FAQ - Audio Upgrades

[zenhog]

Is that specific to the Stage I system he has or does that apply to the STage II as well?

Also, to recap, if I want to use my ucconnect and the muting that it does, and also the steering wheel controls, what is important to remember to do or not do? My brain is overloaded from reading this entire thread and it woudl be great to get those answers before I short out completely. Thanks!

Craig

Originally Posted by el_duderino

WHen the OEM amp is in place, the preamp signal from the HU to the amp does not change in volume, so you couldn't do it that way.

But don't assume that the non-sub Boston systems roll off the low end. If there's no sub, the amp might play the by-nines all the way down. Know any shop with an RTA?

[djjasond]

(edited to remove steering wheel controls as being controlled by the factory amp)

I have soundgroup II. The factory amp is tied into the uconnect and navigation voice. If you tap the preamp signal coming directly from the factory deck you will lose the uconnect/navigations voice. If you wish to retain these features, you need tap the speaker signal (after the factory amp). Because the rear speakers roll off at 100hz, you will need to use both the rear and front door signal or the dash and front door signals to get close to "full range".

[Silver Bullet]

Originally Posted by djjasond

I have soundgroup II. The factory amp is tied into the steering wheel controls, uconnect, and navigation voice. If you tap the preamp signal coming directly from the factory deck you will lose steering wheel controls and the uconnect/navigations voice. If you wish to retain these features, you need tap the speaker signal (after the factory amp). Because the rear speakers roll off at 100hz, you will need to use both the rear and front door signal or the dash and front door signals to get close to "full range".

I tapped in before the factory amp with the JL Cleansweep and still have the steering wheel controls.
I do not have the factory uconnect or navigation so I can not speak on that subject.

[FastEd]

Originally Posted by Silver Bullet

I tapped in before the factory amp with the JL Cleansweep and still have the steering wheel controls.
I do not have the factory uconnect or navigation so I can not speak on that subject.

I was also under the opinion that you could lose the OEM amp and still retain steering wheels controls (but loose nav and u control).

Also JL Audio makes an amp that accepts unbalanced inputs (from the OEM head unit) so you dont need LOC adapters.

[Todd RT]

Hey you guys. I've finally found a group that knows what's going on. I have a 05 Magnum RT. We don't have the 8 speaker option with the 380watt amp and sub. I have the 6cd changer/mp3 head unit with the 6 speakers.

2 questions:

1. Shouldn't I be able to use your 8 channel 380 watt amp and add a sub to the magnum?

2. The other reason I want to replace the amp is what I call "rear speaker fade out", I've had nothing but problems with the rear speakers basically turning off when @ high volumes, with lots of bass. Not the speakers, tried switching them, it's with the Amp and DC won't fix. Wondering if the 300c amps would help?

[djjasond]

The factory amp is tied into the steering wheel controls, uconnect, and navigation voice.

SORRY GUYS! I was in autopilot mode on my above post. I'm used to answering the "what do I give up?" question about adding an aftermarket deck. Factory deck keeps factory steering wheel controls. You definitely lose the uconnect and nav voice once you cut the preamp signal though. All of the factory speakers stop working.

Silver Bullet, I mean this with best intentions and not to offend but having a clean sweep before the factory amp is complete overkill unless your main goal was to have an aux input and even then there are other solutions that cost much less. The signal from the factory deck to the factory amp is full range and high voltage. The clean sweep is typically used after the factory amp to restore frequencies eq'd out by the factory amp. Many folks on this forum have tapped the preamp signal and used cheapy LOCs with great success. My intention isn't to make you regret your purchase but to instead prevent others from spending so much where it may not be necessary. For detailed evidence, check out this post from El Duderino where he hooked up a real time analyzer and tested the signal from the factory deck to the factory amp. This is on a 2006 with SoundGroup II

300C AV project car

[zenhog]

I think I noticed something tonight that I want to confirm.

I was driving along in a conversation with a friend through UConnect. Her voice was coming at me from what sounded like only the left speaker.

Then the NavBitch (my friend's nickname for her) Nav Lady kicked in. She took over the left speaker and my friends voice came through the right speaker. Muted down, but came through that speaker.

Jason - could the system be doing something that sophisticated? It looks like I need to keep all three speakers (well, at least right and left) on the dash intact just to make sure Nav and Uconnect have a place to come from!

Craig

[Todd RT]

After reading thousands of posts on numerous forums, this thread has the most info.

Am I correct in the following summary as it applies to my goals in upgrading?

1. I have the BA 6 speaker system, no nav in the 05 Magnum RT.
2. I want better sound, and more bass.
3. I want to keep Uconnect and all steering wheel controls.
4. If I don't want to add any new amps then I can only replace speakers with better ones, as long as they are 2 ohms.
5. If I want to add a sub I must tap into the door speakers to get the low level output and then send to seperate amp and sub.
6. If I want to retain Uconnect and Steering wheel controls and upgrade amps for the door/dash/rear speakers, I must tap in after the factory amp.

This all sound correct?

Lastly, this amp has sub outputs from the factory, didn't see anything about that in this KB. Any input?

[zenhog]

Originally Posted by Todd RT

After reading thousands of posts on numerous forums, this thread has the most info.

Am I correct in the following summary as it applies to my goals in upgrading?

1. I have the BA 6 speaker system, no nav in the 05 Magnum RT.
2. I want better sound, and more bass.
3. I want to keep Uconnect and all steering wheel controls.
4. If I don't want to add any new amps then I can only replace speakers with better ones, as long as they are 2 ohms.
5. If I want to add a sub I must tap into the door speakers to get the low level output and then send to seperate amp and sub.
6. If I want to retain Uconnect and Steering wheel controls and upgrade amps for the door/dash/rear speakers, I must tap in after the factory amp.

This all sound correct?

Lastly, this amp has sub outputs from the factory, didn't see anything about that in this KB. Any input?

Well, there's others that are more senior on this than I am but I went through the same logic before upgrading my sound system and here's what I took to be the answers:
1-3 yes
4 Be careful about the wattage that the new speakers requrie. That amp is not putting out a lot of power so it can't run really good speakers
5. yes. You'll get everything from 100hz and down.
6. Yes.

and the other question - yes, there is a seperate output for the car's sub. But from what El Duderino measured it looks to get only about 60hz and below sent to it. Not really enough for a decent sub most would say.

Also keep in mind that whichever signal you catch it will be affected by your fade and your built-in equalizer. i.e. if you take the signal going to the doors and send it to a sub amp (I think) then when you fade to the rear both the door signal and the sub signal will be decreased. Someone else should jump in here and confirm that.

[el_duderino]

Slight correction. Steering wheel controls are retained after amp removal.