PROJECT: TACTICAL TUNDRA CREWMAX TRD PRO AUDIO UPGRADES

Background: Crutchfield shows Tundra with 6x9's in front and 6.5's in rear...so that became my reference point when considering what to swap out.

Given your detail above, I understand. So 6.5's in both front/rear with tweeters in all panels, just need tweeter sail panels.

 

you will need 6.5 adapters for both front and rear. like these.

https://www.shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=532&categoryId=32

 

FYI...Found a great video on how to apply sound proofing (aka deadening) to a vehicle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ6OJyt5Rqo&t=332s

 

Thanks! I also saw they have the tweeter sail panels here: https://www.shop.tech12volts.com/product.sc?productId=566&categoryId=138

 

Question: I had XTC Baffles on my BOM list when door speakers are upgraded down the road. However, I've come across some feeds that mention these foam baffles will breakdown overtime. Since I'm prefer to be one and done, I came across the NVX silicone baffles that look pretty good. Anyone use these before?

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-165461-NVX-XBAF65-Speaker-Baffle-Ring-Kit.html

 

Update: Ready to apply sound deadening tomorrow.

 

Sound deadening installed on rear wall.

 

Pictures

 

Looks good. I have enough Kilmat left over that I think I'm going to take off the access panel and also do the exterior skin as well.

 

This is where I left off today with sound deadening.

Also, captured decibel levels before sound deadening.

 

Going all in with the Kilmat. I like it.

 

Are you going to use CCF on top of the kill mat?

 

CCF, yes. I have the Noico Red 150mil. Plan to use on floor and ceiling. Not sure if I should put it on the back wall as the existing matting tabs may not fit back in place. If I have any CCF left over I'll use on top of kilmat on doors.

 

Sorry, I'm running a little late to the party. I will throw in my .02 cents.

Ideally you want to run subs below 80 hz anything above that and vocals can begin to bleed through to the sub causing a vocal pull to the rear of the car. Ideally if you could fit subs in the front foot wells that would be the ideal scenario. You want to create a front stage that replicates a live performance. So ideally everything should sound like its coming from a distance outside the confines of the cab of the vehicle in front of you.

As an example the sound stage should sound like it is 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep with the ability to listen to good recordings and place instruments and vocals with your eyes closed that are where they were located when the recording was created.

That being said, 80hz up to about 5000hz should be covered by your 6.5" drivers in the door and the tweeters should take over from 5000 hz up to 20,000hz plus.

The best way to achieve a broader sound stage is to use the windshield glass to your advantage and reflect off of it to disperse highs. Other methods can be used to try and create equidistant signals from each speaker to the drivers ears. You can maximize speaker locations by measuring from the drivers ears to each speaker placement. Example: placing mids in the left and right kick panel and tweeters at the far right and left of the knee bolster area would give you a better placement and be closer to achieving equidistant placement to the drivers left and right ears than placing mids in the door locations in the tundra and using the door tweeter locations.

The best way to cheat this is to use time alignment to your advantage. A good DSP will allow you to cheat and create the illusion of equidistant speaker placement in the car to the drivers left and right ears.

As for electrical requirements, the factory alternator is somewhere between 120 and 175 amps. There are a lot of electronics running in the cab of a Platinum Tundra, so the alternator is sized pretty close to what the vehicle requires. There are several ways to overcome this issue.
1. buy a high output alternator. Something with 250 amps of output. This will help keep your battery charged.
2. Add a capacitor or bank of capacitors. This is an absolute must. It will help with the longevity of your vehicles battery. A car battery is meant for slow discharge and slow charge conditions. Place the demands of a high powered audio system on the battery and the fast discharge requirements to meet the demands of a large amplifier or several amplifiers will kill the battery very quickly. Using capacitors will allow the battery to charge and discharge at a slower rate while allowing the capacitor to handle transient musical peaks.

Typical rule of thrumb has been 1 farad of capacitance for every 1000 watts. So if you add up a 5 channel amplifier with 4 channels at 75 wpc and a subwoofer output of 350 wpc you would have a total of 650 watts and a 1 farad capacitor would handle that just fine. I live by the rule of thumb more capacitance the better. So I run a 50 farad capacitor bank.

It doesnt matter if you run 2 or 4 ohm speakers. It wont do anything to your system as long as the amplifiers are rated to run the lower ohm load of 2 ohms. The lower the ohm load the harder it is to drive the speakers with an amplifier. 4 ohms is very common and does not place a lot of demand on an amplifier. There are amplifiers that are rated down to 0.5 ohm loads. This is almost a dead short. But usually a very good competition amplifier will double or triple its power output at these loads. So an old school 25 watt per channel amplifier at 4 ohms from Orion that was a cheater amp years ago at 0.5 ohm load is capable of 300 watts per channel as an example.

Just be careful as lower ohm loads place a lot of demand on a cars battery as you are producing a lot more power output with the amplifier. Also a lot more heat is generated and will need to be dealt with.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions below.





Scenario: Read that it is best to use a crossover to limit subwoofer to producing sound between 20Hz and 100Hz.
Question:
Even if a subwoofer can go up to 500Hz or 1000Hz, are you missing any quality audio by limiting the subwoofer to 100Hz and having a gap in bandwidth/frequency if Mid Range only goes down to 300Hz?

Scenario: I seen some Subs with bandwidth/frequency levels that exceed 500Hz – 1000Hz. I’ve also seen Mid Range speakers that produce 300Hz that creates a crossover frequency with Subs. I’m wondering what’s the best way to maximize the handshake in audio so the components work in concert of one another.
Questions:
•What is the ideal bandwidth/frequency settings between the Subwoofer and Mid Range speakers to get best audio experience? Meaning, do you want to allow for overlap in bandwidth/frequency so Sub goes up to 500Hz and Mid Range is allowed to go down to 300Hz?
•Or is it better to have the crossover to match exactly (Sub stops at 300Hz and Mid Range Pick up at 300Hz?)
•Or is it better to have a gap between bandwidth/frequency? Meaning, should sub crossover be stopped at 100Hz and Mid Range picks up at 300Hz?

Scenario: I’ve read that if you want quality bass tones you need to get 4Ohm subs, not 2Ohm. I’ve also read that a 4Ohm system demands a lot of power from your system.
Question:
•Will running a 4 Ohm damage my existing battery/alternator setup?

Scenario: I’ve seen where you can wire 4 Ohm Subwoofers as 2 Ohm.
Question:
•Do you lose any audio quality by wiring a 4 Ohm sub as a 2 Ohm?
•I’ve read that wiring a 4 Ohm sub as 2 Ohm runs hot and can start a car fire. Is this true?
•If I get 4 Ohm subwoofers, it would be best to get a 4 Ohm Amp…correct?

 

Always great feedback, much appreciated @Vector W8 ! I'll definitely stick with the frequency recommendations and work to implement the other suggestions.

 

Hit a snag. Thought this was a screw push pin and unscrewed both driver & passenger sides. Tried popping off part on diverside and something broke as a piece of plastic dropped. Anyone know how to undue this screw/pin to release the center console?

 

Finished Installing CCF. Next, put it back together.

 

Looks good!

 

Good boy.

 

Question on speakers...

Why do JL speakers (JL C3 600 6.5) that support 75 watt RMS cost $499 versus other 6.5 speakers that cost $150, support 150 watt RMS, and have the same setup (speaker, tweeter, crossovers)? They seem to be made of the same materials/components and outside of a brand name I don't see what garners that higher price. Is there something I'm missing or are you paying for the brand? Just want to see if I'm spot on or if there is a detail I'm overlooking to improve my knowledge on this.

Thanks!

 

Marketing.

 

Got it, thanks!

 

What speakers are you running?

 

Great question @619Tundra.

Rear will be newer Kicker Dual 12" Subs (48CWRT124), planned install 3/3/21.
Rear door and front door speakers are undecided. Considering 6.5's (speaker, tweeter, crossovers) in no particular order...JBL, Kicker KS series, Pioneer and want to ensure they support at least 150 watts RMS.

Just received the sub enclosure yesterday.

 

Are you looking for sound quality or spl?

 

Save some money in the rear speakers by skipping the components and going with coax and put that money towards better components for the front. Most of your sound should come from in front of you to begin with (think of a concert - all the sound comes in front of you), and the other issue is where the rear tweeters are mounted in the doors they're much closer to your ears than the front tweeters are and your sound stage will be pulled to the back of the truck.

 

Update:

• Subwoofers have arrived.
• Install conflict came up so 3/3 install date has moved to 3/10
• Deciding to go with Focal speakers in doors. Talked with Crutchfield and got a great deal on a nice component set for front doors and going with coax in rear doors.

 

This^
I run one on my setup and its amazing! Due to my minimal knowledge of tuning (did get some help) I have only gone so far adjusting it. It's not for amateurs like myself. Lol
Transferred it over from my Tacoma. PS8 running an alpine pdx-v9 with hybrid audio components up front, hybrid audio rears, and 2 10" jlw1's.
With that said my system sounds pretty damn amazing!

 

Nice!