Upgrade Audio

I met another Tundra 2020 owner with a JBL system and he did not like his audio. I have the non-JBL and I do not like mine as well. Looking to upgrade the audio. I have seen similar posts and noted DIY and plug and play systems. As I understand, there is Tech12 and OEM Audio Plus. I am looking for recommendations from owners that have installed either and have input on performance and happiness with each respective system. Also, if there are any other plug and play systems to be aware of. Appreciate the input and sorry for the duplication of any other threads. I do not want to piece mill something together - I would rather buy a package and install it. Follow on questions are should speakers be part of the upgrade package and one or two subs?

 

Welcome from NY.

Have you looked into Crutchfield? All plug and play.

 

Thanks Jim. I did look at Crutchfield - but several options for each part, without knowledge, hard to navigate what to choose.

 

I'll be honest with you. I don't care what anyone says, but there is no such thing as a "Plug and Play" stereo system for any vehicle and Tech12 will tell you the same thing. There will always be some wiring and modifications that will need to be done. I have installed over 50 stereos in various different vehicles and i can contest that "plug and Play doesn't exist. with that being said, I also had the non-JBL system in my 2020 Sport DC and I upgraded to the following.
1. stereo - Stinger stereo, almost plug and play - I added a front camera so some wiring had to be done - I also ran RCA cables from the stereo to the amp. The mounting bracket was a separate purchase, but it was a perfect fit.
2. Tech12 provided me with Herz speakers 160 (front and rear) - JBL 12" sub - Infinity 7005A reference amp. - The wiring for this was close to plug and play, the door speakers are wired to the factory connector and the tweeters are wired to the crossover that gets mounted in the doors. The system came with door sails which is where the tweeters are mounted (easy, pop out the factory door sails you have now and install the new door sails with the tweeters installed (you install). you will need to run the stereo speaker wire from the amp to the sub, tech12 can provide this wire. The amp will be mounted under the passenger seat where the current amp is located. Tech12 will provide you with the amp mount for the new amp. Tech12 will also provide you with an RCA to speaker converter, you will need to wire this according to the directions that tech12 will provide you.

I have had my stereo in my truck for about 2 years now and absolutely love it. The stereo system sounds incredible and thumps pretty hard if you want it to, depending on how you adjust the amp. The stinger stereo is a simple stereo, look it up, up, one nice thing I like is it is already compatible with the steering wheel controls, on bad thing is you will lose some of the Tundra techie features on the dash pop-up display. But I didn't care about that. https://stingeroffroad.com/collections/shop-toyota-tundra

Hope this helps.

 

Greg, yes that helps a lot in making a decision. I understand that there will be some wiring to do (power to sub, etc.) but this is what I am looking for: a selected set of compatible components and a user that is happy with the purchase.

 

1 What is your budget?

2 What is your knowledge on car stereo installation? What are you comfortable with doing?

3 What is your goal? Loud, clear, or both. What level of sound quality do you want?

4 Don't be afraid to put together a system yourself. It is really in my opinion not much difference on the install, but you have more options on the equipment to choose from.

I just finished up my tundra install so I will help with what I can.

 

Thanks for the response Jim.

I am basing my budget off of these systems I mentioned, so anywhere from $1200-2000 is my budget for this. I want to keep factory head unit for now. So, new amp, sub (maybe two), door speakers, dash tweeters and or sail panel tweeters.

I have not installed systems before, nor do I have a lot of knowledge of them. I am comfortable taking things apart and I can build a sub box if needed.

My goal is clear, loud, with depth behind it. To me the current system sounds like mono stereo in my own laymans terms.

I do not know what to get/use and unsure of specs, etc so thats why a prechosen set of components appeal to me.

 

I assume you have a crewmax?

Car stereo is not hard. Plenty of videos on YouTube on how to work around the tundra.
5 star car stereo on YouTube has several videos.
Most of the wiring harnesses are color to color, or have detailed instructions on what to hook up where.


Here is a list of what I would look at with a 2k budget

I would replace the headunit. The factory radio I feel does not have the capability to get good sound

If you are ok without a large touch screen, go with the JVC KWM750bt. On Amazon for $309. I have this unit in my sons camaro and it has been a good unit. It has the crossover settings needed to run an active 3 way setup.
Metro dash kit

$32 99-8252 Multi Installation Kit for Toyota Tundra 2014 and Up,Silver

99-8252. Crutchfield $39,
CRUX swrty-61c. $104. Crutchfield. This will allow steering wheel controls and keep factory backup camera.

I have used both the crux and the idatalink. The crux is easier to install and I do not feel the extra features on the idatalink are worth the cost.

So you can replace the headunit for $452

Front door speakers. Crutchfield. Sony xs-162ES component speakers On sale for $298 ,I have personally not had a chance to hear this speaker ,but the reviews on car stereo forums they get great reviews.

Sub setup. A lot of options here. But a lower cost easy option , SKAR audio they have a dual 20 inch sub and box combo for $314. I would go with the dual 4 ohm subs and wire them together to get a 1 ohm load

I would run 2 amps. One mono amp for the subs, and one 4 channel for the Sony door speakers.
On the mono amp go with the CT Sounds CT-1500.1D. $199
On the 4 channel go with the CT Sounds CT-80.4AB. $139

I have the CT sounds amps in my sons camera with good results.

So we are right around $1402 in equipment cost

now on to installation cost
Sky high ofc 4 gauge power wire. 2.49 foot. eBay 20 feet. $50
ANL fuse holder under the hood by the battery. Amazon. $10
Multi-functional anl fuse distribution block. Amazon. $22
RCA cables. I like Stinger 8000 series. Amazon. Each $33. Need 3 of them. $100
You can use lower cost rca cables. I have had good luck with the stinger
New speaker wire from the amplifiers to the speakers 16 gauge ofc sky high car audio
On eBay. 100 feet. $45
25 feet ofc blue remote turn on wire. eBay. $6
NVX. 90mil thick sound dampening. Amazon. 40 sf. $90
NVX. Fringe65 speaker ring foam kit. Amazon. $13
Heat shrink, materials to build an amp rack under the seats, zip ties etc. $100

so less than $500 on the install
so a total overhaul of the system for around $2000

 

Go check out my build thread in my signature below. It should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

 

Jack a lope
I looked at your install, it is impressive

What do you have as an estimate cost of your audio system?

 

The head unit and the DSP cost quite a bit. A little over $2,000.00 and the two JL Audio subs where a little over $400.00 each. That's about $2,900.00 right there. The amps where under $200.00 each so about $450.00 for all three. I don't remember exactly what I paid for the speakers. I'm thinking it was around $500.00 for all of them. There was the idatalink maestro RR2 and associated cables $450.00 and probably another $450.00 in sound treatments, wire, interconnects, MDF, and the rest of the stuff that it takes to do a proper install. So adding that up we arrive at $4,750.00 and I'm probably forgetting something so figure $5000.00 and that's with me doing all of the labor. If I was paying someone to do the same install to the same standard I would expect to pay around $8,000.00 to $9,000.00 done.

There are definitely cheaper options available though. You could easily get the head unit down around $700.00 and not suffer to much loss in sound quality or features going with a JVC. There are even smaller head units to be had for around $500.00 that will do the job just fine but the screen will be about the same size as the stock one. DSP although very nice to have isn't expressly needed. Most modern amps have electronic cross overs built into them and a lot have DSP built into them. The Down4Sound amps I choose work very well and have electronic cross overs built in so I could have skipped the DSP if I was on a tight budget. You don't want to cheep out to much on your speaker drivers but you don't need to spend a ton of money on them either. I highly recommend CDT Audio for really high quality speakers that are about half the cost of some of the other brands. They have a lot of sales on their web site and it's worth taking a look. The one thing I really recommend everyone do whos putting in an after market sound system is the sound treatment. Deadening the inside of the cab takes some time and requires some effort but it is well worth it.

 

I am around the $5,000 range in equipment and everything to install myself. Local shops were going to be over 10k if they did everything.
I went with Stereo Integrity on the speakers
and Sony XM-GS series on the amplifiers.

 

Update on this thread. Did not go with the pre-packaged online options. Rather @jimg stepped in and offered to guide me through a system build and I'm very thankful. Got a great sounding system for right at $2k. Night and day from the stock system. (I would have spent $1800-$2000 on some of the package deals - did not include head unit, I almost went with one, but never got a call back to explain options after several attempts, so for the same money I feel I got a nice quality complete system.)

Components:
Head Unit JVC KW-M750BT (item was out of stock at time of shipment, so vendor sent 788 model.)
Amp CT Sounds CT-80.4AB // 480 Watts RMS 4-Channel Car Audio
Sub Amp CT Sounds 1500.1D
Speakers Sony XS-162ES
Sub SKAR Audio 1600W 2x10"
Interface CRUX swrty-61c
Wiring Sky High Audio


It was a little unnerving taking apart a "new" truck. Thankfully it went well and did not have any major snags. Like I said - Jim helped me through when I would get hung up. I had most tools already needed but purchased some additional tools like large gauge wire cutters and ferrule crimpers and a new pair of wire strippers. I had fun with this having a guide and making my own design additions and found some helpful ways to run wire.

Have it tuned "good enough" for now, but still making tweaks.

If anyone has any questions on what I did - I'd be glad to share and pass on what I can.

 

Nice. Looks like you did a good job. It looks like you used silicone boots to protect the back side of the door speakers from rain water. That is something that I highly recommend especially in these Tundra doors as they do see a lot of water flowing through them when it rains. There are two things that I would suggest if you want to squeeze a little more from your system. First I would consider more sound deadening at least to the outer skins of the doors. Not only does this improve sound quality A LOT it also reduces road noise and gives the doors a high end sound when closing them. Secondly the tweeters in the dash. The way you have them mounted down inside the stock placement, they have to play through not only the grill that the speaker came with but the stock grill that the truck comes with as well. This is far from ideal. Also the fact that they are mounted down inside a well can cause some undesirable effects. Since they are fairly nice looking speakers you might want to take a look at how I mounted mine. My build thread is in my sig located below. I also highly recommend the CDT Unity8+ wide band drivers I used. They aren't very expensive and after listening to them now for a while I personally think they are probably among the best choices you can choose from for this particular application. They really do work perfectly when installed like I have them. The level of detail and lack of distortion along with the musicality of these little drivers have really astonished me and I've been doing this for a while. But even the drivers you have will benefit by mounting them up on top.

My hat is off to jimg for helping you out like he did. Those work sheets are pretty detailed and would definitely come in handy to any one putting in their first sound system in the Tundra. It looks like he helped you pick out a nice mid range kit. Most people would be quite happy with those components. They are good quality and should sound fine. Have fun and enjoy the music.

 

One other thing. I just realized this looking at your pics. The way you have your amps mounted with the wires and connectors facing the rear of the truck puts them at risk of being kicked by anyone sitting in the rear seat. This could cause damage to your amplifiers. If you have people riding in the rear seats with any regularity it's only a matter of time before this happens. To prevent this from happening you might want to think about fabricating some type of barrier to put between the amps and your passengers feet. A piece of aluminum L stock would work fine. This may not seem like that big a deal but it could save you from having to replace your amps.

 

I had to mount the m3 carbon stereo integrity on top of the grill also

They were to deep to go underneath.

 

I had Oem audio plus in my Tacoma and loved it, probably going to do the same in the tundra.

 

Reach out to James. He will help with the process and the systems he specs are great for a Tundra. I’ve installed 6 of his systems and it’s pretty straightforward. It will also save you a bunch of time in research and trail/error

 

On the tweeter

Remove the grill off the dash

Drive around for a couple of days to see if you notice any difference in the sound quality if you want to mount it above the grill or not

I had to mount my 3.5 inch stereo integrity above the grill, they were to deep to mount below.

 

@Jack_A_Lope thank you for posting on this. The baffle kits for the door speakers have a rubber boot that encloses the speaker I guess both for sound and for protection. I left off the stick on baffle to the rear of the speaker, so I have to go back in and do that. I did not finish the sound dampening on the doors, so I intend to do more of that. This was minimal to get the system in. Point taken on the tweeters. Again, this was to get these installed in a quick manner and I do want to go back and revise this as well, so I will study yours and make a plan for that. There are so many options and yes I agree Jim got me going at a good price point and good sound quality. Still making adjustments on tuning, but I enjoy my sound system.

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I rarely/never have passengers in the back, but I have the floor mat installed over the wires mostly. I may use your suggestion and go back and add a bar that attaches to the base to help protect this area.

 

How do you like those speakers?

 

I put the Tech12volts system in my 21, and I couldn’t have been happier with the sound. I was able to do the installation myself with zero previous experience.

 

JAL

I like the stereo integrity setup a lot.

I looked at cdt( they have some nice speakers)

Looked at SB Acoustics.

I had a set of focal ISS in my sons mustang. They are hot garbage for a $320 set of component 6 1/2

I almost bought audiofrog gb series , but looking at specs on the speakers I did not think it was worth more than triple the cost over the SI
I am sure audiofrog gb series is better than the SI, but now we are getting to the level of diminishing returns.

I am happy enough that I will probably only use Stereo Integrity for all future builds.