That’s it. I have to replace this stupid sound system.

So I’m in Guam for work. My freaking 15 year old beat up rental car has more volume and better sound than the “premium” JBL my truck came with.

I’m done. I want to get better sound. In the long term I want a new head unit anyway, but I can’t afford it just yet.

1… If I replace ONLY the head unit, will I get a significant boost in audio volume and clarity? Or do I HAVE to add an amplifier and replace the speakers too?

2… I can’t plunk down the money just yet. We got a $50,000 bill last week for foundation repairs on our house. So if it really came down to it, is there anything I do for a few hundred that would achieve a net improvement without losing existing car functions?

 

#2 would be telling me to live with it. ….Its better than no sound and the JBL has to be better than the standard !

 

https://shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=589

Or*

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_462350/Apple-CarPlay-Compatible-Receivers.html

Note that you are looking at ~$200-$250 for the wiring harness, steering wheel controls adapter interface, and other parts to retain as much factory function as possible with the aftermarket stereos. Shop and price accordingly.

Having a $50k bill in front of me, I’d probably tweak my bass/treble/mid sound settings a little (which are independent per source) and live with it until I was a little more cash-flow positive.


*I do not own or specifically have experience with any of the linked options. I’m just providing some info for things I’ve seen discussed

 

I’ve thought about how to swap or upgrade my head unit and speakers. I don’t need to have a concert every time I’m listening to Tool or Master of Puppets. But sound quality. My largest concern though is all of the controls and such in the stock piece. What happens when you remove it??

 

James @tech12volt can walk you thru the options and various budgets...unfortunately the incremental things aren't too expensive but incremental is the right way to describe the improvement... I ended up gutting the whole system and added a new headunit. I spent probably 4k including putting sound proofing on floors, doors and back wall. Kenwood headunit 1007 and all DL C2 speakers and custom sub box with 2 10nch subs with a DL 900 amp. You get what you pay for...

 

Im just going to do speakers in the a few month. Front door and dash only. Not worried about the rear. Did it in my Tacoma and happy with it except did the rear and it sounds better but the stock head unit doesn’t have enough power to really make that much difference in the rear.

 

The factory jbl speakers are decent (I use that term lightly). But there are too many weak links in the line, you will just be chasing them. New head unit is a good starting point, but you'll want to pull the factory amp while your at it.

Like others have said, talk with James Randy Taylor at tech12volt/Taylor's Audio. He's the Grand Poobah of tundra audio...he has a LOT of my money, but then again, I have a LOT of stereo.
Give him a budget and expectations and he will put a system together for you.
His email is tech12volt@gmail.com

 

I've seen where folks replaced the stock amp(s) and saw a considerable improvement.

That being said, the stock speakers are, as one would expect, horribly weak and should be swapped out as well.

Depending on what brand you go with, you could probably get out the door with a bill around $300-500. Won't be the best but beats what you have by a long shot. Your lower end Rockford Fosgate and Kicker door speakers are pretty affordable.

 

I just recently finished a staged project, moderately priced, to revamp the system in my 2018.

To keep the dash and steering wheel functions like factory when replacing the head unit, you need to purchase an adapter that creates the needed interface between your truck and the new head unit. The most common one is the Maestro.

If I had to choose which stage made the most significant immediate improvement, it would be the addition of the sub and replacement of the impotent, shameful embarrassment that was the factory amp.

I hate big expenses and I am a DIY’er.

Here is how I did mine:
Stage 1: add sound deadening behind rear seat, replace factory amp, add subwoofer. $900
Stage 2: replace all door speakers and add sound deadening to doors. $300
Stage 3: replace head unit, $1600

There are 1000 ways to skin this cat.

James at Tech12volts is absolutely your best guy to talk to. He knows compatibility and can give you the most bang for your buck. You’ll like him, too.

If you want to see what went into my project, the admittedly long walkthroughs are here:

Amp/speakers:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/2018-sr5-non-jbl-audio-upgrade.65640/#post-1712147



Head unit:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/new...600nex-into-a-2018-sr5-entune-non-jbl.100157/

 

My days of audio upgrades are over for now because there is always someone in my truck asking me to turn it down. But if I ever did it again I’d do a processor, amps, speakers and a sub and leave the head unit with all the functions integrated into it alone. 2010 me would always start shopping head units first the second I got a new vehicle. 2022 me would pay for the best factory screen available with its clean look, duplicate factory hard buttons and user friendliness and build off that. To me head unit swaps were for the days when most cars had at most a basic double din non touch screen with a CD player and nice screens were mainly for luxury cars and super premium trim.

If cost is a concern maybe take a bit of time and buy each link in the system separately as funds become available?

 

I have this installed and it really woke the JBL system up.
https://trailgridpro.com/shop/head-units/sony-xav-ax8100-14-19-tundra/

That being said I also have Audio Frogs for the dash.
Hertz components for the doors, Kenwood Excelon Subs and an ARC 5 channel amp from James all waiting to be installed to really wake it up.

 

My opinion, anything less than 1k invested in the audio system will make little to no difference. You can’t just "swap" the amp, a new head unit pushing factory speakers and amp will have no gains, new speakers being fed by the weak amp will have no gains. The subwoofer is silly, replacing will have no noticeable effect. Keep what you have until you can make an investment into the system that works for you. I tried ‘upgrading" myself and quickly realized I was way in over my head, this truck is NOT like our vehicles of the 90’s-2000’s. It’s all digital, everything in the system must work in harmony.

 

Facing a $50k foundation bill, maybe buy a good quality portable bluetooth speaker to keep in the truck. Or do like I usually do, just ride without tunes. I got used to doing that when I had the Jeep(s). You think the Tundra sound quality is bad...

 

Prices have only gone up. I don’t think you’ll get a significant enhancement for under $1000.

My relatively modest build was $3000, and I installed everything.

 

I have the base system in my SR5 and it serves me well.

 

This is my perspective as well. Upgrading one part of it isn’t going to do much for you.

If you’re looking for a budget “fix” to the way things sound in your truck, buy some sound deadener and put it all over the doors and floor of your cab. It’s not going to make the system sound like you spent $5k on it, but not competing with road noise as much will allow you to listen quieter if you want, and it will help with clarity and EQ.

 

Even if I didn’t have to fork out a 50k bill (which sucks and you have my sincere sympathy), I’d still just live with the stock one.

 

I replaced the head in my Tacoma. So I’m familiar with the interface between the wheel and stereo. I’m referring to the truck controls built into the stereo system. Connectivity app, Wi-Fi, etc.

 

I haven’t tried these options myself as I bought a complete system from JRT but I have heard others say that the cheapest quick fixes that improve the sound without having to replace the amp or head unit are the Audiofrog GS25’s for the dash corners and the JBL replacement sub. I think (don’t know for sure) that each of those upgrades runs around $250 and both are easy self installs.

 

What do you mean by “processor”?

 

This is super helpful. Thanks for taking the time.

 

thanks. I’ll be reaching out to him this week.

Where in the truck is the factory amp located?

 

Thanks for the input. I’ve tweaked all the settings endlessly and just can’t seem to get any decent volume/power out of the system.

I’m just now on my way home from Guam, and will make some decisions this week. My gut is telling me to wait until I can afford the head unit. But still mulling over all the input in this thread.

 

Under the passenger front seat.

 

Got a question with original head unit. Mine acts up quite often. Phone disengages. Along with Spotify. Mine is a 2017 unit not the JBL. Is it just out of date or is this common? I did add front and rear any time camera to it.

Anyway the title of this thread seemed perfect not trying to hijack. Figure people would be able to answer.

 

My factory head unit would occasionally blitz out, but not bad.

My new Pioneer can act wonky too.

But never very frequently.

 

My Kenwood DMX1057 shuts itself off and restarts maybe once every 3-4 months. So infrequently it doesn't bother me.

 

I have the same issue with a different Kenwood HU. You running a Maesto RR?

 

I was shocked at the difference in sound and volume by switching sources. I use Apple Music and was amazed at the quality and volume. My son told me that Spotify has the same quality and I use the free version now.

I did the DSR1, Infinity 5 channel, Hertz K170s and dual 12" Infinity subs and what a difference.

 

Yes