# "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*"ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

I still remember the very first time I was introduced to Sound Quality car audio. I was a sophmore at CMU in pittsburgh, and had just become a member of elitecaraudio. Through interactions, I was informed that my Crunch truck boxes in my toyota perhaps wasnt the greatest sounding thing in the world (much to my surprise and dismay )...and the forum moderator, Mic (Mic10is), who lived about an hour away, offered to stop by and show me what a sound quality system involved.

Thus my first ever experience outside of my own car, involved an entire Image Dynamics setup, with horns, IDQ6s, and a pair of IDQ subs. It is no wonder that my love affair with ID began pretty much that day, and the first ever SQ system in my own truck had a pair of CD1Es, IDQ6s, and IDQ12 behind the seat. As i got further along in the industry, my involvement with ID continued, along with an ever growing relationship with Eric and Matt. 

After i moved to california, i got to meet both of them in person, and established a industry friendship with both of them. 

So it was quite disconcerting for me when both of them left ID, the sadness turned into anticipation when it was announced that there is a new project in the works with them, and i waited eagerly for its arrival.

And I waited, and waited, and as with many things in the business world, it got delayed. But late last year, Matt told me that the new brand, named Oncore, is almost ready to come online, i was slightly disappointed to hear that Eric is not part of the company anymore, but nonetheless, my interest was renewed and I promised Matt i would give the product a try and sign up as a dealer. Of course, that predicated on the fact that the products have to be on par with what i am used to with ID, but Matt gave me ample promises that it was that and more 

So it was quite exciting when I finally got to sample one of their products in real life. With our penchant for stealthy SQ builds, we definitely have a need for shallow mount subwoofers that still perform like normal sized woofers. Before, we typically used the Audiomobile EVO10, a 300 dollar class sub, and the illusion audio carbon c10, a 600 plus dollar sub, with almost no options in between that we perferred. So we immediately picked out an Oncore SM10 for this application, as it is a relatively shallow style sub with a 4.5 inch mounting depth and priced at the 500 dollar range.

lets get started with the build log, and i will have the review of the SM10 in detail later on 

The car is a brand new 2017 Toyota 4Runner, owned by one of our most loyal customers. This being the 3rd car we have done for him. This time though, instead of getting our most basic SQ active package, he chose to upgrade things a little bit on the speaker and subwoofer side. 

The goals:

1. achieve a nice level of sound quality 

2. Utilize all existing oem speaker locations

3. Make the install virtually invisible

so lets get started, first up, the truck. with a modest lift and some beefier tires, i do really like the shape of the current gen 4runner 




























first up is the custom battery fuse holder that jesse built, by welding a piece of metal onto the existing battery tie down, and tapped threaded holes in them, this provides a supremely solid mounting point for the stinger fuse holder:



















As part of the upgrade, the customer supplied a pioneer 4200NEX headunit, a dash kit and a maestro RR adapter for the build, we supplied the oem usb, camera, and sat radio antenna rentetion modules, and threw it all together 










one thing the customer wanted was to be able to utilize the HDMI input of the pioneer to use with a streaming TV dongle, and also to be able to access the 2nd USB input with ease, so what i did was to build a little plate that housed a combo HDMI/USB plug in what was his coil tray:










with the maestro RR module, he is able to see vital car information via the pioneer screen:



















here are some quick build pics of the little panel. first, i took out the entire factory panel that houses the coin tray:










then i built a front fascia out of acrylic, with a supporting/securing structure behind it, also out of acrylic:










then it was painted black, and the panel mount usb/hdmi plug installed:



















and then this was inserted into the coin tray, and to bolts ran from each side of the tray pocket and thread into the tapped acrylic brace on the back to secure it:










For the front stage, we chose all illusion audio. a pair of Illusion Carbon C6 midbasses went into the stock door location.

first, new speaker wires were run into the door:










then i fabricated a set of adapter plates for the C6s and coated them with several layers of truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:










then the entire door was sound proofed inside and out, with GP audio STFU Composite damper on the inner door panel, and blackhole tiles on the outer door panel. the adapter plates were then bolted back in via oem hardware:



















the C6s were then secured but i forgot to take a picture of them after, but they are i there indeed . the inside of the door card also received some CLD damper to help with resonance:










and then the procedure was repeated on the passenger side:




























A pair of illusion C3CX point source went into the stock top of the dash location. here jesse fabricated an undermount bracket for them so the speaker can be mounted below the oem brackets, as there isnt muc clearance beneath the factory grille:




























these were then wired up and installed into the vehicle:



















as mentioned before, one of the goals for the build is to make the system totally invisible. so the amp, dsp, and passive xovers for the illusions were all installed under the passenger seat. the flat floor of the 4runner gave me flexiblity in locating them in a way that they are all but invisible from the outside:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

lets take a quick look at how that part was built.

first, two rivet nuts were installed into the floor of the vehicle to provide an anchoring point for the amp rack:










next, a board was built, with holes predrilled, wrapped in carpet, and bolted to the car:




























next, a single arc audio xdiv2 1100.5 (150x4 active upfront, 500 x1 for the sub), along with a mosconi 4to6dsp, and the two passive crossovers for the c3cx were secured to the board:










this was then wired up and organized:




























next comes a series of wiring pics showing the main bundle as it travels from the front of the car to the back, being that everything electronic wise is under the passenger seat, everything runs down that side. the RCA cables come from the centr console area directly into the the dsp, avoiding any close proximity with the power cables:














































so lets move onto the back. again, we wanted to keep the system completely invisible. Without a spare tire well to go into, this is what we ended up with. as you can see, it looks basically 100 percent stock.  if you are a 4runner owner yourself, you may noticed that the storage pocket on the passenger side rear quater panel has been replaced with just a flat piece of carpeted grille...but really, almost no one notices it.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

lets now take a quick break from the build and take a closer look at the Oncore SM10.

One thing Matt emphasized to me from the getgo that this sub, along with all of Oncore's products, are designed with the installer in mind. And being an installer himself, he addressed some of the pet peeves that we have with products, all the way down to the packaging.

so right off the bat, when you open the box, you immediately realize that the sub is bolted to a solid piece of wood. no flimpsy cardboard cutouts that can get loose, warped, or cracked from shipping. I have seen this done with other subs, but usually are of the very heavy gigantic variety...to see a manufacturer go to this step for a shallow relatively light weight driver is very refreshing:




























so by now, you have realized the sub looks very different. one cool thing is that the speaker come with an integrated grille, fully removable. while we wont be utilize the grille for our build, and usually prefers to build our own custom stealthy versions, this free grille is wonderful for situations where you want to have protection for your sub but dont have the time or expertise to build your own. it is very solid and is press fit in place very securely. if you think about what other manufacturers charge for optional grilles, it makes the SM10 an even better value. this really speaks to me as an install, as one of my biggest annoyances is subwoofer installs in the trunk without any protection 

pull the sub out and you realize this is a driver that doesnt look like anything else...a quick convo with matt confirmed that virtually every piece of the sub is proprietary, no Venezuela baskets here!  the entire speaker feels very solidly built, with a very high quality fit and finish througout. unlike some other subs, the SM10 looks good enough from both sides that you can choose to mount them upside down as part of a showcase build with no issues. 

another cool feature of the sub, from an installer standpoint, are the location of the speaker terminals. they are recessed on the inside of the basket spokes, so for one, they arent protruding to be caught on a enclosure opening, and the wires will be far less likely snag on the opening when installing. a very cool feature imo that may not seem like much, but matters to professional installers like myself 




























Pop off the grille and you are hit with the other unique feature of the SM10: the shape of the cone. I am not sure how to describe it, but a "half of a donut mold" is the best i can come up with. there is a disctinctive rounded over shape to the outside of the cone, dipping down into a convex dust cap. the last time i remember seeing a shape anything close to this in the car audio world was the relatively short lived Digital Designs midrange driver from a decade or so ago.

when i gave it the good ole "press and tap" test, the cone felt VERY VERY rigid, infact, this could be one of the most rigid cones i have ever felt on a sub, you cant really put down the bulging shape at all, the cone immediately by the way it sounded when you tapped it, told me it was no plastic or composite cone but a pure paper cone, which you dont see much anymore. a quick convo with matt revealed that it is infact a propritary NONE pressed paper cone, which is quite interesting...which gives it a very natural response yet this new cone doesnt suffer from the weight issues of traditional non pressed cones.

as for the odd shape of the cone, matt told me that it was required to allow for a lot of travel and a big motor, but still maintain a 4.5 inch mounting depth. looking at the side profile of the sub, you can sorta see that, the magnet is subtantial, with the spider located very close to the cone itself, any kind of traditional concave cone would have resulted in at least an additional inch to the overall sub depth, while having a flat piston has it own issues with added "coloration" to the sound.

another feature worth nothing, even though it doesnt show up in the pictures, is that like some of hte later subs designed by ID when Matt and Eric were still around, the SM10 features a tall, rather than fat, surround for excursion, allowing for more cone area. this is kinda like the IDMAX in that sense.



















now for me personally, i have never been too enamored with technical specs or "revolutionary" design, for me, all that it matters is if it performs or not. so while all this will be undoubtedly fascinating to many of you, for me, its just a nice looking sub with an interesting cone  We will get to how it performances a little later.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

back on point to the build. so here is how it all went down to maintain a completely stealth look.
first, we removed the factory panel, showing us a big cavity inside. i went in and completely sound proofed the area with STFU damper:










then jesse fired up the saw and router and built a sealed enclosure of just below .5 cubic foot via the stack fab method and a fiberglass back. the mounting baffle of the sub has circles cut out of it to reduce weight, as the outter baffle is what ultimately seals the box:























































i then went and carpeted the box, installed the sub and wired it up:





































then, jesse installed a series of rivet nuts at key locations in the metal frame of the car, and bolted the enclosure in place:




























and then after removing the plastic welded stock storage pocket, jesse fabricated a precise grille that press fits into the opening, and carpeted it




























this was then secured to the opening via staples and it thus formed the new grille:



















so that is it for the build pics...lets get on with the listening review.

As with almost every car we have done featuring the C3CX, the result is awesome. for a single amp, stock location, totally hidden build, it sounds really really good. the stage is pillar to pillar, with a VERY good center image and the height is about 6 inches off the dash and at the edge of the windshield. the entire system is very airy sounding and balanced. basically we get a 3 way sound, but with only a two way active processing and power scheme. the midbass is nice and punchy with very little distoriton, and the c3cx, taking over from 350hz or so, provides a very good and natural midrange and highs. never sharp, but always in control and balanced.

but lets focus on the SM10, as this is, afterall a quick review of the product.

so before i powered on the system, i had my resevations about just how well a shallow 10 in such a BIG interior will perform. especially one in a slightly undersized box on nominal power.

but almost immediately, i realized that this sub is really really good. for one, with almost no tuning on it, it blended seamlessly with the music, going from 80hz down. 

In hotel california, when the big drum notes hit at the intro, it completely sounded like they were coming from the front midbasses....i slowly started turning up the remote bass knob to see when i can localize the sub, and honestly, this sub was so composed that i felt it got to be much louder than other cars we have done before i can distinctively say, ah the sub is in the back.

on fast hitting drum tracks, it again showed no delay with awesome transient response, the bass note always appeared to be a single note, no matter what, Madonna's "holiday" really pounded your chest at the beginning with the snappy drum hits. 

i then tried some material that featured a good bass guitar, and agian, the SM10 was able to produce all of the notes seamlessly without any kind of audible coloration. 

finally, i put in some dubstep to test its low freq extension, and while you can tell this is no two ported 12s off 2000 watts, it did an admirable job of filling the big cabin with sub sonic frequencies...giving the rear view mirror a bit of a shaking. 

i continued to listen to the system for quite a while after tuning, and honestly, i couldnt find any major fault with the sub no matter what type of music i threw at it. judging by what it was doing at the upper limits of volume setting, i get the impression that this sub, especially in this size of a box, can easily handle a good 2-300 watts rms. at no point was i even close to a feeling of distortion of mechanical bottoming out, i am pretty sure the 500 watt mono channel of the arc will clip hard before the sub is in any danger of bottoming out. so very good job there.

here is the front seat frequency response of the sub, with very minimal tweaking (1.5 db down at 50hz with Q of 3)...80hz low pass at 24 db LR. very very good.










So for me, i would recommend this subwoofer in a heart beat, infact, one of the cars i have at the shop have already made the switch to the SM10. 

If i were to nitpick the downsides of the sub, i would say they are:

1. it isnt the cheapest sub out there, carrying a retail price of $579 dollars. and it isnt the shallowest sub out there, at 4.5". however, for me, once you can go below 5" in mounting depth AND have it not suffer much output and sound quality, you have a winner. i would easily say, this sub is pretty comparably in output as the old IDQ10 V3 that i ran myself for many years, but this sub to me, sounds better, more transparent and "dry" and have better low freq extension when used in a slightly undersized box off similar wattage.

2. the Speaker wire terminals, while in a great spot, to me, could be a big bigger. if you are using raw wire, then id say 14 guage limit is probably the limit you can insert into them without having a lot of frayed ends. 12 ga would be very difficult and likely require ferrules. even getting the 14 into it took a little patience. so for me, id like to see slightly bigger termainals.

3. like the IDQ10, this is a slightly oversized 10", the benefit of course, is the increased cone area, making this thing almost like an 11"...but if you are space limited and just going off measurements, make sure you realize that this thing is about an 3/4 to an inch bigger in overall and mounting diameter than many of the more traditional 10" subs. we infact, had a lot of space limitations, and there was no doubt that a standard sized 10 would have made for a slightly easier built, but jesse was able to figure it out no problem.

so aside from those three things, its hard for me to find anything wrong with it. and infact, i will prove it to you.

i just picked up a new car and will do a new demo system in it, and while i have a choice of virtually every we sell, i am leaning very heavily towards using the Oncore SM series of subs in it. and that to me, is more reflective of what i believe more than any words or pictures 

for more info on the sub and other Oncore offerings: https://www.oncore.audio/

They definitely took their time in coming to market with this brand, but if the SM10 is any indication, it will be a worthy "Oncore" performance 

Cheers,

Bing


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## gregerst22 (Dec 18, 2012)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Nice build and nice review of the Oncore sub. Sounds like they have a good product on their hands.


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## BlueAc (May 19, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Nice build as usual. And new car is an understatement, I saw on FB... Jealous!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## lowcel (Dec 28, 2014)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Nice build and thank you for the review on the OnCore SM10. I have two of the SM12's ordered for my 4Runner to replace the three JL 12's that I used last season. I can't wait to get them installed.


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Very nice. Everything you guys touch turns into a work of art.


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## SPAZ (Jan 7, 2009)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Excellent work, and thanks for the Oncore sub review!


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Top notch like always...ONCORE,ONCORE!


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

is this build still around, I'd absolutely love to hear this!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*Re: &quot;ONCORE&quot; Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

He's local. But a really busy guy. The car is coming back next Monday for a dash cam install. Only issue if you can make it to the shop.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Holy **** I've been around a long time... We were both in college when started this.... ECA was the shiznit. I've met so many people in car audio from there including Matt and Eric


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Yall remember SoundDomain store/forum site?


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## cmusic (Nov 16, 2006)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*



Mic10is said:


> Holy **** I've been around a long time... We were both in college when started this.... ECA was the shiznit. I've met so many people in car audio from there including Matt and Eric


Mic, I can remember your novice year in IASCA. By that time I had already been in car audio about 10 years. My first system was in 1990.

Back on topic, great install Bing! Looks like Oncore has a pretty good lineup of products.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*



cmusic said:


> Mic, I can remember your novice year in IASCA. By that time I had already been in car audio about 10 years. My first system was in 1990.
> 
> Back on topic, great install Bing! Looks like Oncore has a pretty good lineup of products.


Yep I know Chuck, you're a dinosaur.  I think you still had the Beretta.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

That sub is sexay! Looked at the new site and hmm.. amps coming out. Interesting!


Beautifully simple and elegant build as usual Bing. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## BBOYSTEVIE (May 2, 2005)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Beautiful install as always!
Mic introduced me to real SQ, Image Dynamics, and real thought behind installation as well, a long time ago. Because of him, I don't like seeing speakers while listening to cars.

What's up with those midrange undermount brackets? That's nothing a DIY'er with mediocre skills could ever accomplish is it?
Also, are you separating the front from the back of those illusion mid/tweets? Running them sealed, IB? Aperiodic?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*



BBOYSTEVIE said:


> Beautiful install as always!
> Mic introduced me to real SQ, Image Dynamics, and real thought behind installation as well, a long time ago. Because of him, I don't like seeing speakers while listening to cars.
> 
> What's up with those midrange undermount brackets? That's nothing a DIY'er with mediocre skills could ever accomplish is it?
> Also, are you separating the front from the back of those illusion mid/tweets? Running them sealed, IB? Aperiodic?


if they over mount they have a good tendency to hit the grille. 

no its just like that, i dont run them that low and on the rta and stuff, there isnt much difference, i cant full seal it or the stock grilles dont wanna fit back in place. but do what you think is right on yours 

b


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*



BBOYSTEVIE said:


> Beautiful install as always!
> Mic introduced me to real SQ, Image Dynamics, and real thought behind installation as well, a long time ago. Because of him, I don't like seeing speakers while listening to cars.
> 
> What's up with those midrange undermount brackets? That's nothing a DIY'er with mediocre skills could ever accomplish is it?
> Also, are you separating the front from the back of those illusion mid/tweets? Running them sealed, IB? Aperiodic?





simplicityinsound said:


> if they over mount they have a good tendency to hit the grille.
> 
> no its just like that, i dont run them that low and on the rta and stuff, there isnt much difference, i cant full seal it or the stock grilles dont wanna fit back in place. but do what you think is right on yours
> 
> b


Hopefully this isn't too much of a thread jack...

When I installed my C3s in a similar fashion behind the OE grills on my first gen xB I made a mild attempt of separating the front and back waves. It looks like I had a little more space to work with before hitting the grill than Bing/Jesse did on the 4Runner. I made a simple double baffle (top layer matched the dash opening, bottom layer a simple ring for the driver) and then used some open cell foam around the grill. Closed cell would have been a better choice.


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## Velozity (Jul 6, 2007)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Nice review, Bing. Thanks! I just received my SM-10 recently and will be replacing the IDQ10v.2 in my Sequoia this weekend. Can't wait to get it in.


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Wow! Great job Bing. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I'm supposed to be picking up a 2017 4runner TRD Pro any week now, and this is the install that I hope to model mine after. Thanks for the inspiration.


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## Hoye0017 (Mar 23, 2010)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

I was just reading your whole OP and came across that blast from the past: elitecaraudio. I remember being active on there. What ever happened to that forum?


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Does anyone know which dash kit was used here? It looks nice and clean!


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## lowcel (Dec 28, 2014)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*



mrichard89 said:


> Does anyone know which dash kit was used here? It looks nice and clean!


Looks like the regular Metra kit.
Metra Part # 99-8227S | Toyota 4-Runner Dash kit | Metra Online


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*



lowcel said:


> Looks like the regular Metra kit.
> Metra Part # 99-8227S | Toyota 4-Runner Dash kit | Metra Online


Gotcha. Thanks!


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Great install as always! I took a couple years off from doing much car audio stuff, but am back here now since I'm looking at getting a '17 4runner soon. Couple of questions about the 4runner if you don't mind...

1) Are we pretty much limited to a 3" in the dash? Carbon 4 would not have fit? And then, it looks like you could have run an 8" midbass in the door if you had wanted. True?

2) Do you know where one might interface with the OEM HU for signal wires to a processor? Would it have to be behind the dash or is there a stock amp/dsp somewhere that can be tapped into?

3) Any thoughts on the thickness of stock speaker wire? I am hoping to use stock wire for the dash speakers and rear door speakers, with thicker stuff for some 8" front door midbasses.

Thanks again!


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

I was finally able to pick up my 2017 4runner TRD Pro, and plan to do a very similar install after seeing this. My plan is to use a set of c3cx's in the dash and c8's in the doors. Out of curiousity, How deep was the enclosure itself? I am looking at installing a c10xl in a similar fashion, but am not sure if the top mount depth would allow me to do so. I wish you were closer, Bing! Thanks for your help!


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## spread5150 (Apr 30, 2017)

*Re: "ONCORE" Performance - 17 4Runner - Illusion, Arc, Mosconi, and SM-10 Review*

Love the build ! I have the same ride. Any issues with the vents under the seat. Don't know how I feel about hot air in the winder blowing on my amps/dsp


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