So for the last few months I have been planning my audio upgrades in my 2014 Double Cab Tundra. I had been going back and forth over what processor/amp/sub combo I had wanted to go with. I had decided on speakers from the get go but everything else just fell into place.
I had decided that the system could wait until I had everything purchased and that I would not rush into it, so to eBay/Amazon I went. I saved A TON of money picking up open box items. Granted I won't get the warranty .. but installing it myself doesn't give much of a warranty either. Regardless, here is the setup I went with for audio components:
Processor: JBL MS-8 (eBay open box)
Amp: Apline MRX-V70 (eBay open box)
Sub: JL Audio 10TW3-D4 (eBay open box)
Wiring: Scosche: Toyota Adapter Harness x2
Enclosure: Passenger Rear Seat Custom
Speakers: Polk db6501 fronts/db651 rear (Amazon)
Adapters: car-speaker-adapters.com front and rear (car-speaker-adapters.com)
Tweeter Mounts: Platinum Sail Panels
Wiring: KnuKoncepts 4G Amp Kit and Misc. Cables (KnuKoncepts.com)
and some more misc. items.
My decisions on all of these were made either due to past experience, online research, or needs of my system and talking to some local audio installers. Once I procured all the components of the system I decided this weekend was the time (much to the disappointment of the wife lol) I have underseat storage, and since I wasn't even using the 40 half of the underseat, I decided I would do away with it and put a box there.
So .. I started with making the harnesses that would plug into the stock wiring and into the MS-8 inputs and amplifier outputs. I took apart all the pins of the 2 harness kits I bought and redid the inputs/outputs of the harness to match up to the stock wiring. I made sort of a frankenstein harness out of the two that come in each kit to create the larger of the two harnesses that directly plugs into the stock larger harness.
Next I set out to build the sub box. I decided I was going to remove the jack and mount from under the seat and put it into the underseat storage. I built the box out of 3/4" Birch Hardwood and came up with a 22"x14"x5" overall (with some feet at the front/rear to keep the sub off the floor. Here are some pics of the box construction/paint/install. Box was built prior to full install and painted with undercoating/sealed with silicone.
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For the wiring, I routed the wiring from the battery behind the engine along the brake lines over to the passenger side firewall grommet. I ran 4G for the amp and ran a 12G for the MS-8 (both fused).
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Next I mounted the speakers in the speaker adapts I purchased. I used stock wiring for the rears and front tweeters and ran new wiring for the front woofers.
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Center speaker:
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Once all that was in place and I had all the wiring run, I realized I was going to need some sort of amp/processor mounting board so I made my own. It bolts into place using the front factory amplifier mounts and also a couple of screws into the rear heat vent (no disruption to flow). I made a nice template to use that worked out great and then painted the final board black before mounting everything to it. I had to mount the amplifier using some small spacers but that still worked out great. The amplifier is powering the front woofers and tweeters on separate channels and using the active crossover within the MS-8, and also powering the sub. The MS-8 is powering the rears and center channel.
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I also permanently mounted the MS-8 in a very visible display spot for me. I didn't want it on the dash or anything and there was a perfect spot behind my shifter, and where it fit, I didn't mind a permanent mount:
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My set up for the MS-8 is as follows:
CH1: Front Left Mid (80Hz - 4KHz)
CH2: Front Right Mid (80Hz - 4KHz)
- both mids amp'd by CH1&2 of MRX-V70 at nominal gain (2V)
CH3: Front Left Tweeter (4KHz HP)
CH4: Front Right Tweeter (4KHz HP)
- both tweets amp'd by CH3&4 of the MRX-V70 at nominal gain (2V)
CH5: Side Left (100Hz HP) MS-8 power
CH6: Side Right (100Hz HP) MS-8 power
CH7: Center (200Hz HP) MS-8 power
CH8: Sub (80Hz LP) - amp'd by MRX-V70 CH5 at nominal gain (2V)
My install was all pretty straight forward, and once I hunted down a bad RCA and replaced, I was able to really get into the tuning of the MS-8. At first I just hooked it all up, ran the input calibration and a quick audio Calibration, but I then disabled it and just listened for a bit with no processing. I only left Logic7 enabled since I have the center speaker, but I wanted to see how the UN-EQ sounded first.
After a week I took a stab at doing the Audio Calibration. At first, no matter what I did, I just could not get it right. I tried a few different settings to see if I could get it to sound right. I tried (per suggestion of several forums, and then the last one right from this thread from Andy W.:
-All channels nominal gain (2V), MS-8 at -30dB - Severely lacked bass (sub/mids)
-All channels gains turned at min, MS-8 at -30dB - Better, but seemed to lack substance from the front, and bass was OVERPOWERING. I think the sub signal sweep was too low and it overcompensated.
-All channel gains nominal (2V), MS-8 at -40dB - Better yet, but still .. lacking midbass.
-Front channels nominal gain (2V), sub channel about 1/4 gain (1V), MS-8 at -35dB - Current settings.
This hit the sweet spot for my truck. I returned the sub amp back to nominal after cal, and I had to add just a little bit of mid-bass (about 2dB to 100Hz-240Hz). I still need to play around with the EQ a little more to see if I can get it sounded just how I like it, but overall I couldn't be happier. There is some SERIOUS front imaging with this set up .. I am still working through some of my go-to songs to see how each and every one sounds .. and so far SO GOOD!
What I have found from all of this is that the MS-8 is VERY powerful. I am amazed at how much this thing can add/cut from the different frequencies which was very apparent in my different attempts at the Audio Calibration. Where I am now, I think I am going to just do some minor EQ adjusting. It makes the great recordings sound awesome .. the good recordings sound better .. and the bad recordings .. well it doesn't help them at all haha.
The MS-8 is an awesome tool. I knew the Tundra HU was going to need some heavy UN-EQ as it has some heavy bass roll-off on high volume listening, but I really liked the stock BT integration and USB music integration, so I stuck with it. Another big thing for the MS-8 was the AUX In. I will probably end up putting headrest DVD's in at some point, and I can use the AUX IN to pump sound into the truck if necessary. The MS-8 (even with Audio Calibration disabled) sounds excellent. Now that I have the tuning I think set right, I am even happier.
Thanks for looking!
I had decided that the system could wait until I had everything purchased and that I would not rush into it, so to eBay/Amazon I went. I saved A TON of money picking up open box items. Granted I won't get the warranty .. but installing it myself doesn't give much of a warranty either. Regardless, here is the setup I went with for audio components:
Processor: JBL MS-8 (eBay open box)
Amp: Apline MRX-V70 (eBay open box)
Sub: JL Audio 10TW3-D4 (eBay open box)
Wiring: Scosche: Toyota Adapter Harness x2
Enclosure: Passenger Rear Seat Custom
Speakers: Polk db6501 fronts/db651 rear (Amazon)
Adapters: car-speaker-adapters.com front and rear (car-speaker-adapters.com)
Tweeter Mounts: Platinum Sail Panels
Wiring: KnuKoncepts 4G Amp Kit and Misc. Cables (KnuKoncepts.com)
and some more misc. items.
My decisions on all of these were made either due to past experience, online research, or needs of my system and talking to some local audio installers. Once I procured all the components of the system I decided this weekend was the time (much to the disappointment of the wife lol) I have underseat storage, and since I wasn't even using the 40 half of the underseat, I decided I would do away with it and put a box there.
So .. I started with making the harnesses that would plug into the stock wiring and into the MS-8 inputs and amplifier outputs. I took apart all the pins of the 2 harness kits I bought and redid the inputs/outputs of the harness to match up to the stock wiring. I made sort of a frankenstein harness out of the two that come in each kit to create the larger of the two harnesses that directly plugs into the stock larger harness.
Next I set out to build the sub box. I decided I was going to remove the jack and mount from under the seat and put it into the underseat storage. I built the box out of 3/4" Birch Hardwood and came up with a 22"x14"x5" overall (with some feet at the front/rear to keep the sub off the floor. Here are some pics of the box construction/paint/install. Box was built prior to full install and painted with undercoating/sealed with silicone.
For the wiring, I routed the wiring from the battery behind the engine along the brake lines over to the passenger side firewall grommet. I ran 4G for the amp and ran a 12G for the MS-8 (both fused).
Next I mounted the speakers in the speaker adapts I purchased. I used stock wiring for the rears and front tweeters and ran new wiring for the front woofers.
Center speaker:
Once all that was in place and I had all the wiring run, I realized I was going to need some sort of amp/processor mounting board so I made my own. It bolts into place using the front factory amplifier mounts and also a couple of screws into the rear heat vent (no disruption to flow). I made a nice template to use that worked out great and then painted the final board black before mounting everything to it. I had to mount the amplifier using some small spacers but that still worked out great. The amplifier is powering the front woofers and tweeters on separate channels and using the active crossover within the MS-8, and also powering the sub. The MS-8 is powering the rears and center channel.
I also permanently mounted the MS-8 in a very visible display spot for me. I didn't want it on the dash or anything and there was a perfect spot behind my shifter, and where it fit, I didn't mind a permanent mount:
My set up for the MS-8 is as follows:
CH1: Front Left Mid (80Hz - 4KHz)
CH2: Front Right Mid (80Hz - 4KHz)
- both mids amp'd by CH1&2 of MRX-V70 at nominal gain (2V)
CH3: Front Left Tweeter (4KHz HP)
CH4: Front Right Tweeter (4KHz HP)
- both tweets amp'd by CH3&4 of the MRX-V70 at nominal gain (2V)
CH5: Side Left (100Hz HP) MS-8 power
CH6: Side Right (100Hz HP) MS-8 power
CH7: Center (200Hz HP) MS-8 power
CH8: Sub (80Hz LP) - amp'd by MRX-V70 CH5 at nominal gain (2V)
My install was all pretty straight forward, and once I hunted down a bad RCA and replaced, I was able to really get into the tuning of the MS-8. At first I just hooked it all up, ran the input calibration and a quick audio Calibration, but I then disabled it and just listened for a bit with no processing. I only left Logic7 enabled since I have the center speaker, but I wanted to see how the UN-EQ sounded first.
After a week I took a stab at doing the Audio Calibration. At first, no matter what I did, I just could not get it right. I tried a few different settings to see if I could get it to sound right. I tried (per suggestion of several forums, and then the last one right from this thread from Andy W.:
-All channels nominal gain (2V), MS-8 at -30dB - Severely lacked bass (sub/mids)
-All channels gains turned at min, MS-8 at -30dB - Better, but seemed to lack substance from the front, and bass was OVERPOWERING. I think the sub signal sweep was too low and it overcompensated.
-All channel gains nominal (2V), MS-8 at -40dB - Better yet, but still .. lacking midbass.
-Front channels nominal gain (2V), sub channel about 1/4 gain (1V), MS-8 at -35dB - Current settings.
This hit the sweet spot for my truck. I returned the sub amp back to nominal after cal, and I had to add just a little bit of mid-bass (about 2dB to 100Hz-240Hz). I still need to play around with the EQ a little more to see if I can get it sounded just how I like it, but overall I couldn't be happier. There is some SERIOUS front imaging with this set up .. I am still working through some of my go-to songs to see how each and every one sounds .. and so far SO GOOD!
What I have found from all of this is that the MS-8 is VERY powerful. I am amazed at how much this thing can add/cut from the different frequencies which was very apparent in my different attempts at the Audio Calibration. Where I am now, I think I am going to just do some minor EQ adjusting. It makes the great recordings sound awesome .. the good recordings sound better .. and the bad recordings .. well it doesn't help them at all haha.
The MS-8 is an awesome tool. I knew the Tundra HU was going to need some heavy UN-EQ as it has some heavy bass roll-off on high volume listening, but I really liked the stock BT integration and USB music integration, so I stuck with it. Another big thing for the MS-8 was the AUX In. I will probably end up putting headrest DVD's in at some point, and I can use the AUX IN to pump sound into the truck if necessary. The MS-8 (even with Audio Calibration disabled) sounds excellent. Now that I have the tuning I think set right, I am even happier.
Thanks for looking!
But, being able to hop over curbs, intimidate slow pokes out of the left lane, see over everything, go off the road around a left turner without much of a care, and making up for my just slightly above average manhood is where its at.
