Factory audio upgrades?

[Ruski]

Hey guys, so after doing a fair share of searching online I was not able to come up with anything that is plug and play for our factory entune navi's.
Whats everythone doing for factory sound upgrades?
I had my eyes on the EZQ from Tacotunes which is all plug and play and gives the option for a 4 channel and a mono amp without doing any splicing. However, they do not have one available for our 4Runners yet.
Call me crazy but I don't want to go splicing and soldering wires on a new truck. Any ideas or tips? Would like to get this done before it gets too cold outside, any help is much appreciated!

 

[4Rager]

I used a lc6i - AudioControl and added a 5-channel amp, which did require splicing the wires cutting the factory wires. As much as I will hate to waste the money spent on the factory head unit, at some point I will replace it to have the RCA's running directly from the head unit to the amp.

 

[rigtec]

"...Whats everythone doing for factory sound upgrades?..."

Hi Ruski,

A lot of folks here are running sub-woofers in their 4Rs. I'm using a pretty substantial subwoofer system in my truck. The good thing about adding a sub, or any remote amp is that you don't need to butcher the vehicle's oem wiring... you can just take your audio signal straight off of the left & right channel speaker wires; which serve the same purpose as if you had low level RCA outputs on the rear panel of the hu! "Here's a link to a Sub-woofer system install": http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/174196-got-bass.html

Best to you!

 

[keyser_soze]

Hey guys, so after doing a fair share of searching online I was not able to come up with anything that is plug and play for our factory entune navi's.
Whats everyone doing for factory sound upgrades?
I had my eyes on the EZQ from Tacotunes which is all plug and play and gives the option for a 4 channel and a mono amp without doing any splicing. However, they do not have one available for our 4Runners yet.
Call me crazy but I don't want to go splicing and soldering wires on a new truck. Any ideas or tips? Would like to get this done before it gets too cold outside, any help is much appreciated!

What is your budget and what is your goal?

This is copy and pasted from a response to someone in another thread but it applies here....
Tacotunes uses the Recurve EZQ which is basically a 6 channel line out converter with a 7 band EQ. It is plug and play and decently priced. $230 for the unit and $70 for the harness.

Audio Control has the DQ-61 which is almost the exact same thing but with timing alignment for $280 on amazon.

You don't actually need a DSP/EQ or a line out converter. Most amps have speaker level inputs that you can run straight off the factory head unit.

Personally I would just upgrade the front speakers, amp them, and get a subwoofer. I wouldnt waste time with the rear speakers or a DSP/EQ

 

[keyser_soze]

A lot of folks here are running sub-woofers in their 4Rs.

Rigtec, as a basshead Im sure you will be happy to hear Im selling my ported prefab JL 10" and getting a Alumipro 12" in a sealed 1.5cf box.

 

[Ruski]

Hi Ruski,

A lot of folks here are running sub-woofers in their 4Rs. I'm using a pretty substantial subwoofer system in my truck. The good thing about adding a sub, or any remote amp is that you don't need to butcher the vehicle's oem wiring... you can just take your audio signal straight off of the left & right channel speaker wires; which serve the same purpose as if you had low level RCA outputs on the rear panel of the hu! "Here's a link to a Sub-woofer system install": http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/174196-got-bass.html

Best to you!

Thanks for the input rigtec, nice set up, although I'm not looking to wake up half the neighborhood... just to have better bass for myself. So to do this setup I would only need a line out converter correct? (My amps only have RCA's)

What is your budget and what is your goal?

This is copy and pasted from a response to someone in another thread but it applies here....
Tacotunes uses the Recurve EZQ which is basically a 6 channel line out converter with a 7 band EQ. It is plug and play and decently priced. $230 for the unit and $70 for the harness.

Audio Control has the DQ-61 which is almost the exact same thing but with timing alignment for $280 on amazon.

You don't actually need a DSP/EQ or a line out converter. Most amps have speaker level inputs that you can run straight off the factory head unit.

Personally I would just upgrade the front speakers, amp them, and get a subwoofer. I wouldnt waste time with the rear speakers or a DSP/EQ

keyser_soze, I'd rather do it once but do it right and enjoy a quality sound for the lifetime of this vehicle. With that in mind, funds are a little tight at the present time so I first wanted to add a mono amp with sub (I already have a battery, amp, and sub in an inclosure). I just wanted to get an idea of how to wire it with the least amount of hacking up wires.
Several months down the road I will also be upgrading the stock speakers and adding a 4 channel amp.
For the time being bass is my main concern

 

[rigtec]

Thanks for the input rigtec, nice set up, although I'm not looking to wake up half the neighborhood... just to have better bass for myself. So to do this setup I would only need a line out converter correct? (My amps only have RCA's)

Hi Ruski,

Most people wouldn't use as much power and hardware as I use for the bass, however, being an R&B/fusion bass player, and audio aficionado, I've had my standards set a bit high regarding genuine bass tone, and find it hard to compromise with sound quality to which I've become accustom! To answer your question... you would only need to add an LOC to manage the input signal level! To address the other issue of EQ/X-over... I didn't want to add anything unbecoming to the dashboard or passenger area so I decided to use a laptop based 'miniDSP 2x4' processor.

It needs only a 2 x 2 x 1 inch filter card "pictured below" ($100), a small chip sequencer (1.5 x 1.5 inch), to bring the amp on/off in the proper order to avoid that 'power surge THUMP' ($10 bucks), and the software download; which you buy once ($10 bucks) "I have my dsp located under the driver seat, along with the power amps" that's it! You make your EQ/cross-over adjustments in real time via your laptop, then put the computer away. There's no need for an internet connection because the program is on the laptop... "Here's a picture and link to the website":

https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-2x4

Hope this wil be helpful, Best!

 

[keyser_soze]

keyser_soze, I'd rather do it once but do it right and enjoy a quality sound for the lifetime of this vehicle. With that in mind, funds are a little tight at the present time so I first wanted to add a mono amp with sub (I already have a battery, amp, and sub in an inclosure). I just wanted to get an idea of how to wire it with the least amount of hacking up wires.
Several months down the road I will also be upgrading the stock speakers and adding a 4 channel amp.
For the time being bass is my main concern

If you already have a sub and amp then just use what you have.

What amp do you have? If it has speaker level inputs all you need to do is run your front speaker wires to it, no LOC needed.

If it doesn't have speaker level inputs then you will need a LOC. I would recommend a quality one like the LC6i. This will give you room to grow in the future, 4 channel output plus a sub output.

Personally I would save money and not worry about the rear speakers. I have mine at about 3/4 the output of the front and I run a 80hz HPF on them. The OEM speakers work fine for rear fill, I don't get any distortion from them.

As for not cutting up your factory wiring do what I did. Get the male harness, female harness and 9 conductor wire from amazon and make your own harness.

 

[GAsr5]

If you already have a sub and amp then just use what you have.

What amp do you have? If it has speaker level inputs all you need to do is run your front speaker wires to it, no LOC needed.

If it doesn't have speaker level inputs then you will need a LOC. I would recommend a quality one like the LC6i. This will give you room to grow in the future, 4 channel output plus a sub output.

Personally I would save money and not worry about the rear speakers. I have mine at about 3/4 the output of the front and I run a 80hz HPF on them. The OEM speakers work fine for rear fill, I don't get any distortion from them.

As for not cutting up your factory wiring do what I did. Get the male harness, female harness and 9 conductor wire from amazon and make your own harness.

What equipment will I need to add sub/amp and replace all speakers in 2017 4runner with stock headunit no jbl. I want to leave headunit stock. Hqavent picked an amp yet but can pick accordingly. I looked at the taco tunes website and they have a few options. Was thinking a jl 5 chananel or rockford.

 

[KWSRStorm]

What equipment will I need to add sub/amp and replace all speakers in 2017 4runner with stock headunit no jbl. I want to leave headunit stock. Hqavent picked an amp yet but can pick accordingly. I looked at the taco tunes website and they have a few options. Was thinking a jl 5 chananel or rockford.

if you just want a sub you can just do a 2 channel line output converter. if you want to amp speakers and the sub, depending on the speaker quality, youd probably want an eq in there somewhere. you could do a jbl ms8 if you can find one and then have your 5 channel after that. Kicker has some new 5 channel amps that you can run directly off the headunit and it has an eq built in. i have a 2015 xterra (in the process of buying a 2017 trd) and i have an ms8 going to a kicker ix 1000.5 with a 3 way active front and center channel. i plan on installing it once i get the car.

 

[GAsr5]

if you just want a sub you can just do a 2 channel line output converter. if you want to amp speakers and the sub, depending on the speaker quality, youd probably want an eq in there somewhere. you could do a jbl ms8 if you can find one and then have your 5 channel after that. Kicker has some new 5 channel amps that you can run directly off the headunit and it has an eq built in. i have a 2015 xterra (in the process of buying a 2017 trd) and i have an ms8 going to a kicker ix 1000.5 with a 3 way active front and center channel. i plan on installing it once i get the car.

Neither of those are still being made. I want to replace all the speakers in the 4runner and add sub/amp. Any other amps that support this? Im at a road block on what I need after finding all this out.

 

[keyser_soze]

What equipment will I need to add sub/amp and replace all speakers in 2017 4runner with stock headunit no jbl. I want to leave headunit stock. Hqavent picked an amp yet but can pick accordingly. I looked at the taco tunes website and they have a few options. Was thinking a jl 5 chananel or rockford.

Well you can get a line out kit and use any amp you like. Or you can get an amp that has high level inputs.

Neither of those are still being made. I want to replace all the speakers in the 4runner and add sub/amp. Any other amps that support this? Im at a road block on what I need after finding all this out.

I personally wouldn't worry about the rear or hatch speakers. Get components in the front, amp them and add a sub. This will save you time and money, you will not notice the difference.