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

[nofear72784]

Looks like I will be loosing my center channel as I don't want to fork out the money for a DSP that can upmix that channel. CDT has a DVC unity they recommended for that location but I think it will kill all localization.

 

[Sonnie]

After spending a bunch on a nice system, I could not endure the noise that the ANC was eliminating... I like it quiet when my wife and I are going somewhere together, and she doesn't like the loud music. I also listed to sports talk in the Fall of the year for college football, so the music doesn't cover up the noise in those cases, and it was irritating to me. I put all that nice stuff in her new Lexus. I ended up replacing the three dash speakers with the FaitalPRO 4" (lots of cutting to fit and custom plate)... and adding the JL Stealthbox with their amp for the sub... using factory doors and it sounds great. I disconnected the upper doors as they messed up the imaging and soundstage.

 

[nofear72784]

Thanks for getting back to me. I too was shocked at how much the ANC actually blocked. Once I put the mopar catback on there I gave up on the ANC, nothing could silence that lol. I will try setting up the DSP as a 2 way system front rear with the upper doors disconnected. Did you have to use load equalizers when you disconnected channels? Installers here and online insist you need them. I want to play around with disconnecting the uppers on the stock amp.

 

[Sonnie]

Factory door and dash... nothing connected to the upper doors... no issues whatsoever... sounds great.

 

[Natebenninger]

Thanks... got my 6 channel JL amp in and the HAT Unity 6x9's and the HAT Legatia X3-P dash speakers... still waiting on the miniDSP.

I've had the upper door speakers disconnected for about a week now and I've not noticed any adverse effects from it... as in no noticeable difference in the ANC. I thought they might be doing more. Of course they were not there in my Apline RAM, and the subwoofer in that system made the most difference in that truck, it was nearly unbearable for me, but it was even worse when I bypassed the entire ANC. In this truck, the ANC is not affected as much by disconnecting the sub. I actually can't tell what noise the sub was getting rid of, but I know it was used as evidenced by the amplified noise. In the Alpine truck with the 3 voice coil sub, it was clear that the sub was dealing with the exhaust, but in this truck, the exhaust issue is not there when disconnecting the sub. I'm not sure if it has to do with the eTorque system or what may be different. I can only assume that the engineers changed up the exhaust in these trucks and dealt with the noise in a different way.

At any rate... here's where I am with the ANC on my truck right now. If I plug in my bypass adapter, I can hear the engine revving up and changing gears at take off... although it's not as bad at highway speeds, yet still slightly noticeable. At present I do NOT have the bypass adapter installed, but I do have the subwoofer and the upper front door speakers disconnected. I am not able to notice any difference in the effects of the ANC.

What bypass adapter are you using ? I can’t find the exact info I need for the HK 19 speaker and sub ANC bypass adapter . I’ve seen adapters for all the other systems but no clarity on the HK

 

[bbbeeennnjjjeee]

After spending a bunch on a nice system, I could not endure the noise that the ANC was eliminating...

Thank you for this whole thread and for taking the dive into this system. I have also spent countless days and dollars trying to engineer a solution with no compromises only to end up right next to where I began.

If I may distill this whole thread down and maybe oversimplify, in your experience it is possible to replace the speakers while maintaining ANC while adding an aftermarket amp for an aftermarket subwoofer.

In the end, your build was 3x 4" dash speakers, a JL stealthbox, amp, and the necessary LOC to feed it?

Do you believe it would be possible to add a DSP for time correction and finer tuning while retaining the ANC or is that out of the question? Specifically, I am thinking of the PXE-X09 which has the capacity to handle all the channel outs from the factory amp.

 

[cm122054]

Thank you for this whole thread and for taking the dive into this system. I have also spent countless days and dollars trying to engineer a solution with no compromises only to end up right next to where I began.

If I may distill this whole thread down and maybe oversimplify, in your experience it is possible to replace the speakers while maintaining ANC while adding an aftermarket amp for an aftermarket subwoofer.

In the end, your build was 3x 4" dash speakers, a JL stealthbox, amp, and the necessary LOC to feed it?

Do you believe it would be possible to add a DSP for time correction and finer tuning while retaining the ANC or is that out of the question? Specifically, I am thinking of the PXE-X09 which has the capacity to handle all the channel outs from the factory amp.

I am very interested in this as well. Did you ever get an answer or figure this out?

 

[cm122054]

After spending a bunch on a nice system, I could not endure the noise that the ANC was eliminating... I like it quiet when my wife and I are going somewhere together, and she doesn't like the loud music. I also listed to sports talk in the Fall of the year for college football, so the music doesn't cover up the noise in those cases, and it was irritating to me. I put all that nice stuff in her new Lexus. I ended up replacing the three dash speakers with the FaitalPRO 4" (lots of cutting to fit and custom plate)... and adding the JL Stealthbox with their amp for the sub... using factory doors and it sounds great. I disconnected the upper doors as they messed up the imaging and soundstage.

Wouldn’t adding the JL Stealthbox mess with ANC though? Are you saying you were able to install an aftermarket sub and retain ANC without issues? I’d think the extra bass picked up by the mics would make the ANC go crazy?

 

[Sonnie]

Sorry guys... missed these posts somehow.

Unfortunately, I could not find a way to keep ANC and add an aftermarket amp for the door speakers, where the ANC contributes the most.

I could not tell that the sub was doing anything with the ANC that bothered me. It does something because if you plug the speaker level into an amp, you'll quickly notice the noise it is emitting being amplified to annoying levels.

You can test if it is doing enough for you to keep it by unplugging your sub and driving around a bit... see if you notice any noises you didn't notice with it plugged in. If you are good with the sub being disconnected, you can add a sub, but you need a line-level output to feed the amp. You can't use the speaker output of the factory sub. You'll need the PAC AmpPRO to get a clean sub preout to the aftermarket amp. This is what I did and it worked fine... sounded really good. I did upgrade the factory doors for a little added mid-bass and the dash speakers, which helped smooth out the high-end, but left them on the factory amp to continue using the ANC.

 

[Adjutant]

Sorry guys... missed these posts somehow.

Unfortunately, I could not find a way to keep ANC and add an aftermarket amp for the door speakers, where the ANC contributes the most.

I could not tell that the sub was doing anything with the ANC that bothered me. It does something because if you plug the speaker level into an amp, you'll quickly notice the noise it is emitting being amplified to annoying levels.

You can test if it is doing enough for you to keep it by unplugging your sub and driving around a bit... see if you notice any noises you didn't notice with it plugged in. If you are good with the sub being disconnected, you can add a sub, but you need a line-level output to feed the amp. You can't use the speaker output of the factory sub. You'll need the PAC AmpPRO to get a clean sub preout to the aftermarket amp. This is what I did and it worked fine... sounded really good. I did upgrade the factory doors for a little added mid-bass and the dash speakers, which helped smooth out the high-end, but left them on the factory amp to continue using the ANC.

Man!! Ive been researching new speakers and equipment. I really want a DSP. I just found the Kicker Key 200.4. I thought adding the amp to the fronts and doors would be amazing. Now it sounds like its not possible without disabling the ANC

 

[Sonnie]

If there were some way to add the door speaker but leave the current door speakers, the ANC output would be separate from the audio amp outputs, so you could disconnect the audio side of the factory amp and just run the ANC to the factor speakers, then your aftermarket amp to the new speakers. You would have to have a custom door panel made to hold either the factory speaker or the aftermarket speaker. I studied it for a while, but ultimately, it was more trouble than I wanted to tackle.

 

[sswails1]

Interesting…you read where people have used the factory subwoofer inputs and have had no ANC issues and others say they have.

 

[1791]

turns out there are a few ways to skin this cat. i do all my own work.
ANC bypass
DSR1 - t harness
CDT 6.5 components. i have a set of cdt unity drivers i put them in took them out and may throw them back in
infinity 6x9's for a little rear fill
fox acoustics box for 2 10's sundowns.
4 channel polk amp + a fosgate 1000 on the subs
sounds amazing
i went thru 3 dsp's the DSR1 made the cut.

 

[Sonnie]

Interesting…you read where people have used the factory subwoofer inputs and have had no ANC issues and others say they have.

If the ANC is disabled, you can connect to the subwoofer speaker wires with no issues. If there is any ANC that is active going to the subwoofer and an aftermarket amp is connected to that subwoofer speaker lead with the ANC active, then I'm not sure how it would not be noticed because it would be amplified by the aftermarket amp. The ANC output from the amp is separate from the audio output, which is why you can use an adaptor on the amplifier to remove the ANC output and still have normal audio output, but you obviously lose the benefit of ANC, which doesn't bother some owners.

As I understand it, the sub has three connections (there should be 3 pairs of wires on the sub connector that you can see - at least there were on mine); two were for the audio and one for the ANC. So... if you cut the wires and only connect to the pair that provide the audio signal, you would not be amplifying the ANC, but if you use an adapter it may be that it is connecting to all of the signals and thus amplifying the ANC as well. This could explain why some have issues and some do not.

I just found this... not sure if it has been mentioned, but it appears it only works on 2022 and up models withOUT ANC per the notice on the page:

Dodge Ram Subwoofer Install Subwoofer Harness Converter

dodge ram radio t-harness, dodge ram radio harness, dodge ram harness, dodge ram radio t-harness, dodge ram radio harness, dodge ram harness

netaudio.com

This harness fits 2022-up 5th Gen Rams without Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Alpine or Harman Kardon. Ram changed the harness behind the radio on the 2022 models, so this only works 2022 and up. On 5th Gen Rams, this harness will work if you only have 2 microphones in the headliner, and not 6. This means you have no ANC system.

 

[sswails1]

Is it possible that those claiming no ANC issues kept their 6x9’s out of phase?

Update: Disregard, it appears that is exactly what was done. They swapped them back to factory and ANC was restored. Interesting…

 

[1791]

i bypassed the anc like day 2 of ownership i didn't notice a difference the truck is pretty quiet without it. what is the advantage to keeping it?

 

[Sonnie]

The only advantage would be if you noticed a difference.

It supposedly eliminates certain noises, but if you did not notice it eliminated those noises or those noises don't bother you, then there really isn't any benefit to you.

 

[Adjutant]

Well I was wrong... the factory speakers are not 6dB louder than the Infinity speakers... just to get that out of the way. But they are between 3-4dB louder.

Did some testing today.... measured each of the speakers listed below with each one mounted in the left front dash. The SPL meter tip was 1 inch above center of speaker (although moving it around a 1/2" or so did not change the level). I recorded a 1kHz tone from REW... and also Pink Periodic Noise full range (FR) 20Hz-20kHz. I also measured the resistance of each speaker.

Factory Speaker
4.1 ohm
1kHz = 85dB
FR = 84dB

Infinity Reference 3032
2.6 ohm
1kHz = 81dB
FR = 81dB

FaitalPRO 3FE22
3.9 ohm
1kHz = 85dB
FR = 84dB

I already had all three Infinity speakers in the dash and they have been very disappointing to say the least. They are clean, but the highs are rolled off, and/or they don't have very good off-axis response, despite bouncing off the windshield. I installed one of the FaitalPRO speakers in the left side and left the Infinity on the right. I played several songs with the bass EQ slider down at -9 and faded fully front, then quickly moved the balance slider from left to right and back to left, so that I could compare the two speakers. The FaitalPRO speaker was no doubt better sounding to me, and the highs were back. The Infinity sounded muffled (and I tried more than one... as I had one pair from Crutchfield and one pair from eBay). I then decided to try the factory speaker again... and it was still a wee bit brighter than the FaitalPRO, but it was very close in the highs, although not as harsh as the factory speaker. I could tell I was not losing any volume with the FaitalPRO like I was with the Infinity. The real difference came when I cranked up the volume to 30-32 and moved the balance control back and forth. The factory speaker sounded very distorted on several songs, while the FaitalPRO was very clean (as was the Infinity). Clearly the factory speaker is inferior when it comes to power handling and high-volume sound. Surprisingly on some songs, it held its own, but you could tell when it was not liking a particular song. So the Infinity and FaitalPRO are clean, but the FaitalPRO has more volume, and it matches up better with the remainder of the factory system better in my opinion, although I still want to replace the upper door speakers... and rear headliner speakers with the FaitalPRO.

I need no further testing and or convincing that the FaitalPRO are the clear winner for me. I installed all three across the dash and now this system is literally amazing, even without a subwoofer. I can now crank the bass EQ back up to around +4 with the mid at +2 and the high at +5. The front stage is seriously good. Again, not competition sound quality grade, but still very very good for a factory amp powered system. I have ordered 4 more of the FaitalPRO speakers to install in the top of the door and the rear headliner. The only drawback to the FaitalPRO is I had to dremel off one of the four tabs and create my own holes with screws in the mounting area, which was not a big deal, but they are not just a drop in using the same screw holes.

Keep in mind, this is all my subjective opinion as far as what I like in my truck. I am not judging anyone else that has these Infinity speakers... they may be exactly what you want and/or may sound different in your truck. I am in NO WAY suggesting you have inferior speakers in your truck. If they are working for you, they may work for many others as well. My point being... try whatever you want to try and keep it if you like it. If you haven't been happy, you might consider other speakers.... and the FaitalPRO may not be what you like. I just happen to love how they sound in my truck.

What model number Faital Pro are you using? I found a few 3.5 and 3 inch. Id love to try them for my dash.

 

[1791]

I'm rocking these. they are not for everyone but anyone can buy a set.

CDT Audio Unity 7.5 WB Driver