Stock Radio Solutions

[LJSIII]

Kicker announced a new mini amp with built in auto tuning. I want to keep the system stealth, so this could be the answer. Curious on everyone's thoughts!

https://www.kicker.com/key-smart-amplifier

 

[WVhillbilly]

I think the factory radio is best used as a paperweight.

 

[LawnDart]

Honestly, the stock radio is fine, it's not horrible, it's not great, it's just...fine.

Sound quality isn't anything less than serviceable and average. I think we just bag on it because the headunit is so damn old. That said, find me a headunit in ANY current Toyota that doesn't feel painfully out of date compared some of the other OEM market options.

As much as you see my raving about the Gen 2 Raptors...the visual design of the interface on those makes me want to gag.

 

[terryk2018]

I have the standard radio that comes with the Premium model. It drops my cell calls, and XM fades in and out often.
I also lost a bunch of time getting Pandora to link. The solution was to log off Pandora on my IPhone, and then log on to entune with Pandora. Toyota told me you can't be logged on two devices at once, so chose IPhone or entune.
The sound quality on FM is substantially less than XM or Pandora.
I had the 4Runner for two weeks and the radio is the only thing that is lacking. I think that is a shame because it is easy to subcontract or source quality units at a affordable price.

 

[WVhillbilly]

My Pandora works, but not with the eTune.
If I'm listening to Pandora the navigation prompts from Waze will come through.
With any other source they won't.
The factory navigation is a joke, it's awful.

If it were 2002 it would be a nice head unit.
Since it's 2018, it's atrocious.

The sound quality and volume output are marginal.

 

[LawnDart]

I can't name any factory nav except for the Tesla's that isn't garbage. Apple Carplay 3.0 basically bypasses manufacturers needing to deal with navigation systems by letting Waze, Apple Maps, and Google do that heavy lifting.

 

[WVhillbilly]

Factory nav in my Titan XD was pretty good.
I run Waze to get updates on police and traffic issues.

 

[LawnDart]

Factory nav in my Titan XD was pretty good.
I run Waze to get updates on police and traffic issues.

"pretty good" is usually a nice way of saying 'acceptable'

Problem is it's easier to let mobile apps do the work and parse that on to head units, i.e carplay, than it is to do the software engineering on the head unit side. Especially with updates, map changes, etc.

 

[WVhillbilly]

No, it's the most reliable factory nav I've used.
I'd rather use my Garmin for straight navigation, I've had it for years, keep it updated and trust it.
Also, most of them won't give direction prompts if you're using the phone on Bluetooth.

My phone can sit in a cradle, stream music, give directions and be a phone.
In the Nissan it would do all of those reliably.
In the Toyota if you get one of the three working you'd best leave it alone.

 

[Mutant138]

I have driven all kinds of cars from my previous career and I have to say it does not matter how much you spend on a car. Kia all the way to Farrari stock units are crap or acceptable at best (with the exception of tesla). I find ours to be acceptable. It's dated and sound quality is decent at best. It works for the most part tho so w.e.

Kinda feel the same way about engine power and the headlights. Enough to be noticed not enough to change it (at least with my budget).

 

[Louisiana Overland]

Kicker announced a new mini amp with built in auto tuning. I want to keep the system stealth, so this could be the answer. Curious on everyone's thoughts!

https://www.kicker.com/key-smart-amplifier

Is it automatic tuning only, or can you access it via laptop to fine tune to your tastes after autotune??

I use an audison bit ten processor for de-eq and tuning. There is no on board amp so i run a jl audio amp downline of the processor. It doesnt come with a mic buy audison dealers have access to the mic and special software to auto tune. The auto tune will basically tune everything flat so if you like a tad more bass or treble that would need to be tuned in....without that capability you would have to use the head unit controls. It will sound much better to do that sort of fine tuning through the graphic equalizer/processor.

Are you planning to swap speakers? My first upgrade was to swap dash and front door speakers out to the Focal IS690 TOY. The difference was incredible. I later installed fical IC165 TOY in all 4 rear locations and then added the processor and 100watt per channel amp. I still havent landed on a sub solution but even without it the bass response and detail are very impressive. I highly recommend the front focals even without processor or amp. The rears need amplification in my opinion if you plan to change them out. The factory wiring for them is in series so without an amp they will see maybe 7 watts each.

 

[LJSIII]

Is it automatic tuning only, or can you access it via laptop to fine tune to your tastes after autotune??

Are you planning to swap speakers?

It self tunes. I already have Alpine SPS-610C Components in the front and Rockford R1525X2's in the rear doors. I've added sound deadener in all the doors too, as well as the Party Mode EQ mod. Although they made a difference, the system still needs some help. I don't want it loud; just clarity, and right now the sound quality is very fatiguing. Too boomy and too much mid-highs that the stock EQ can't get.

 

[Jetboy]

Toyota dabbled with a some great ideas. But never in the USA market. Not sure why it never caught on. This was about 10 years ago. They looked at this and thought - "eh, no let's go with a low resolution 5" screen. That's what people really want! - Oh and tell Haruto to nix the v8 while we're at it. Don't forget to nix the auto headlights too. No. I'm not kidding. Get to work."

 

[MidnightOffRoad]

I'm not sure if the "premium" infotainment system that comes in the '18 is any different, but the JBL system in terms of sound is fine, actually pretty good for me.

My only complaints would be the HD radio. They don't have it quite down yet and when it switches to HD radio, it's not in sync with the regular transmission and so there's a "skip." Which usually isn't that big of a deal unless you're in an area where the HD is on the edge and comes in/out, so it sounds like a glitch or a record skipping as it tunes in and out of HD. It's not annoying enough (yet) for me to research how to turn the HD function off (if that's even possible).

The only other thing I don't like about the system is that the source with Bluetooth is greatly under pushed for signal. You have to turn the factory volume setting to nearly 50+ to get any appreciable volume when the source is from an IPhone or Bluetooth signal.

Regular radio (as long as the station is adequate) sounds pretty good, certainly "good enough" for most people's tastes. The base is adequate and the sound is clear and accurate. It's not going to win any audio competitions, but it's certainly just fine for a stock system.

The controls are a LITTLE unuser friendly when trying to negotiate switching the audio source, but once you have it down it's fine.

I'm sure I could add an amp, swap out the speakers for something really high quality like Hertz components and such and make it better, but for the most part, it serves my needs, until I try to play music from my iPhone, then it's puny.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

It self tunes. I already have Alpine SPS-610C Components in the front and Rockford R1525X2's in the rear doors. I've added sound deadener in all the doors too, as well as the Party Mode EQ mod. Although they made a difference, the system still needs some help. I don't want it loud; just clarity, and right now the sound quality is very fatiguing. Too boomy and too much mid-highs that the stock EQ can't get.

Again my first step was focal components up front and it was an amazing improvement. If I were you, before throwing any more money at it, reach out on the forum to see if anyone local to you has a system installed that they are happy with and ask to hear it. It can be expensive and if it sounds like garbage and you amplify garbage well....?

I had a chance to hear an oem audio system with subwoofer in a 5th gen that belings to ss offroad. I believe my set up was much cleaner and had more bass response even without a sub.

Also, a local dealer may be able to offer additional insight on what you may or may not get from the autotune amp.

If you do install it, i can highly recommend the harbesses that taxotunes sell. I didnt cut a single wire for my entire install. If you call them, Daniel can help you with getting the right harnesses.

 

[4runr4eva]

Kicker announced a new mini amp with built in auto tuning. I want to keep the system stealth, so this could be the answer. Curious on everyone's thoughts!

https://www.kicker.com/key-smart-amplifier

I love the fact the gain dials go to 11. So much better than 10.

 

[LJSIII]

I ordered this amp from Crutchfield and have to say I'm thoroughly impressed! I bought both radio wire harnesses to avoid splicing and it went in very smooth. To set up, you plug in the mic and place it on the top of the headrest, play the pink noise generator from the Kicker website (I did it via my phone / bluetooth), turn up the radio and get out of the car. It ran through a series of beeps and tones to each speaker, played the pink noise, and within 3 minutes it was done (plays a "happy tone"). Adjust the two gains on the amp and you're done. For anyone wanting to keep the factory radio look, but add power and fix the terrible EQ, I highly recommend this amp! I have Alpine components in the front and Rockfords in the rear doors (have not replaced the tailgate speakers). I don't have a sub, but there's plenty of tight low end from the fronts now. I didn't want it loud, just tuned, and the amp does it incredibly well. Note: I did the Party Mode Mod a while ago, so this EQ was factored into the tuning.

 

[808T4Runner]

I ordered this amp from Crutchfield and have to say I'm thoroughly impressed! I bought both radio wire harnesses to avoid splicing and it went in very smooth. To set up, you plug in the mic and place it on the top of the headrest, play the pink noise generator from the Kicker website (I did it via my phone / bluetooth), turn up the radio and get out of the car. It ran through a series of beeps and tones to each speaker, played the pink noise, and within 3 minutes it was done (plays a "happy tone"). Adjust the two gains on the amp and you're done. For anyone wanting to keep the factory radio look, but add power and fix the terrible EQ, I highly recommend this amp! I have Alpine components in the front and Rockfords in the rear doors (have not replaced the tailgate speakers). I don't have a sub, but there's plenty of tight low end from the fronts now. I didn't want it loud, just tuned, and the amp does it incredibly well. Note: I did the Party Mode Mod a while ago, so this EQ was factored into the tuning.

You have the product numbers you ordered from Crutchfield (incl amp and harness). Any pics of install?

 

[LJSIII]

You have the product numbers you ordered from Crutchfield (incl amp and harness). Any pics of install?

The amp is the Kicker Key180.4. The harnesses were purchased through Amazon because Crutchfield didn't have both of them. They are Metra brand part # 70-1761 and 71-1761. I took pics of the harnesses because I had to make a slight modification to accommodate one wire (dim wire, according to Crutchfield). Fortunately, there were antenna motor wires not being used, so I pulled them and moved them to the other pins, where needed. No pics of the actual install though. Too hot here in SoCal, so I didn't want to spend any more time in the car than I had to! Pics of the harnesses to follow soon...

 

[LJSIII]

Here is the harness setup for the 5th gens (although the packaging indicates that they'll work on much older T4R's). The harnesses are well labeled and appear to match everything with the factory harnesses (balance, fade, radio dim with lights, all work as expected) The larger one includes the constant power, ground, remote, etc. The one exception was the 'dim' wire.