Taco Tunes or OEM Audio Plus Sound system upgrade

Hello everyone, I have a new 2020 DC and I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a new sound system upgrade. I have read and researched the Taco Tunes upgrade and the OEM Audio Plus Upgrade. They seem like very good viable options because they are plug and play systems. Does anyone have any input or knowledge of these systems. Does anyone have any experience with either of these systems.

 

Steer clear of taco tunes. If the plug and play is a big draw for you, then I would highly recommend reaching out to James from https://shop.tech12volts.com/. They provide a number of different plug and play packages, with new headunits or retaining the factory. The biggest upside to going with tech12volts over taco or the others is the quality and availability of support from them. Taco you basically can't ever get a hold of anyone and if you do get super lucky and get a response they direct you to their youtube videos.

With tech12volts, i've seen people commenting about some very, very specific questions they had for the t12v team that were answered in detail, and quickly. I sent James an email about custom dash pillars at 5:27 on a Monday with about 4 questions and had a response at 5:47 answering all my questions.

The other thing I hate bout Taco is they sell a lot of rebranded Chinese crap (some great products are made there too), that they slap their own name on and markup to stupid high prices. For a super obvious example, look at taco's $230 recurve vs a $70 Boss EQ600. Its just the gross markup, its the blatant lies they tell to try and justify their markup. From their website: "the EZQ was developed over a 4 year period to work with Toyota’s head units and their internal digital signal processor (DSP)."

 

Hadn't really checked out OEM plus and just did - the lack of information on who makes any of their speakers or amps is concerning to me. Another vote from me for t12v where you know exactly what you're getting in terms of brand/build quality.

 

I would definitely recommend Tech12V. I ordered my set a few days ago and he is very helpful. Did ALOT of research on this and would absolutely not go the way of the taco. Cheap knock offs marked way up. James sells actual quality speakers that are also plug and play. You can go to Walmart and get a taco system (minus the plug and play-which they mark up way too much). Just my opinion

 

I agree....i just ordered yesterday myself. I am lucky enough to live 2 hours from his shop so I will be letting the pros do mine. LoL

 

Careful about mentioning the tunes one. I asked about them and my thread was shut down. Not sure what that was all about but.... Also the name was blocked out too. Very odd.

 

I bought the OEM system for the JBL system in my 2019 1794 CM.
It came with the sail panel tweeters and the bass box, and was pretty easy to install.
The tweeters really brought the system to life, the bass however, was not enough for my needs, although they do have a second bass module you can be added.

It sounds good, and is like someone said, it was what the JBL system should have sounded like from the factory.

I found that some songs had the bass I was looking for, but others, not so much. I mainly listen to classic rock, metal, and an endless supply of live Allman Brothers shows.

My prior truck, a 2004 Dodge Dakota Club Cab, had a JL 8" micro sub connected to a 300 watt amp, and it was more than enough for chest pumping bass.
I was hoping for the same thing with the OEM plus system, and could have been fine with it, but I felt I should upgrade everything to address the strangely limiting volume level of the Factory JBL system.

I replaced everything but the factory head unit with a full JL system along with their Stealthbox which has 2 shallow mount 10" subs.

 

Do yourself a favor and rip it all out. Everything... factory amp(s), headunit, speakers. Go with aftermarket, as I was told many moons ago on this website.

A reputable shop will help you along with this, or if attempting the install yourself I can give ya a bit of guidance on what I did with my 18 JBL system

 

I can go aftermarket and mate all the components myself, thats not a problem. I have done it more than I can count. I just did it in my 2019 Mercedes Benz sprinter service van about 6 months ago. I am just tied of taking apart vehicles and rewiring everything, cutting into factory harnesses and all of that stuff. I really just wanted a plug and play option and be done with it. I am electrically educated, i do this kind of stuff for a living. But as i get older I just want to plug it in and be done with it.

 

Another vote for Tech12Volts. Love my system - I recognize it's not the best since I still have the stock headunit, but the hardest part of the whole install was the ring terminals on the power and ground. Super simple install and this was the first car audio I've done.

 

I have sent Tech12volts an email. waiting for James to respond

 

I guess I don t get it. If you don t want to cut into the harness then wire it yourself. It seems to me some folks spend more time trying to use existing wiring, and trying to plug and play everything, than it would take to just wire it yourself. If you use the appropriate guage wire for the application, and wire it correctly then there s no problem. There s no cutting the harness, and you have great sounds. What more could you want?

 

Thing with the Tundra is to actually wire from the head unit to the amp it require taking out most of the dash - if you just replace the amp it requires none of that or the head unit it's just a couple console pieces. The wiring isn't the issue in the Tundra, it's the components - so why not reuse the wiring, add a power wire (and sub wire in some cases) and not have to tear apart the dash? Sure if you want competition level sound tear it apart, but just getting to quality sound there's no need since there's lots of harness options that don't require cutting to just plug and play.

 

I heard plenty of good things about Taco Tunes while building my Tacoma but at the time was doing all of my own wiring. I wired ever aftermarket part that I installed to an custom build fuse panel that I built with 2 agm batteries that were independent of the OEM system.

I was looking to go much simpler, like you, in my Tundra so I ordered the 1B package from Taco Tunes (minus the sub & amp as I already had those purchased) because I love the idea of simply plugging something in and the ability to return it to stock if need be. I paid my invoice 12 July and it is now 18 Aug and the order still hasn't shipped.

After trying to contact them 3 times through their customer service ticket system I finally got a response stating that the order is ready for shipment except for their 4-channel amp which is currently out of stock; probably being shipped from China.

I understand the "why don't you just do it yourself argument" but sometimes it just isn't worth the effort compared to other things going on in your life. I'm frustrated that it is taking so long and I would not have ordered if I had known that but I'll probably wait a little while longer before trying to cancel the order.

 

I kept my head unit and added a Kenwood Excelon X801-5, 5 channel amp, connected to an AudioControl Line out converter LC7i.
Used the AutoHarness House harness and it was all plug and play. Only real work was running the amp wire from the battery to the amp.
Also added a sub behind the rear seat and James C1 dash tweeters. Sounds awesome to me. And all basically plug and play.

 

Not true about having to take out most of the dash. A few component pieces yes, and the top of the center console to run wires, but they come out easy peasy.

 

Im a big fan of Taylors Audio aka: tech12volts
I will put my factory JBL Premium Factory Head Unit with the Taylors Complete Package against any for sound quality and volume anytime.
Its Incredible.

Im RdKing
And I Approve This Message

 

and you are not alone

 

I disagree with "taking out most of the dash". I replaced my ENTIRE system: new H/U, amps, all new speakers, subs, and ALL NEW wiring. Took only about 15 minutes to get the OEM H/U out. In fact, the most difficult part of getting the OEM H/U out, was removing all of the OEM H/U harnesses because there are so many of them. Regardless, I too, have to recommend James at Tech12Volts. I would email him at 2AM in the morning and get a response within minutes (I think he is a night owl like myself). And his ported sub box for the Crewmax is fantastic! I was originally looking into the Taco guys, but decided to listen to all of the other, more wise brethren here on Tundras.com, and went with James. Glad I did!!!!