The OEM sound system in 2011 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab was not sufficient for my tastes. Note: this was the standard OEM sound system, not the JBL upgrade. My first modification was replacement of the stock head unit with a double din Kenwood Excelon DNX9960 all-in-one navigation/entertainment system. This modification alone with the stock speakers still in place greatly improved the sound quality in my truck. For all the details see my review and installation write-up on the Kenwood Excelon DNX9960.

Once the new head unit was in place, the greatest thing lacking was bass. The head unit alone through the stock speakers provides very little bass. Now, I am not the type that needs everyone in a three-block radius to hear my music as I drive by. On the other hand, the whole low end of most music goes unheard without some sort of sub-woofer included in a sound system. This kicked off my search for a space concious bass solution for the 2011 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab.

The Toyota Tacoma with the JBL upgraded sound system has a sub-woofer that goes behind the back seat. I found a few of these used for around $400.

Pros:

- Built for Tacoma Double Cab 2005-2012

- Takes up less space than any other behind the seat bass solution

- Includes amp in enclosure

Cons:

- Takes up valuable gear space behind the seat

- Compatibility issues may exist when pairing amp with aftermarket head units

- Toyota wiring harness required

- Relatively low output compared with aftermarket solutions

Rockford Fosgate's innovative IBEAM 250W Tactile Transducer IB-200 is small enough to fit under the passenger side seat of the Toyota Tacoma at around $450.   Pros: - No usable space is lost - Percieved sound quality of high end 12" sub-woofer enclosure - Reduced noise pollution   Cons: - No amp included in enclosure

I gave this modification a three-month test drive before I wrote up this review. As I fine-tuned the device and tried it with a variety of music, I became more and more impressed. The Rockford Fosgate IBEAM IB-200 250W Tactile Transducer provides all the bass I could ever want in my Toyota Tacoma. It is unbelievably small, allowing for the under-the-seat, no-useful-space-lost installation I desired. For vehicles like the Tacoma where space is at a premium, I submit that nothing else on the market beats the IB-200.

The IBEAM does require an amplifier.  I went with a Rockford Fosgate Prime 250 Watt Mono Amplifier. It provides just the right amount of power for the IBEAM and nothing more. It is a little on the large side at: 2.40” x 7.67” x 11.54” it is more than 3 ½ times larger than the IBEAM. Still, it fits just fine under the driver’s side seat of my Tacoma.

The Toyota Tacoma has heater vents on the floor under both front seats. This was a major consideration in mounting both the amp and the IBEAM for this modification. It was important to me to ensure that these vents where not blocked, both to ensure floor heat is available to my passengers and to avoid overheating of the devices. For the amp on the driver's side, we took care of this by elevating the back end of the amp on a piece of chrome trim. The IBEAM on the passenger side was small enough to sit over an inch behind the vent.

The Toyota Tacoma has a stabalizing bar under the passenger side front seat. It hangs low enough that even the IBEAM's slim H 2.00" x W 4.25" x D 6.875" profile was not cleared by it. We found that it is possible to loosen the bolts on this bar and rotate it enough to clear the IBEAM.

{"http:\/\/www.reachhighdesign.com\/toyota\/rockford-fosgate-ibeam-review.html":{"comments":{"data":[{"id":"10150506827557094_20722227","from":{"name":"Aubrey Dustin","id":"100000341175798"},"message":"I just published this new article. Pretty cool stuff. Check it out!","created_time":"2011-12-27T10:10:16+0000"},{"id":"10150506827557094_20891556","from":{"name":"Mike A Smith","id":"1283417052"},"message":"Have 07 DD w\/ stock system.  Bought the JBL sub\/amp for 50 on C.list. Bought Kenwood Excelon stem and some 2 way speaker for front and rear. Have two 200w 2 channel amps for the front and rears.Want to use that JBL sub\/amp. Personaly I don't require strong bass. Do you know how I can get the that harness w\/out going thru dealer?  thx, Mike","created_time":"2012-01-05T23:43:30+0000"}],"paging":{"next":"https:\/\/graph.facebook.com\/comments?ids=http\u00253A\u00252F\u00252Fwww.reachhighdesign.com\u00252Ftoyota\u00252Frockford-fosgate-ibeam-review.html&limit=25&offset=25&__after_id=10150506827557094_20891556"}}}}