CowboyTaco's 2011 DCSB TRD Sport

[CowboyTaco]

Image Resizer for Windows

the problem is that I upload most of my photos from my phone and then come back and edit the post from the computer. It's just easier that way. The downside is something you get HUGE images.

 

[Silverback]

Ahh.. gotcha!

 

[Anathollo]

This little guy showed up on our porch a couple hours ago. Apparently he hung around outside all last night and we didnt know it. We're at maximum capacity with our two dogs but he made himself at home for a few hours until my girlfriend can take him to work with her this afternoon (she's a vet tech). Think one of the vets there is going to take him. Doenst beling to anyone on our street and judging by how hes been taken care of, whomever had him doesnt want him anyway. Hes well fed but has fleas, worms, and who knows what else. If we didnt have two dogs already, we'd keep him. Hes super cool. View attachment 24012

Wrong thread?

 

[balakay]

Wrong thread?

Yeah, not sure how I got it here. Was supposed to be the BS Thread.

 

[CowboyTaco]

I got some JBL speakers on Black Friday deal from Best Buy. I haven't installed yet, but I'm already conflicted.

Currently, I have the 6.5" speakers for the rear and the 6x9 3-way speakers for the front ready to be installed. I have had a Kenwood DVD head unit for a few years now, so no need to upgrade that.

I tend to do things in the "let me upgrade this and see how I like it before upgrading further" fashion. But since I'm going to be doing this, I'm considering going further down the rabbit hole.

1.) I'm thinking of adding an amp.

I already have the adapters to hook up the speakers to the Toyota wiring, so those would be wasted. However, I know to get the full potential out of the speakers, an amp is essential. That said, the head unit I have puts out more than double the OEM head unit. So not sure it is necessary, but it would be cool. Here's the amp I would go with if I were to do it: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/kenwoo...able-crossovers-black/6330250.p?skuId=6330250

2.) I'm thinking of returning the 6x9s and getting the component 6.5s

6x9: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/jbl-gx...nes-pair-orange-black/6283669.p?skuId=6283669
component 6.5: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/jbl-gx...lene-cones-pair-black/6283670.p?skuId=6283670

I wouldn't consider myself a novice when it comes to speakers, but I'm no expert either. The components would require me to mount a crossover which is another part that I'd have to learn to adjust, figure out where to mount, and run additional wire. They would also require me to get additional door adapters to mount them and I'd have to fabricate something to hold the tweeter in the stock location.

Furthermore, if I don't go with the amp, I have to jump the wires going to the factory tweeter in order for the door speakers to work.

If I stick with the existing 6x9s, I already have the door adapters. I could either jump the OEM tweeter to eliminate it or just let it run in addition.


---

So the easiest route with the least waste is to go ahead and install the 6x9s and leave the OEM tweeter in play. It'll probably sound just fine and be a (hopefully) big improvement over stock. If the stock tweeter causes any sound issues or imbalance, I can jump it and keep the JBLs running just fine. (Or would having no tweeter up high sound off?)

If I go the route of adding the amp and keeping the 6x9s, I'll bypass the OEM tweeter for simplicity.

The most expensive and involved would be to order new door speaker adapters, the 6.5 components and the amp. This would also likely sound the best, but is it worth the extra expense and labor?

For anyone who cares, what are your thoughts?

 

[Silverback]

Just get some 1/2 - 3/4" MDF and make your own door panel adapters, its what I did. If you do decide to go with components the running of extra wire is simple, just put the crossover in the door, also they should not need any adjustments, maybe a 3 way (high/medium/low) but nothing too crazy. Now your running of wire is minimized and very easy. I would do components with a separate amp, no idea about the one you picked out, but it does seem to have received great reviews. Small amp like that with some new speakers will really help bring the system alive. Next will be subs.

 

[tx_shooter]

Paging @italynstylion for audio info.

 

[CowboyTaco]

I thought about using MDF, or any wood for that matter, but wouldn't that swell with moisture? The inside of the doors not exactly the driest of locations, I figured wood would be a bad idea. Maybe using an old cutting board or something similar to achieve the same idea.

So @Silverback votes for the most expensive option.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Paging @italynstylion for audio info.

Yeah. He's the man when it comes to that stuff, but I'm pretty sure the sale ends today and he's been MIA for a bit.

Also, when he helped me adjust the Kenwoods that ultimately got returned, his recommendation was to get a really nice set of component 6x9s for the front and run nothing in the rear.

 

[tx_shooter]

I hit him up on FB. One of these days I am going to send his wife to the spa and kidnap him for a day to get my 4Runner setup a lot better than it currently is.

 

[Silverback]

I painted my MDF, its been in there for 13+ years and no issues. I have Morel 8's in the doors.

 

[tx_shooter]

I thought about using MDF, or any wood for that matter, but wouldn't that swell with moisture? The inside of the doors not exactly the driest of locations, I figured wood would be a bad idea. Maybe using an old cutting board or something similar to achieve the same idea.

So @Silverback votes for the most expensive option.

Cheap cutting boards are great for this kind of stuff.

 

[italynstylion]

First question would be do you have a subwoofer @CowboyTaco ? If you do NOT have a subwoofer then I'd say stick with the 6x9s in the front. The reason is you will have WAY more cone area to move air which will likely translate into more bass. Doesn't mean you can't get good bass from a 6.5" driver, but when you're on a lower power budget, you need all the cone area you can get. This is because cone area translates into efficiency. Case in point, the 6.5" component set is 92db efficient and the 6x9 set is 94db efficient. This means they will play that loud when given 2.83V of power which is typically 1watt at 8ohms but since those are 2.3ohm speakers it cheats a little. I won't get too into it but just know the 6x9 is drastically more efficient and will do better of lower power from a headunit.

Whoever said that MDF will swell when it's in the doors is correct. A cheap plastic cutting board is best if you aren't sealing the wood. I used to offer MDF baffles with an option to seal with roll on sound deadener paint to keep that from happening when there was water in the doors. Works great.

The decision about the tweeter is a tough one. My suggestion would be to simply bypass it but leave it in place. The reason is the tweeter will use some of the available power and you will likely have an overly bright sound that you can't tame with the limited EQ functions the headunit will provide.

As always, yes, an amp will certainly beef things up but I wouldn't go there unless you do the speakers first and THEN still want more. But before doing that I'd suggest deadening the doors and sealing up some of the holes in it that are close to the speaker itself. You'll want to really ensure the back wave doesn't interfere with the front wave of the speaker to keep them from cancelling and reducing the bass.

PS: Thanks Zech for summoning me on FB.

 

[tx_shooter]

Always nice to watch someone who really knows their stuff weigh in on these kind of things.

 

[CowboyTaco]

First question would be do you have a subwoofer @CowboyTaco ? If you do NOT have a subwoofer then I'd say stick with the 6x9s in the front. The reason is you will have WAY more cone area to move air which will likely translate into more bass. Doesn't mean you can't get good bass from a 6.5" driver, but when you're on a lower power budget, you need all the cone area you can get. This is because cone area translates into efficiency. Case in point, the 6.5" component set is 92db efficient and the 6x9 set is 94db efficient. This means they will play that loud when given 2.83V of power which is typically 1watt at 8ohms but since those are 2.3ohm speakers it cheats a little. I won't get too into it but just know the 6x9 is drastically more efficient and will do better of lower power from a headunit.

Whoever said that MDF will swell when it's in the doors is correct. A cheap plastic cutting board is best if you aren't sealing the wood. I used to offer MDF baffles with an option to seal with roll on sound deadener paint to keep that from happening when there was water in the doors. Works great.

The decision about the tweeter is a tough one. My suggestion would be to simply bypass it but leave it in place. The reason is the tweeter will use some of the available power and you will likely have an overly bright sound that you can't tame with the limited EQ functions the headunit will provide.

As always, yes, an amp will certainly beef things up but I wouldn't go there unless you do the speakers first and THEN still want more. But before doing that I'd suggest deadening the doors and sealing up some of the holes in it that are close to the speaker itself. You'll want to really ensure the back wave doesn't interfere with the front wave of the speaker to keep them from cancelling and reducing the bass.

PS: Thanks Zech for summoning me on FB.

I do not have a sub. I've considered it, but I'm not ready to go that way just yet.

So I'm reading that as stick with the 6x9s and bypass the OEM tweeter to start. Then add the amp if it is needed. Really, that should be a dramatic improvement over what I have currently. I really appreciate your insight. I'll probably stop there unless I decide I need a sub down the road. I guess I'll be installing some speakers later.

Oh, and I already have sound deadening in the doors. It didn't do as much as I was hoping, so I bought some of that closed cell deadening material to add. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TKXMPH7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

 

[Silverback]

Meh.. just go for it. Get a sub... and a couple amps.. and ... and ... Its like any upgrade, how much money do you want to spend and at what point do you want to be when you consider that upgrade complete? Sounds like you are comfortable with the 6x9's.. good, save some coin. If it was me I would have done the 6x9's and then realized I should have done the 6.5's and a sub and wasted money on 6x9's.

 

[tx_shooter]

After I did a lot of sound deadening work in my doors I noticed just how bad my speakers/headunit are. Really wish I had upgraded everything all at once.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Meh.. just go for it. Get a sub... and a couple amps.. and ... and ... Its like any upgrade, how much money do you want to spend and at what point do you want to be when you consider that upgrade complete? Sounds like you are comfortable with the 6x9's.. good, save some coin. If it was me I would have done the 6x9's and then realized I should have done the 6.5's and a sub and wasted money on 6x9's.

I'm afraid of going down this path. I don't want to spend too much to get adequate results, but I don't want to spend too little and feel like it is inadequate. It's been 12 years or so since I owned a car with a sub. While I do miss it, I think these should be sufficient. Worst case, I add the sub down the road. Also, not looking to have the headlights dim every time the bass line hits

After I did a lot of sound deadening work in my doors I noticed just how bad my speakers/headunit are. Really wish I had upgraded everything all at once.

This is also kind of where I'm at. It just feels lacking.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Forgot to mention, I picked up a full set of aluminum skids from Southern Off-road Specialist.

Unfortunately, the welds don't look as professional as I would have hoped and the IFS skid doesn't line up with the bolt holes.

Thankfully, they are willing to pay return shipping and send me a new one. So now I wait.

 

[balakay]

Hard to get "professional" looking welds on aluminum. It's tricky to weld. Those look on par with any other welded aluminum products I've seen.