Replace HK system with Front Stage Only?

[Greenchevette]

Has anyone dove into the deep end with their HK stereo upgrade and gone with a solely active front stage?

I've done a handful of stereo builds in my day from mild to wild. I guess thats the fun of growing up in the 90s during the heyday of DIN stereo swaps right? I've already installed the basic Infiniti 3.5" speakers across dash and am planning out a AmpPro PAC and JL Stealthbox setup along with 6x9 Infinitis in the doors with deadening throughout. This got me pondering..if i'm going this far, why not just go a little further down the road? I feel like the benefits of a truly amplified front stage with better components will greatly outweigh the minimal extra effort/cost compared to basic speaker swaps with metro adapters.

My main concern is the ANC system and making sure all the other UCONNECT functionality will remain - phone calls, chimes, safety alerts, etc.

For fun - here was my deepest build back in 2008. Mild compared to some, but damn I missed that level of audio. https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/shes-finally-done-give-you-betty-92955.html

Thoughts?

 

[Sonnie]

Here are my thoughts... https://5thgenrams.com/community/th...d-w-12-display-and-jl-audio-stealthbox.21527/

If you go fully aftermarket you will lose your ANC. I did this in my 2019 and regretted it. Tried the ANC bypass adapter in my 2020, and I ain't bypassing it... as I love how quiet my truck is. If you are younger, don't care about quietness, like loud noises, loud mufflers, etc, it probably won't bother you. But I love how quiet my RAM is right now, especially after the treatments. It is eerily quiet.

 

[Helmetface]

Here are my thoughts... https://5thgenrams.com/community/th...d-w-12-display-and-jl-audio-stealthbox.21527/

If you go fully aftermarket you will lose your ANC. I did this in my 2019 and regretted it. Tried the ANC bypass adapter in my 2020, and I ain't bypassing it... as I love how quiet my truck is. If you are younger, don't care about quietness, like loud noises, loud mufflers, etc, it probably won't bother you. But I love how quiet my RAM is right now, especially after the treatments. It is eerily quiet.

Glad I read this comment, Sonnie.

I personally didn't realize how much ANC impacted the nasty end of noise in our cabins. I might have to re-think some things...

I'll likely be reaching out to you at some point. I've got a Mosconi 6to8v8 processor from an old build and I've been toying with the idea of another 3 way active setup myself. Oh, decisions...

 

[Greenchevette]

Thanks guys. I'm going to do a little research to see if pillar pods are a viable option since folks arent having much positive experience with the upper door speaker.

Edit - https://www.moparpart.com/oem-parts...wMCZ5PTIwMTkmdD1sYXJhbWllJmU9NS03bC12OC1nYXM=

 

[Sonnie]

In my opinion the upper door speakers just really aren't needed. I had mine covered up with 1/2" closed cell foam for a while (did not realize it when I treated my doors initially). After I realized it and uncovered them, I then realized it sounded better without them. It confuses the imaging and sound stage and it's not nearly as good as it was with them covered. I plan to cover them back up, as they do not seem to help with the ANC, if they are even used for the ANC, not sure that they are, although I thought they were, but I just can't tell if they help... lol... it's very minor if they do.

I may just disconnect them and see what happens. Once again... not sure if they are run in parallel with the door speakers or dash speakers... have not investigated or tested it yet.

I like my music like it is in my home audio system... in front of me, not behind me. The rear is for rear fill only (for my preference)... so I don't want anything that messes with me getting the image as up front as I can get it to have good imaging and sound stage across the dash.

 

[jeffauclair]

Sonnie, being french I sometimes have difficulties to understand or read English. The way you explain and goes in detail make it so easy for me to understand. I like my music like an home studio too, no rattle or excesive bass that muffled all the clarity. My body did your kind of setup in is Ford Lariat. He had so much issue with dead battery that push me a little away of going that route. The issue was a module (can't remember the name) that wakes up the amp or bypass the factory headunit to makes all running.

I know few knowledge of aftermarket car audio that is why I don't want to dive in that project myself. I would make a local shop to do it, but around here there's a lot of audio shop, but few I would like them to work on my truck. I am the type of guy that can't stand having the interior of my truck all dirty while people working on it dosen't care.

You had any issue so far with all the work you did? You went with harness connector or you cut wire yourself?

 

[PorBoy]

That’s funny as my SQ car was a 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT Limited in black run active..

 

[PorBoy]

 

[jeffauclair]

SQ..?

 

[PorBoy]

Sound Quality as I’ve only ever run active systems that requires DSP..

 

[Greenchevette]

Would love to see a sticky thread created so folks can easily outline their setups - (stock setup, replacement parts, signal source, etc). The "5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?" thread is powerful, but went off the rails so many times it got difficult to track.

Agree boys. i've always followed the 'less is more' home audio mantra. Deep imaging and clarity is priority #1 for me.

@Sonnie, interested in your feedback once you disconnect your rear stage?

 

[Sonnie]

Sonnie, being french I sometimes have difficulties to understand or read English. The way you explain and goes in detail make it so easy for me to understand. I like my music like an home studio too, no rattle or excesive bass that muffled all the clarity. My body did your kind of setup in is Ford Lariat. He had so much issue with dead battery that push me a little away of going that route. The issue was a module (can't remember the name) that wakes up the amp or bypass the factory headunit to makes all running.

I know few knowledge of aftermarket car audio that is why I don't want to dive in that project myself. I would make a local shop to do it, but around here there's a lot of audio shop, but few I would like them to work on my truck. I am the type of guy that can't stand having the interior of my truck all dirty while people working on it dosen't care.

You had any issue so far with all the work you did? You went with harness connector or you cut wire yourself?

Glad you can understand it... as I sometimes have a hard time saying what I mean... lol.

I used adapters for all the speakers, except the subwoofer, which I had to cut because I could not find an adapter for it. But all I did was add the aftermarket subwoofer (JL Stealthbox) with an LoC-22 and amp to power it. If you are going with a DSP, you will likely want to feed it from a PAC AmpPRO unit.

Sound Quality as I’ve only ever run active systems that requires DSP..

Yeah... if you plan on getting serious SQ... the DSP is the only way to go. It's what I normally do, but this go around I opted for marginal SQ and a quieter ride, since there are two instances where the noise that the ANC covers will drive me crazy when the volume is lower or there background is quieter... my wife being in the vehicle and sports talk radio. I would have loved to have connected my miniDSP back up, but unfortunately it ain't gonna happen this go around. Mine current setup is not competition SQ by any means, but it's sounding pretty good right now.

 

[Sonnie]

Would love to see a sticky thread created so folks can easily outline their setups - (stock setup, replacement parts, signal source, etc). The "5th Gen Stock Stereo Upgrade Options?" thread is powerful, but went off the rails so many times it got difficult to track.

Agree boys. i've always followed the 'less is more' home audio mantra. Deep imaging and clarity is priority #1 for me.

@Sonnie, interested in your feedback once you disconnect your rear stage?

I'm going to leave the rear doors connected and just fade to front, which will allow the ANC to continue to work thru the rear speakers. What I may have to do for rear fill is get a separate small amp for the rear headliner speakers. However, I do want to test disconnecting the upper door speakers to see if that affects anything negatively.

 

[STR]

I enjoyed working on those old stereos too... Integrated HU can certainly present some challenges. BTW, I like your Legacy forum avatar

 

[cm122054]

In my opinion the upper door speakers just really aren't needed. I had mine covered up with 1/2" closed cell foam for a while (did not realize it when I treated my doors initially). After I realized it and uncovered them, I then realized it sounded better without them. It confuses the imaging and sound stage and it's not nearly as good as it was with them covered. I plan to cover them back up, as they do not seem to help with the ANC, if they are even used for the ANC, not sure that they are, although I thought they were, but I just can't tell if they help... lol... it's very minor if they do.

I may just disconnect them and see what happens. Once again... not sure if they are run in parallel with the door speakers or dash speakers... have not investigated or tested it yet.

I like my music like it is in my home audio system... in front of me, not behind me. The rear is for rear fill only (for my preference)... so I don't want anything that messes with me getting the image as up front as I can get it to have good imaging and sound stage across the dash.

Do you think the upper door speakers would have been useful if you went full active and ran dsp? I’m considering going all out with Morel speakers and an active 3 way front (using the upper door location for tweeters). Do you think I would be better off doing only a 2 way system given where that tweeter location is? Hoping dsp could make stage/image still great using that spot, but have never used one so don’t know what to expect. What do you think?

 

[Sonnie]

Do you think the upper door speakers would have been useful if you went full active and ran dsp? I’m considering going all out with Morel speakers and an active 3 way front (using the upper door location for tweeters). Do you think I would be better off doing only a 2 way system given where that tweeter location is? Hoping dsp could make stage/image still great using that spot, but have never used one so don’t know what to expect. What do you think?

It seems like it would be too close and I don't care for using them. They messed with the imaging of the dash speakers when I tried them. I've always liked the sound stage, imaging, and especially depth acuity, better when the mids/highs were farther up on the dash close to the windshield. I've seen a lot of custom pods used in installs. Personally, I like the highs in the wideband dash speakers better than tweeters, but that is totally a preference. They just seem smoother to me. You could always try them and see what you think... you might like them.

 

[cm122054]

It seems like it would be too close and I don't care for using them. They messed with the imaging of the dash speakers when I tried them. I've always liked the sound stage, imaging, and especially depth acuity, better when the mids/highs were farther up on the dash close to the windshield. I've seen a lot of custom pods used in installs. Personally, I like the highs in the wideband dash speakers better than tweeters, but that is totally a preference. They just seem smoother to me. You could always try them and see what you think... you might like them.

Okay thank you, very helpful info. Last question (I think haha), do you know how many input channels an amp would need to integrate with the HK system? I don’t know much about this, and maybe that’s not the right question, but people keep telling me to be careful and make sure the aftermarket amp I get integrates with the factory HK system. Not fully sure what that means, but figure I may need like a 12+ channel amp? I only plan on doing a 2 or 3 way system with subs (no rear door, center, or headliners hooked up), but want it to work with the HK system. I will be using the PACAmp pro with toslink if that matters.

 

[Sonnie]

That really depends on you. You'll only use one signal coming from the factory headunit via a PAC AmpPRO Toslink connection to whatever processor you plan to use. I had a sub channel, front dash speakers, front door speakers and rear fill overhead back that I setup... and did not use other speakers. You'll just use however many amp channels for the speakers you plan to use. If you want a good soundstage with proper imaging from the drivers seat, you won't use the upper door speakers or the center speaker (unless you have a processor that processes center channel properly - not sure they make one that does it right).

 

[cm122054]

That really depends on you. You'll only use one signal coming from the factory headunit via a PAC AmpPRO Toslink connection to whatever processor you plan to use. I had a sub channel, front dash speakers, front door speakers and rear fill overhead back that I setup... and did not use other speakers. You'll just use however many amp channels for the speakers you plan to use. If you want a good soundstage with proper imaging from the drivers seat, you won't use the upper door speakers or the center speaker (unless you have a processor that processes center channel properly - not sure they make one that does it right).

This answered all my questions, thank you!