2020 HK 19 Speaker OEM Amp bypass with Helix V Twelve Channel Amp/DSP

[brewmastr]

That first pic the holes are not drilled its just set back there, the rivnuts go where the harness clips are behind the panel and then i bolted it in with countersunk bolts into the panel and the mosconi 5 channel actually covers the bolts up so you dont see them.

 

[ramButz]

That first pic the holes are not drilled its just set back there, the rivnuts go where the harness clips are behind the panel and then i bolted it in with countersunk bolts into the panel and the mosconi 5 channel actually covers the bolts up so you dont see them.

thanks guy

 

[JustCallMeD]

i want to mount a board to the back.did you drill them in or just use adhesive.looks "Great'! i have my here...

Thanks! It's a board a made out of 1/2" expanded foam PVC in black, very easy to work with and much lighter than wood. For mounting you can see at the top of the board two steel brackets with bolts at the top into where the etorque battery mounts, used two steel L brackets and cut them in half then bent them accordingly to follow the curve down to the board squeezing the board to the back wall. Drilled in two screws into the board at the brackets, one screw in the bottom left to go through the raised portion of the factory steel wall, pulled out the fibre optic clips for passive entry and remounted them to the board after. I needed the board on that side because I did not remove the factory sub, it's on and running even though I added a JL 10Tw3-D4. Put sound proofing material on the back wall behind the board because I had some anyway, PL on the back of the board and some expanding foam in the grooves on the wall to help the board from rattling around while driving or with the bass just as an in case scenario since I was covering it all back up with the carpet.

 

[JustCallMeD]

Ya nefor

Ok so that's before equalizer?
Never mind then looks like there's plenty of bass, it's actually not too bad besides after 8k

Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapa

Ya before I did anything I got a baseline for the stock HK zeroed out to see where it was at. It's not bad but the peaks are definitely pronounced to the ear... From 240 to 4k was all over the place with the stock creating an unsmooth transition from low to mid to the screeching 4k. So glad I tamed that down with the right runing, much smoother transitions now even with the stock speakers.

 

[JustCallMeD]

It actually turned out really well, I have a set of JBL GTO 3.5 on the dash and they are amazing speakers (sold-out everywhere) voice is very clear it reflects from the windshield and creates a perfect staging environment the tweeters from the components enhance the stereo effect where they are placed and the 6x9 midbass is very neutral they should have a little more presence but for that I have to attenuate the tweeter at least 3db, but the crossovers are inside the doors

Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapatalk

Nice! Mehhh only a couple clips and some elbow grease to get to those crossovers

 

[sppb32]

I installed my setup on the driver side, i plan on installing a 80 amp hour lithium battery where the OEM subwoofer is i just have to reconfigure the cells to fit there, there's more room than i thought i can easily fit another 4 channel amplifier in there with a bigger mounting board, that's the only piece i had at the time but i need that battery that 3000Watt amplifier takes allot of juice even with a 220 Amp alternator the voltage drops to the 12's when i push it hard, Spring is coming so i can work on that.

 

[ramButz]

Thanks! It's a board a made out of 1/2" expanded foam PVC in black, very easy to work with and much lighter than wood. For mounting you can see at the top of the board two steel brackets with bolts at the top into where the etorque battery mounts, used two steel L brackets and cut them in half then bent them accordingly to follow the curve down to the board squeezing the board to the back wall. Drilled in two screws into the board at the brackets, one screw in the bottom left to go through the raised portion of the factory steel wall, pulled out the fibre optic clips for passive entry and remounted them to the board after. I needed the board on that side because I did not remove the factory sub, it's on and running even though I added a JL 10Tw3-D4. Put sound proofing material on the back wall behind the board because I had some anyway, PL on the back of the board and some expanding foam in the grooves on the wall to help the board from rattling around while driving or with the bass just as an in case scenario since I was covering it all back up with the carpet.

thankssss so much for that helpful tip.i never place amp on the back wall.when the weather gets betteri will do so.i also left in a my stock subwoofer and still use it even thought i have another one.thanks again for the tip/help...

 

[ramButz]

I installed my setup on the driver side, i plan on installing a 80 amp hour lithium battery where the OEM subwoofer is i just have to reconfigure the cells to fit there, there's more room than i thought i can easily fit another 4 channel amplifier in there with a bigger mounting board, that's the only piece i had at the time but i need that battery that 3000Watt amplifier takes allot of juice even with a 220 Amp alternator the voltage drops to the 12's when i push it hard, Spring is coming so i can work on

thankssss so much for that helpful tip.i never place amp on the back wall.when the weather gets betteri will do so.i also left in a my stock subwoofer and still use it even thought i have another one.thanks again for the tip/help...

P.s you know i was originally thinking of using this.i had some in my tool box. or just silicone the whole panel to the wall

 

[sppb32]

There are a few raised spots you can use self tapper screws safely to secure the board but that stuff might be handy in spots where there's none or the board doesn't reach, i used a bracket in one of the corners.

 

[ramButz]

There are a few raised spots you can use self tapper screws safely to secure the board but that stuff might be handy in spots where there's none or the board doesn't reach, i used a bracket in one of the corners.

i was thinking the same!

 

[cmflyersx2c]

Hi All,

So firstly I would like to thank everyone from this community for posting all kinds of information of what they've done and what they've found by trying different things and also those who sent me back replies to my PM's.

Long story short, the stock HK 19 SPK system was driving me nuts for a few different reasons. After reading through everything for weeks, I felt that the main issue with this stock system is the tune and lack of an effective equalizer (At a minimum) to change the built in DSP parameters (Talking the OEM amplifier stock tune). Therefore before changing out any speakers from factory, I really wanted to see what the stock speakers could do with a proper tune, including the dreaded subwoofer... Also at the same time I do not want to cut an factory wiring so I can somewhat easily put everything back to stock when I decide to switch the truck.

My install:
- PAC AMP Pro CH41 R.2
- Optional TOSLINK optical output (APA-TOS1) + Optical Cable
- PAC Wiring Harness APH-CH03 (Learned the hard way that CH01 does NOT work with HK 19)
- Helix V Twelve DSP
- Helix Wifi Control
- Helix D One
- 1/0 Pure Copper 4000+ Strand power cable from battery
- 150 A breaker
- Power/Ground distribution block with ANC mini fuses
- 4 Ga Power and Ground out of distribution block

Took me about three days to get all this installed as had to use a buddies garage without a lot of room or organized tools.
All trim on the driver side removed, rear seats removed, rear carpet removed to expose back wall to mount everything and then everything put back like it never happened. The install is not the cleanest with the amps and wiring but I figured it was behind the carpet anyway so it won't be seen. When it gets warmer I may do a more visual style with some lexan and lighting just in case I every flip the back seat forward for some reason.

So I've always been into Audio and tuning but this has to be as in depth as I've gone so far. The OEM amp was completely bypassed (Has to remain hooked up though for data signal) and replaced with the Helix V Twelve to run a fully active setup for all speakers (RAM advertises the HK as 19 speakers but there are actually only twelve outputs from the OEM amp - All the 3.5" speakers are two ways making 19 with the Sub). therefore I setup every speaker with exactly what crossover, slope, and frequencies I chose (Also a lot of reading, but fun).

The difference is absolutely night and day. I'm very impressed with the stock speakers with a proper tune, they are no audiophile grade but I'll say that they are very impressive. I ran an RTA with microphone at drivers headrest on the baseline HK before any changes and it clearly shows a few peaks right at the frequencies of what most are complaining about be it the scratchy highs or bass droan/boominess.

My theory was to address the root cause before changing out any speakers to band aid the problem... Now of course I have the itch so speakers will be changed out soon enough as well.

Hopefully I can provide any answers to anyone if they need.

Also in case anyone is interested, have a Helix V Eight DSP (Amp) for sale which would be perfect for an active setup as well with 8 speakers plus sub amp...

If I was to go with something like you did. How much would something like this cost me.
Thx

 

[JustCallMeD]

If I was to go with something like you did. How much would something like this cost me.
Thx

What factory system do you have? Stock, Alpine or HK?

 

[jimchi]

Great writeup, @JustCallMeD. I think I would like to do something similar, and I have a few questions.

1. So that I understand correctly, is the following an accurate representation of your system? I assume the PAC harness connects between the factory headunit and amplifer, and strips the audio and data signals and sends them to the PAC AmpPRO. The AmpPRO sends a stereo signal via TOSLINK to the DSP. The DSP feeds each channel into the amplifier, which then supplies the speakers back through the PAC harness.
2. You lose surround sound and speed-level volume settings, correct?
3. Is it possible to use the factory amplifier instead of an aftermarket unit, but supply the factory amp with the DSP output?

 

[JustCallMeD]

Great writeup, @JustCallMeD. I think I would like to do something similar, and I have a few questions.

1. So that I understand correctly, is the following an accurate representation of your system? I assume the PAC harness connects between the factory headunit and amplifer, and strips the audio and data signals and sends them to the PAC AmpPRO. The AmpPRO sends a stereo signal via TOSLINK to the DSP. The DSP feeds each channel into the amplifier, which then supplies the speakers back through the PAC harness.
2. You lose surround sound and speed-level volume settings, correct?
3. Is it possible to use the factory amplifier instead of an aftermarket unit, but supply the factory amp with the DSP output?

Thank you!

1. Yes, the PAC connects directly to the back of the head unit with the supplied harness. Yup that's exactly how the PAC gets and transmits the audio signal and also DSP/amp feed the speakers through the speaker PAV harness.
2. Yes you lose them both but the surround sound is done through my DSP. Speed volume won't available anymore...
3. That would be nice but unfortunately no, the factory amp has its own tune built in so it will just override your DSP settings.

 

[Ellisstrong]

Thank you!

1. Yes, the PAC connects directly to the back of the head unit with the supplied harness. Yup that's exactly how the PAC gets and transmits the audio signal and also DSP/amp feed the speakers through the speaker PAV harness.
2. Yes you lose them both but the surround sound is done through my DSP. Speed volume won't available anymore...
3. That would be nice but unfortunately no, the factory amp has its own tune built in so it will just override your DSP settings.

I feel like I still have surround sound on my system and it sounds noticeably different I leave it off because of that. My speed sensitive volume doesn’t go up and down with speed but my volume is noticeably louder when I have the setting at 3 instead of off.

 

[JustCallMeD]

I feel like I still have surround sound on my system and it sounds noticeably different I leave it off because of that. My speed sensitive volume doesn’t go up and down with speed but my volume is noticeably louder when I have the setting at 3 instead of off.

Are you using a seperate amp for all of your component speakers or the factory amp for them?

 

[Ellisstrong]

Are you using a seperate amp for all of your component speakers or the factory amp for them?

Yeah I am using the Factory amp for all of my component speakers.

 

[JustCallMeD]

Yeah I am using the Factory amp for all of my component speakers.

Ya, so if you are using the factory amplifier for any speakers, all of the functions will still work, speed and surround. Anything coming out of the PAC will lose those options.

 

[JustCallMeD]

Just a little update on the system install. Well it's turned out that I'm going to do a complete upgrade of all the components. Gf ping with all audiophile grade components after A LOT of research except for the JL 10TW3 right now. Just finished a custom sub enclosure spec'd out to JL ported specification volume and dimensions. My original intent was to wrap with some leather vinyl but I'm kind of liking the wood grain at the moment. What do you all think?

 

[RHeller1]

wrap it. but thats just my opinion