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- First Name
- Jeff
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- Feb 13, 2024
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- Location
- Northern California
- Vehicle(s)
- 2024 Tacoma Limited
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- #1
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”
Front Doors 6”x9”
Lessons learned…
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/
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
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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