5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?

[sswails1]

Those stock 3.5’s must have very low sensitivity for the JBLs to be noticeably louder. I think the JBLs rated @2.83 are low. Thinking the Hertz with a 92db 1w/1m rating should be very noticeable even at 4ohms. That is very good for a small driver.

 

[Bacoviah]

So hey @Bacoviah any updates on that install? So much to learn with the new model, even if it didn’t change the stock stereo systems too much.

I have made a new thread for my build in this sub forum.

 

[Leadbedr]

I have confirmed and @YoAdrian maybe you still have your old speakers to confirm, but the Metra harness is backwards , looking at the stock speaker plug so that you can see the pins the positive is on the right and neg on the left, the metra harness has the positive on the left white wire and negative on the right, all of the door speakers are phased 180 out if you used the Metra adapter, test by using a 9v battery just tap it briefly so the voice moves then returns. Pos to pos the coil should move out, polarity reversed and coil moves in towards the magnet, I need to repin and see if that solves anc issues if it does, I'm going to try the 962s in the front doors again.

I was going to check that.
My JBL doors are very low and pretty much no bass.
Thanks for checking it.
Did you notice if it made any difference in th ANC?
No more low humming bass note?

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

So, check this out, according to the wire diagram posted by I love grits on page 2 of this thread, the jbls were wired correctly + to +. When I tested the factory speaker per the diagram the negative wire was connected to positive input of the voice coil. Either the wire diagram posted is incorrect or the factory rear door speakers are purposely out of phase from the factory, according to the wire diagram I have the jbls now wired out of phase by switching the wires on the Metra harness but they physically match the way the factory speakers were wired. Secondly the dash speakers were out of phase according to the diagram as well as my physical testing of the voice coil so repinned all 3 Metra harnesses for the dash.

The weather took a turn so it's unlikely I'll get a chance to do the front doors until Monday. The first time I did it I just made sure everything matched the diagram and didn't actually test the coil, so now I'm not sure what I'll find. But I'm hopeful a JBL swap will be successful on my second attempt with improved sound and no ANC issues.

As of right now I got gx302s in the dash phase matched, gx963s in the rear door phase matched. Stock front doors, stock sub, stock 3.5 in the rear headliner. Tested in park with rpms held at 2500 and driving on Interstate 5 without any ANC issues.

Conclusions thus far

The sound out of the JBLs is amazing once matched and dialed in. If you have done the swap and not verified phase, you're possibly missing the true potential of the JBLs in the Alpine system. This holds true for both the dash and doors, the front sound stage comes a live once the dash is in phase with the front doors. They were a improvement over factory even out of phase.

Secondly, After driving 400 miles on interstate 5 without ANC, I'm not willing to sacrifice it for a speaker swap so I'm really happy the ANC issue was phase related and not an issue with the use of after market speakers. The ANC significantly quiets the cab down at speeds of 60 mph +. Onve everything is finished I'll likely start a separate thread with walk through geared specifically for swapping the factory speakers with details for removing panels and grills, checking polarity and phasing to help any future Ram owners.
Sorry for the long post, Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

 

[ksn240]

So, check this out, according to the wire diagram posted by I love grits on page 2 of this thread, the jbls were wired correctly + to +. When I tested the factory speaker per the diagram the negative wire was connected to positive input of the voice coil. Either the wire diagram posted is incorrect or the factory rear door speakers are purposely out of phase from the factory, according to the wire diagram I have the jbls now wired out of phase by switching the wires on the Metra harness but they physically match the way the factory speakers were wired. Secondly the dash speakers were out of phase according to the diagram as well as my physical testing of the voice coil so repinned all 3 Metra harnesses for the dash.

The weather took a turn so it's unlikely I'll get a chance to do the front doors until Monday. The first time I did it I just made sure everything matched the diagram and didn't actually test the coil, so now I'm not sure what I'll find. But I'm hopeful a JBL swap will be successful on my second attempt with improved sound and no ANC issues.

As of right now I got gx302s in the dash phase matched, gx963s in the rear door phase matched. Stock front doors, stock sub, stock 3.5 in the rear headliner. Tested in park with rpms held at 2500 and driving on Interstate 5 without any ANC issues.

Conclusions thus far

The sound out of the JBLs is amazing once matched and dialed in. If you have done the swap and not verified phase, you're possibly missing the true potential of the JBLs in the Alpine system. This holds true for both the dash and doors, the front sound stage comes a live once the dash is in phase with the front doors. They were a improvement over factory even out of phase.

Secondly, After driving 400 miles on interstate 5 without ANC, I'm not willing to sacrifice it for a speaker swap so I'm really happy the ANC issue was phase related and not an issue with the use of after market speakers. The ANC significantly quiets the cab down at speeds of 60 mph +. Onve everything is finished I'll likely start a separate thread with walk through geared specifically for swapping the factory speakers with details for removing panels and grills, checking polarity and phasing to help any future Ram owners.
Sorry for the long post, Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

You sir, are a hero. This is great news. I will see about repinning my adapters this weekend. Curious to see if the front doors sound better after this. Have a great Thanksgiving.

 

[Redline96]

Hello All, I'm new here on the forums. I've been out of car audio for quit a while but am slowly getting back into it with the addition of my new Ram truck.. Loving it so far.

Mine is the 6 speaker system with 8.4 screen and standalone ANC and no amp. I just replaced all the stock speakers with Kicker 6x9's in the doors and Kicker 3.5's in the dash. The thing sounds fantastic so far, so ill be adding an Audio control D-4.800 amp/DSP unit in the near future.

One thing I noticed with my truck and it may be with all of them is the wiring diagrams listed earlier in the thread seem to be wrong. ALL the speaker + -outputs seem to be backwards from the way my truck is wired. I checked the stock speaker to find which side is the positive and posted a picture of which side it is. red paint on right terminal is positive according to the 9v battery "pop" test.

my wiring appears to be:
left rear
+ GY/DG
- GR/GR

Right Rear
+ DG/GY
- DG/GR

Left Front
+ GY/YE
- GY/VT

Right Front
+ DG/YE
- DG/VT

color codes are right, polarity seems backwards according to the wiring diagrams.. Hope this might help someone or correct me if I've missed something?

I'm also guessing that they are listed wrong + - for the wiring going from the radio unit to the ANC module under the seat?I haven't tested those yet but will in the next few weeks.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Hello All, I'm new here on the forums. I've been out of car audio for quit a while but am slowly getting back into it with the addition of my new Ram truck.. Loving it so far.

Mine is the 6 speaker system with 8.4 screen and standalone ANC and no amp. I just replaced all the stock speakers with Kicker 6x9's in the doors and Kicker 3.5's in the dash. The thing sounds fantastic so far, so ill be adding an Audio control D-4.800 amp/DSP unit in the near future.

One thing I noticed with my truck and it may be with all of them is the wiring diagrams listed earlier in the thread seem to be wrong. ALL the speaker + -outputs seem to be backwards from the way my truck is wired. I checked the stock speaker to find which side is the positive and posted a picture of which side it is. red paint on right terminal is positive according to the 9v battery "pop" test.

my wiring appears to be:
left rear
+ GY/DG
- GR/GR

Right Rear
+ DG/GY
- DG/GR

Left Front
+ GY/YE
- GY/VT

Right Front
+ DG/YE
- DG/VT

color codes are right, polarity seems backwards according to the wiring diagrams.. Hope this might help someone or correct me if I've missed something?

I'm also guessing that they are listed wrong + - for the wiring going from the radio unit to the ANC module under the seat?I haven't tested those yet but will in the next few weeks.

Found the same thing in the alpine system, made the mistake of trusting the diagram and ended up with ANC issues discovered the error by doing the 9v coil test on the factory units as well, basically the reversed polarity causes the ANC to combine with the noise its trying to cancel causing a lot of resonance also noticed from other posts that the door speakers in base 6 speaker system are the exact same part numbers as the Alpine system.

 

[Redline96]

Billet,

I had all kinds of trouble as you did with the ANC having the speakers wired according to the diagrams. Sounded like a Star Wars light saber fight going on inside my truck..lol

I've since un-pinned the mics to the ANC so I cant confirm whether my issues were polarity or not at this point. I'm tempted to plug them back in and see but since i'm adding amp and most likely subs too, ill leave it unplugged for now.

 

[Cannonball]

So, check this out, according to the wire diagram posted by I love grits on page 2 of this thread, the jbls were wired correctly + to +. When I tested the factory speaker per the diagram the negative wire was connected to positive input of the voice coil. Either the wire diagram posted is incorrect or the factory rear door speakers are purposely out of phase from the factory, according to the wire diagram I have the jbls now wired out of phase by switching the wires on the Metra harness but they physically match the way the factory speakers were wired. Secondly the dash speakers were out of phase according to the diagram as well as my physical testing of the voice coil so repinned all 3 Metra harnesses for the dash.

The weather took a turn so it's unlikely I'll get a chance to do the front doors until Monday. The first time I did it I just made sure everything matched the diagram and didn't actually test the coil, so now I'm not sure what I'll find. But I'm hopeful a JBL swap will be successful on my second attempt with improved sound and no ANC issues.

As of right now I got gx302s in the dash phase matched, gx963s in the rear door phase matched. Stock front doors, stock sub, stock 3.5 in the rear headliner. Tested in park with rpms held at 2500 and driving on Interstate 5 without any ANC issues.

Conclusions thus far

The sound out of the JBLs is amazing once matched and dialed in. If you have done the swap and not verified phase, you're possibly missing the true potential of the JBLs in the Alpine system. This holds true for both the dash and doors, the front sound stage comes a live once the dash is in phase with the front doors. They were a improvement over factory even out of phase.

Secondly, After driving 400 miles on interstate 5 without ANC, I'm not willing to sacrifice it for a speaker swap so I'm really happy the ANC issue was phase related and not an issue with the use of after market speakers. The ANC significantly quiets the cab down at speeds of 60 mph +. Onve everything is finished I'll likely start a separate thread with walk through geared specifically for swapping the factory speakers with details for removing panels and grills, checking polarity and phasing to help any future Ram owners.
Sorry for the long post, Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Have you had a chance to drive on the hwy with your new speakers wired all in the same phase? I am interested to see of ANC is still effective with this new wiring.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Have you had a chance to drive on the hwy with your new speakers wired all in the same phase? I am interested to see of ANC is still effective with this new wiring.

You bet, went for a test drive on I-5 speeds up to 90 mph set the cruise at 65 70 75 and 80 adjusted gearing to put the RPMs at points I used to have issues, no ANC issues, I have a 450 mile trip back home tomorrow if i still have no ANC issues I'm calling it problem solved.

 

[Cannonball]

You bet, went for a test drive on I-5 speeds up to 90 mph set the cruise at 65 70 75 and 80 adjusted gearing to put the RPMs at points I used to have issues, no ANC issues, I have a 450 mile trip back home tomorrow if i still have no ANC issues I'm calling it problem solved.

But is the ANC still effective as in still notably cancelling unwanted sounds. You mentioned you noticed it very effectively reduced noise above 65mph prior to this... This is still notably occurring even with the speaker phase change?

 

[ksn240]

You bet, went for a test drive on I-5 speeds up to 90 mph set the cruise at 65 70 75 and 80 adjusted gearing to put the RPMs at points I used to have issues, no ANC issues, I have a 450 mile trip back home tomorrow if i still have no ANC issues I'm calling it problem solved.

I'm hoping to start swapping mine around this weekend. Did you ever try the GX962s in the front doors again?

 

[Cannonball]

But is the ANC still effective as in still notably cancelling unwanted sounds. You mentioned you noticed it very effectively reduced noise above 65mph prior to this... This is still notably occurring even with the speaker phase change?

You may have already answered this the more i read your response. Sorry just verifying before I buy my speakers! Kudos again for being the guinea pig and figuring this all out!

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Billet,

I had all kinds of trouble as you did with the ANC having the speakers wired according to the diagrams. Sounded like a Star Wars light saber fight going on inside my truck..lol

I've since un-pinned the mics to the ANC so I cant confirm whether my issues were polarity or not at this point. I'm tempted to plug them back in and see but since i'm adding amp and most likely subs too, ill leave it unplugged for now.

Yeah you may have ANC issues after adding a sub. I can tell you you cannot unplug the mics at the mic location in the headliner they are hard wired there I thought it may be easier than un pinning them at the connector. They are not easy to remove, I wouldn't advise anyone trying to pull them out of the headliner there is no reason to.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

But is the ANC still effective as in still notably cancelling unwanted sounds. You mentioned you noticed it very effectively reduced noise above 65mph prior to this... This is still notably occurring even with the speaker phase change?

Yes it is. It wasn't until swapping speakers and having issues that I noticed how effective the ANC really is at highway speeds. From what I have experienced the ANC reacts to low hz noises once it has detected a steady state frequency for about a second or so, it then reproduces the same frequency out of phase at low amplitude and listens for cancellation through the mics and adjusts the amplitude accordingly, so when the speakers are backwards the frequencies combine and get louder, to compensate the ANC increases amplitude and the tone just gets continually louder until it maxes out on amplitude. This is what I figured was the issue with the ANC and why I started physically testing the factory speakers and confirmed the issue. Now it's time to see what can be done with the sloppy sub woofer, I have never been a fan of band pass and ported enclosures and prefer a tighter more accurate sub even if it means it's not as loud or boomy which for my taste is the biggest issue with the factory set up. I have a few ideas just not sure how the amp and ANC would feel about my plans. Anyone else interested in swapping out the factory Alpine sub?

 

[ksn240]

Yes it is. It wasn't until swapping speakers and having issues that I noticed how effective the ANC really is at highway speeds. From what I have experienced the ANC reacts to low hz noises once it has detected a steady state frequency for about a second or so, it then reproduces the same frequency out of phase at low amplitude and listens for cancellation through the mics and adjusts the amplitude accordingly, so when the speakers are backwards the frequencies combine and get louder, to compensate the ANC increases amplitude and the tone just gets continually louder until it maxes out on amplitude. This is what I figured was the issue with the ANC and why I started physically testing the factory speakers and confirmed the issue. Now it's time to see what can be done with the sloppy sub woofer, I have never been a fan of band pass and ported enclosures and prefer a tighter more accurate sub even if it means it's not as loud or boomy which for my taste is the biggest issue with the factory set up. I have a few ideas just not sure how the amp and ANC would feel about my plans. Anyone else interested in swapping out the factory Alpine sub?

Definitely interested in swapping the sub, but I'll have to add a sub to get the bass I want. Plus they made it difficult with a triple voice coil setup. There is no drop in replacement unless you abandon a channel.

 

[ksn240]

@Billet1500 4x4 How did you repin the adapters? I'm having hell getting the pins out and already ruined one.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

@Billet1500 4x4 How did you repin the adapters? I'm having hell getting the pins out and already ruined one.

Which ones? The dash are a mother. At the back of connector where the wires enter there are 2 small ears use a pic and open them up to release the hinge piece, fold that piece up to unlock the wires, now looking at the front of the connector you will see two open rectangles below the pins. I'm just mentioning these as reference they are just empty. When looking at the pins with the rectangles located below the pins you will see a little white lever on top of the pin this is the lock lever, you have to wedge something between the pin and that lever and pull the wire out of the back of the connector. If you have an extra set of hands or a clamp of some sort to hold the connector you could just lift the lever high enough to slide the wire out. But you need one hand to operate the pick and one to pull the wire and a third hand or clamp to hold the connector , I used the pick in the pic. If I was at home I'd grab the extra Metra connector and snap some pics but hopefully the way I described things makes sense

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

For the doors just lift the lever with the arrow and slide the wire out the back, sorry for the rudimentary sketch I'm working off my phone

 

[jamie.howlett]

Are you re-pinning the factory wires or the Metra adaptor ? (I got a little confused trying to follow all of this)