Blue Remote power wire for aftermarket amp install 2016 1794 with jbl

Can someone please tell me the best location to tie in your blue remote power wire for after market amp ? Instead if just going to an accessory fuse that turns on when key is on...thanks
Would like to ask if anyone knows a good source maybe to tie in on the jbl amp?
Thanks for the heads up!
Go Toyota!

 

Stock head unit?

 

Yes

 

If you have the 12 volt outlet in your center console you can tap in to it. It is key activated.

 

The top left wire in the (JBL upgraded system) main amp harness (the input harness to amp from head unit) is a switched 12V source. I think it's typically a blue or kind of faded blue-green looking color. I just tapped into it last night for the same purpose as an amp turnon lead (aftermarket amp to be placed in the factory amp location). You can also get reverse wiring harnesses for the amp out plugs and intercept it for the speaker outs from your amp as well (presuming you're staying <100 watts per channel or so, the wiring wouldn't be appropriate for a sub, but it's easy to run wire rearward to sub speaker(s) or second amp, etc). You can find the wiring diagram for these harnesses and speaker outs on this forum - the colors and location is random, so you really can't just guess at it, but the diagram worked for me.



Don't forget that you typically need to replace the JBL head unit if you plan to replace the factory amp or vice versa, but I think that's pretty much a given with the now painfully outdated head unit that you can and should really do so. Even a $200 Carplay capable cheapo headunit from Boss (Crutchfield) etc. would be a dramatic upgrade IMO. I'm using one of the Chinese Android tablet "T style" (Tessla style) head units (PhoenixRadio intel cpu based Android 10 in my case) that are custom fit (replaces radio and HVAC controls to give a 12" touchscreen). So far so good - cosmetically it's excellent, tho I think it's luck of the draw in terms of how good their line-outs etc. are on these "chinese" brands (mine has a digital toslink out I'm thinking of trying since my amp has the option of digital input). I'm debating if I want to be able to use the head units subwoofer / fader controls or get one of the fancy JL remote dials (or bluetooth option for same).

Also of note, two factory 30 amp 12 Volt wires are incorporated into one of the speaker harnesses, so if you're placing a smaller class D (efficient) amp, that could potentially work without running new power cable from battery if you buy the right adaptive harnesses to join to your head unit vs factory plugs. Obviously spec it out properly / be safe about it. This head unit to amp harness wiring runs up under the center console and into the dash, which does also make a nice pathway for RCA cables and also speaker out wire to the front corner dash speakers (if you're planning a 3 way speaker system) -- it's important to note that since the JBL system is configured with dash corner and Front door tweeter speakers conjoined together, if you clip the dash corner speaker wires and plug the factory speaker harness back in (IE run new wire to the dash corner speakers), it'll restore continuity to the tweeters.

And if you pop out the center speaker (most likely just leaving it disconnected) it gives you arm space to run the wire across top of dash (something like a very long screwdriver or a wooden dowel etc. can help you thread the wire thru. You'll have best luck going front to back, IE start wiring from speakers (and RCA out) going front to back, and you can simply drop it down in behind the accelerator pedal and then thread it under the plastic "frame" underneath the gearshift / cupholder console - super easy disassembly of all that by popping out the 12 V power outlets under radio after popping said gearshift console up (pry from the rear corners just in front of the storage cubby). Then it's just 4 10mm bolts in the storage cubby, 2 little "screw-clips" up under the dash for the frame under the gearshift and a few phillips screws that hold it in place under the cupholders.

Now, if you want to go from good to great, you've now created a perfect opportunity to deploy a DSP (digital signal processor) and tune those 3 way front speakers to totally amaze yourself with how good the staging can be with individual adjustment per speaker. Obviously will take a 6 channel amp to get you there (or 8 if you want to power the rears too if you use a passive crossover / component speaker set back there). I did so with Audiofrog GB speakers up front, which admittedly is going top shelf and priced accordingly, but its simply astonishing already, and I'm not even done tuning the system yet. Meanwhile, not everyone even feels the need for rear speakers (that's how good these are), but if you do keep the rears, I think you can be alot more budget conscious about those, perhaps turning them down a bit so they don't drown out the staging work of the 3 ways up front. Personal preference in that regard.

I have an older 2007 Tundra (SR5) and it just has 2 way Infiniti component speakers in both sets of doors (tweeters in sail panels) with about 20 watt / channel Sony head unit and a 10" sub/amp added, and no doubt it sounds nice, but this setup I'm describing (just deployed in my 2018 1794) is on a whole other plane ! It's like sitting in front of high end home theater speakers in terms of balance and staging and clarity. I actually also used a shallow mount 8" Audiofrog sub in the stock sub box (with small sub amp mounted on top of it). It's of course not a chest thumper, frankly that was more of a trial to see how much it would give me with minimum effort -- but even before properly tuning and just inputting the proper active crossover values, the amount of accurate tight bass it's producing is impressive (esp. if you get real good 6" or 6x9 component front door woofers and use them just for good accurate mid bass to balance the sound). I'll just say with how it sounds now, Im not in a hurry to put bigger subs in there. And I think alot of us older adult folks don't really tend to listen to the trunk thumping stuff anyway, just want full sound. I tried out Allison Krauss' "Oh Atlanta" where she dials up her break glass sharp vocal chops to full volume and the awesome accoustic guitar / bass upright on that track and it kind of leaves your chin dropped. It was like front row at one of their shows good.... Waiting impatiently on a tuning mic - I got the JL Vxi/8 amp with built in DSP so I can tune it via laptop or tablet/phone. And/or of course go have it professionally tuned.

Sorry, got carried away there. Good luck, hope this helps others trying to upgrade the JBL version trucks.

 

PS Felt compelled to add - in what I'm describing above, high end system upgrade, I ran 0 gauge power cable back into the cab and then (properly fused and split into) 4 gauge to each of the two amps -- just to reinforce you can't just hook up anything close to this to those 2 factory 12V leads (that are maybe 16 gauge at most) that I mentioned are in that harness alongside the speaker outs.

Be smart, be safe, and know what you're doing or get help or at least watch youtube to learn about amperage vs wattage needs vs wire sizing, etc. I was more referencing if you wanted to say deliver 25-50 watts (peak) x4 amp to some cost effective upgraded door speakers from a nice efficient class D amp, etc., that would be more in the ballpark. Otherwise your safer to run high capacity power / ground cabling so as not to have a literal Tundra dumpster fire, as well as setting yourself up for better sound (IE better current surge carrying capacity to let the amp do what it's designed to do).