Sound System Upgrade

I would talk to Randy at Tech12 volts. Especially if you don't really know what you are doing. Tell him your goals and your budget and he will set you up. I went through him and he saved me a bunch of money over Amazon/crutchfield and it was an easy install. He was great to work with. I kept my headunit, but changed out amps, front and rear speakers and added a sub. Much better sound. He has a harness that allows the amp to be plugged into the factory amp wiring so you aren't cutting any wires or anything and everything can be reversed.

 

Do you know what you used for the plug in play?

 

Sounds good! I'll hit him up. Thanks for the info!

 

On mine, he sent a harness that he made up that plugs into the the harness for the factory amp. You then attach that harness to RCA connectors that plug into the amp.

 

Same here. Hardest part for me was crimping the terminal on the power wire. Messed one up but had another in the kit.

 

I went to my local car audio shop, and I really wish I would have gone with @james@tech12volts. From what everyone has said, Tech12Volts sounds super solid, and much cheaper than what I paid.

 

Where did you go?

 

This place in Redlands called "Tune Time Stereo". Super nice dude that runs the place, my system is great - I just think I could have got one that bangs just a good through Tech12Volts for about a third of what I paid, but then again - that wouldn't include installation.

 

What do you have?

 

YotaBro, you've got to give us more to go on what you are looking for. Budget is usually the first question and biggest decision maker, so let us know what it is and we can help you decide on the best setup possible. Second question would be, how much volume and bass do you want? If you want a ton of volume and a lot of bass, then you are going to require at least one amp (the Tundra amp is nothing but a POS paper weight) and possibly a sub box. Third question would be are you going to install this yourself or have a professional do it? Your fund of installation knowledge will give us a better idea on what you are actually capable of handling/installing. Granted, stereo installation is not rocket science, but it is NOT something that you want to rush through, or cut corners on.... ESPECIALLY in a $40k-plus truck. Even if you choose to do a complete system swap, you can pull it off with little to no experience. It just takes time, patience and probably a little help from your friends on Tundras.com.

And finally, I too recommend James @ Tech12volts for professional advice and sales. He answers all questions via Email and responds very quickly.... Even in the middle of the night! He built me a ported dual 10" sub enclosure for behind my back seat and it is awesome!

 

Did someone say middle of the night?

 

Hey! So no set budget yet because I am just doing research rn and probs won't buy anything until I finish with exterior mods. My guess would be 1k or less (honestly don't know if that would get me anything decent or not) as for volume, I don't listen to music very loud or tbh music at all. I usually listen to audio books or podcasts. My girlfriend on the other hand loves music so I'd like to get something better than the stock sound system for our long trips.

I am not an electrical engineer by any means but can usually figure things out if it has a detailed instructions. I would prefer a plug in play though.

 

Good luck.

 

You will be able to get a significant upgrade for $1000. You aren't going to win any competitions, but that doesn't seem like what you want. I spent a little more than that, but not a ton. I have Helix front speakers and JBL's in the rear. I was looking at JL c2's and Randy recommended the Helix's for the same price. JBL's in the rear are not the highest quality, but better than what was there and many people don't even worry about the rears. I have a JL audio xd700/5v2 amp and a jl audio 10 TW3 subwoofer with a box built by James. He included all harnesses and wires that I needed as well. This was about 4 years ago. Now I believe he is a Hertz dealer and recommends their products a lot, but before I went with Randy at Tech12volts I was piecing this system together with some from Amazon, some from crutchfield, harnesses from taco tunes etc and Randy beat the price that I was able to come up with by a couple hundred dollars. He also provided customer service that I never would have gotten out of Amazon. I had never done any kind of audio install before, but a couple videos on youtube and instructions from Randy it it wasn't bad at all. The hardest thing to do was to fish the amp wire through the grommet in the firewall and that was just trying to shove a thick ass wire into a small hole.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience! I'll have to call them once I'm ready to pull the trigger. Need to buy some tires and finish my bumper before I deep dive into audio.

 

With your $1k budget, I would go with some higher end 6.5" components up front like Helix or Audiofrog, something average for the door speakers in the rear like the base model Hertz (only $99/pair) then a mid-level 5 channel amp like Infinity/JBL and a single 10" or 12" sub in a ported box. The vocals will scream and you'll have solid thump as well. And definitely go with @james@tech12volts like everyone else is saying. That might exceed your budget but it would be close.

 

Just lucked into a Kenwood DMX907s the other day for $250 brand new so I picked it up. I called Tech12v and he got me a whole package of what I needed to get it installed for a good price. I got it put in last weekend and I'm already planning my full buildout. Go ahead and budget to at least do the head unit and speakers together at the same time. If you put a H/U only in, there is an improvement, but it just amplifies how poor the stock speakers really are.

 

A shop down the street is selling

$1,399 Kenwood DNR1007XR eXcelon 10.1" High Definition Navigation Car Stereo Receiver with Capacitive Touch Panel

Kenwood DNR1007XR for $1099. You guys better jump on that deal.

 

What shop??

 

Stereo Depot in El Cajon. I bought mine from Ali.

 

Dang thats a killer deal. Tempting.

you got it installed?

 

Not yet. I'm going to do sound deadening first. Then Cameras. Then Audio system. I have everything I need.

 

I'm still holding strong with my factory non-jbl, but dang that price is tempting!

 

I have a 2016 SR5, Non JBL. Kept the head unit and door speakers.
Replaced the dash speakers, amp.

New stuff is Kenwood 5 Channel, AudioControl LOC and Sub
All plug and play. Hardest part was running amp wire from battery to pass side seat.

 

Anyone have any issues with dealership service after a head unit upgrade? I got my truck back after some warranty work and noticed the stock radio was in "service mode", and I wasn't sure how swapping in an aftermarket radio might impact the technician's work.

 

That's what I want to do, maybe swap out speakers too but all plug and play. So how does it sound compared to completely stock?

 

There's going to be a shortage in available units due to chip factory burn down.

 

didn't know that happened.

I'm gonna try to see how the factory head unit plays with my dsp first.

 

Anyone on the fence.... I just sold my stock head unit on ebay for $490 shipped.

 

Wow! I’ll have to give that a try.