Speaker Replacement Experience...

[webshot]

I recently went down the road of attempting to upgrade the speakers on my 4th Gen JBL on the cheap. I did not want to mess with an external amp if I could avoid it. I was just looking for more clarity and highs from the music.

I did properly seal all speakers using foam tape as required to achieve optimal bass.

I wanted the option of going back to stock if needed.

Here are the parts I used…

Rear 6.5”

• Spacers: Amazon Link
• Speakers: JBL 2.3 Ohm 6.5” Amazon Link
• Wire Adapters: Amazon Link

Mids 3.5”

• Mids: JBL 2.3 Ohm 3.5” Amazon Link

Front Doors 6”x9”

• Spacers: Amazon Link
• 6x9’s: JBL 2.3 Ohm 6”x9” Amazon Link

Lessons learned…

• Tape off around all work areas to not scratch the interior plastic. It is soft!
• Just installing the rears and mids provided a very small boost in highs.
• The rears still sound a little muddy and are underpowered from the stock amp
• The Metra wire adapters work with the rear door, front door, and mids in the dash BUT are wired incorrectly reverse polarity!!!
• The new 6x9 speakers were removed. They did not provide any value. The 6x9’s in the doors are filtered for low frequency only by the stock system. The factory amp will start to distort or clip if turned all the way up…
• I tried 3 different 6x9 spacer brands. All of them require drilling to match up with the stock screw holes in the door. Also they may have "ears" that need to be cut down to fit the door panel back on.
• The mids I installed in the dash do not fit exactly but can made to fit if you are creative.
• The rear doors are somewhat shallow between the face of the door (metal) and the door panel. If you have any speakers with tweeters that stick out in the center, they may hit the door panel with the spacers you purchase. I tired 3 different spacer models from amazon, the Metra spacers I used had to be heavily modified to set the speaker back far enough.
• When fitting your speakers in the doors, ensure you have the windows down so you know the speaker magnet clears.

Final Opinion: The juice is not worth the squeeze!!

If you are going to upgrade your JBL system, spend the money and do the WHOLE thing.

Useful resources: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4th-gen-jbl-replacement.830793/

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[hoodouken]

I've noticed a good amount of meh reviews of the sound system which is really disappointing. Especially being shocked how good the stock system is in our 2021 Outback.
When I got my 2004 STi in 2005 the first thing I did was rip out all the stock cabling and stereo components. Drilling, mounting and busting my fingers got it all done in a couple days and it sounded, amazing. That was my last time upgrading my system and I never wanted to do it again. So again, disappointed in the upper tier Tacos don't have better sound quality.

Sorry bud it didn't work out.

 

[Liquidassets]

Thank you for writing this up

 

[TacoFreak]

Nice writeup, thanks @webshot.

I was wondering if there was any way to improve the sound without a complete redo. It appears that I should just live with it as it is for a while and eventually replace it all. Do you think that we can keep the OEM head unit and just replace everything else?

My 12 year old JBL system in my Tundra is pretty decent, but like everything else I guess the race to bottom has struck again.

 

[Miqie]

I would like to upgrade the amp, but I'm waiting for one that still lets you make adjustments after everything is put back together.

 

[webshot]

I'm waiting to hear more positive feedback on the Beat-Sonic solution. This may be the better option with or without speaker upgrade.

 

[Quickreply1]

Update: I upgraded the four door speakers to 6 3/4” kicker two way coaxial speakers. It sounds marginally better, slightly louder and a bit punchier with the base, but nothing I think anyone would notice. I personally am glad I upgraded and added some sound proofing. The sound overall is better with the added base.

Original: I have the base version of the stereo in my TRD off-road. I tried installing some 6x9s in the front and some 6.5 in the rear and hey did not fit due to the wrong/missing adapters from the retailer I ordered from.

I sent everything back and just ordered via Crutchfield. They seem to have some good recommendations on front and rear door speakers now and have appropriate adapters.

Ordered (4) 6 3/4” speakers for front and rear. The mounting adapters were included for free and I ordered the speaker plug-ins from taco tunes as they weren’t available at Crutchfield yet. I’ll report back once I get everything installed and see if the juice is worth the squeeze for those of us in the non-JBL camp.

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