Giving back to the community: My stereo install (so far)

[OsageJJ]

Howdy, everyone!

I wanted to share some thoughts on an aftermarket stereo install I just finished on my 2019 86 TRD SE.

First off: THANKS to the folks who went before me and shared their audio experiences on this website. Without that information, I would have never attempted what I’m about to describe to all of you. Sharing is caring!

When I bought my 86 in late July of this year, I sold a 2003 Toyota Tundra that I modded the sound system on, and I took that equipment with me to outfit my new ride.

For the record: I’ve been running upgraded stereo equipment in my vehicles since I was 15 years old (which was 40 years ago, in a 1974 Dodge Dart that my grandmother gave me), so I’m “old school” for sure. What I didn’t like about my 86 was (a) the puny speaker wires, and (b) the non-standard way Toyota ran its wiring. If you look at the specs, the 3.5-inch rears and front dash speakers are running at 4 ohms, but the door speakers (which are wired to the dash tweeters) are running at 2 ohms (after the wires get a boost through the factory amp in the trunk). That drop in impedance gives the 6-5-inch component speakers a little more kick, but nothing like what I have gotten used to running over the past four decades.

Long story short: I resolved to run all new wiring – in the way I knew would work correctly – and swap out the wimpy factory amp with something that had a little more punch to it.

Here’s the equipment I repurposed from my Tundra to my 86:

• Kenwood KAC-8105D mono subwoofer amp (300W RMS x 1 @ 4 ohms).
• Kenwood KAC-8405 A/B amp (60W RMS x 4 @ 4 ohms).
• Kicker Comp 12” subwoofer in a prefabbed, ported box, with repurposed Monster Cable 12-gauge wire from the amp to the sub enclosure.

This is what I swapped out and added:
• JBL GT609C component mids (6.5 inch) and tweeters (1 inch) (100W RMS @ 3 ohms).
• 2 pairs of JBL Club 3020 mids (3.5 inch) (20W RMS @ 3 ohms).
• Audiocontrol LC7i line output converter, with ACR-1 remote bass controller.
• 100 feet of 14-gauge wire to replace the stock speaker wiring for the mids and tweeters (I didn’t use all of it, but it’s always better to have too much than not enough).
• 15 feet of 9-wire “speed wire” to pass the head unit signal to the line-output converter in the trunk. (We didn’t have anything like this when I was a teenager, so I was very happy to find it exists!)

Besides mentioning that I kept my stock headunit (I know a lot of folks on this site don’t like it, but that’s how I wanted to roll with my setup), I won’t bore y’all with the details of the disassembly of my 86. If you research this site, there are tons of threads that show how to take apart the interior of our cars. In my case, it looked like a bomb had gone off inside my 86 for the better part of a week, but all the parts I took out I was able to put back together without too much effort. If you have any doubts, take LOTS of photos during every step of the process, and you should be able to put everything back in reverse order when you’re done.

For the record, though, the absolute hardest task was running the 14-gauge wire through the rubber grommet/boot between the doors and the car body to get the door speakers hooked up. It can be done, but take your time (and don't give up!) during this process.

My biggest issue, sound-wise, was that the JBL speakers are all 3 ohms – well within the impedance for my amps – but my problem was how to wire the six-speaker setup (rears, dash, and component door and dash speakers) while also adding a 12-inch subwoofer to two amps that are set for 4 ohms. My solution was to wire the front and rear 3.5-inch JBL Club 3020 mids in series on the “B” channel of my Kenwood 4-channel amp, while using the “A” channel to drive the component door and dash speakers. By doing that on channel B, I increased the impedance to 6 ohms on that circuit, which means that (a) my amp can drive the speakers, and (b) since they’re being used for “fill” sounds, the 3.5-inch speakers aren’t being overstressed. Plus, the JBL Club 3020s ship with 270 microfarad capacitors, so they won’t be asked to handle low frequencies outside of their comfort range.

I’m still tweaking the system, but the line-output converter, the amps and the sub box are all sitting comfortably in my trunk at the moment, and I've got enough thump in my system to vibrate my rearview mirror on my favorite songs. I may not have much room for a lot of extra gear in the trunk anymore, but I would have kept my Tundra if I still needed that capability!

If anyone has any questions about what I’ve experienced during this install, I’ll do my best to answer them as honestly as I can. Rock on, y’all!

[Drifter X]

Hey TRD SE GANG!
Omg... Please tell me how you got the wires through the door boots.... I tried and tried and just ended up making holes in the boots and running the wires along the outside of the boot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Drifter X

Hey TRD SE GANG!
Omg... Please tell me how you got the wires through the door boots.... I tried and tried and just ended up making holes in the boots and running the wires along the outside of the boot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i just did the same.

but i ran 12/2 pro audio cable, which is almost 3/8" in diameter!
https://www.parts-express.com/talent...50-ft--101-317


i usually use a piece of 12-gauge solid electrical wire pushed through, and then tape the speaker wire on. it requires a lot of patience to first get it through and past the taped ends.

[OsageJJ]

Originally Posted by Drifter X

Hey TRD SE GANG!
Omg... Please tell me how you got the wires through the door boots.... I tried and tried and just ended up making holes in the boots and running the wires along the outside of the boot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's how I did it:

1. Disconnect both ends of the rubber boot.

2. Disconnect the three electrical connections behind the kick panel (one goes to the SRS, the others are for the electronics and speaker in the door).

3. Thread the three connections through the firewall. At this point, the rubber boot will be dangling between the door and the car body.

4. Take your wire puller (I'm old school, so it was a coat hanger for me) and, starting from the dangling end of the boot, find a spot in the inner rubber "sheath" as close as you can to the door end of the boot to poke a small hole in the sheath for the wire to pass through. You may have to use a utility knife to widen the hole a little bit, like I did.

5. Once you've got your wire threaded through, reconnect the electrical connectors, then reconnect the boot on both ends.

I could not find a way to route the wire without making a small hole in the inner sheath that's in the boot; the sheath is just too tight and "grippy" for that. But considering there's no holes in the outside part of the boot, I'll count that as a win.

If anything I've written is still unclear, please ask a question and I'll do my best to explain it better.

One final comment: If anyone else has a better idea how to do this and help out the next 86 owner who wants to try this, please chime in. We're all in this together!

[kmbkk]

I ran my wiring through the door using a 3 ft long zip tie. I disconnected both ends of the grommet from the door and body. I then Sprayed the zip tie with silicone lubricant and ran it through the grommet from inside the cab. I taped the end of the speaker wire to the zip tie and pulled it through the grommet and into the door. Easy peasy!

[EAGLE5]

No minidsp?

[OsageJJ]

Originally Posted by EAGLE5

No minidsp?

In doing the research for my install, I did notice that there are two mindsets out there: DSP vs. LOC. I knew going into this install project that the factory head unit didn't have RCA outs, but both of my amps have speaker-level inputs, so I didn't really even need to get the Audiocontrol LC7i. I did consider going the DSP route with the JL Audio Fix-86, but it's quite a bit more expensive, so I elected to go with the cheaper option of the LC7i. The advantage to this approach is that if either of my amps give up the ghost, I can replace them a lot more easily now.

[Drifter X]

Originally Posted by OsageJJ

Here's how I did it:



1. Disconnect both ends of the rubber boot.



2. Disconnect the three electrical connections behind the kick panel (one goes to the SRS, the others are for the electronics and speaker in the door).



3. Thread the three connections through the firewall. At this point, the rubber boot will be dangling between the door and the car body.



4. Take your wire puller (I'm old school, so it was a coat hanger for me) and, starting from the dangling end of the boot, find a spot in the inner rubber "sheath" as close as you can to the door end of the boot to poke a small hole in the sheath for the wire to pass through. You may have to use a utility knife to widen the whole a little bit, like I did.



5. Once you've got your wire threaded through, reconnect the electrical connectors, then reconnect the boot on both ends.



I could not find a way to route the wire without making a small hole in the inner sheath that's in the boot; the sheath is just too tight and "grippy" for that. But considering there's no holes in the outside part of the boot, I'll count that as a win.



If anything I've written is still unclear, please ask a question and I'll do my best to explain it better.



One final comment: If anyone else has a better idea how to do this and help out the next 86 owner who wants to try this, please chime in. We're all in this together!

I'll try it again. But I had a hard time getting the boot back on on the firewall side. So it's just dangling.....Is there a trick to it or am I just impatient and suck at this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Drifter X]

Originally Posted by kmbkk

I ran my wiring through the door using a 3 ft long zip tie. I disconnected both ends of the grommet from the door and body. I then Sprayed the zip tie with silicone lubricant and ran it through the grommet from inside the cab. I taped the end of the speaker wire to the zip tie and pulled it through the grommet and into the door. Easy peasy!

I didn't think of using that. I was using the wire snake that crutchfield sent. Which is basically a longer and much thicker zip tie. I'll try a long zip tie next.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by OsageJJ

In doing the research for my install, I did notice that there are two mindsets out there: DSP vs. LOC. I knew going into this install project that the factory head unit didn't have RCA outs, but both of my amps have speaker-level inputs, so I didn't really even need to get the Audiocontrol LC7i. I did consider going the DSP route with the JL Audio Fix-86, but it's quite a bit more expensive, so I elected to go with the cheaper option of the LC7i. The advantage to this approach is that if either of my amps give up the ghost, I can replace them a lot more easily now.

I have a minidsp with Dirac in the house but stock stereo in the car. I've seen how massively the stock EQ effects sound in the car. If I were you, I'd get a line-level EQ.

[OsageJJ]

Originally Posted by Drifter X

I'll try it again. But I had a hard time getting the boot back on on the firewall side. So it's just dangling.....Is there a trick to it or am I just impatient and suck at this?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No trick, just a LOT of patience, along with being able to get your fingers in the right position in that small space. On the firewall side, at least with my 86, there was what felt like a plastic disc just on the inside of the boot that snapped into place when I got it positioned just right. On the door side, there was a lip on the boot that had to go just inside the hole. Hope this helps.

[soundman98]

or consider the dayton dsp. cheaper than the minidsp, same features.

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...audio--230-500


i put one in my ranger specifically because i needed my tweeters to run at 500hz and the deck wouldn't do it.

it's on a long list to eventually be put into the car just for the adjustability it offers

[OsageJJ]

Originally Posted by EAGLE5

I have a minidsp with Dirac in the house but stock stereo in the car. I've seen how massively the stock EQ effects sound in the car. If I were you, I'd get a line-level EQ.

I hadn't considered adding that, but I may end up doing that after I tweak this install a bit. Car stereo systems have come a LONG way since the time I replaced the stock AM radio in my '74 Dodge Dart with a Sparkomatic AM/FM/8-track. Thank you for the input!

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by soundman98

or consider the dayton dsp. cheaper than the minidsp, same features.

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...audio--230-500


i put one in my ranger specifically because i needed my tweeters to run at 500hz and the deck wouldn't do it.

it's on a long list to eventually be put into the car just for the adjustability it offers

MiniDSP is probably going to have better sound though.