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No- eliminated,
I’m running a helix v8, which puts out 75w @ 4ohms per channel, it’s enough for me - but I could have gone higher. Lol. If you have it tuned right, the center image negates the need for a center channel speaker in a single seat tune (a center speaker actually screws up the imaging). And rear speakers do the same. The rears can give you that “surround sound” feel, but you can’t really balance them with the front image, so the clarity is off - If you are going for a true SQ system. The other thing to consider is that if you just get an amp to power the rear, you won’t be able to tune it like you do the front with the dsp, so the sound from the rears will be way off from the front, acoustically, if that makes sense. are you keeping the factory sub, or upgrading there? If you’re getting new subs, consider that you’ll need an amp for that, too. Then you start running into space constraints, how many cables you would need to run for 3 amps (dsp, rear, sub, etc)
Nope. Center and rear doors aren’t connected to anything. Not even the factory amp. The center channel is a complete waste, IMO, for a SQ set up. You’ll chase your tail trying to get the response cleanl. And if you hear a good tune without it, youll swear all the sound comes from the center, anyway. My other suggestion - don’t spend a lot of $ on the rear headliners, I still have the stocks. You can barely hear them anyway. as I said, they are only for rear fill, which in my set up is basically unintelligible noise when isolated from the rest of the system. No reason to spend big $ for that, definitely spend the most on the dash and mid bass (lower doors). I have karma aspect 3s in the dash, and for the $, they are very good. I had xcelsus xxm325s in my last truck, and would love to get them again at some point, they were amazing - also reasonably priced, if you can find them. I swapped 6x9s for cdt 6.5 in the doors. Not a huge difference either way. i may upgrade to si 6.5 some day, but at this point, not wanting to drop $400+ bucks for a little more MB. I have the mid Bass xover to mids at around 350, mids to tweets at appx 3500, that’s where the curve came together best with the least eq.
Great info. Thanks.
Karma mobile audio - search and you will find their site. Not as widely known, but a few people swear by them. I’m in a FB group for 5th gen ram audio, and one of the guys there who does competition runs them exclusively.
I'm wondering if I can get by without the door mids/tweets. It really seems those speakers don't add a ton to the overall sound profile. If I cover mine up with my hand, I barely notice they aren't there. Your thoughts?
I’m not sure what the crossover settings are on the stock HK system for the tweets... but, a couple things.. 1) covering them up with your hand (assuming over the door panel) doesn’t do much- they sit a little ways behind the panel, so the sound still gets out through other openings, you aren’t totally muting it. 2) tweeters are more complimentary. They only play high frequencies. The vast majority of your sound comes from your mids (dash). Unless you’re playing pink noise or something similar that is designed for a tuning purpose through the tweeter alone, you won’t hear much - since most “regular” music doesn’t have constant sound above 5000+ hz. If you don’t want to swap them out, then don’t. Nothing wrong with keeping the stock ones for now - but definitely don’t disconnect them - unless you get wide range speakers for the dash, that can handle everything from 200-20,000 hz. Then you will run a 2-way system, instead of a 3-way system, which is inferior (IMO). Additionally, the HK amp is a 3 way system, so you 100% will need a dsp to tune it for a 2-way.
The 3.5 in the door is the exact same speaker as in the dash and the rear headliner. But, it’s crossed over in the HK system for highs. The 6x9s in the doors are midbass only, so 500 and below makes sense. The dash would be somewhere around 500-4000ish, and the 3.5 in the door would be 4000-20000. Idk exactly. It’s not for fill, it’s set as a tweeter (At least it’s supposed to be..lol). But, that 3.5 is a mid speaker, not a tweeter. So it doesn’t play like a tweeter does. Put a true tweeter in there, and it will sound differently. i specifically wanted the HK system over the Alpine when I got this truck, just because the doors were already precut and pre wired for tweets, and I run a 3-way system. I built pods for my last one to mount the tweeters in the sail panels, and it was a pita.
You're saying the 3.5 on the dash on the HK system is a mid only? I'd have to check again but pretty sure it's HP crossed at around 500hz with no upper LP point.
I didn't measure them before replacing the stock amp- but if not, what's the point of even having the 3.5s in the doors? Why put them there at all if they are playing the same frequency as the dash? (not that I haven't seen plenty of pointless things done in vehicles)
I just went and checked. They're both essentially full range at 500hz +. I can only think it was for additional fill. I do know when you toggle the 'surround' button on the audio menu, it raises the volume slightly on the door panel and on the center channel. I'm personally not in love with that sound stage.
Weird! But good to know.
Super weird indeed.
pac harness… there are three plugs going into the stock amp (two 22 pin, and one 10 pin). You unplug those, connect them to the pac harness, then plug the pac harness into the stock amp where those plugs were. Super simple. The pac harness has wires coming off of it for each speaker (which are connected to the existing / factory wiring) You connect those to your aftermarket amp/dsp, and no need to run any wiring to doors, etc. you only need to do a tone test to make sure which wire goes to what speaker. I actually have a diagram already done, of the channels. when you are ready to get started, let me know and I’ll post it, or message it to you. Theres not room under the seat with the stock amp. I mounted mine to the back wall, ran speed wire between the pac harness and the dsp/amp to connect the speaker wires.
That'd save a bunch of time. Please send it over via message or post here. Thanks!
I think this is the one… just double check at least a couple when you are setting up to be sure.. a 9-volt battery will tell you what speaker each wire is connected to
