ordered it.
I have JL C5 speakers in the front doors, C3 in the rear, JL dash tweeters, 2-JL 10w1 subs in a T12V box, JL HD 750 and RD400 amps, floor doors and back wall are fully dynamatted with over 110sf of material
90% of my system came from James at Tech12volts, I picked up the HD amp locally from a member and I had so much left over power cables and speaker wire from past vehicle systems I did not need those (I buy in bulk or excessive amounts sometimes)

 

Just amazing with all the threads like this over the years Toyota wouldn’t have done something at the factory to avoid all of this. I’d love to upgrade my system but $900 is a little much for me right now.

 

So I want to get a Pioneer GM-DX871 with two 10 inch Rockford Fosgate R2SD2-10, All i would need to make that work is a

$299 Rockford Fosgate DSR1 8-Channel Interactive Signal Processor w/Integrated iDatalink Maestro Module

Rockford Fosgate DSR1? Seems easy enough.

 

Does JUST replacing the amp with the DSR1 make a sound difference? Might upgrade the speaker later on down the road, but wouldn’t mind a quick easy bump in quality.

 

The DSR1 is only a processor, you would still nees an amplifier after the DSR1 to power the speakers

 

You don't replace the amp with the DSR1. You use the DSR1 to process the signal to get a flat signal so you can add another aftermarket amp.

 

My plan is to get in on the current group buy with tech12volt and replace all the speakers with PnP speakers. I also grabbed the 10" sub that's PnP with the JBL system.

Not going to be the best system in the world but it should be an improvement and all these upgrades are relatively easy to DIY. Yes, I'll probably update the amp later but I want to see where this gets me.

 

Bought the gear from tech12 and had it installed yesterday at a local shop, here is what I went with:

Hertz MillePro 6.5 components up front
Hertz Cento 6.5 components in rear
JL RD 900/5 amp
DSR1 processor
Amp rack, speaker brackets, maestro harness, sub power knob and a 4 gauge amp power pack
I had an older JL audio 8” slim sub that I am using (my next step is definitely to upgrade this, probably with Tech12 custom box and two JL 10 inchers)
Used some sound deading, Nico stuff I got off Amazon.

It took the shop nearly 8 hours to complete the install. Initially they had the front left and right dash speakers powered from the amp as well. They were way overpowering, my guess is they’re a little more efficient than the Hertz speakers, so their volume was too loud - definitely drowned out the Hertz. We decided to unhook all the dash speakers for now.

The Hertz components sound fantastic. I really had to learn (and an still learning) how to calibrate the system with the the DSR1 via my IPad. Made a huge difference, I still have some tweaking to do, but definitely headed down the right path with the calibration. The sound is clean and powerful. Major weakness is the bass. I do plan on getting dual 10’s and sound deading the back wall. Shouldn’t be a major job, I’ll definitely do that myself when funds allow for the sub purchase.

Overall it’s really miles better than the JBL system that came with my 2020. Night and day difference. Granted it’s not cheap, but I spend a lot of time behind the wheel and truly enjoy good audio.

 

Is the DSR1 Bluetooth? I watched a quick video. My AudioContol 6.1 1200 watt amp is is also BT and DSP. also cabe be controlled my Mac iPhone android PC whatever. Im trying to decide that DSP to set to Flat and what one to do my Tweaks on. I had to spend 100$ one the Moduel on the AUdioControl amp to make so I can adjust settings on the FLy. But if the DSR1 is the same way im might return the amp add-on and save 100$. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj9T47VkPZ8

James said having 2 DSPs is not a problem. I jiunda felt like I wanted my money on this amp but its a great amp from what I read and heard and its just fits under the passenger seat even with he JBL amp that getting removed for the smaller DSR1. I made my own bracket for mounting. I work in a sign shop and have access to many tools and scrap 1/8" aluminum.

 

the problem with just using the audiocontrol amp is you have to leave the JBL amp in the truck and that is where all the bad signal comes from.The head unit as actually damn clean before it gets to that POS amp .DSR1 is set via bluetooth by phone or tablet. But I will give anyone some advice when buying from us . The dsr1 is 270 and then there is drop down box to have us preprogram it. That 15 dollars will save you hours of headaches. Trust me on this https://www.shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=569&categoryId=124

 

The DSR1 is a pretty cool unit, using the Bluetooth and the app on my iPad the tuning/tweaking options for the sound are amazing. I’ve been playing with it for the past couple of days, and am learning as I go. Still some advanced tuning stuff I don’t completely understand, but working on it.

I can tell you this, the Hertz, JL amp, and DSR1 combo are pretty impressive - clean, detailed, and as loud as I’d ever want it to be. Like I said, the sub upgrade is in the near future, really looking forward to that. I purchased everything from Tech12 and very happy with the set up.

 

I did not read through everyone's replies, but I have just completed upgrading my 1794 with JBL exactly the way you want to do yours.

Before I added any electronics I Dynamatted the whole truck, excluding the ceiling. The door were done both behind the glass and just behind the door panel.

I ditched the factory amp, installed 2 amps, 1 for the sub, and 1 for the speakers. Upgraded the front speakers with Audio Focal ES 165 K2, then for the rear speakers I went with a 3-way Audio Focal ES 165 K3 (comes with 3 speakers). I used the mid sized speaker in the left/right speaker spots in the dash and disconnected the center dash speaker. The other speaker and tweeter were installed in the rear doors. I installed a custom box and 2 10" subs behind the seat. Kenwood XR601-1 400Watt single channel amp powers the subs. Audison Prima 8 CH Amp with DSP. The Marantz representative programmed the DSP powers the other 10 speakers (2 dash, 4 door, 4 tweeters). It took him about 6 hours to program it. He used a microphone set up in the center of the truck, made a digital image of the cab, then programmed each channel according to how/where I wanted the sound focused from (ie. I wanted it to sound like a music hall where the band was in the center of the dash, and playing directly at the driver). I was not disappointed and am completely blown away.

He said my truck is one of the best systems he had ever heard. The shop owner has a complete Alpine system in his car (paid for by Alpine to advertise) and he and the Marantz Rep says it sounds better than the Alpine system.

Sitting in the driver's seat, it sounds like a concert is being played from right on top of the mid dash speaker and directed straight at the driver. From the other seats it sounds fantastic, but from the driver's seat, WOW.

So.....it can be done and with you keeping the JBL head unit with tremendous results. One big plus, coming from the stereo shop is that the JBL has "digital" output so even at max volume there is zero distortion from the head unit.

I'll take a look in my truck later and update with the brands of the subs.

 

I'm kind of a noob so excuse my ignorance but why not run the three ways in the front and just run the one wire to the crossovers

 

I got these mainly be cause i really like Rockford Fosegate:

$299 Rockford Fosgate DSR1 8-Channel Interactive Signal Processor w/Integrated iDatalink Maestro Module

Rockford Fosgate DSR1 8-Channel Interactive Signal Processor w/Integrated iDatalink Maestro Module

$160 Rockford Fosgate Prime R2SD4-10 Single R2 Slim 10" 4-Ohm DVC Shallow Subwoofer - 200 Watts RMS / 400 Watts Peak

2 of Rockford Fosgate R2 Ultra Shallow 10-Inch 4 Ohm DVC Subwoofer

$275 Rockford Fosgate R500X1D Prime 1-Channel Class D Amplifier

Rockford Fosgate R500X1D Prime 1-Channel Class D Amplifier
Dual 10" Behind Seat Subwoofer Sub Enclosure Box for 14-17 Toyota Tundra Crew

Will they work? idk but we'll see I guess.