I finally pulled the trigger on a complete system to replace the JBL!!

Like picking a suspension you are always afraid in the end you won’t be happy. Well I am stoked with my Falcon suspension so I hope that holds true with my Audio decisions.
Lots of discussion with Trail Grid Pro and James Randy Taylor both of which have top notch communication and I could not be more thankful for their help. Now I just have to wait.

So to start things off I ordered the Trail Grid Pro Sony XAV-AV8100 bundle at their Black Friday price which was outstanding and a no brainer since everything comes all prewired which saves me a bunch of time.
I bought an HDMI splitter so I can add a monitor in the back for the kids and use the Amazon Fire TV for video.
https://trailgridpro.com/shop/head-units/sony-xav-ax8100-14-19-tundra/

I was just going to run the headunit with the JBL stuff for awhile. Though I knew I would not be happy and prices are going through the roof nearly everyday.
So I decided to bite the bullet and ended up going with the AudioFrog GS25s for the dash, Hertz DSC 170.3s for the doors, 2 10” Kenwood Excellon subs in James’ custom ported box for the CrewMax, all powered by the ArcAudio X2 850.5 amp, of course all wrapped up nicely with the install components James offers.

If the sound is anywhere near the quality of customer service I have gotten from both of these outfits planning out this system I am in for a treat.

Hopefully everything will arrive the week before Christmas. My schedule sucks so it will be installed in stages unfortunately. But in a way that will give me a way to evaluate things a bit more independent.

AudioFrogs will go in lickity split since one just has to pop the grilles off unplug the oem and pop the AudioFrogs in.

Then I’ll do the headunit and run my RCAs.

Then I’ll hook up the amp and subs. I already have sound deadened the back wall and floor of the cab.

Then I’ll sound deaden the rear doors and install the rear speakers.

Then I’ll sound deaden the front doors and install the front speakers.

Then once everything arrives I may be so excited I’ll just take a day or two off work to get it done.

A little late now but what are your all’s thoughts on this setup??

 

Sounds like you have a good game plan put together. James helped me out a lot also. I can tell the difference with my doors and back with the sound deadening. This is my 3rd vehicle with audio systems that I had sound deadening done. My 2 installers also added inside the door panels also besides the stuff I got from James. You don’t have to but it did not cost me much since the doors were already off. I love my system. You are going to love it when it’s done.

 

I’ll be doing the entire install myself. I already sounddeadened the rear wall inside and out along with the cab of the floor.
I just swapped in an 8” Alpine sub into the JBL housing so I figured while I had it all out may as well deaden everything back there.
The sub and sound deadening made a noticeable difference.
Looking forward to doing everything else. The time and effort doing the deadening sucks but is well worth it.

 

What can you tell me about the AudioFrogs? I have an 18 with non-jbl.

I have replaced everything EXCEPT the dash speakers. Is this a must-have?

 

My understanding is the AudioFrogs are not compatible with nonJBL systems.

You will need these. I don’t know why or the specific difference but James will likely be able to answer that.
https://shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=580&categoryId=138

https://shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=581&categoryId=138

 

How is james having you power the gs25's?

 

Coincidental that you ask this as I got an email from James today.
He said that I could not use the AudioFrog GS25 as the center channel with an aftermarket headunit and would need to use a Hertz dt24.3 tweeter and wire it directly to the head unit.
The GS25s are still going to be used for the corners of the dash and are plug and play.
So I presume they will be powered by the ArcAudio amp that is replacing the factory JBL amp.

So at this point I am not sure.

I am somewhat disappointed as the AudioFrogs being a midrange are really supposed to give a great sound used as the dash speakers.
I hope it still holds true with the Hertz as the center channel.

I am not a wiring or component selection guy. It’s all over my head. I can install it once someone else points out what I should buy.

From all accounts James is pretty much the best there is so I am sure I will have a great sounding setup.
Just how everything works I won’t know until it all arrives and I lay it out on the bench to see what I am fully working with.

Then I am sure I’ll have a number of questions before I dive in.

 

I have the gs25's in the corners they sound great! And yeah, the brackets line right up (you snap off the tabs you aren't using).
I'm still not quite sure how you are going to power the gs25's, some head units will let you use the rca's AND the outputs at the same time, so you could power the gs25's off the head unit directly, but you need to make sure that you aren't sending lower than about 200hz to the gs25's. They are a very versatile speaker, so they can handle quite a bit of the frequency range.

Why do you want a center channel? Lots of people really want to put one in, but it isn't really necessary when you are running tweeters from the components in the sail panels, and if you put the gs25's in the corners, thats a lot of sound coming from the dash/windshield area.

James knows his stuff big time. I've bought about 95% of my stereo from him.

 

Just running components in the doors the Bluetooth and GPS is so much better. You don’t need dash speakers to make your system sounds good. But everyone has there preferences.

 

Was wanting to keep the center channel for better conversation audio for video sources though this thought process may be incorrect.
Car Audio is no where near my wheel house.

I already have a center channel and components so figured would keep them just upgrade the quality.

I am not sure how everything will be powered specifically at this point either. Looking forward to seeing the full build sheet so I have a better understanding with everything in front of me.

 

So I finally got a chance to install phase 1!
The AudioFrog GS25s went in the dash corners. Very simple install thank to James Randy Taylor’s plug and play harnesses.
Longest part was figuring out which mounting tabs lined up with the factory mounting holes.
So I am still full factory JBL except for the corner GS25s.
These speakers do not add and volume to the factory system but they make the vocals and highs coming from the dash so much more crisp and clear.
Looking forward to getting the rest in eventually.

 

Got Phase 2 installed.
Just did a quick install of the headunit today. Took all of 35 minutes. TrailgridPro prewiring everything is well worth it. Sure I could have done it but nice to just plug everything in and be done. There were two antenna plugs left over for that fit the SiriusXM adapter so I called up the TrailGrid folks and Cliff answered lickity split and told me which plug. Great folks to deal with.


So as for sound I still have all the factory setup just with Audiofrogs on the corners of the dash.
The headunit alone perked up the factory system but only likely due to a much better equalizer It adds a little volume but the factory speakers quickly start to distort past about the volume the factory system gave.

Looking forward to getting the rest installed. Going to let the weather warm up a bit since I am going to sound deaden the doors.

 

lookin good! I didnt do a center speaker....just 6.5 components with the separate tweeters in the front corners

 

How easy is it to sound deaden the doors

 

This may be the route I go. I have the center channel but I will see how it sounds without it.
If I feel I need it I’ll just do a little 2 channel to them.

It is not hard at all just time consuming but I feel it is worth it.
I did the rear wall and floor awhile back and it made a noticeable difference.

 

I'm close to purchasing a head unit, was set on an in-dash unit for a cleaner look, and thought the "perched" unit you have, would be cumbersome, bulky, intrusive, etc... I don't need to have a larger screen or a bunch of extras, just hoping to get Apple Play. Any new thoughts on the unit after a few months of use?

Thanks

 

I am very very pleased not only with the Sony headunit but the communication and service I got all along the way and even after the purchase from TrailGrid Pro.


I asked a ton of questions prior to and they answered them promptly via email.
I placed my order and was waffling whether I needed the XM Tuner because I have the app and it is CarPlay compatible so I left it off the initial order.
After the order I changed my mind and asked if they could add it to my bundle and they did.
Once my bundle arrived the tuner was not there. I emailed them and they had one to me in just a couple days. I blame myself for this because I added it on after the fact.
Upon install I had one question I was pretty sure I knew
the answer to but wanted to be 100% positive before I went and put everything back together so I called and they picked right up and confirmed my question.

As for the head unit no it is not some crazy fancy super high end unit (I was not looking for that) but it is a very capable and well equipped unit at a very good price all
things considered.

I have some things I would do differently if I were to have designed it myself for my needs. So they aren’t really complaints as I can do everything I would like just not exactly how I would like to do it.

1st I would have a volume knob. I just like volume knobs but the steering wheel volume control is quick and responsive or I can hit the ATT button to drop the volume fast.

2nd I am glad it has the anytime rearview camera built in I just wish there was a physical camera button on the bezel and not on the Home Screen. Because if in the Apple CarPlay menu you have to hit the physical home
button then the rear camera button. Would like for it to be done in one button push.

3rd I wish there was a way to integrate the OEM microphone.

4th I wish the HDMI input was on the rear of the unit, not on the bottom of the bezel and I wish there was an HDMI out.
I don’t like wires all over the place and the HDMI cable hanging from the bottom of the front of the unit just looks like crap.
My solution to both will be as follows when I get a chance to do it. I have an angled/thin HDMI cable that I am going to run behind the screen and through the dash kit running that HDMI cable to the center console. I will have an HDMI splitter in the console that I will have the outputs going to the headunit and then to a dual screen setup in the back. This will allow me to view the same thing on the Sony Screen and in the back to help the kids navigate menus and choose what to watch.
Once the choice is made I send the signal just to the rear and I can have everything Nav and music up front. Yes the kids will be stuck with the crappy sound from the rear monitors or their headphones but don’t really care.
This would all be much easier if they just put an input and output on the rear of the unit.

I will also say I don’t find the screen to be bulky or intrusive at all. I first contemplated getting a standard double din unit and sealing it with the same components needed for the install. I am so glad I went with this screen.
I jumped in my buddy’s Tundra that is still stock and the screen seemed so tiny.

 

To address your 3rd thing. You can do something like this guy in this thread. He soldered the aftermarket mic leads to the oem mic. Or you can also mount your new mic to the factory location for stealth look. There’s no way to integrate the factory mic to aftermarket radio.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/anyone-using-the-kenwood-dnr1007xr-excelon-reference.102638/page-6

 

I should have said plug and play integration.
You can see in my pic I have the mic there at the dash cubby. It looks like crap but I keep a couple hats there so you really don’t see it and the sound is good.
I have an ICS Fab dash mount that one day I’ll install and likely tuck the mic under that somehow to keep it hidden.

I work 6 or 7 days a week and it went from balls cold to balls hot and not had a chance to do much.
I still have all the speakers and amp to install.
Honestly thinking about selling those as the headunit and the AudioFrogs in the dash really cleaned up the sound. And could likely use that money elsewhere.

 

Gotcha. Yeah, if you aren’t really looking for more sounds and the stock works just fine. I would sell it to recoup. You can always come back in the future if u want more.