How many of you upgraded your sound system?
- Thread starter NAHHT4R
- Start date
kaitlyn2004
New member
I'll be test driving a 4runner next week, the Off Road. It has the lower quality speaker system (at least in Canada), but I don't really want to pay for the TRD Pro.
I've never driving a "truck" before, and I wonder two main things:
- How is the base audio quality?
- Can you measurably (and affordably?) upgrade the audio system? I would think that the interior build doesn't lend itself to great acoustics.
I'm coming from an Audi, so surely night and day... just wonder how decent an audio system you can put in there before the build quality of the truck itself ruins it through rattling or other acoustic negativities.
I've never driving a "truck" before, and I wonder two main things:
- How is the base audio quality?
- Can you measurably (and affordably?) upgrade the audio system? I would think that the interior build doesn't lend itself to great acoustics.
I'm coming from an Audi, so surely night and day... just wonder how decent an audio system you can put in there before the build quality of the truck itself ruins it through rattling or other acoustic negativities.
When are you going to receive this? This is one of my top choices and would like a review in a 4R...
TommyG
New member
Went through my car audio phase back in the 80s. Just Pioneer Supertuners and 6x9 ovals. Got tired of the commercials and eventually just stopped listening to radio.
When I got my 4Runner, I thought about OEM Audio and a Sirius subscription, but I find that I just don't drive enough (retired) to justify it. Might do it someday, but for now I only turn on the radio once in a blue moon. In fact 99% of the time the head unit is off.
No baseball didn't help.
When I got my 4Runner, I thought about OEM Audio and a Sirius subscription, but I find that I just don't drive enough (retired) to justify it. Might do it someday, but for now I only turn on the radio once in a blue moon. In fact 99% of the time the head unit is off.
No baseball didn't help.
josephp732
New member
My 2019 TRD OR came with the upgraded Entune Premium GPS Navigation Radio and a bunch of very cheap paper cone speakers. So I decided to do a cost reasonable, fairly simple, upgrade while keeping the stock HU. I purchased everything local from an electronics distributor here in NJ.
Front Dash - Kenwood Excelon KFC-X2C 2-3/4" midrange speakers
Front Doors - Infinity Kappa 93ix 6x9" speakers
Rear Doors - Infinity Kappa 62ix 6 1/2"
Rear Hatch - Infinity Kappa 62ix 6 1/2"
Alpine PSU-300FRN, (Alpine KTP-445U amp with PWE-S8 powered subwoofer and plug & play harness), the compact size of the subwoofer allows it and the amplifier to be installed under the front passenger’s seat.
Noico 80 mil 36 sqft car Sound deadening
Red Wolf front dash speaker wiring harness
Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wire Adapters
Metra 82-8146 6" x 9" Front Speaker Adapter
Installation took the better part of day - (I had done speaker replacements in a Limited - PIA replacing the subwoofer with the 3rd row seat!) so taking the truck apart wasn't time consuming.
Rear doors and hatch - I tore apart the factory speakers (clipping a lot of plastic) and mounted the Kappa's directly onto the factory bracket/speaker. I soldered new speaker wire from the factory speaker/mount connector and connected the wire to new speakers. This kept the factory speaker connection intact. The rear panels then needed a very slight trimming to accommodate the Kappa 6 1/2" (removed about a 1/4" from the door panels circular cone that sits over top the speaker). I sound deadened the complete outer door skin and a few selective inter skin door spots. This took about 2 hours.
Dash speaker replacements took 20 mins - very easy - just soldered the included capacitor in-line with the Red Wolf speaker wiring adapter, connected to the factory harness and bolted the new speakers back in.
Since the front doors receive all frequency's (not like JBL system with the active x-over), I decided to put in full range speakers, installation was about 90 mins with completely sound deadening the outer door skin and a few selective inter skin door spots. Again new speaker installation with wiring adapters and mounting adapter was easy.
Installed the Apline unit last - so I could compare the difference between just doing the speaker upgrade and then the system with a new Alpine mini-AMP and compact Sub.
The Alpine "all in one" special 4Runner 4 channel 45watt amp and powered sub kit was truly plug and play - only slight bit of pain was the need to fish the power cable through the firewall and connect to the battery. Taking apart the dash and pulling the radio, removing the passenger seat and doing the install with some testing for proper amp gain settings took about 3 hours (Includes me listening to about 45 mins of different music).
For about $1k - I am very happy with the outcome - the system is much, much cleaner and very natural sounding (I like soft dome tweeters) with good depth and decent power.
Much better sounding than my Limited's JBL system.
Front Dash - Kenwood Excelon KFC-X2C 2-3/4" midrange speakers
Front Doors - Infinity Kappa 93ix 6x9" speakers
Rear Doors - Infinity Kappa 62ix 6 1/2"
Rear Hatch - Infinity Kappa 62ix 6 1/2"
Alpine PSU-300FRN, (Alpine KTP-445U amp with PWE-S8 powered subwoofer and plug & play harness), the compact size of the subwoofer allows it and the amplifier to be installed under the front passenger’s seat.
Noico 80 mil 36 sqft car Sound deadening
Red Wolf front dash speaker wiring harness
Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wire Adapters
Metra 82-8146 6" x 9" Front Speaker Adapter
Installation took the better part of day - (I had done speaker replacements in a Limited - PIA replacing the subwoofer with the 3rd row seat!) so taking the truck apart wasn't time consuming.
Rear doors and hatch - I tore apart the factory speakers (clipping a lot of plastic) and mounted the Kappa's directly onto the factory bracket/speaker. I soldered new speaker wire from the factory speaker/mount connector and connected the wire to new speakers. This kept the factory speaker connection intact. The rear panels then needed a very slight trimming to accommodate the Kappa 6 1/2" (removed about a 1/4" from the door panels circular cone that sits over top the speaker). I sound deadened the complete outer door skin and a few selective inter skin door spots. This took about 2 hours.
Dash speaker replacements took 20 mins - very easy - just soldered the included capacitor in-line with the Red Wolf speaker wiring adapter, connected to the factory harness and bolted the new speakers back in.
Since the front doors receive all frequency's (not like JBL system with the active x-over), I decided to put in full range speakers, installation was about 90 mins with completely sound deadening the outer door skin and a few selective inter skin door spots. Again new speaker installation with wiring adapters and mounting adapter was easy.
Installed the Apline unit last - so I could compare the difference between just doing the speaker upgrade and then the system with a new Alpine mini-AMP and compact Sub.
The Alpine "all in one" special 4Runner 4 channel 45watt amp and powered sub kit was truly plug and play - only slight bit of pain was the need to fish the power cable through the firewall and connect to the battery. Taking apart the dash and pulling the radio, removing the passenger seat and doing the install with some testing for proper amp gain settings took about 3 hours (Includes me listening to about 45 mins of different music).
For about $1k - I am very happy with the outcome - the system is much, much cleaner and very natural sounding (I like soft dome tweeters) with good depth and decent power.
Much better sounding than my Limited's JBL system.
WAT4R
New member
FOCAL Toyota replacements? Didn't know they were a thing. Do you have more info.?
