JBL Completely Replaced

I thought I’d share since while there is resources, there seems to not be many of us.

I was unfortunate enough to buy a Taco with the JBL premium audio. Intermittently I did some half measures

- Replaced speakers, added some sound mat stuff
- Upgraded head unit to XAV-9500es (this was mostly for wireless CarPlay and a bigger screen, I didn’t expect better sound)

Sound still sucked, and was very quiet (I had to crank the Sony EQ all the way up).

One day I was riding somewhere with my fiancé and she asked why it sounds so bad while listening to a podcast as I ferociously tried to adjust the EQ settings to something acceptable, I realized the best thing to do would be to just completely fix the problem.

So what I did was
- Kappa 90csx front component
- Kappa 63XF rear coax
- Kicker CompR 10” sub wired to 2ohm in some prebuilt enclosure for Tacoma.
-

$450 Kicker 46CXA6605T Kicker 46CXA6605 CXA6605-4x90-Watt 4-Channel Full-Range Amp w/300-watt Class D Sub Channel

Kicker 46CXA6605T 5-channel amp

Some other things
- Taco tunes tweeter mount (they helped pick the correct size for 90csx)

I initially planned to put the amp in the rear (which is why I ordered the sub box with the amp mount area), but it didn’t fit so I settled on under the driver seat - which fits at least with the seat jackers I already had (did a test fit before running all wires)

I completely bypassed the JBL, meaning I ran new speaker wire to every door and tweeter and subwoofer (7 runs total).

The hardest part, by far, was running new speaker wire to the doors. I have some tips for that though.
- Front, unplug the connections do the door under kick panel
- Push rubber boot out from inside of cabin (I used some small tire change pry things I had in the toolbox, they are blunt and I wrapped them in felt tape to prevent scratching anything)
- Spray generous amounts of silicone lube (that is plastic safe) in the door boot
- compress boot and fight until the wire is through. I didn’t need anything to fish 16ga speaker wire through, just my hands and some swearing. I was deathly scared of damaging some of the factory wires, so I didn’t wanna use coat hanger or my initial thought was some solid core residential copper to fish it. Didn’t need it though.
- Did not need to cut or modify the door boots at all, 16 gauge speaker wire fit in existing holes.

The rear doors are much easier, same type of process though. Tweeters and sub are easiest of course.

I can say that the result is incredible - I didn’t properly tune the amp yet but set some sane values.

I am a car audio noob and have never done more than installed a kicker hideaway in my last car. So this was the biggest project I took on.

I just thought I’d share as a resource for anyone interested in upgrading the JBL system properly (by removing it entirely and not upgrading it)

I attached a photo dump of the process and mostly finished thing (I still have to clean up wiring and re-assemble interior)

 

Congrats on the upgrade. I think that I am the only one happy with my stock JBL system!

 

I’m not an audio snob, but I also have just a general tinkerer personality (I’m always looking for a new project with the car or house). So it’s a natural progression for me to look to do stuff like this.

The JBL system stock isn’t bad, when compared to other factory car audio systems - and I was probably content with it. I probably did more damage to the quality by trying to run better speakers on the stock amp (which is probably why my fiancé noticed it as bad).

The main problem with the JBL system to me is that it makes upgrading (like this) significantly harder and more expensive. Without it, this would all be cheaper and easier.

 

I get it. If you don't like it then it's harder to upgrade. Don't get me wrong, you do what's best for you. I just see a lot of threads where folks aren't satisfied with the JBL system.

 

OMG, I broke out in hives seeing the pics of the teardown
Wow, that’s alot of work you put in! and thanks for the awesome pics of the innards with all the ‘stuff’ removed.
Love to see pics of it back together again!

 

Wow good work OP

 

I guess I’m just too old, but my ‘17 Sport has the JBL system and I think I sounds great…..maybe not as great as my old Bonneville SS that had 12 speakers LOL, but it sounds good to me.

 

Here’s the re-assembled truck. I took some precautions to prevent rattles on re-assembly like adding felt tape around connections and in the door panel grommets. Also used it as an opportunity for a spring cleaning. I plan to get some of the plastic wire sleeve stuff to make the under seat look better. The main goal was big sound upgrade, while maintaining all factory features and storage space. Which I was able to do - no visible wires (besides under seat)

 

Happy to see mission accomplished!
Thanks again for sharing your work - this will certainly inspire others for when they may want to dive into this upgrade!

 

Thought I'd also share the complete parts list, in case anybody is interested in replicating:

The install like I said the hardest part is speaker wire to the doors, the rest is pretty straight forward. Even the speaker wires is quite easy, except the front driver side gave me the most trouble.

You just run power to amp, ground to amp (under driver seat carpet there is a factory ground), remote turn on to amp (blue wire on HU harness), run front left and right speaker from amp to Kappa crossovers, then run each speaker wire, then run sub wire and RCAs. Pretty standard car audio install.

The JBL amp wires I could tuck away in the rear C pillar trim.

Head Unit
Sony XAV-9500ES (Trail Grid Pro plug n play bundle) - $1395
I did not go with the plug-and-play bundle, but it makes the most sense for the price. Not sure why I didn't, think I had gift cards or something to use - or wanted 5% cash back on Amazon.

You don't need this HU of course, but it's pretty much the best

Speakers

Infinity KAPPA-90CSX 6 x 9 Two-Way Car Audio Component System w/Gap Switchable Crossover (Renewed)

Kappa 90CSX 6x9 Component Pair - $189

Infinity KAPPA-63XF 6.5" 2-Way Coaxial Car Audio Speakers

Kappa 63XF 6.5 Coax Pair - $99

$135 Kicker 48CWR104 CompR 10" Subwoofer, DVC, 4-ohm

Kicker CompR 10" (Wire in parallel) - $112
Metra 82-8148 Brackets - $20
Metra 82-8146 Brackets - $20

Amp

$450 Kicker 46CXA6605 CXA6605-4x90-Watt 4-Channel Full-Range Amp w/300-watt Class D Sub Channel

Kicker 46CXA6605T - 660W 5 channel (according to cert in the box it's rated to 730W RMS) - $359

Box
I read, you can contact Mr. Marv on this forum for probably a better box. But it seems pretty good. All base options, round woofer, standard mounting depth. Get the "acoustic stuffing" from amazon as it's much cheaper than $15 (just buy a bag of polyfill for $5)
Sub box shop - $209

I popped out the terminal that came with the box, soldered 12 gauge wire to the terminals for inside the box - not sure if that’s how you’re supposed to do it or not. I think I crimped spades and soldered the spades to the terminal and popped it back in

Misc
Tweeter Mounts 48mm/1.89" (for 90CSX tweeter) - $27

$74 Kicker 46CK4 4 AWG Amp Kit w/RCA

Kicker 4AWG Wiring Kit , I probably would shop around - this kit has things you don't need or can't use like the RCAs - $80

$13 InstallGear 16 Gauge Wire AWG Speaker Wires - True Spec and Soft Touch Cable - 100 ft Red/Black - Car Stereos, Home Theater, Radio, Surround Sound - 16 Gauge Speaker Wire - Easy Installation

16 GA Speaker Wire - $18

$14 RECOIL RCI66 99.99% Oxygen Free Copper 6ft 6-Channel RCA Audio Cable, Twisted Pair with Noise Reduction

6 ft 6-chl RCA - $13

$13 tesa 51608 Noise Damping PET Fleece Automotive Wire Harness Tape, Black, 19mm x 25m, 3 Rolls

Tessa Tape

Total - $2541

I used spade crimp connectors for speakers and things, basically to make a harness for each speaker using speaker harness above. If you don't have it, need something like

$29 SOMELINE Open Terminal Connector Crimping Tool Kit,2.8mm 3.5mm 3.9mm 4.8mm 6.3mm 24-14 AWG Crimper for Use on Molex 2.13mm 2.36mm, AMP - TE CONNECTIVITY Connectors,Male Female Spade and Ring Terminal

this

All in all, the biggest expense is the head unit (and time, your truck will be out of commission for 2-3 days depending on your pace)

given some options like OEM Audio plus is $3700 for a far inferior system (and not even the HU), it’s not bad overall. It’s just a bit of work.

I’d also add it’s possibly to fully revert to the stock JBL since all factory wiring is unmodified. It would of course just be the reverse of installation.