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5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?

KNGSNK11

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did you get this resolved? I have the same base 6 speaker system as you and as of right now I'm thoroughly confused as to which way to go on upgrades....
That's what I'm saying, I'm more confused on what ohms I need to have for the replacement speakers.
 

SilverNight2020

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did you get this resolved? I have the same base 6 speaker system as you and as of right now I'm thoroughly confused as to which way to go on upgrades....
My answer to your question is yes and no. After attaching the capacitors more thoroughly to ensure they were not the issue, I troubleshot the stock speakers vs the Infinity and found there is not enough consistent static for me to not keep the Infinities. What I discovered moreso than anything, is that there is no static when listening to anything like Spotify or streaming YouTube. This is a long way of saying I think the issue is only noticable when listening to FM radio, and I have accepted that. I really like my speaker upgrade and find myself enjoying my longer drive to work now. I hope this helps. I am happy to answer any other questions you have.
 

Trendybull

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I have ordered the CDT CL-69S for the doors, with the out of phase Metra adapters. I am going to try them. If I can get them to work okay without messing with the ANC, I'll keep them in there. Otherwise I'll be fine with the factory speakers, as the mid-bass is already very good.

I don't hear much out of the upper door speakers, but figured I'd replace them just in case, but again, if it messes with the ANC, I'll leave the factory speakers connected.
I did this swap and regret spending the effort doing so. Really didn't hear a difference, if it was, very very minor.
When you get yours in, give me your thoughts
 

Sonnie

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I plan to actually compare them... one in the left front door with one in the right front door, faded to the front, and moving the balance from left to right to see if in fact I can hear a noticeable difference in bass and mid-bass output... plus I'll also play a couple of songs with extreme bass at loud volumes to see if the distortion is any different from one to the other. I'll also run REW measurements of each speaker from the drivers's seat head area to compare the response between the two. If I don't measure and notice (with my ears) any respectable differences, I'll remove that one speaker and send them back for a refund. However, if I notice somewhat of a difference, then I have to multiply that by four, and consider changing all four would be beneficial, although I do fade slightly to the front. This is what happened with the FaitalPRO's... with only one speaker installed, the difference was noticeable, although it was not drastic, yet with replacing all three across the front and multiplying that difference by three, then it because more of a substantial noticeable difference.

It's fun experimenting with these systems... but ultimately I will admit, with the doors dampened properly, the factory bass in this truck is by far the best I've heard in a factory system.
 

Jawzz

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I plan to actually compare them... one in the left front door with one in the right front door, faded to the front, and moving the balance from left to right to see if in fact I can hear a noticeable difference in bass and mid-bass output... plus I'll also play a couple of songs with extreme bass at loud volumes to see if the distortion is any different from one to the other. I'll also run REW measurements of each speaker from the drivers's seat head area to compare the response between the two. If I don't measure and notice (with my ears) any respectable differences, I'll remove that one speaker and send them back for a refund. However, if I notice somewhat of a difference, then I have to multiply that by four, and consider changing all four would be beneficial, although I do fade slightly to the front. This is what happened with the FaitalPRO's... with only one speaker installed, the difference was noticeable, although it was not drastic, yet with replacing all three across the front and multiplying that difference by three, then it because more of a substantial noticeable difference.

It's fun experimenting with these systems... but ultimately I will admit, with the doors dampened properly, the factory bass in this truck is by far the best I've heard in a factory system.
Hey Sonnie,
I'm looking forward to your test results. I went the same route with the same Cdt audio 6x9s but I also went with the HD 2 inch for the dash corners and the HD 2 inch dual voice coil for the center dash (pictures attached to show it came pre-wired). I've only installed the dash corners for now since the DVC is much harder to install. For the DVC you have to run wires to the left and right corner dash speakers to run them in parallel making a much better sound stage in the front although I'm not sure how this would affect volume since it lowers resistance. I may have to install potentiometers to reduce the volume as suggested by cdt audio. My 2 cents on the change so far is that the corner dash 2 inchers sound better than stock since they are more clear but a key point is that they sound better after a week of breaking them in with normal music play. You might want to run your test after a bit of a break in period to have a more accurate test. I've been putting off installing the 6x9s since they require cutting some small plastic of the door to fit. Do you have the HK system? That's what I have. 20200621_205005.jpg 20200621_204954.jpg

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
 

Sonnie

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Yep... I have the HK system.

I've heard good things about the 2" CDT speakers. I've actually had the 6x9 speakers in two previous trucks, although they had external power, not a factory amp pushing them. I think break-in change is more subtle if anything to my ears, as I never notice it. Plus, measurements from out of the box speakers in my audio room to having them six months later measure exactly the same, so break-in on those was definitely not a measurable change. For me, it would need to be noticeable right away, because if it's after break-in, I'm afraid it would be too subtle for me to notice it.

Feeding those wires over to the center channel might be tricky. I suppose it is partially open underneath the dash. You might be able to get a fish tape thru.
 

river rat

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Guess my ears aren't as sophisticated as others, I think the HK system in my 2020 sounds fine.
 

Sonnie

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Nothing wrong with that at all. I think some of us are more picky about how we hear music. After hearing a properly setup system, we start chasing that sound in every vehicle, and we are harder to satisfy.
 

Tazithman

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With the 9 speaker setup with factory sub, what is most cost effective way to add a little more punch to the lows? Is there a good direct sub swap that can be done, or speaker replacements in general? And would swapping speakers do much without adding extra power to the mix?
 

805myth1

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I put these in the rear headliners and they sound more clearly than the factory 3.5" even though they're 4 ohm and I have the alpine system.

20200703_111303.jpg

20200701_211110.jpg
 

Sonnie

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With the 9 speaker setup with factory sub, what is most cost effective way to add a little more punch to the lows? Is there a good direct sub swap that can be done, or speaker replacements in general? And would swapping speakers do much without adding extra power to the mix?
If you are willing to give up what your factory sub does for you with the ANC, then you can use an LoC-22 from JL Audio (or something similar) and tap into one of the sub speaker level outputs (or run a PAC from the headunit to the back) and add an amp and sub. There are a lot of options for single or dual subs available depending on how much you want to spend.

The first thing I would do it unplug the sub to see if you are okay with the exhaust noise you are going to hear. Drive it around for a few days, as you will notice quite a bit of various noises, that is if you have the triple voice coil sub that is used by the ANC. See if you have 6 wires at the connector. If you only have 2, your sub probably isn't used in the ANC, but if you have 6, it is used, or at least it was in my 2019 Alpine system.

You can also treat your doors... remove the panels (outer and inner) and dampen the outer door skin really well with Dynomat (or something similar). Then use some closed cell foam between the door and door panel, as well as dampen the rear doors and rear wall, plus add closed cell foam to the rear doors and back side of the rear panel. There are lots of threads with pics of what several different owners have done... take your pic. It helped the low-end in my truck... and I was very happy with the improvement it made in the factory system bass.

As for swapping speakers to help with the low end... this varies from owner to owner, some believe they hear a difference, and some feel like they wasted money doing the swap. This is why I suggest doing the door treatments first. Some owners do both at the same time, and the door treatments are probably what made the most difference, not the speakers. I'm not saying you won't hear a difference with speakers, but you could try the treatment first. Do the left side first (front and rear)... disconnect your sub, then use your balance control to move from left the right and back several times while playing music and see if you notice a difference. Whether you notice or not treat the right side, as it will help with rattles and other noises. Then order up the speakers. Install the left side first, use the balance control to compare them. If you don't hear enough improvement to warrant the swap, pack them back up and return them.
 
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Tazithman

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I guess a follow up question would be if its possible to tap sub input pre-amp and run an additional sub/amp
 

Sonnie

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I was not able to fun my factory sub with the aftermarket sub in my 2019... there were issues with the ANC. I was running a PAC from the headunit to the back to power my aftermarket sub, but had to disconnect the factory sub.
 

Ram-esque

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It hasn't been bad for me, but has been an issue for many. The ANC is the reason for all this trouble. If the ANC is important to you then it could cause a bit of a headache. If you don't care about it you can unplug it if it acts up.

I didn't really notice much of a difference in noise between my 13 Ram without ANC and my 2019.
I agree with you, but the ANC does a lot to eliminate tire noise. I have the rebel with stock wranglers, that’s the only thing I noticed hearing That I didn’t hear before bypassing the ANC.

I replaced all 4 6x9’s with JBL’s, new speaker wire to each. added a JBL amp to power them, with a PAC LOC, I grabbed audio signal originally from the rear pillars before the wires go into the rear door panel.
I had a lot of problems With droning and getting correct polarity like everyone else. the audio signal just seemed to be muddy and not nearly as clear as it should be even after I had all the wire polarity fixed.
So I decided To grab audio signal from the rear speaker wires before they go into the plug @ the ANC. with The way I ran new speaker wire to all 4 door speakers, the dash speakers were still being powered by the stock 5” radio. So with the anc plugged in. I am now getting clear audio, with a little bit of ANC from the dash speakers when I have the ANC plugged in.
 

Ram-esque

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No. And it's unclear in all these posts if that is even worth trying to figure out - it almost seems like either the wiring is backwards or the speakers are backwards (terminals are reversed) - literally reading many places where these "alpine" speakers are used across FCA vehicles, and how there are multiple aftermarket harnesses that are wired BOTH ways ---- factor in the posts here where some people had to reverse their pin-outs and others didn't (randomly).....it really has me wondering if these trucks aren't getting an "accidental" mixture of "alpine" speakers whose terminals are wired both ways (random)! So, for me, polarity checking each speaker is in my planned routine even though I plan to replace them.

Plus I can tell you from my "app" testing of several trucks on the dealership lot on Monday, the wiring is all over the place in some form. Only two trucks were the same - only passenger side doors were reversed. In the other two trucks, 1) all doors were reversed and passenger side dash was reversed, and 2) the two rear doors were reversed only.

Again, really makes me wonder that since the 71-050 and 71-6514 harnesses are wired opposite, and there seems to be random polarity issues in these trucks, perhaps we have a mixture of alpine speakers in circulation that are reverse of each other...Hmm. Seems far fetched, but....is it??? :unsure:
Not at all, Mistakes happen, and the speaker manufacturer could just have poor QC at the moment. It’s the best explanation I’ve heard yet, and it Makes sense. GOOD JOB!
 

BamsRam

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I was not able to fun my factory sub with the aftermarket sub in my 2019... there were issues with the ANC. I was running a PAC from the headunit to the back to power my aftermarket sub, but had to disconnect the factory sub.
Which harness did you use with your PAC amp pro? Was it the APH-CH01 ?
 

BamsRam

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PAC AmpPRO 4 (AP4-CH41 with APA-TOS1)

Best I can remember, it only came with one harness that inserts in between the factory connection. The other connector goes to the PAC unit..

View attachment 61137
Ok thanks. Did your truck have the six speaker system, alpine system or Harmon Kardon system?
 

Dep668

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The truck I used the harness with was a 2019 with the Alpine system.

I read through your previous build. I too have the Alpine system. I used the PAC Amp Pro CH41. And put in 3 way components, and a pair of Si BM MKv subs in a custom enclosure underseat. And did rear fill. Just upgraded my Mini Dsp 8x12 to Dirac Live so well see how that goes.

One thing that confused me, in terms of ANC, did you have to disconnect or depin anything?
 

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