Head Unit - Newer Stock or Aftermarket?

Debating on switching out the head unit in my 2018 SR5 Crewmax, mainly so I can have Car Play. Currently have the stock Non JBL amplified system. I’ve done a good bit of research and have seen people mention an increase in audio quality of the stock speakers with an aftermarket head unit. Is it that much of a bump to justify the extra money if I don’t have any current plans to upgrade the speakers? Or would I be better off finding a stock head unit out of a 2020-2021 and installing that? Not looking to splurge and spend say $1500 on the Pioneer 8600, but if there’s a significant audio quality increase with an aftermarket head unit I would rather go that route, although probably in the $500-$800 range.

 

following

 

Someone’s gotta have some input here right

 

If you are looking for a 2020 factory radio that has Carplay, you will be in the $400-600 range. The reason I say that is because the radio usually sells here in the forum for about $400, and you will need a harness form Autoharness.com due to the connectors being different on the 2020 radio.

You can go the aftermarket radio route, and the price varies by the radio and the features that you want. With an aftermarket setup, you would also need a MaestroRR and harness, and that would run around $200.

@e30cabrio has a Kenwood for sale. I will have a Pioneer unit available soon. Both have DVD.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/fs-used-kenwood-ddx9906xr.112760/

 

@Cliffy34 here is a Maestro for sale as well.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/ida...erface-module-hrn-rr-to3.112234/#post-2905906

 

Do the two units mentioned above fit and look like a factory unit once they are installed ? Thank you !

 

The Pioneer and Kenwood? Here is my Pioneer that I will be removing from mine.

 

considering the stock stereos are marginal at best, if I had to spend any money it would not be to "upgrade" to a stock unit. Using that same $ going to aftermarket will get you better sound for sure, likely better features too.

 

I replaced my factory unit with a Pioneer DMH-2600NEX.
I too had an amplified Non-JBL.
My thoughts on aftermarket vs OEM:
1)OEM you buy map updates, carplay you get new maps all the time. But OEM maps are always available, Carplay can be unavailable if you venture to where there is no cell service. But if your going off orad into the wild neither will be much help. But I think google maps will let you preload a LAt Long location and GPS would still show it.
2) Entune is clunky as far as accessing system functions and from what I could tell the phone app is pretty useless.
3) aftermarket wih idatalink, will add functionality.
I can acccess individual tire pressures vs the orange light. I can see the hood ajar warning which for some reason the in dash does not show.
Custom gauge sets so I now have a nice trans temp display.
Using the maestro RR retained all the steering wheel controls.

Onlly thing I can say about the OEM is it is styled to look like the rest of the dash.
As far as sound quality, can't really say, too many years with B-52s.

 

The Buffs are some bad ass aircraft. I spent my whole career on tankers. What years were you in?

 

That won't work in a 2018, the plugs are different.

 

81-02. Last weekend I hit 20 years retired.

 

The harness won't but the RR will. The seller is willing to sell that seperately.

 

Nice. I was in from 91 to 2015.

 

I purchased this last year... plug and play
https://trailgridpro.com/products/s...GCA5rihu-TLc9u2oz9LU7YVQAKoslAj8aAtXwEALw_wcB

 

Are you pleased ? Did it improve your sound ? Have you upgraded speakers or added more cameras ?

 

I went the aftermarket route with a Jensen unit, everything was ~$650 from crutchfield using their ready harness. I chose to lose XM radio and built in nav because they don't have value to me. Kept the steering wheel controls and carplay works with the existing USB ports, took about 1.5 hours to install although I'm sure I could have cable managed better.

 

My system doesn't have JBL on it anywhere. Although there is a small amp under passenger seat. Is it better to have JBL or not ? Is there a floating screen that looks like it could be a factory unit ? The Pioneer I see people on the forum posting looks like it could be. Is the Pioneer or the Kenwood superior in terms of sound/ option quality ? Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions in this thread !

 

Here is mine, it made a huge sound improvement with nothing else & with a Maestro will fully integrate into your truck.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/fs-used-kenwood-ddx9906xr.112760/#post-2908928

I got it thinking I had to have CDs, I upgraded to a 10.1" unit as I never listened to a CD once in the year it was in my truck.

 

Made the speakers sound a lot better... I am pleased... plug and play. I didn't add any more cameras.

 

Took my first long road trip with aftermarket unit and had a few issues so far. Unit randomly shut off and turned back on. Another time the Bluetooth wouldn’t connect or run Apple CarPlay. Newest issue is the google map directions are really quiet, tried to make it louder but it just sounds louder and muffled.

 

Check for a firmware update. Which unit did you have again?

 

No idea if it's the same issue, but this happened to me with a refurb unit I bought once. The little cooling fan wasn't turning on and it would periodically overheat. Probably didn't help that it was in a car with no AC.

 

Well, bit the bullet and ended up buying the new Sony XAV 9500 plug and play bundle from trail grid pro. Will update once it arrives and I get it installed!

https://trailgridpro.com/products/sony-xav-9500es-plug-play-bundle-14-21-tundra/

 

No. JBL Synthesis in wife's 22 Sequoia is absolute trash. I've never had such a crappy car sound system in my life. Even old VW with a Chinese noname 1" stereo and 2 stock speakers in front doors was better. Looks like I have to spend north of $1k just to replace amp, which is responsible for 95% of that trash.

But even speaking about user experience, non-JBL system is light years ahead of JBL. A large volume knob, large chunky buttons - they are all very convenient to use, unlike tiny everything in JBL.

I have Kenwood DDX + Focal midbass+tweeters installed in my old Volvo, it sounds so much ahead of any Toyotas in my possession, even that Kenwood runs with built-in amp. At full volume it still has guts to tear eardrums apart, thanks to Focal.