5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?

[Patsy1099]

Thank you @YoAdrian and @Patsy1099,

So the dash speaker do route through the ANC? I only ask this because the schematic @I Love Grits shared does not indicate they do. Guess I can disconnect a dash speaker, ground it out and check for continuity from the output harness of the ANC (both connections easy to access). My concern is how the DSP in the KICKER will react when I run the setup if the dash speakers output can't be adjusted by the unit. Instructions state to disconnect any speaker not being processed.

I’m definitely not the expert here but I think all the speakers route through the anc but output only to the doors. Not sure you will ever be able to separately control the dash unless you rewire. If you want a completely clean signal you will probably have to pull the head unit and make your connections there which is what someone else here has done. It depends on how much time and money you want to spend.

 

[wildh24]

Are the HK speakers 2 ohm or 4 ohm? this is a very important question that I feel most of us need answered that have that system in our trucks, for the system to run right for the specific ohm speakers we choose, please advice, I have a order on hold and am going with either 4 ohm or 2 ohm with the info provided.

All 4 ohm.

 

[vinnie45acp]

All 4 ohm.

Thanks for the Reply Wild, can you be specific on one more item, so the three dash speakers use Harness 72-7902, and all the other 8 speakers use either 71-050 or 72-6514 (whichever one chooses to use)?
Thanks again! Speakers are in route, and just want to clarify this Harness issue before I start tearing into stuff.

 

[Patsy1099]

Thanks for the Reply Wild, can you be specific on one more item, so the three dash speakers use Harness 72-7902, and all the other 8 speakers use either 71-050 or 72-6514 (whichever one chooses to use)?
Thanks again! Speakers are in route, and just want to clarify this Harness issue before I start tearing into stuff.

That’s correct. If you are ordering from Crutchfield they will automatically include them in your cart (for free)

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Thank you @YoAdrian and @Patsy1099,

So the dash speaker do route through the ANC? I only ask this because the schematic @I Love Grits shared does not indicate they do. Guess I can disconnect a dash speaker, ground it out and check for continuity from the output harness of the ANC (both connections easy to access). My concern is how the DSP in the KICKER will react when I run the setup if the dash speakers output can't be adjusted by the unit. Instructions state to disconnect any speaker not being processed.

According to the wiring diagram which may or may not be correct. All speakers do not pass through the ANC System only the doors. The last thing you want is a 3.5" mid driver trying to produce some sub 200 Hz frequencies for noise cancellation. The base radio system is going to send out full range signal on 4 channels. FR, FL, RR, RL. The FR and FL channels are going directly to your dash speakers. the parallel connection for the front doors passes through the ANC system and out to the doors. The 2 rear channels are going from the head unit through the ANC module and out to the doors. This ensures only the 6x9's are reproducing the ANC cancellation frequencies. Now onto some issues you are going to encounter with your kicker key. Specs list the amp as non bridgeable with a 4 ohm minimum impedance basically its not 2 ohm stable. The front will be 2 ohms if you parallel the dash with the door and power both the dash and door on the same channel, essentially at high volumes the amplifier may not be able to handle the amp draw and overheat or go into protection until it cools back down. What is your plan for inputs into the amp, line level off of the speakers or and adapter to give you RCA connections? Either way the end result is probably not going to play well with the ANC system

 

[wildh24]

Thanks for the Reply Wild, can you be specific on one more item, so the three dash speakers use Harness 72-7902, and all the other 8 speakers use either 71-050 or 72-6514 (whichever one chooses to use)?
Thanks again! Speakers are in route, and just want to clarify this Harness issue before I start tearing into stuff.

Actually all of the 3.5s use 7902. Just the 6x9s use 050 or 6514.

 

[Feltcycle]

I have a base 6 speaker system with ANC. I currently have CDT CL 69S installed in doors and JL C2 3.5 in dash. Is it possible to install DSR1 in 6 speaker setup? Crutchfield is telling me the DSR1 is not compatible with 6 speaker system. What harnesses do I need with DSR1 to be plug and play on 6 speaker system? Is stock speaker wiring current carrying capacity sufficient for mild amplified system?

I do not mind losing ANC and have already purchased the bypass harness to see if it cleans up the sound using stock HU. I hear mild distortion in speakers when volume is above 20.

 

[Patsy1099]

I have a base 6 speaker system with ANC. I currently have CDT CL 69S installed in doors and JL C2 3.5 in dash. Is it possible to install DSR1 in 6 speaker setup? Crutchfield is telling me the DSR1 is not compatible with 6 speaker system. What harnesses do I need with DSR1 to be plug and play on 6 speaker system? Is stock speaker wiring current carrying capacity sufficient for mild amplified system?

I do not mind losing ANC and have already purchased the bypass harness to see if it cleans up the sound using stock HU. I hear mild distortion in speakers when volume is above 20.

I’ll let others who have used the dsr1 answer that specifically but I was told it was designed for the alpine/hk not the base. Part of the other problem with amps/dsp is that this system is not putting out a clean signal. You can put an amp in with the existing wiring. I’m guessing the wiring is the same gauge for all models. Could be wrong. Either way the existing wiring can handle an amp. Once I bypassed the anc and swapped the speakers, I get no distortion on mine but then again I’m not an audiophile.

 

[392DCGC]

Are the HK speakers 2 ohm or 4 ohm? this is a very important question that I feel most of us need answered that have that system in our trucks, for the system to run right for the specific ohm speakers we choose, please advice, I have a order on hold and am going with either 4 ohm or 2 ohm with the info provided.

They are all 4 ohm. But I still lost a little volume when installing the Infinity Reference in the dash... no big deal as I just compensated by turning
up the volume a few more.

 

[Feltcycle]

I’ll let others who have used the dsr1 answer that specifically but I was told it was designed for the alpine/hk not the base. Part of the other problem with amps/dsp is that this system is not putting out a clean signal. You can put an amp in with the existing wiring. I’m guessing the wiring is the same gauge for all models. Could be wrong. Either way the existing wiring can handle an amp. Once I bypassed the anc and swapped the speakers, I get no distortion on mine but then again I’m not an audiophile.

Thanks @Patsy1099! I’ll install the bypass harness when it comes in and hopefully that will be acceptable.

 

[7LParker]

Specs list the amp as non bridgeable with a 4 ohm minimum impedance basically its not 2 ohm stable. The front will be 2 ohms if you parallel the dash with the door and power both the dash and door on the same channel, essentially at high volumes the amplifier may not be able to handle the amp draw and overheat or go into protection until it cools back down. What is your plan for inputs into the amp, line level off of the speakers or and adapter to give you RCA connections? Either way the end result is probably not going to play well with the ANC system

Thanks @Billet1500 4x4, What you said makes sense about not wanting to send the ANC signals to the 3.5's in the dash. I plan to ohm out the front door wires from the ANC to the dash to verify. If we are correct, my thinking is if I tap into the door wires at the ANC input then the head unit will power the 3.5's while the amp will only boost the 6x9's. Does that sound correct to you or am I missing something. What are you thoughts?

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Thanks @Billet1500 4x4, What you said makes sense about not wanting to send the ANC signals to the 3.5's in the dash. I plan to ohm out the front door wires from the ANC to the dash to verify. If we are correct, my thinking is if I tap into the door wires at the ANC input then the head unit will power the 3.5's while the amp will only boost the 6x9's. Does that sound correct to you or am I missing something. What are you thoughts?

That should work. In theory all the power on the front channel of the head unit is now going to just the dash speaker instead of being split 25/75 dash and door. It might actually balance well with the 45w going to the door. This is just my opinion but I would put a 700 hz low pass filter on the front door 6x9s. And a 400 hz high pass filter on the dash. Leave the rear doors without any filters.

 

[rceagle1a]

Aren’t all stock speakers labeled 4ohm? I’m in no way a car stereo expert.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Aren’t all stock speakers labeled 4ohm? I’m in no way a car stereo expert.

Most oem speakers are 2 ohm. The dash speakers in the base model ram are 8 ohm and are labeled as such. Outside of woofers most aftermarket speakers are 4 ohm.

 

[vinnie45acp]

just wondering, for all those with the Alpine and HK systems, how many of you before deciding to replace speakers or do whatever upgrade you all decided to do, made sure you switched you systems from surround system to a front speakers system by going in the menu and turning off the surround sound option?

For those of you who did not you might want to do that first and see what a difference it makes first then make your decision. I would like to hear from you all on your thoughts?

 

[mch]

Both modes sounded better with the replaced speakers.

 

[kirkelli]

Thanks @Patsy1099! I’ll install the bypass harness when it comes in and hopefully that will be acceptable.

for the 6 speaker base (either w/ANC or without) I highly recommend taking audio directly out of radio sending it to a JL Audio FIX 86 processor which does a really good job of flatting out levels and provides nice clean signal for your choice of Amp(s).. This is nice set-up retaining all your factory radio controls giving an aftermarket effect.. When installing aftermarket speakers, the radio will need to see a load specific to factory speakers.. I used this Harness https://www.netaudiowf.com/product/2013-18-dodge-ram-radio-t-harness-with-load-resistors/ with load resistors, which also gave me an easy way to splice into my speaker outputs.. Trust me folks.. the factory radio will perform at a professional level. Build it right and you will be happy

 

[Hackmunch]

the drs1 with idatalink harness is the way to go for alpine or hk factory setups

 

[kirkelli]

the drs1 with idatalink harness is the way to go for alpine or hk factory setups

I agree......

 

[Patsy1099]

for the 6 speaker base (either w/ANC or without) I highly recommend taking audio directly out of radio sending it to a JL Audio FIX 86 processor which does a really good job of flatting out levels and provides nice clean signal for your choice of Amp(s).. This is nice set-up retaining all your factory radio controls giving an aftermarket effect.. When installing aftermarket speakers, the radio will need to see a load specific to factory speakers.. I used this Harness https://www.netaudiowf.com/product/2013-18-dodge-ram-radio-t-harness-with-load-resistors/ with load resistors, which also gave me an easy way to splice into my speaker outputs.. Trust me folks.. the factory radio will perform at a professional level. Build it right and you will be happy

I will update my final layout in this post when I’m done but @kirkelli is right. Short(ish) story.

I have the stock six speaker speaker. No amp. No sub. But I do have a hemi, therefore I have the ANC.

Upgraded all the speakers to infinity ref. Much happier. Ran into ANC problems. Decided I didn’t want to be bothered with it and didn’t need it, so I unpinned the ANC mics (plus at that point I knew I wanted to add an amp and a sub)

Was still looking for more punch and more bass so I decided to add a pioneer amp to drive the speakers and a self powered sub (built in amp) for some more bass.

For equipment I wanted to keep costs down, didn’t need anything too elaborate, wasn’t looking to get crazy. Otherwise I would have run all new wire, added mids/tweets, etc. Since I wasn’t interested in going that route and only adding some power and bass I decided on a Pioneer A-GM6704. For a little over $100 this gives me high level inputs so I didn't need a separate Line Out Converter (LOC) and given it’s just the base system and wasn’t adding mids/tweets etc, I decided I didn’t need anything with DSP or summing. Some would argue this was stopping short of doing it right but again I wanted to keep costs down and things as “simple” as possible. This amp also has a Bass boost function which should handle any bass roll-off. Not sure if our base 6 speaker systems roll off the bass when volume increases but just in case, this adds the bass back (like the Lc7i and Fix, etc).

I then went with a Kicker self powered (built in amp) Hideaway sub.

Neither of these will fit under the front seats so I am removing the rear seats and mounting them to the rear walls.

The most frustrating part of the long process so far, I’ve gotten frustrated and sidetracked with this process for months, wasn’t the speaker install or disconnecting the ANC (which were both a pain at times) but it was the wiring of the amp due to what was mentioned above. Since I no longer needed the ANC, I decided to just remove the unit entirely and just tap into the two harnesses that are left once it’s removed. One for the speaker inputs (from the head unit), one for the outputs (to the speakers). These will feed the new pioneer amp. This next item is what frustrated me and got me hung up so excuse the caps YOUR AMP WILL NOT WORK UNLESS THE RADIO SEES “A LOAD” WHICH MEANS YOU NEED RESISTORS ON YOUR WIRES/HARNESS. I can’t tell you how much time I wasted not paying attention to certain posts here and not understanding what that meant. So you either have to use a harness like the one kirkelli posted OR solder in some resistors to each of the speaker wires coming out from the head unit (large white harness under driver’s seat). I will post the ones I purchased below and will try and post a more complete write up when I’m done. For now it’s tested but now I have to button everything up.

EDIT: one other bonehead mistake I made that cost me tons of time troubleshooting. You can’t just test one speaker (two wires) with the resistors. The head unit has to see a load on all the speakers otherwise it won’t put out a signal (only distortion/buzz). So put a resistor in-line on each speaker wire coming from the white harness, into your amp, 8 in total (or just buy the harness kirkelli referenced above which already has the resistors built-in.

uxcell 5W 47 Ohm Power Resistor... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWRF6YG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share