5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?

[Billet1500 4x4]

Its a box underneath the driver's seat, you may be able to kill power to the box without it affecting the signal to the speakers , I haven't looked at the schematic to closely to tell. On the alpine and HK systems the ANC is integrated into the amp and DSP so defeating it via the mics is the only option, there is also a set of brown wires that may defeat the anc as well, it's for the RPM signal, this will however for sure defeat the ATMM system

 

[Rick8325]

Great thread! I recently swapped out my base 6 speaker system and have had no popping or issues with my ANC. I did not test for polarity and used the harnesses Crutchfield sent me. Just plug and play. Cheap upgrade and much improved sound now.

Dash: Kicker 43CSC354
Front Doors: MTX Terminator 69
Rear Doors: Kicker 43CSC6934

Harness for dash: 72-902
Harness for doors : 71-050

 

[C.AdamsMo.RAM]

I have the stock 6 speaker set up. I purchased a pair of rockford fosgate punch series 3.5" dash speakers $59 to replace stock ones. Much better quality! The stock was paper crap and the magnet is much larger on the new. Weight is substantially more! Also the Rockford speakers have a coaxial tweeter highs are MUCH louder! Problem was i couldn't turn up volume over 28 or the new dash speakers would distort! I bought (x2) 4ohm, 20watt resistors. One for each speaker to put in line because stock is 8ohms. This helped tremendously!! The problem was that the front doors and dash speakers are in parallel, left side together and right side together L and R on separate channels. When the dash speakers went from 8 ohms to 4 ohms it was recieving much more power and less was going to the doors. So i brought the ohms back up to 8 and the dash speakers are not getting too much power any more and still very loud, and the doors sound much louder, closer to when everything was stock! Ultimately i bought 4 ohm dash speakers, brought them back to 8 ohm (still soo much louder and cleaner and better highs than stock) and the doors are recieving the same amount of power as before. May replace them someday if people are saying it makes a hugh difference. Im sure it will be better but the doors are blue injection molded alpine speakers, crap magnet and sensitivity rating im sure.. but a lot better than most stock paper speakers! Lol sorry for the book, trying to get all the process down for anyone who cares. It has been my project for a few weeks now lol

 

[Dramire99]

Anyone messed around with this LLJ customs harness? It's supposed to disable ANC but unsure if its to later add additional amps...

 

[PorBoy]

^^^. Never heard of it, do you have a link so I can read up on the specs ?

 

[Dramire99]

https://lljcustoms.com/store?olsPage=products%2F2019-ram-anc-bypass

 

[YoAdrian]

https://lljcustoms.com/store?olsPage=products%2F2019-ram-anc-bypass

Ready for some brave guinea pig to dive in. We are in uncharted territory!

Seems like it should work, and isn’t very expensive compared to the time I’ve spent under my driver’s seat with reading glasses and a flashlight farting around with those dang wires!!!

 

[YoAdrian]

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?

I like the direction you’re thinking, but I’m worried the whole box (ANC and sound together) shuts down without the power/control signal. Pulling one wire vs four is only a slight difference to deactivate this (unfortunately) nuisance system. I don’t know exactly how the system reacts though.

 

[Walski]

I haven’t messed with that harness but I did get there loop back harness

 

[Puffgreen]

Great thread! I recently swapped out my base 6 speaker system and have had no popping or issues with my ANC. I did not test for polarity and used the harnesses Crutchfield sent me. Just plug and play. Cheap upgrade and much improved sound now.

Dash: Kicker 43CSC354
Front Doors: MTX Terminator 69
Rear Doors: Kicker 43CSC6934

Harness for dash: 72-902
Harness for doors : 71-050

Thanks for the info I should be installed in mines on Thursday or Friday .. Also do you know if we can a subwoofer with the base system ?

 

[Patsy1099]

Thanks for the info I should be installed in mines on Thursday or Friday .. Also do you know if we can a subwoofer with the base system ?

You might have ANC issues with a sub. Very good chance you will. So be prepared to disconnect the ANC if you really want a sub. You will also need a separate amp for the sub or will need a self powered sub

 

[Puffgreen]

You might have ANC issues with a sub. Very good chance you will. So be prepared to disconnect the ANC if you really want a sub. You will also need a separate amp for the sub or will need a self powered sub

. Thanks. But I think I’ll be holding off on that for now.

 

[Patsy1099]

Sorry if I missed this but does anyone know what gauge is used for the speaker wire in the wiring harness coming in/out of the ANC on the stock 6 speaker setup?

 

[C.AdamsMo.RAM]

Sorry if I missed this but does anyone know what gauge is used for the speaker wire in the wiring harness coming in/out of the ANC on the stock 6 speaker setup?

I do not know for sure but its probably like 16 or 18 AWG anyone else feel free to comment

 

[Patsy1099]

I do not know for sure but its probably like 16 or 18 AWG anyone else feel free to comment

Thanks. Yeah i figured the same. Trying to nail down whether it’s 16 or 18 for sure if anyone is able to confirm.

 

[Puffgreen]

Thanks for all the info. Speakers are in! Everything sounds great I just have one question. How hard would it be to add an speaker in the middle Dash.

 

[Patsy1099]

Anything is possible. You would have to add it in parallel to the other speakers up front which would throw off the rest of the impedance on that front channel OR put in an amp, split all dash speakers from the doors and put on their own channel.

 

[Puffgreen]

Anything is possible. You would have to add it in parallel to the other speakers up front which would throw off the rest of the impedance on that front channel OR put in an amp, split all dash speakers from the doors and put on their own channel.

sounds Like I won’t be such in that..lol but thanks for the reply

 

[Patsy1099]

Yeah I honestly don’t think it would change the sound stage all that much in our trucks. You can get crazy and do mid-bass, components, etc but it’s always a balance of headache/money vs what you get out of it. If you’re an audiophile or you enjoy doing it, go for it but otherwise do the quick easy stuff.

 

[LVLAaron]

Right up front I'll mention, although I was initially having intermittent ANC problems before I changed speakers, the ANC problem has gotten worse after replacing my 6x9s. Now the ANC is generating loud droning noise in conjunction with specific RPMs (eg 1500, 2500). After test driving it is persistent and unacceptable, so I have deactivated the ANC system using this procedure. I will do without the ANC system until I can have it tested by service.

My JL Audio 6x9s arrived and are now installed.

Install: Overall the install was easy after I figured out the door panels (previous post). The speakers themselves fit fine (see wire harness caution next), and I could fit the bushing/spacers on top of the speaker too (these protect the tweeter). I had to tuck/wrap the cable harnesses carefully to the sides of the speaker because if you don't they will hang down in front of the window mechanism... had a scare when testing window movement, my left speaker went out. Turns out the window had snagged the connector and yanked it off. After opening the door panel up, reconnecting the harness, and tucking it to the side everything seems to fit fine.

Sound: The sound is quite good (according to my ears) for a base system upgrade. I'm only a mild audiophile, so YMMV of course. The volume balance between the dash JL 3.5s and the door JL 6x9s is spot-on perfect! I've been experimenting with equalizer and balance settings... so far I find a perfectly centered balance setting works great. I have set the bass and midrange at +4 and the treble at +2 or +3... sounds nice although it depends on the music type I'm listening to. I like bass and vocals, and usually prefer rounding off the treble. I think the JLs have a nice gentle tweeter which is what drew me to them. Not excessively bright.

My bottom line: If you want to do a speaker swap the JL C2 line is a good one to go with for sound quality, as long as you don't mind trimming the 3.5" speaker a bit, being careful with the 6x9 wire harness routing, and if you are ready to potentially DISABLE the ANC system. For me the sound quality was easily worth the hassle, I am a much happier listener now that those 6 flat lifeless stock speakers are gone.

Having read through this entire thread twice... I need a drink.

@YoAdrian - To be clear, you've got the 3.5's and 6x9's (JLAudio C2's) wired in parallel up front?

I'm thinking about going all C2's / Bypassing the ANC / Installing an AudioControl D-6.1200 behind the rear seat / adding a small sub