Looking to upgrade the door speakers.. Anyone have experience with the JL C1-690?

That's really a good price for everything that's included. That looks like it would be a good setup with a subwoofer.

 

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.

 

So, you got 6.5" speakers to fit in the 5 .25" mounts? Pics? No issue using the 2 ohm set up?

 

There are no 5.25" speakers on this truck.

 

Guess Crutchfield has it wrong.

 

Yeah, I know for a fact my '19 has 4 - 6.5" in rear doors and hatch, while the front doors have a 6x9. Do you have a 5th Gen? The older models may have come with a pair of 5.25" speakers.

EDIT
I just checked; it looks like they are including the 5.25" since they can fit in the 6.5" openings, but with brackets.

The OEM speakers are in fact 6.5"

 

Zero issues running the 2.5ohm infinity speakers. Yes, all 5th generation rear door and hatch speakers are 6.5".

 

Glad i got pointed in the right direction.

 

The OEM Audio+ system that I mentioned earlier is pretty gnarly. If you have the cash, go that route. Their speaker only replacements are affordable ($650 for both 6x9, tweeters, and 2 pairs of 6.5) and are very literally plug and play.

 

As I imagined, the stock speakers were the same flimsy things the Tacoma had.



I removed the cone, spider and voice-coil from the original dash speakers and used them as brackets for the JL tweeters. This seems like a good option for anyone who is cheap like me





I used the Metra adapters for the door speakers. I used some DAP sealant around the speakers and between the adapters and the doors to get a good seal. I realize that I'm going to hate myself for doing this if I ever upgrade or replace the speakers, but I think this will improve the sound.



I put everything back together and listened to it for a minute. I wanted to let the sealant set up for awhile, so I'll give it a better listen on my way home.

I noticed an improvement in the high frequencies right away. And, in general, the speakers seemed more lively than the OEM.

I'll update once I get to listen some more.

So far, I'm super happy!

 

Update?

 

I'm still happy with the purchase. Lows are more powerful and cleaner. Mids and highs are clear as well.

I think I need a more powerful head unit or an amp to really get the most out of them. But, even with the stock head unit's output, it's a noticeable improvement.

I wouldn't call them a full on high fidelity type speaker, but a very good middle of the road option.

 

how did the speakers sound without th alpine rig?

 

$180 Infinity Kappa 93ix Kappa 6x9" Three-Way car Audio multielement Speaker

Infinity Kappa 93ix 6x9
Infinity Kappa 62ix 6.5 (rear doors and minivan door)
Alpine PSU-300FRN

Already had the JL's in the dash.

Was a long day, but got it all in with some noise damping on all five doors. Need to adjust the amp a bit, but it fills the interior without needing to crank the valium... Volume, i meant volume.

 

Not enough power from the factory head unit to drive the Infinity Kappa's correctly - sounded very nice but couldn't drive much volume. With the Alpine amp inline they really opened up.