# 2014 Tacoma Double Cab Simple SQ build - Focal, Arc, Mosconi, Illusion



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Been working hard for the past few weeks and got two more projects done. The first was brand new 2014 Toyota tacoma double cab, when we got it, despite it being only a few months old, it was already well on its way to become a tastefully customized truck. A big focus was on adding a two way paging top of the line compustar two way paging alarm system with remote tracking, but it also received a nice audio upgrade at the same time.

the goals:

1. achieve a decent level of sq while retaining the stock JBL headunit (for now)
2. maintain a low key and hidden install behind the back seats and throughout the interior.

lets get started with the under hood portion. here you see two metal brackets by Joey, the first houses the hood pin switch for the alarm, and the other securely mounts the stinger fuse block:










here they are during construction:














































while we will not be showing most of the alarm components due to obvious reasons. here is one cool part that has become the norm for us. Joey hiding the alarm antenna and led light inside the oem rear view mirror 




























moving onto the signal source. the truck came with the optional jbl system and the navigation headunit, so the decision was made to retain it for now. we added the Mosconi AMAS high resolution bluetooth streaming device to the car, which also means that we had to locate the mosconi RCD dsp controller somewhere. so joey relocated some switch panels and made a front bezel and mounted the controller at the lower portion of the center stack:




























here are two quick pics of that build, the controller was completely taken apart, and the guts removed, the front fascia was fabricated out of black acrylic, with the mounting hard points attached to it, and the circuit board was bolted in place behind the dash panel:



















for front stage we went with a set of the newly release focal FLAX components, the 165FX. the midbass was installed int he stock location in the lower doors. first, new speaker wires were run intot he doors, and outer door panels received some black hole tile composite material:










the inner door panel recieved some STP foam and CLD damper around the speaker mounting:










i then fabricated these spacer baffles that matches the oem speaker's basket precisely, and coated them with several layers of truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:



















the baffle was then bolted to the door:










and then i forgot to take pics of the speaker mounted on the driver side 

but of course the same procedure was repeated on the passenger side, this time showing the speaker mounted haha





































the outter door skin also received some CLD coverage to help with resonance:



















the tweeters in the mean time, were molded into the oem a pillars, aimed about 60 degress off axis, a few inches infront of the opposite listener, the pillars were then rewrapped in grey vinyl:























































here are a few construction pics of the pillars.

first, ring were aimed and attached to the stock pillars after some rough sanding to aid adhesion:










and then mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allowed to cure, and then reinforced from the inside via a filler/resin mixture:










once that cured, filler went on and the two pods were sanded smooth and blended in:



















then, the two pillars were wrapped in vinyl, the tweeters wired up and installed, and ready to go back into the truck:



















next comes the wiring pics, mainly of the driver side, that houses all the signal and speaker wires, as the bundle travels from the front of the car to the back, ziptied and secured every few inches or less:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

moving onto the main attraction of the build. when you flip the back seats down, here is what you see. a enclosure housing a single illusion audio carbon C10 and an amp rack with a arc audio xdi1200.6 6 channel amp have been integrated into the oem plastic housing. both are trimmed in light grey vinyl, with the amp stopped just short of the baby seat anchor on that side so it is still functional. 

the illusion sub allows us to get a nice amount of output in a very tight space, while the little arc power houses is able to power the front components with 4x150 watts and the sub with 600 watts in a very small footprint:




































































































lets take a closer look at how the relatively simple looking structure came together.

the first thing joey did was to reposition the oem JBL amp so it took up less room, here is the bracket that joey came up with to tuck it further back into the channel on the back wall:



















here is that bracket attached to the stock amp:










after rivetnuts were placed, here is the stock amp bolted in place, and signals tapped:



























here is joeys frame work for the back of the enclosure, room was left around the amp and fiberglass was laid over it to form that part of the back wall:














































then the front portion of the enclosure was built, and the two parts secured together to form the enclosure:










the front trim piece was then constructed and secured to the enclosure:




























the enclosure was then vinyled and ready to go back into the truck:



















with the inside of the enclosure wired up and stuffed with blackhole stuff:



















here is the trim panel for the amp, before and after vinyl. the outter cover for the arc 1200.6 amp is secured to this piece, so after tuning, the entire cover is press fit and secured via the mounting screws for the amp cover:





































a metal amp rack was made to secure the amp behind the trim piece, is it is in place, after the mosconi 6to8v8 dsp has already been wired up and secured beneath it:










and finally, here is the arc amp fully wired up:










overall, a pretty simple and space saving project. the summing of the mosconi dsp worked well to obtain a decent signal from the jbl amp. overall staging and imaging is pretty good with good balance in tonality and sub output. the c10 works well again in the limited confines and the flax speakers once again proves that its a very balanced package. the 1200.6 also continues to give us a nice amp that can run a fully active two way system and sub with authority 

cheers,

Bing


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## 60ndown (Feb 8, 2007)

i hope you love what you do, the work you do is amazing and im guessing there is only going to be a lot more coming your way (id have liked the seat back perforated in front of the sub just to let a little more bass out ) yea yea omni directional butt


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## veloze (Jul 2, 2007)

Great job Bing!! You're always masterful!!? Tell the owner of the Taco to come down & bring the truck for the meet next weekend. I just like to know how does it sound?


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Wow, another nice install. Any reason why the sub is pushed right to the bottom of the box?


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## mrmill (Feb 11, 2013)

Very clean install. I like how the flat load floor is still useful if the owner needed too....awesome use of limited space. 


Sent from under your mom's bed


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## tnaudio (Mar 4, 2012)

My favorite type of install! Lots of fabrication to make it look like OEM. Great job here

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk


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## pickup1 (May 6, 2008)

Man I love yalls work!!!I'd like to get a new Tacoma, this would be perfect!!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

ccapil said:


> Wow, another nice install. Any reason why the sub is pushed right to the bottom of the box?


Joey can confirm but i am pretty sure thats as far as it can go up to clear the back wall and the seat, keeping mind above that, the seat tapers and the stock amp still does take up a bit of room.


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## SWINE (Aug 29, 2008)

Incredible install!


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

simplicityinsound said:


> Joey can confirm but i am pretty sure thats as far as it can go up to clear the back wall and the seat, keeping mind above that, the seat tapers and the stock amp still does take up a bit of room.


confirmed


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## colled96 (Feb 2, 2010)

Impressive as always.....Nice and clean.


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## JoeHemi57 (Mar 28, 2006)

How are you guys liked the XDi V2 amps? I have seen a couple of these 6 channels being used without seperate DSP and seems like people are happy. I don't see a 4to6 or 6to8 here and have been away for a bit so is this something else?


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## AzzurriAudioworks (Dec 28, 2011)

Very nice work on the sub enclosure guys. I know space is at a premium back there on those double cabs, especially when you leave that rear panel in place. Me likey!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

JoeHemi57 said:


> How are you guys liked the XDi V2 amps? I have seen a couple of these 6 channels being used without seperate DSP and seems like people are happy. I don't see a 4to6 or 6to8 here and have been away for a bit so is this something else?


we have used them on three occasions so far, really enjoy them each and every time 

cant wait until the full line up becomes available.

Bing


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## The Dude (Mar 24, 2007)

Beautiful install. Do you get any buzzing/vibration when the back seat is folded up?


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## Black Rain (Feb 27, 2011)

Another one bites the dust... One more awesome build. Love the sub box.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

The truck was very quiet. I was initially a little concerned because the back of the seat is solid plastic, but it didn't seem to have any negative audible affects...





The Dude said:


> Beautiful install. Do you get any buzzing/vibration when the back seat is folded up?


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## The Dude (Mar 24, 2007)

Good deal, thanks.


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## HertzGuy (Jan 23, 2010)

Bing, looks like you have a shop now!?! Its been a few years since on been on here. Got my VW all squared away but now i have a few new cars to work on, so I'm back! 
Its great to see your doing well and business looks like it is still booming! I wished I lived in San Jo still (and had the money) so you could do a build for me!! Your stuff always looks Amazing!! Always!

Anyway, question - why Did you leave the factory amp in? That arc is powering the Door speakers, isn't it?? What function does it provide?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

HertzGuy said:


> Bing, looks like you have a shop now!?! Its been a few years since on been on here. Got my VW all squared away but now i have a few new cars to work on, so I'm back!
> Its great to see your doing well and business looks like it is still booming! I wished I lived in San Jo still (and had the money) so you could do a build for me!! Your stuff always looks Amazing!! Always!
> 
> Anyway, question - why Did you leave the factory amp in? That arc is powering the Door speakers, isn't it?? What function does it provide?


hey hey hey...yup real shop 

the stock jbl headunit sends a fixed level signal to the stock headunit, if we taped it there the customer would loose all oem volume control over the system, so the decision was made to tap after the stock amp 

b


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## ike3000 (Mar 28, 2008)

Nice work. Did you experiment with other tweeter locations before arriving at the pillars? I have the same truck with my HAT L1 Pro R2's mounted in a very similar location and aiming. I'm contemplating moving them to the sails to help with width...curious to know if you did any experimenting.


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

I experimented with kicks, stock location, the sail panels, and finally settled on the pillars (though not shown in this http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...stall-gallery/21694-08-tacoma-double-cab.html thread). I found minor differences in stage width between the sails and a-pillars (though the pillars were better IMO), but the depth was better significantly better in the pillars as was my height and center image. My guess was the steering wheel as well as shorter PLD in the sail were causing the issues...


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## ike3000 (Mar 28, 2008)

good to know. i was hesitant about the sails because of the potential steering wheel obstruction. i don't want to go wrecking my sails test mounting if i know there will be some issues. 

i'm going to experiment with aiming on the pillars to see if i can open her up! i have several yards of factory matched vinyl that i have yet to use.


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## quietfly (Mar 23, 2011)

fantastic work!!! as usual!!!


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## ZMan2k2 (Mar 11, 2014)

I have to ask a question, as I have an '06 Tacoma. These brackets:








were they made to push the mid closer to the door card for better mid performance? I'm having trouble with the mid and midbass of my truck, looking for a way to improve it. Right now I have flat baffles, so the mid is spaced back from the door card, and you moved it closer. Why is that?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

ZMan2k2 said:


> I have to ask a question, as I have an '06 Tacoma. These brackets:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


in this particular case, that is basically the spacer we needed to ensure that the door speaker clears the window. moving it closer to the grille can help as well...also look into F.A.S.T rings from sound connection. 

Bing


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## ZMan2k2 (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks Bing. I've got the F.A.S.T. rings coming in the mail, but I may cut the spacers as an added help. I've got a big sheet of .75" MDF not doing anything in the garage, so I may as well make some use out of it. Appreciate the fast response.


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## Tweeky (Mar 31, 2011)

Awesome, I have an '08 and I must say, that structure behind the rear seats is absolutely beautiful!

Great work.


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## pcabinatan (Sep 9, 2009)

how much airspace did you get with that enclosure??


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## cadatonic (Sep 23, 2014)

Been reading your post. Awesome build. Just got a 2015 Tacoma and the stock stereo leaves a lot to be desired. I didn't get the JBL system. I cant find any info on speaker size. Are the front door 5x7 or 6x8? The rear door speakers seem to be 6.5. I am going to swap out speakers. get a Jl Stealth, Kicker 5ch amp, and a pioneer NEX hu. I have two older audiobahn amps but want to go with just one amp for everything. Gonna bookmark this post...


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## What? (Jun 5, 2008)

The front speakers are probably 6x9's that are spaced out from the door by design. You can make baffles or use the Metra 82-8146 6x9 adapter or Metra 82-8147 for 16cm or 17cm (6.5") speakers.
Metra also makes a 16cm-17cm adapter plate for the rear 82-8148.


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## 700whpfocus (May 10, 2010)

iT LOOKS GREAT. I HAVE A 2014 TUNDRA SR5 DOUBLE CAB. I JUST ORDERED THE SAME FLAX SPEAKERS. I WAS WONDERING HOW MUCH WOULD U CHARGE TO MAKE THE ADAPTORS FOR THE 6X9 TO 6 3/4?


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## Yagermj (Nov 25, 2014)

Amazing as always .


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## iasca judge (Jan 5, 2010)

Being a truck guy, this is one of my favorite builds


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