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I’d also recommend downloading your favorite playlists as high-quality downloads. Streaming will be poorer quality.
Audio upgrade ideas?
- Thread starter tahoebrian5
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I had my JL Audio 10" Powerwedge installed in my truck. They just used an LC2I Pro to get a clean signal. They weren't aware of the ANC and I had a noticeable hum from the sub. I actually asked Net Audio about a harness and they said I could just unplug the ANC harness from the amp under the driver's seat, which I did and I haven't noticed any issues. It's a little louder inside I suppose but really the only thing adverse that I notice is what I think is the turbo actuator rattle. The hum went away and it sounds pretty good in my opinion. I do use Tidal though with a DAC dongle to convert the digital signal to analog via the auxiliary jack and it definitely sounds better than my 2019 Raptor with the B&O system did (with the same sub).
I do turn on the surround sound option in the audio settings and crank up the mids and highs on the eq and I feel like it sounds really good. The biggest thing I've noticed getting into and listening to hi-res audio is there's a LOT of variance between songs. It seems one of the biggest differences is not just personal preference but how the songs are produced. Some songs in Tidal's highest quality sound great but others sound kind of muddy when the mids and highs aren't as pronounced, but that also could just be my aging ears.
I do turn on the surround sound option in the audio settings and crank up the mids and highs on the eq and I feel like it sounds really good. The biggest thing I've noticed getting into and listening to hi-res audio is there's a LOT of variance between songs. It seems one of the biggest differences is not just personal preference but how the songs are produced. Some songs in Tidal's highest quality sound great but others sound kind of muddy when the mids and highs aren't as pronounced, but that also could just be my aging ears.
Can you show us what you did for the sub and its location via pictures?
You mean like the location of the sub? It's just sitting under the rear seat. I removed the fold down storage "retainer" or whatever it's called. In my Raptor I actually had it strapped down with some ratchet straps but there's really no way to do that in this truck. There's plenty of friction between the carpet used on it and the floor mat and floor carpet that it doesn't move though. It definitely could move in a collision, but a bracket could be added and it be bolted down if I really wanted to do that.
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There’s a DIY Mobile Audio site where a guy with the HK19 system in a 25 Laramie replaced all his speakers with no issues. I’m assuming it’s the same system that’s in the RHO but that may not be correct.
Has anyone actually tried replacing the factory speakers with aftermarket and experienced issues?
Even so, that won’t clean up the signal but it would be a step in the right direction.
Sorry for the long post but hopefully this helps some.
What I've learned in messing around with everything is that the SOURCE makes a big difference. I can't speak for iphones because I've never owned one, but if your source is your phone the audio quality isn't going to be great (unless you have an LG V60 Thinq) because a) the DA in phones sucks and b) Android Auto adds compression (even in wired mode). Bluetooth using aptX, Ldac etc. is a little better but still not very "pure".
The way to get a clean signal (with and Android phone at least) is to use an external DAC and connect to the auxiliary port. You can buy an Ifi Go Link Max on Amazon for about $70 and I promise you will notice a difference if you use either downloaded audio (the higher the bitrate the better) or stream via Tidal or Qobuz (or a few other possibly) hi-res audio.
Keep your EQ in the head unit flat. And I would personally recommend turning on the surround sound. To me it makes all my music (which I listen to pretty much all kinds) sound more full and just better than when it's off, but that's personal preference. Also keep the balance centered as adjusting toward the rear at least, will lower the bass output some.
The only issue with this setup is if will drain your phone battery more as the DAC draws it's power from your phone via USB. And there's no way to charge your phone and run the DAC at the same time as even using like a USB hub that's supposed to allow both ends up adding distortion (at least in my testing it did.
So what I ended up going with is a DAP (digital audio player) I did lots of research and for what I wanted I ended up going with an ibasso dx180. Now, it's not cheap (I think it was 5 or $600) but while I don't have gigabytes of music (you can put terabytes on the device with an SD card), I have all of my old ripped CD's (yeah I'm old...) and downloaded music and it runs android so I can download Tidal or any other music app available on the Google Play store.
I've been using it for a few weeks now and I'm very happy with this personally. I have my JL Audio 10" Powerwedge sub and a bass control knob that goes with the Lc2i Pro to adjust the bass output (which is needed frequently since I listen to various types of music), but honestly the clean pure analog signal being fed to the truck makes the audio sound really good. If the song is recorded like shit it's still going to sound like shit but lots of songs I now hear things in the music I never heard before (and I don't have great hearing anymore). You can hear separation between instruments and vocals are clearer.
I can easily crank it to 20 (I haven't tried going higher) and it's still clear and the bass continues to to hit harder. Keep in mind, the DAP is sending a cleaner, stronger signal than my phone did (though you'll notice similar results with the ifi go link max) so it's louder and clearer at lower volumes. So "15" on the volume is now closer to "10" to be as loud.
Anyway, I'm no expert but this is what I learned from my testing. Happy to answer questions if I can.
What I've learned in messing around with everything is that the SOURCE makes a big difference. I can't speak for iphones because I've never owned one, but if your source is your phone the audio quality isn't going to be great (unless you have an LG V60 Thinq) because a) the DA in phones sucks and b) Android Auto adds compression (even in wired mode). Bluetooth using aptX, Ldac etc. is a little better but still not very "pure".
The way to get a clean signal (with and Android phone at least) is to use an external DAC and connect to the auxiliary port. You can buy an Ifi Go Link Max on Amazon for about $70 and I promise you will notice a difference if you use either downloaded audio (the higher the bitrate the better) or stream via Tidal or Qobuz (or a few other possibly) hi-res audio.
Keep your EQ in the head unit flat. And I would personally recommend turning on the surround sound. To me it makes all my music (which I listen to pretty much all kinds) sound more full and just better than when it's off, but that's personal preference. Also keep the balance centered as adjusting toward the rear at least, will lower the bass output some.
The only issue with this setup is if will drain your phone battery more as the DAC draws it's power from your phone via USB. And there's no way to charge your phone and run the DAC at the same time as even using like a USB hub that's supposed to allow both ends up adding distortion (at least in my testing it did.
So what I ended up going with is a DAP (digital audio player) I did lots of research and for what I wanted I ended up going with an ibasso dx180. Now, it's not cheap (I think it was 5 or $600) but while I don't have gigabytes of music (you can put terabytes on the device with an SD card), I have all of my old ripped CD's (yeah I'm old...) and downloaded music and it runs android so I can download Tidal or any other music app available on the Google Play store.
I've been using it for a few weeks now and I'm very happy with this personally. I have my JL Audio 10" Powerwedge sub and a bass control knob that goes with the Lc2i Pro to adjust the bass output (which is needed frequently since I listen to various types of music), but honestly the clean pure analog signal being fed to the truck makes the audio sound really good. If the song is recorded like shit it's still going to sound like shit but lots of songs I now hear things in the music I never heard before (and I don't have great hearing anymore). You can hear separation between instruments and vocals are clearer.
I can easily crank it to 20 (I haven't tried going higher) and it's still clear and the bass continues to to hit harder. Keep in mind, the DAP is sending a cleaner, stronger signal than my phone did (though you'll notice similar results with the ifi go link max) so it's louder and clearer at lower volumes. So "15" on the volume is now closer to "10" to be as loud.
Anyway, I'm no expert but this is what I learned from my testing. Happy to answer questions if I can.
Great info, I’ve done some deep dives on car audio stuff, using oscilloscopes to find clipping points and running sine sweeps with high quality external mics to tailer the EQ curve using a DSP, but I haven’t played with source DACs or DAPs.
Tomorrow I’m picking up a JL StealthBox and a JL 750/1 monoblock amp and that’ll be my next project. If I can convince myself that drop in upgraded speakers won’t make the truck’s electronics go psycho that’ll be next.
After that its wait for a PAC Pro harness and maybe look into DACs and DAPs.
Many thanks for the post.
Tomorrow I’m picking up a JL StealthBox and a JL 750/1 monoblock amp and that’ll be my next project. If I can convince myself that drop in upgraded speakers won’t make the truck’s electronics go psycho that’ll be next.
After that its wait for a PAC Pro harness and maybe look into DACs and DAPs.
Many thanks for the post.
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2019-up Ram 5th Gen Crew Cab 1500 Behind the Seat Audio
dodge ram 5th gen, 5th gen ram, 5the gen ram crew cab, ram crew cab, crew cab subwoofer box, 5th gen ram crew cab subwoofer box, ram crew cab subwoofer box
netaudio.com
I don't want an underseat sub. This seems like a decent option.
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From what I’ve read there’s certain scenarios where speaker swaps work fine if you can get the exact same ohm speakers as factory. I have alpine and I’m pretty sure they are 3ohm which is weird. I just don’t see the point in doing a speaker swap when you’re going to have to use low power speakers and still using the same amp and processed signal. Can’t throw in high power handling speakers and expect the amp to be able to utilize them.
I don’t disagree but I do think high sensitivity high quality speakers (i.e.: Focal Elite product lines) would likely do better than the OEM speakers and smooth things out a bit. But that would definitely not be money well spent if a PAC Pro harness never comes out that would allow me to properly power them. Lots of $ for marginal benefit.
I had a Focal Elite 165 KRX3 speaker kit in my last truck with Alpine amps and a Bit One DSP and it was amazing, still going strong at 12 years old when I traded it in.
I had a Focal Elite 165 KRX3 speaker kit in my last truck with Alpine amps and a Bit One DSP and it was amazing, still going strong at 12 years old when I traded it in.
FWIW, I just updated 5 of 9 speakers in the Vette’s Bose stereo to Infinity speakers (3ohm) and it does sound much better and plays nicely with the Bose amp. Sound deadening goes a long way too! Not Focal, but I’m not trying to do a whole system in that vehicle.
This system is wired in such a way that you can't just swap to new 4 ohm speakers. Ram literally made it impossible to upgrade this system. You have to wait for the PAC harness and then replace absolutely everything, all new speaks and amps.
Gonna try this one first. 4.8 stars
Might as well I guess. If you don't notice an obvious improvement in sound quality and loudness overall, try the ifi. It's a reputable brand. You can always return it to Amazon. That's what I did.
on some of the xm stations, chill and jazz the bass is thunderous? You guys listening to rap? in that case I could see jacking up the bass to rattle the windows.
The fellow over at DIY Mobile that has the HK19 system in a 25 Laramie just posted that all the factory OEM speakers were 3 ohm and he replaced them all with 4 ohm speakers. He said the clarity increased (in my mind that means the distortion likely decreased, which I think makes sense when increasing resistance) and he didn’t lose any volume (that’s a head scratcher since more resistance —> less power).
But it is a strange system to try to swap out speakers on since the woofer and the tweeter in each OEM coaxial is separately wired (that’s how they tally 19 speakers). It would not be easy to connect a normal coaxial with predictable results since neither set of leads will have a full normal signal for a coaxial.
Just thought I’d share for awareness.
But it is a strange system to try to swap out speakers on since the woofer and the tweeter in each OEM coaxial is separately wired (that’s how they tally 19 speakers). It would not be easy to connect a normal coaxial with predictable results since neither set of leads will have a full normal signal for a coaxial.
Just thought I’d share for awareness.
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The first thing to do would be invest time in sound deadening and foam isolation. I took two days to do my doors and back wall and it made a big difference cleaning up the muddiness of the alpine system.
The Alpine system is upgradable too.
