5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?

[Runningwithbeers]

Question on the active noise canceling. From reading the thread my impersion is on the base unconnect system the 5" unconnect doesn't have an external amplifier for the speakers but if you have a 5.7 you automatically have the built in noise cancelation. In that case is the head unit processing the noise cancellation or is there another component responsible for that? Ultimately I'd like to replace the head unit at some point down the line but while I've been looking I've not found much in the way of going from the 5" unconnect to 8.4" or aftermarket head unit as of yet.

Thanks
Jay

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Question on the active noise canceling. From reading the thread my impersion is on the base unconnect system the 5" unconnect doesn't have an external amplifier for the speakers but if you have a 5.7 you automatically have the built in noise cancelation. In that case is the head unit processing the noise cancellation or is there another component responsible for that? Ultimately I'd like to replace the head unit at some point down the line but while I've been looking I've not found much in the way of going from the 5" unconnect to 8.4" or aftermarket head unit as of yet.

Thanks
Jay

Separate unit located below the drivers seat.

 

[C.AdamsMo.RAM]

Hi friends, I have the bighorn 1500 5.7L crew cab with stock 6 speaker system. I have taken one of the dash speakers out and done alot of research. Crappy old speaker design, 8ohms 15W printed on back of it. I have not taken a door speaker out but if you shine a light in the grills you can see they are a beautiful blue, some sort of plastic or injected mold speaker. Much better quality! Idk what the ohms are or how many watts though.. I have purchased (2) 3.5" Rockford fosgate p132's to replace the dash speakers, $50 amazon or sonicelectronics.com they are 4ohms which I've heard sounds less harsh than the 3ohms some people are getting. Should have them in a few days and will install asap!! Lol I plan to post some comparable pics and a write up on the change/differences, good or bad!

 

[Redrider123463]

Trying to read this thread makes my head wanna explode.

So has anyone had success running a LOC on the factory 6 speaker system for a subwoofer amp? If so where did you tap, etc.

Planning on replacing door speakers soon. But I do have the JBL’s in the dash but they crackle at high volume, and I have to fade the audio decently to the rear. Would a bass blocker fix that?

 

[Patsy1099]

Hmm crackling not good. Hope you didn’t blow it already. If they don’t have bass blockers already soldered on (some do), you might want to add them. Cheap insurance.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Trying to read this thread makes my head wanna explode.

So has anyone had success running a LOC on the factory 6 speaker system for a subwoofer amp? If so where did you tap, etc.

Planning on replacing door speakers soon. But I do have the JBL’s in the dash but they crackle at high volume, and I have to fade the audio decently to the rear. Would a bass blocker fix that?

JBL's are not a good option for the base 6 speaker system when you have the factory door speakers. The base 6 runs the front dash and front door speaker in parallel. The door is a 2 ohm speaker and the dash is an 8 ohm speaker. From a circuit standpoint this type of circuit is called a current divider. Net current for the circuit is divided between each branch based upon the ratio of the impedance for each speaker. Basically the factory set up would send about 4x the power through the door versus the dash. Now that you have installed at 2.3 ohm speaker in place of the factory 8 ohm the total power for the circuit is higher and being pretty close to evenly split between the dash and door. The power is very unbalanced and the sensitivity on the JBL versus the factory speaker is likely much higher. The JBL's are a good swap for the Alpine systems but not not the base 6 speaker systems.

 

[RichInMN]

Trying to read this thread makes my head wanna explode.

So has anyone had success running a LOC on the factory 6 speaker system for a subwoofer amp? If so where did you tap, etc.

Planning on replacing door speakers soon. But I do have the JBL’s in the dash but they crackle at high volume, and I have to fade the audio decently to the rear. Would a bass blocker fix that?

JBL's are not a good option for the base 6 speaker system when you have the factory door speakers. The base 6 runs the front dash and front door speaker in parallel. The door is a 2 ohm speaker and the dash is an 8 ohm speaker. From a circuit standpoint this type of circuit is called a current divider. Net current for the circuit is divided between each branch based upon the ratio of the impedance for each speaker. Basically the factory set up would send about 4x the power through the door versus the dash. Now that you have installed at 2.3 ohm speaker in place of the factory 8 ohm the total power for the circuit is higher and being pretty close to evenly split between the dash and door. The power is very unbalanced and the sensitivity on the JBL versus the factory speaker is likely much higher. The JBL's are a good swap for the Alpine systems but not not the base 6 speaker systems.

This is dead-on analysis. The other point that needs to be made that has had me cringing through much of this thread is the "hey, I'll replace this 8 ohm speaker with this 2 ohm one, it is so much louder". In this instance, dropping the ohm load for the front channel amp from 1.6 ohms to just over 1 ohm - this is a good way to strain the amp and cook those little transistors - which could also be the source of the crackling (although usually crackling will be accompanied by a loss of overall volume when the amp is partially shot).

My point is that these little amps, regardless of which system you have, are designed to run a certain ohm load, and dropping below that is asking for trouble over the long haul.

 

[C.AdamsMo.RAM]

This is dead-on analysis. The other point that needs to be made that has had me cringing through much of this thread is the "hey, I'll replace this 8 ohm speaker with this 2 ohm one, it is so much louder". In this instance, dropping the ohm load for the front channel amp from 1.6 ohms to just over 1 ohm - this is a good way to strain the amp and cook those little transistors - which could also be the source of the crackling (although usually crackling will be accompanied by a loss of overall volume when the amp is partially shot).

My point is that these little amps, regardless of which system you have, are designed to run a certain ohm load, and dropping below that is asking for trouble over the long haul.

Thanks so much for your input! I just put in some Rockford fosgate P132 3.5" in my 6 speaker setup. They are 4 ohms, I notice your right on the money with our problems. Mine aren't as bad as others due to the 4ohms, however, do you think i could get some 4 ohm resistors to put in line before the + speaker wire lands on the + at speaker?? 4 ohms already plus 4ohm resistor in series on 3.5" dash speaker making them both at 8 ohms?? Thought about this before I put them in.. any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[RichInMN]

Thanks so much for your input! I just put in some Rockford fosgate P132 3.5" in my 6 speaker setup. They are 4 ohms, I notice your right on the money with our problems. Mine aren't as bad as others due to the 4ohms, however, do you think i could get some 4 ohm resistors to put in line before the + speaker wire lands on the + at speaker?? 4 ohms already plus 4ohm resistor in series on 3.5" dash speaker making them both at 8 ohms?? Thought about this before I put them in.. any thoughts? Thanks!

4 Ohm resistors will be just the ticket, I think it is cheap insurance and will keep more of that power down in the doors where it belongs.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Thanks so much for your input! I just put in some Rockford fosgate P132 3.5" in my 6 speaker setup. They are 4 ohms, I notice your right on the money with our problems. Mine aren't as bad as others due to the 4ohms, however, do you think i could get some 4 ohm resistors to put in line before the + speaker wire lands on the + at speaker?? 4 ohms already plus 4ohm resistor in series on 3.5" dash speaker making them both at 8 ohms?? Thought about this before I put them in.. any thoughts? Thanks!

This would be correct for a DC circuit. Audio is an AC signal and we are dealing with impedance not resistance. The speakers impedance value varies while reproducing different frequencies while the inline resistor would have a set value. The end result will ultimately cause distortion, excessive voltage drop across the resistor and a lot of heat. Your best bet is replacing the door speaker with one with a higher sensitivity. The Fosgates have a sensitivity 85 dB 1w/1M. Pair those up with the RF P1692 which have a sensitivity of 91 dB at 1W/1M. That 6 dB difference means the doors will sound significantly louder than the dash even though they would receive the same amount of power split evenly between them. Speaker manufactures design their speakers to work together within a lineup to create a balanced sound stage in a simple setup like 4 or 6 speaker systems being pushed by a head unit or very small amplifier with equal power per channel.

 

[IA_Dawg]

That tutorial is awesome! Why do you include step 11 though? (the upper trim panel around the window). I see that’s an annotated Ram guide.

@FCArep my photos are not great but I wrote up my experiences removing thise door panels back here, maybe reading my old post will help. The door handle cable is tricky to get loose, have needle nose pliers ready ideally. Good luck, the door panels can be scary and you do need a few tools, but it is do-able.

Can you please explain to me how to remove the door handle cable? I am in the middle of replacing my speakers and this has me stumped.

Thanks

 

[YoAdrian]

Can you please explain to me how to remove the door handle cable? I am in the middle of replacing my speakers and this has me stumped.

Thanks

You bet, though somewhere else in this thread (way back) I wrote it up with pictures. I’ll just talk it out now...

Remember to have needle nose pliers in hand: when you‘ve popped all the panel clips you will be holding the door panel in the air but it will still be attached to the door handle cable, so be carefull you don’t keep pulling.

The very end of the cable is a barrel end that will need to be removed from the handle by first pulling the handle, then letting some slack back with the handle, and swinging the cable to release the barrel. ADDITIONALLY the end of the cable housing is snapped in with a little plastic sleeve, so gently squeeze the sleeve clips to be able to back the cable out (after the barrel is free).

Let me see if I can find my earlier post... unless you saw it and it didn’t explain things very well? Oh ya, the link was in the post you quoted so you prob saw it right here.

 

[wildh24]

Can you please explain to me how to remove the door handle cable? I am in the middle of replacing my speakers and this has me stumped.

Thanks

Yeah it took me a bit too. You need to grab it and pull the slack in cable out and rotate it so the cable can pull out the little access slot. The cable stop will then lift out too. I used a pick hook to grab the cable. That gets the cable unhooked from the door handle.

Then the you have to disconnect the housing/cable assembly from the door handle assembly. That is pretty easy. Just use a pliers and squeeze the two tabs together.

 

[ksn240]

Yeah it took me a bit too. You need to grab it and pull the slack in cable out and rotate it so the cable can pull out the little access slot. The cable stop will then lift out too. I used a pick hook to grab the cable. That gets the cable unhooked from the door handle.

Then the you have to disconnect the housing/cable assembly from the door handle assembly. That is pretty easy. Just use a pliers and squeeze the two tabs together.

Yeah it is a bit if a pain in the ***. I was use to past cars I worked on where they just popped out. Tried to pop it out, broke it. Have it JB welded back in the moment. Have the replacement in the garage ready to replace it

 

[IA_Dawg]

Yeah it took me a bit too. You need to grab it and pull the slack in cable out and rotate it so the cable can pull out the little access slot. The cable stop will then lift out too. I used a pick hook to grab the cable. That gets the cable unhooked from the door handle.

Then the you have to disconnect the housing/cable assembly from the door handle assembly. That is pretty easy. Just use a pliers and squeeze the two tabs together.

Yeah, I found your previous post, after I posted my question.
Thank you.

 

[YoAdrian]

Yeah, I found your previous post, after I posted my question.
Thank you.

Cool. Wish I had better pics, it was getting dark when I took them. You get it sorted?

 

[C.AdamsMo.RAM]

So no one has put aftermarket sub in base 6 speaker because active noise canceling? Anyone thinking of disabling it? Or putting it on a switch to shut off/on and remote turn on for amp on switch so; no amp or sub when cancellation on and when cancellation off when amp/sub on like a 3 position switch where you are either running this setup or that, never either at same time?? Any thoughts?

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

So no one has put aftermarket sub in base 6 speaker because active noise canceling? Anyone thinking of disabling it? Or putting it on a switch to shut off/on and remote turn on for amp on switch so; no amp or sub when cancellation on and when cancellation off when amp/sub on like a 3 position switch where you are either running this setup or that, never either at same time?? Any thoughts?

@WRH the OP of this post did just that. Diasbled the ANC and installed a full system in the base 6. That's actually how this thread got started, however multiple others have added subs @lrobbi for sure has a small Cerwin Vega powered sub and I believe he stated it did not cause issues with the ANC. A circuit like you're describing is possible in which the ANC is disabled when the amp for the sub is on. It would require putting an NC relay on all 4 of the ground wires for the ANC mics, the coil side of the relay would wire into the power for the amplifier on the sub and open the circuit for all the ANC mics when the amp powers on, then you would have an on/off switch for the amplifier, Amp is off all relays are closed, ANC is working, amps on all relays open on the mics are disconnected so no ANC. Not sure why anyone would want to go through the effort though.

 

[IA_Dawg]

Cool. Wish I had better pics, it was getting dark when I took them. You get it sorted?

Yes I did. Thanks for asking.

 

[C.AdamsMo.RAM]

@WRH the OP of this post did just that. Diasbled the ANC and installed a full system in the base 6. That's actually how this thread got started, however multiple others have added subs @lrobbi for sure has a small Cerwin Vega powered sub and I believe he stated it did not cause issues with the ANC. A circuit like you're describing is possible in which the ANC is disabled when the amp for the sub is on. It would require putting an NC relay on all 4 of the ground wires for the ANC mics, the coil side of the relay would wire into the power for the amplifier on the sub and open the circuit for all the ANC mics when the amp powers on, then you would have an on/off switch for the amplifier, Amp is off all relays are closed, ANC is working, amps on all relays open on the mics are disconnected so no ANC. Not sure why anyone would want to go through the effort though.

Im a union electrician and was just thinking of it like control circuitry i see every day. Didn't know if there was a main wire that the noise cancellation runs through that we could cut out and at the flip of a switch to then power amp on. Anyone have specifics on that?