2020 RAM Laramie 4WD Audio System Build w/ 12" Display and JL Audio Stealthbox

[INVISBLE]

Yep well after reading all of this and from other threads I have come to the conclusion that for the money and effort involved, there is nothing wrong with my stock HK system and will be leaving it alone. It was well designed, sounds good for stock and plus I have no desire to throw out stuff I spent good money on already.

 

[Sonnie]

Stock wiring or fresh runs? Any lessons learned with grommet etc?

BEAUTIFUL components btw.

Thanks... I hope they sound as good as they cost.

I am running from my amp in the back to the factory speaker wires at the amp under the seat. Fighting with running thru the kick panel and door grommet is not worth it in my opinion, and I can assure you that I'll never notice a difference one way or another. There are only 8 wires to cut on the center connector that run to the front doors and dash. I left the other two wires connected and after crimping off the cut ends, I inserted the plug back into the amp.

Another note on the ANC... I am now running nothing more than my rear door speakers, and I am hearing the engine growl at take off. It's not that bad, and it goes away after getting up to speed, but I can tell that I am losing some of the ANC benefits. This won't bother most people, although I have mixed emotions about it. Hopefully it will be less noticeable once I get everything else connected and more music noise coming from the front speakers.

 

[Sonnie]

If anyone is interested in tuning their system with the miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL unit, I have created a step by step guide on setting it up and using it. It is incredible how good it can make a system sound, but of course it's for the guys who really want to get serious with aftermarket audio... it's not for everyone.

miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL Tuning Step by Step Guide

I created a thread back in August 2019 on tuning my 2019 RAM with the miniDSP C-DSP with DL, but several things have changed since then, and I decided I'd do another write-up on how I've tuned my 2020 RAM truck. Disclaimer: This not chiseled in stone by any means, and it's not necessarily how...

www.avnirvana.com

 

[Sonnie]

Finally got a pic of the 6-channel amp and miniDSP install, seats now back in and all is running smooth. It sound phenomenal.

Very tight area to work with, but I managed it. This is where the factory subwoofer was located... all covered up by the rear panel, hence no reason to make it look like a fashion show.

 

[Sonnie]

Ordered up a higher capacity battery as an added precaution, and to help with the parking mode on the dash cam that I ordered as well (it will give it more recording time). I've had several of these type batteries over the years, Kinetic (who only make caps now), XS Power and Optima. This time I went with Northstar, as it seems to have the biggest bang for the buck and the best warranty at 4 years.

• Pure lead AGM technology delivers exceptional CCA ratings and reserve capacity cycling ability
• Quick starting every time
• Cycles over 900 times at 50% depth of discharge
• Faster recharge than conventional batteries
• Proudly made in the USA at our state-of-the-art battery plant
• OEM fit is ensured - built to exact BCI standards
• Housed in advanced plastics for durability performance and heat resistance
• Advanced AGM construction means no water levels to check or terminals to clean

 

[PorBoy]

^^^. Nice, care to share where you’ve ordered it from ? I’m sure folks like me would love that added protection as I don’t want to be caught shirt cranking wise lol.

 

[Sonnie]

^^^. Nice, care to share where you’ve ordered it from ? I’m sure folks like me would love that added protection as I don’t want to be caught shirt cranking wise lol.

Absolutely... gpcaraudio.com ... they were about the only place I could find that did not charge tax, although I did not look too terribly far. Seems like most everyone else was around $10 more too, plus tax.

 

[Sonnie]

ANC thinking... if you are reading this... hang with me for a minute, then help me think this through. So the ANC is part of the amp in the HK and Alpine systems. It is feed by the mic inputs into the amp, processed and sent thru the speaker output wires to the speaker. I don't understand how they can send both the audio signal from the radio and the processed ANC signal to the same speaker and make it work, but somehow they do it. The radio volume (the signal sent into the amp from the radio) has no affect on the ANC output. The radio can be off, but the ANC continues to work and cancel noise. If we disconnect the mic inputs (as with the ANC bypass harness), it eliminates the ANC. So... if I clip the radio wire for a speaker going into the amp, but leave the speaker connected coming out of the amp, the ANC should continue to work, because the mic inputs are still connected.

Here is what I am thinking I can do to get my ANC back. I am not using the outputs from the amp to the front door speakers, which seem to have the most ANC affect on the the noise. Specifically the engine noise I hear at take off and getting up to full speed. It's not terrible, but I notice it, and I never did before. I wonder if I take the output from the amp that normally runs to those front door speakers and connect those to the rear door speakers, but then cut the front door speaker inputs from the radio, if that will give me my front door ANC back and working as it should. I don't use the rear speakers... faded full front, so they are basically free to use. I'm not sure the location of the speaker will produce the same ANC affect, but they are about equidistant to my ears, so theoretically it should work. I might connect the upper door speakers back, but cut the feed for them as well, or actually, that may be the same feed as the front door 6x9 feed, so it may just be a matter of connecting the speakers back up. I don't think they are used in the ANC, but they may be and it could be subtle and a combination of speakers that make the ANC work better. The upper door speakers can't be doing much with the engine, as they can't play below 300Hz ... and most of that engine noise is going to be lower than 300Hz... probably in the 80-120Hz range, which the door speakers would handle. Another thought is mounting some 5" or 6" speakers in the kick panels just for ANC... that might work as well.

I dunno... trying to figure out a way to make it work. It would be nice to have a reverse wiring of the ANC harness... eliminate the radio to amp signal instead of eliminating the mic signal. I might have to re-rig the ANC harness.

I think I'll get the front door factory 6x9 speakers out and connect those and lay them in the front floor board and see what happens. I guess I could build a small box for those, or have someone fiberglass some sort of mold for them into the side of the console... or on the floor firing up right in front of each front seat.

Radio to amp wires that carry signal... none of which I need.



Any thoughts from anyone?

 

[Seadweller23]

If anyone is interested in tuning their system with the miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL unit, I have created a step by step guide on setting it up and using it. It is incredible how good it can make a system sound, but of course it's for the guys who really want to get serious with aftermarket audio... it's not for everyone.

miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL Tuning Step by Step Guide

I created a thread back in August 2019 on tuning my 2019 RAM with the miniDSP C-DSP with DL, but several things have changed since then, and I decided I'd do another write-up on how I've tuned my 2020 RAM truck. Disclaimer: This not chiseled in stone by any means, and it's not necessarily how...

www.avnirvana.com

Sonnie, Thanks, I appreciate all that you have posted. Good stuff.

 

[Sonnie]

Sonnie, Thanks, I appreciate all that you have posted. Good stuff.

Very glad to help... and I've learned a lot here as well. Great forum!

So... it appears the reverse engineering and connecting the front factory speakers back up works for engaging the ANC again.

Here is what I did... the ANC harness normally removes the mic input to the amp and leaves the speaker inputs thereby disengaging the ANC. I took the 8 pins that normally feed the front door and dash speakers, removed those pins and reinserted them where the mic inputs normally go on both connectors. In the image below you can see I moved the 8 green slots over to the yellow slots. There is nothing in the one red slot that is empty, and I left the pink wires, as those are also part of the ANC. It does not matter what color the wires are here... the key is matching them up from connector to connector.



So now when I plug in the harness, I keep the mics and disconnect the 4 aforementioned speaker inputs from the radio. So they can still send ANC signals to the speakers. The rear speakers are connected as usual, and I took the factory speakers that I had previously removed from the door and connected those to the small center connector that plugs into the amp between the two larger connectors, which contains the same 4 speaker outputs... thus reconnecting the front door speakers. I had cut those wires to tap into the speaker leads that go to the doors for my aftermarket speakers, so the speaker output leads to the front door coming out of the amp were not used any longer. I simply connected those back up. They do not play any music, but they do work for the ANC.



At the moment I have the factory speakers sitting in the corner at the front of each seat near the center console. I am going to experiment with smaller speakers to see what will work and just how small I can go, then figure out where/how to mount them. Maybe some shallow mount 6" speakers are something to consider. I've seen several that were rated similar to the factory speakers and only 1.75" mounting depth, which is pretty shallow. The factory speakers are not in my way, but they obviously don't look good where they are, and they are not permanently mounted.

There is potential with this solution, but I need to dress it up.

 

[Sonnie]

ANC UPDATE!

My wife and I made about an hour round trip last night to eat out and I was noticing more engine noise than what I am use to hearing. Keep in mind, I'm paying a lot more attention to noises than I should be. Thought maybe I had the polarity wrong on the front speakers. So I swapped the polarity on both this morning and drove in to the shop. Same pronounced noise. Got home and decided to do some testing. Disconnected the front speakers again, but still hearing the noise (it's probably been there the entire time and I'm just more focused on it). I know the ANC was working thru the front speakers because I could feel them vibrate in varying amounts depending on the engine noise. I decided to check the rear door speakers to make sure they were working... removing the door panel and taking off around the farm with arm reaching back and my hand on the rear door speaker... I could feel it move in varying amounts as well. It's wired from the factory... no changes, so I know the polarity is correct on it. I disconnected the ANC... took off and the noise is gone. Huh? Plugged it back up... noise returns. Ugghhh! The vehicle is actually quieter without the ANC than it is with it. So I reversed the pins in the ANC bypass harness back to the original positions and now the ANC is bypassed.

I really don't know what's happening, as the ANC worked fine and as it should when I first got the vehicle. The mics pic up the noise and supposedly send out sound waves to cancel the noise, thus it does not seem logical that changing the character of the vehicle (treatments) should be making difference in how it reacts, although it may be. I guess it's possible that the vehicle is quieter from the treatments and that is the reason it is quieter without the ANC than it is with it now. The only other thing I can think of at the moment is the location of the front speakers not being in the doors (lying on the floor firing up temporarily)... perhaps they have it engineered to work best at canceling noises from the door position, but then I'd think the rear doors would at least help with the noise, yet they don't... they make the noise. It's obviously something I've done to the truck to make it change like this. Don't get me wrong... the truck is still stupid quiet, but I'm still left scratching my head.

 

[DevilDogge]

Sonnie, I gotta say, this thread really gave great info. I had to register to the forum just to say thank you.

I've been searching for what I need to just add an aftermarket monoblock amp with 2 10" subs to my factory HK stereo in my 2019 2500 CTD, and came across it. It's no longer like the good ol' days of car audio when it was easy... all of this digital processing and ANC stuff has me scratching my head. Anyhow, I'll continue to search, unless someone has a recipe for success for only adding a 1 channel amp to power some aftermarket subs with this HK stereo.

 

[Ellisstrong]

Sonnie, I gotta say, this thread really gave great info. I had to register to the forum just to say thank you.

I've been searching for what I need to just add an aftermarket monoblock amp with 2 10" subs to my factory HK stereo in my 2019 2500 CTD, and came across it. It's no longer like the good ol' days of car audio when it was easy... all of this digital processing and ANC stuff has me scratching my head. Anyhow, I'll continue to search, unless someone has a recipe for success for only adding a 1 channel amp to power some aftermarket subs with this HK stereo.

PAC amppro and your subs and amp are basically all you really need. Other than your wiring kit for the amp and the lines to wire the subs to the amp.

 

[Sonnie]

Yep... PAC AmpPRO, amp, subs and wiring. The JL Stealthbox is awesome... and it has a location on top for an amp.

Your ANC will still function as normal.

 

[Sonnie]

A couple of updates...

Reconnected the ANC for the rear doors. After getting up to speed, I can tell it helps with the exhaust. There is some noise at lower speeds, but I can only hear it if I have the air and the radio off, so it's not that bad. I can hear the exhaust with the air and radio on, so that's more important to me. YMMV. I am not going to try to use the front speakers... too much trouble to figure out where to mount them. It would be nice to get them back in the doors, but I don't see that happening without major fiberglassing. Smaller speakers in the kick panels might work, and that might be something I try later on.

Got the Northstar battery in... pretty much a drop in replacement. The only thing I had to do was pull the positive cable up a little bit, sliding it upward thru the factory zip tie where it is fastened to a mount. There is plenty of extra cable there, just had to slide up a bit, not a big deal at all. It's about an inch or so taller, but it's much beefier with a 4 year warranty. I've been needing a new battery for my pond prowler, so I'll use the factory battery for the trolling motor.

Next up is the Duo Pro dash cam from VIOFO.

 

[wildh24]

PAC amppro and your subs and amp are basically all you really need. Other than your wiring kit for the amp and the lines to wire the subs to the amp.

+++1 on this solution. Seems to cause the least amount of headaches for everyone and gives you some flexibility for other things later if you ever want to go down that path.

 

[ramButz]

Yep well after reading all of this and from other threads I have come to the conclusion that for the money and effort involved, there is nothing wrong with my stock HK system and will be leaving it alone. It was well designed, sounds good for stock and plus I have no desire to throw out stuff I spent good money on already.

uh....thanks?

 

[Sonnie]

My wife just upgraded her 2013 Lexus ES350 for a 2020 ES350... so here we go. She had a very nice system in her 2013 that is now 7 years old, so she is going to get a good bit of what's in my 2020 RAM... the HAT Legatia dash speakers, JL XD 6-channel amp, miniDSP.... sooooo... I'll be going back to factory amp, FaitalPRO dash speakers, but at least I can keep the Stealthbox, as it won't fit in the trunk of her ES350. I'm not sure how long I can survive it, but we'll see.

 

[wildh24]

My wife just upgraded her 2013 Lexus ES350 for a 2020 ES350... so here we go. She had a very nice system in her 2013 that is now 7 years old, so she is going to get a good bit of what's in my 2020 RAM... the HAT Legatia dash speakers, JL XD 6-channel amp, miniDSP.... sooooo... I'll be going back to factory amp, FaitalPRO dash speakers, but at least I can keep the Stealthbox, as it won't fit in the trunk of her ES350. I'm not sure how long I can survive it, but we'll see.

On a positive note, your grills should be easy to get off now.

 

[PorBoy]

That’s funny as I was test driving a 2020 ES350 Fsport yesterday.