Budget hidden sub with HK sound system

[Sonnie]

I have not looked at the HK sub, but my Alpine sub had 6 wires, and the wiring diagram from the dealer shows it being a triple voice coil. I was assuming the HK sub would be the same for the purpose of ANC... which works off of a different coil in the Alpine system... or at least it did in my 2019 RAM.

 

[Sonnie]

Hmmm... I looked at your pics... definitely a different setup than my previous Alpine system, AND... now it makes sense why he is not getting any feedback from the ANC system with the add-on sub. Apparently in the HK system they are not using the sub for ANC like they are in the Alpine system. I'll look at mine later and see if it is the same as yours. There are also several wiring diagrams for the Alpine, so it could also be that some of the systems don't use the sub, some do. I did not look close, as I simply looked at the one with 6 wires like the one I had and that's how we discovered it was the correct diagram.

 

[Sonnie]

Yep... I decided to unplug the sub on the way home today and sure enough, mine is also a single voice coil sub. This explains the difference... and is really good for those wanting to add the aftermarket sub without any issues with the ANC. And with the sub disconnected, I was able to crank up the bass to +7 and the midbass came to life and the boominess was gone. Wow what a difference. Thanks for helping me figure that out.

 

[Diamondback]

Yeah, the 2019+ Rams have either Stock, Alpine, or HK systems. Each one has diff. setups.

There was an Update for the boominess as well. Mine doesn't have it .. but I am currently running no sub at all for the moment and testing the rest of the system. Marking where I get some vibrations, etc. The rear doors are the worst (second only to the rear sliding window).

 

[Sonnie]

Can you tell me what version you are running? They are telling me I have the latest version, but if the boominess has been fixed, I don't see how I can have the latest version.

I heard some vibrations today as well. Fading to the front a good bit helped... and those rear doors are really light. They rattle when shutting them, so you hit the nail on the head with those probably being the worst. I haven't noticed anything with the rear sliding window yet, although I may now that you've mentioned it... you jinxed me... lol.

I'll be doing a full dampening of the doors and rear area, so hopefully that will help the system tighten on up.

 

[Diamondback]

Do you have the 12" or the 8.4"

 

[Sonnie]

I'll have to look, but I'm guessing the 8. Seems when I unplugged it that it was a smaller sub.

 

[Sonnie]

It's the 8... software version 20.04.19 with EQ version 4.1.

 

[Sonnie]

Okay... ding ding ding... I just realized you were referring to the headunit... lol. I have the 12" headunit. The sub is supposedly a 10", but like most subs it measures smaller. For some reason I had it in my mind that you were saying there were 8" and 12" subs. Then it hit me what you were referring to.

 

[Diamondback]

There is a few radio updates for the boominess on the 12"

 

[rome5982]

So if the HK sub is not providing the ANC then where is it coming from?

 

[Sonnie]

There is a few radio updates for the boominess on the 12"

I have the latest version, so I'm not sure what the update would be.

So if the HK sub is not providing the ANC then where is it coming from?

The other speakers. I have my sub unplugged right now, and there is absolutely zero extra noise of any kind, so the sub is not playing in part of the ANC. When I unplugged my sub on my 2019 with the triple voice coil sub, there was clearly a difference and I heard quite a bit of exhaust noise that the ANC was eliminating with the sub. My guess is they changed up the exhaust on the e-Torque model, as it does not sound the same as my non e-Torque 2019 model, so maybe they did not need the sub to help. I'm not sure on the other engine models... the sub might be working in the ANC, but I can assure you does not effect the noise in my truck when unplugging it... so if RAM says they are using it for ANC, it don't work, and has no reason to work as far as I'm concerned.

There are also vibration dampers (or something similar - not sure exactly what they call them) attached to the frame in different locations that are used by the ANC system, that have nothing to do with the speakers.

 

[Diamondback]

So if the HK sub is not providing the ANC then where is it coming from?

The wiring diagrams are posted elsewhere on the forums .. but here (depending on the version you have and if you have ANC) :

 

[Sonnie]

Can't read those on my 17" screen. I think (not 100% sure), but I think I did not see a sub involved... maybe door speakers only as far as the speakers are concerned.

 

[Diamondback]

feel free to save them or click ZOOM

 

[Sonnie]

Zoom? Where do you see that at. I can save them, but when I increase the image, it blurs the labels.

Zoom button does not zoom it for me.

 

[Diamondback]

The site must be downgrading them .. PM me your email and I'll send them direct and see if that works.

 

[Sonnie]

Thanks for the images... very clear on my end.

So it looks like if you have 6 wires going to your subwoofer, it is a triple voice coil sub and used in the ANC. If you only have 2 wires going to your sub, it does not appear to be used in the ANC, which is the case with my 2020. In my 2019, I had 6 wires (3 pairs) and in my 2020 there are only 2 wires (1 pair). There was no doubt my wife and I both could tell a difference when I unplugged the subwoofer on my 2019, but on my 2020, unplugging the sub does not make any difference that we can tell. If it is being used, it isn't needed to our ears at least. But the fact that a couple of owners have used the sub leads to power an aftermarket subwoofer without any issues, is another indication that it's not being used, as I've never known of an ANC sub not causing issues with aftermarket subs.

 

[Diamondback]

To make it even more simple than that You don't even have to unplug your sub to know what you have:

HK is the PREMIUM 2 (Single Sub with single coil) ..

while ALPINE is the PREMIUM 1 (I haven't seen a truck yet to confirm if it has the same dual sub setup as the Challenger or not) .. 2 subs -- dual voice coils .. only 1 sub is using both coils while the other sub is using 1 of the 2 coils. And you CAN tap into one of the 3 pairs for this system, just not the ANC portion (reference the wire diagrams).

BASIC system has no sub at all and no ANC.

As for the ANC .. yes .. the Premium 2 single sub is not even wired into the system -- look at the wiring diagrams for reference. HK uses the ANC module and the 6x9s if I remember reading the manual (not the sub).

 

[Sonnie]

Agree... unplugging the sub thing was to test it before I had the diagram... and being curious about what one of the other members wrote... Iol... I guess I was impatient to find out for sure.

It looks like the Unity tweeters might be involved too, but I admit the diagram is a bit confusing to me.

I am also curious if I change out the front door speakers to some Hybrid Audio Technologies 6x9 speakers that I have... with the same power from the factory amp, if it would interfere with the ANC. I guess I could try it out and see. I'm not sure they will sound any better than the factory speakers, as they sound pretty good. I may just leave those as is and try swapping out the dash speakers, I was hearing some unwanted distortion in those at louder volumes, which could just be the lack of power from the amp and clipping.