There seems to be a bit of confusion out there about the audio systems in our Chargers and, even though I thought the 276 Watt Alpine system was pretty good for an OEM stereo, I ended up doing an upgrade. I have written about speaker upgrades with the 6-speaker premium Alpine system that generated some discussion, so I figured I would add my 2 cents to the amplifier question as well.
The Charger is put together really well for those wanting to mess with the audio. Compared to things I have read on the mobile audio forums, we have it pretty easy. Don’t be afraid to take off panels or run wires. With a few proper, inexpensive tools, you can do it and there is every little risk of ruining anything. Worst case scenario is having to get a new plastic fastener for a panel. A buck or two at the dealer. Guess why I know…
First off, before doing anything, do some planning. I was able to do my complete audio upgrade in steps over several months. This made it easy on the bank and kept it low on the spouse’s radar. I recommend doing a speaker upgrade first. You will be impressed with what that alone can do and it is interesting to see how each addition improves the sound. My suggestion would be to:
1) Replace speakers.
2) Add amps and sub.
3) Add Digital Signal Processing.
I have already talked about adding speakers using the OEM wiring so I won’t discuss that (That thread is “Speaker Replacement, Thoughts and Info” http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-161343.html). In short, you can add speakers that will fit using harness adapters you can buy on line or at a supplier. Don’t worry too much about the wiring. What the system comes with is fine for the OEM amp. Even the 24--18 gauge wire that is typical can run 3.5-16 amps steady and resistance is only about .025- .006 ohms/foot. The harness wiring we have appears to be 18 gauge. That’s plenty for basic stuff. Big fat aftermarket amps will run around 10 Amps per channel at peak (which will make your ears bleed). Here is a reference for that information.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Assuming you have replaced your speakers, your next goal would be adding a sub and an aftermarket amplifer for more bass. The main question people have is how to get the signal for the bass, and then how to configure and wire a sub or speakers. To start, you need to know what you have. For the 6-speaker 276 Watt Alpine system there is a lot of confusion I have seen on the forums.
Here is a picture of what I have figured out reading posts from others and testing with an audio analyzer:
So the front signal is divided to play bass in the doors and highs in the dash. The rear speakers only play mid-bass because they have no tweeter, but they do get a full signal. Also, the crossover for the front and any EQ is performed at the amp, not at the head unit. That will influence what you want to do for amp upgrade. Importantly, the head unit will limit the bass signal going to the speakers at high volume so that you don’t kill the speakers. This is a major issue because, if you want to add a sub, you have to deal with that. But there are solutions.
Also, the speaker wires are a little hard to figure out. There are two connectors on the OEM amp, which is located on the driver left kick panel. Here are the wiring diagrams for the connectors on the amp. I marked the wiring and highlighted their descriptions. You can see the dash speaker wires are on the same connector as the input from the radio. The C1 connector has a lot of options based on the harness/package but will only be populated with the specific system wiring you have. This is why you can't just plug in an 8" sub into the rear deckand harness wiring. The connectors are both accessible by removing the upper silencer cover over the brake pedal. Looking up to the side, you will see these on the bottom of the amp while you wreck your neck. The C1 connector is black/dark gray and the C2 is white.
For adding an amp, you have to decide if you want to tap in to the signal after the OEM amp, or before. Most aftermarket amps will take a speaker-level high input, or a pre-amp level low input. Using the speaker level input, you preserve all of the function of the head unit including tone control, but you have to deal with the bass limiting for the output. By taking a pre-amp signal, you lose the tone control function, but balance and fade and speed-adjusted volume are preserved because they are done at the head unit, not the amp. You also avoid the bass-limiting issue.
Just powering a sub
If you just want to add a sub to your system, here is my best recommendation. Although this is not what I did, I would recommend tapping into the rear speaker wires, running them to a Low Output Converter like the Audio Control LC2i, then running that signal to a mono or 2.1 amp to send the signal to a sub or to a sub and rear deck speakers. You could also just tap the signal and run to an all-in-one powered sub.
As far as what size or how many subs/amps you want, that is all personal. I just wanted to fill out my music, so I added a 10” sub in a sealed enclosure to give the smoothest, most accurate response. Sub enclosures make a big difference and each sub requires specific specs. Generally, sealed enclosures are smallest and most accurate, ported make more sound but are larger, and band-pass are the largest but can be tuned for high sound pressure at specific frequencies. A correctly sized sealed enclosure for a 10” sub sounds great in my car. It doesn’t take up a lot of space but it can take about 300W RMS which is plenty loud for even for the occasional heavy session. I used the Infinity Reference dual-coil 1062W that requires a 1.25 cubic foot enclosure that fits easily in the trunk. A 12" will have the ability to hit lower frequencies, but my measurements show this one does just fine down to 30 Hz. It secures to the floor of the trunk using only the hooked side of industrial Velcro from Home Depot. I used four strips, which is very secure, but I am still able to remove it in case I need to get in to the spare/battery. I initially did this so I could move it around and look for the best placement, but it was secure enough that I never used any L-brackets to bolt it down.
Also, if you think you need to have multiple subs for max SPL, think again. Two subs doubles the sound, which is 3 dB. You can barely tell that without a measuring device.
Powering your whole system
If you want to power your whole system with aftermarket amps, you have to make the choice of pulling your signal from the speaker wires after the OEM amp, or getting the low level signal from the head unit.
To take your signal after the amp, which preserves all the functions of the Head Unit, you need a signal summing device to reassemble the split dash and front door. Again I would recommend a summing device like the Audio Control LC6i or LC 7i. These units will take your speaker level inputs and re-combine them so that they contain the full range signal. The front speakers are split and this will sum them back to an original full-strength signal. You can input the six speaker inputs, re-combine the fronts, and get out a front full range signal, a rear full range signal, and a sub signal. You can then run these to aftermarket amps for sub and speakers. I didn’t like this in principle because it is a bit like taking a raw photo image, changing it to a JPEG, and then trying to reconstruct the raw image again. I actually bought an LC7i to test out, but I haven’t done that yet. Lots of people are happy with this option based on what I have read.
To take your signal after the head unit, which gives you, in theory, a cleaner signal that does not need to be reassembled and is not bass-limited, you need to attach an adapter/LOC unit from PAC Audio (C2A-CHY5) after the head unit to read the pre-amp output and the CAN Bus network in order to give the correct volume and balance/fade. This is what I used. I give it mixed reviews. For the bad, the volume control you get is not smooth, but rather in steps. At the lowest setting of “1” it is still a little on the loud side. There is some noise in the unit that I haven’t tracked down, but it is at a low level and intermittent. On the other hand it gives a strong, flat signal out and the system sounds great. I also think this is a little easier to set up than an LOC that needs input from all the speakers. This is because the battery is in the trunk so you have to run a long power wire and there isn’t really a good place to put the LOC up by the driver kick panel. Otherwise you have to tap in to the front speaker wires and run them to the back. I describe a good way to do that below. I might still test this out someday.
Installing an Amp, or two
Amp choice should take into consideration your speakers. If you have replaced the stock speakers, you are likely to have 3.5” speakers up in the dash and either 6x9 or 6.5” speakers in the doors and rear. This is not as common as having component speakers that have a 5.25 or 6.5 mid-bass speaker and a tweeter connected by a passive crossover. But in some sense this is an advantage. Many amps come with built in converters so you can use the speaker-level input. They will also have crossovers built in that are perfect for the 3.5/6x9 situation. You can high-pass your signal from anywhere around 200 Hz on up to the dash and low-pass the doors below that for bass. Doing that gives a great stereo image as well. You can also incorporate the OEM amp, though it won’t have as much power. The amps install nicely in the trunk mounted along the back seat. The hard plastic backing accepts the screws for the amps and make a secure mounting surface. This also kept them out of the way and gave easy access to the amp settings by folding the rear seats down. So your options are:
1) Use an adapter like the PAC Audio device to get a low-level signal to output to your amps. I ended up with this in the end.
2) Use an LOC like the Audio Control Devices to sum your signal post OEM amp and separate out a sub signal, then go to your amps I haven't tested this but research says it is a good option
3) Tap into your speaker wire or harness somewhere to run directly to amps that accept a high level input. I did this for a little while while and it was a good option
I installed:
PAC C2A-CHY5 Adapter (But you could use an Audio Control LC6i or LC7i LOC summing/converter)
JBL GTO 504EZ 4 Channel Amp (For front door and dash speakers)
JBL GTO 3EZ 2.1 channel amp (For rear and sub)
2 NVX XKIT82 amp installation Kits (From Sonic Electronix, very impressed with the quality of their house brand stuff)
Installing the PAC C2A-CHy5 Adapter This is a little scary if you haven’t done it, but in the end is pretty simple. You need to install the adapter at the rear of the radio, so you have to pull it out. The radio is actually behind the fan controls, not the screen. There are some great videos on how to do this, and it only takes a little effort. I have the 8 spd transmission, so I had to pop off the top of the shifter. Using a nylon body panel tool (a whole set for 5 bucks at Harbor freight) you can pry it up and expose the set screw, which is a 4mm hex/Allan bolt. Here’s a picture for reference:
That lifts off the rest of the handle and you can then follow this video for the rest. You don’t need to pull off the whole cluster, just take the radio out, plug in the PAC unit at the back white 22 pin connector you see in the video, hook up the ground wire, then put it all back together.
http://youtu.be/LwjFdxZky4Y
Install the Adapter according to the instructions at the back of the head unit. I found I had to ground the unit to get a clean signal. It sounded OK without, but then got much louder and clearer when I did. I grounded to the left radio chassis where there is a good screw that accommodates a spade connector and ran and additional length of 18 gauge from that spade to the back of the trunk for a common ground point with the other equipment. This keeps noise down low by preventing ground-loops, which are caused by ground points that are not really in common and have a voltage difference. There may be some that argue this point. The PAC unit also has a remote-turn on line for activating the amps and preventing any power-on pops. I extended this with 18 gauge wire from the amp kit and plugged it into both amps rather than using the remote-sensing function of the amps. I did try that out and it worked pretty well, but I liked the remote wire solution better as it seemed to work faster. I ran the adapter RCA plugs just over the panels above the accelerator and brake pedals. I pulled them out a bit for this picture so you can see how I ran it. The unit is behind the radio, there is plenty of room back there, and I ran the RCA’s from here and over the panels above the pedals and into the left kick panes silencer. This way I can get to them if needed. In all you should be running a ground wire (18 gauge) a remote wire (18 gauge) and two sets of paired RCA cables from the Pac unit toward the back of the trunk. The kits had plenty of wire to accomplish this.
Running signal wire and speaker wire back to the trunk. This is a lot easier than I expected. The driver side has a very deep channel and all the panels pop on and off with clips for easy access. In addition to the wires from the PAC unit, I also pulled my Dash speakers out and connected the 16 G speaker wire to them. The installation for speakers is described elsewhere, but in short I ran the right speaker wire over the dash to the right speaker, and dropped both left and right speaker wire down the hole for the left dash speaker. There is plenty of room and channels in the dash under the top cover to run wire. This way the wire comes out at the left kick panel at the same place as the RCA’s and ground/remote wires from the PAC unit. I also ran speaker wire for the door speakers, but I didn’t run it through the doors, I just terminated them at the OEM AMP. I’ll explain that below.
You can move the driver kick silencer panel, the foot-rest carpeting, and lift out all the runners on the driver side, the inverted T panel at the B pillar, and the runner cover and back seat side bolster. Everything pops out and the rear left passenger seat bolster (the part that doesn’t fold down) is the only screw you have to undo. Instructions for removing panels and running wire can be found with the MOPAR Rear Camera installation instructions, only that will refer to the passenger side, but otherwise it all works the same. The wires will run neatly along the channel, up along the rear passenger seat and into the trunk under the flap for the rear folding seats with no issue. This picture illustrates the passenger side, but the driver side is the same.
Powering, securing, and grounding the amps This is the great thing about our cars. You can run a short stretch of power cable under the trunk floor panel to your amps. The positive battery terminal accommodates one or more of the power cables and you need only a few feet. The fuse holders, which needs to be no more than 18” from the battery, fit under the floor panel nicely. The NVX power cable comes pre-marked for the place you should splice in the fuse holder, which is convenient. The picture shows only one of the power lines and fuse holders from the amp kits. The other fit very neatly under the silencer panel lip on the right side of the trunk so you can’t see it. My amps required a 10 gauge and 8 gauge line, so I just bought two 8 gauge kits for my installation. You can also use a larger gauge power wire, such as 4 or 0 and then a power distribution block. But the two individual ones hooked up fine here and seemed to fit better overall. Cost less too. The fuse holders fit nicely into a channel in the flooring so no need to worry about clearance.
Because the ground should be close by within 3 feet, I sanded down an unused place for a rear seat fastener and drilled an 8mm self-tapping sheet metal screw into place. I used this to ground the amps, the extended PAC ground, and my digital sound processors that I will talk about later.
And here is how I mounted the amps directly onto the rear fold-down seats,
Tapping into OEM wiring OK, maybe I am a little bit of a wuss, but I was daunted by the task of running 16-gauge speaker wire into the front doors. I was also experimenting with a lot of configurations and had the thought that someday I may want to return everything to stock. So what I did was to take the C1 and C2 connectors at the amp and splice in 18 gauge bullet connectors. This way, I could detach the out wiring for the doors, rear deck, or dash (the outs for the dash are on the C1 22-pin connector. The outs for the others are on the C2 16-pin connector) and plug in the speaker leads from the amps. Sure you are running lower gauge wire the last couple feet, but it is convenient. If you are running an LOC after the amp or just want to run a high-level signal directly into the high inputs in the amp this also works well. You can make little custom RCA adapters to plug into the bullet connectors and plug those into the RCA interconnects that run to the back an plug into the amps. Lots of options here by doing that so you can find whatever suits you. I have to confess that getting bullet adapters secure on the harness wiring was a hassle for a couple of them. With the connectors you can work on a bench top. For the harness you have to get on your back to get up there and strip and crimp the connectors on. I suggest getting some decent crimping tools.
Installing a Digital Signal Processor
If you have gone up through a speaker and amp upgrade, you are probably pretty happy with how your system sounds. But in reality, even if you have used top-quality speakers and amps, it won’t be as good as it can be, and I have just ruined it for you. There are a number of issues with trying to install stereo in a tin can that you are sitting off center in. You are not in the center of the “stage”, you have sound coming at you in all directions, arriving at different times, and it is reflecting off of some surfaces like the windows, as well as being absorbed by things like the seats. So you have a lot of sound, but no focus, spikes and valleys in the frequency response and blurry imaging. It can’t be fixed perfectly, but you can make huge improvements by using a digital sound processor, or DSP. A DSP is basically a dedicated computer that will equalize the sound, precisely control the crossover frequency between the speakers, and adjust the output volume and the timing of each speaker so that you get the sound in the correct time-domain at the right intensity. Excellent DSPS are made by Rockford Fosgate, Alpine, JL, and JBL, as well as audiophile companies like Audison and Helix. These run in the $600-$1000 + range. Not for me. Precision Power/Soundstream make a very good $500-$600 range DSP as well. These are based on the audiophile company MiniDSP, based in Hong Kong. MiniDSP also makes its own DSP’s with very high quality components and specs, but they are intended for use by the DIY crowd, of which I am one of. These DSPs sell for $125. Now you are talking! I highly recommend the miniDSP’s and by extension, the PPI DEQ8. These are installed between your signal and amplifier and handle all the sound processing. One of the best things about these is that they adjust the time-alignment of speakers so that you can perfectly align left and right for excellent stereo imaging. Another is that you can time the speakers front and rear so that the subwoofer sound arrives at the same time as the rest of the sound, which makes percussion and bass instruments sound like they are coming out of your window. The equalization function also help to correct the distortions from reflections, phasing of the sound, or other things that can lead to odd sounds or distortions. I guarantee that this will make your system sound amazing.
And if you actually read this far, Thanks, I owe you a beer!
The Charger is put together really well for those wanting to mess with the audio. Compared to things I have read on the mobile audio forums, we have it pretty easy. Don’t be afraid to take off panels or run wires. With a few proper, inexpensive tools, you can do it and there is every little risk of ruining anything. Worst case scenario is having to get a new plastic fastener for a panel. A buck or two at the dealer. Guess why I know…
First off, before doing anything, do some planning. I was able to do my complete audio upgrade in steps over several months. This made it easy on the bank and kept it low on the spouse’s radar. I recommend doing a speaker upgrade first. You will be impressed with what that alone can do and it is interesting to see how each addition improves the sound. My suggestion would be to:
1) Replace speakers.
2) Add amps and sub.
3) Add Digital Signal Processing.
I have already talked about adding speakers using the OEM wiring so I won’t discuss that (That thread is “Speaker Replacement, Thoughts and Info” http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-161343.html). In short, you can add speakers that will fit using harness adapters you can buy on line or at a supplier. Don’t worry too much about the wiring. What the system comes with is fine for the OEM amp. Even the 24--18 gauge wire that is typical can run 3.5-16 amps steady and resistance is only about .025- .006 ohms/foot. The harness wiring we have appears to be 18 gauge. That’s plenty for basic stuff. Big fat aftermarket amps will run around 10 Amps per channel at peak (which will make your ears bleed). Here is a reference for that information.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Assuming you have replaced your speakers, your next goal would be adding a sub and an aftermarket amplifer for more bass. The main question people have is how to get the signal for the bass, and then how to configure and wire a sub or speakers. To start, you need to know what you have. For the 6-speaker 276 Watt Alpine system there is a lot of confusion I have seen on the forums.
Here is a picture of what I have figured out reading posts from others and testing with an audio analyzer:
So the front signal is divided to play bass in the doors and highs in the dash. The rear speakers only play mid-bass because they have no tweeter, but they do get a full signal. Also, the crossover for the front and any EQ is performed at the amp, not at the head unit. That will influence what you want to do for amp upgrade. Importantly, the head unit will limit the bass signal going to the speakers at high volume so that you don’t kill the speakers. This is a major issue because, if you want to add a sub, you have to deal with that. But there are solutions.
Also, the speaker wires are a little hard to figure out. There are two connectors on the OEM amp, which is located on the driver left kick panel. Here are the wiring diagrams for the connectors on the amp. I marked the wiring and highlighted their descriptions. You can see the dash speaker wires are on the same connector as the input from the radio. The C1 connector has a lot of options based on the harness/package but will only be populated with the specific system wiring you have. This is why you can't just plug in an 8" sub into the rear deckand harness wiring. The connectors are both accessible by removing the upper silencer cover over the brake pedal. Looking up to the side, you will see these on the bottom of the amp while you wreck your neck. The C1 connector is black/dark gray and the C2 is white.
For adding an amp, you have to decide if you want to tap in to the signal after the OEM amp, or before. Most aftermarket amps will take a speaker-level high input, or a pre-amp level low input. Using the speaker level input, you preserve all of the function of the head unit including tone control, but you have to deal with the bass limiting for the output. By taking a pre-amp signal, you lose the tone control function, but balance and fade and speed-adjusted volume are preserved because they are done at the head unit, not the amp. You also avoid the bass-limiting issue.
Just powering a sub
If you just want to add a sub to your system, here is my best recommendation. Although this is not what I did, I would recommend tapping into the rear speaker wires, running them to a Low Output Converter like the Audio Control LC2i, then running that signal to a mono or 2.1 amp to send the signal to a sub or to a sub and rear deck speakers. You could also just tap the signal and run to an all-in-one powered sub.
As far as what size or how many subs/amps you want, that is all personal. I just wanted to fill out my music, so I added a 10” sub in a sealed enclosure to give the smoothest, most accurate response. Sub enclosures make a big difference and each sub requires specific specs. Generally, sealed enclosures are smallest and most accurate, ported make more sound but are larger, and band-pass are the largest but can be tuned for high sound pressure at specific frequencies. A correctly sized sealed enclosure for a 10” sub sounds great in my car. It doesn’t take up a lot of space but it can take about 300W RMS which is plenty loud for even for the occasional heavy session. I used the Infinity Reference dual-coil 1062W that requires a 1.25 cubic foot enclosure that fits easily in the trunk. A 12" will have the ability to hit lower frequencies, but my measurements show this one does just fine down to 30 Hz. It secures to the floor of the trunk using only the hooked side of industrial Velcro from Home Depot. I used four strips, which is very secure, but I am still able to remove it in case I need to get in to the spare/battery. I initially did this so I could move it around and look for the best placement, but it was secure enough that I never used any L-brackets to bolt it down.
Also, if you think you need to have multiple subs for max SPL, think again. Two subs doubles the sound, which is 3 dB. You can barely tell that without a measuring device.
Powering your whole system
If you want to power your whole system with aftermarket amps, you have to make the choice of pulling your signal from the speaker wires after the OEM amp, or getting the low level signal from the head unit.
To take your signal after the amp, which preserves all the functions of the Head Unit, you need a signal summing device to reassemble the split dash and front door. Again I would recommend a summing device like the Audio Control LC6i or LC 7i. These units will take your speaker level inputs and re-combine them so that they contain the full range signal. The front speakers are split and this will sum them back to an original full-strength signal. You can input the six speaker inputs, re-combine the fronts, and get out a front full range signal, a rear full range signal, and a sub signal. You can then run these to aftermarket amps for sub and speakers. I didn’t like this in principle because it is a bit like taking a raw photo image, changing it to a JPEG, and then trying to reconstruct the raw image again. I actually bought an LC7i to test out, but I haven’t done that yet. Lots of people are happy with this option based on what I have read.
To take your signal after the head unit, which gives you, in theory, a cleaner signal that does not need to be reassembled and is not bass-limited, you need to attach an adapter/LOC unit from PAC Audio (C2A-CHY5) after the head unit to read the pre-amp output and the CAN Bus network in order to give the correct volume and balance/fade. This is what I used. I give it mixed reviews. For the bad, the volume control you get is not smooth, but rather in steps. At the lowest setting of “1” it is still a little on the loud side. There is some noise in the unit that I haven’t tracked down, but it is at a low level and intermittent. On the other hand it gives a strong, flat signal out and the system sounds great. I also think this is a little easier to set up than an LOC that needs input from all the speakers. This is because the battery is in the trunk so you have to run a long power wire and there isn’t really a good place to put the LOC up by the driver kick panel. Otherwise you have to tap in to the front speaker wires and run them to the back. I describe a good way to do that below. I might still test this out someday.
Installing an Amp, or two
Amp choice should take into consideration your speakers. If you have replaced the stock speakers, you are likely to have 3.5” speakers up in the dash and either 6x9 or 6.5” speakers in the doors and rear. This is not as common as having component speakers that have a 5.25 or 6.5 mid-bass speaker and a tweeter connected by a passive crossover. But in some sense this is an advantage. Many amps come with built in converters so you can use the speaker-level input. They will also have crossovers built in that are perfect for the 3.5/6x9 situation. You can high-pass your signal from anywhere around 200 Hz on up to the dash and low-pass the doors below that for bass. Doing that gives a great stereo image as well. You can also incorporate the OEM amp, though it won’t have as much power. The amps install nicely in the trunk mounted along the back seat. The hard plastic backing accepts the screws for the amps and make a secure mounting surface. This also kept them out of the way and gave easy access to the amp settings by folding the rear seats down. So your options are:
1) Use an adapter like the PAC Audio device to get a low-level signal to output to your amps. I ended up with this in the end.
2) Use an LOC like the Audio Control Devices to sum your signal post OEM amp and separate out a sub signal, then go to your amps I haven't tested this but research says it is a good option
3) Tap into your speaker wire or harness somewhere to run directly to amps that accept a high level input. I did this for a little while while and it was a good option
I installed:
PAC C2A-CHY5 Adapter (But you could use an Audio Control LC6i or LC7i LOC summing/converter)
JBL GTO 504EZ 4 Channel Amp (For front door and dash speakers)
JBL GTO 3EZ 2.1 channel amp (For rear and sub)
2 NVX XKIT82 amp installation Kits (From Sonic Electronix, very impressed with the quality of their house brand stuff)
Installing the PAC C2A-CHy5 Adapter This is a little scary if you haven’t done it, but in the end is pretty simple. You need to install the adapter at the rear of the radio, so you have to pull it out. The radio is actually behind the fan controls, not the screen. There are some great videos on how to do this, and it only takes a little effort. I have the 8 spd transmission, so I had to pop off the top of the shifter. Using a nylon body panel tool (a whole set for 5 bucks at Harbor freight) you can pry it up and expose the set screw, which is a 4mm hex/Allan bolt. Here’s a picture for reference:
That lifts off the rest of the handle and you can then follow this video for the rest. You don’t need to pull off the whole cluster, just take the radio out, plug in the PAC unit at the back white 22 pin connector you see in the video, hook up the ground wire, then put it all back together.
http://youtu.be/LwjFdxZky4Y
Install the Adapter according to the instructions at the back of the head unit. I found I had to ground the unit to get a clean signal. It sounded OK without, but then got much louder and clearer when I did. I grounded to the left radio chassis where there is a good screw that accommodates a spade connector and ran and additional length of 18 gauge from that spade to the back of the trunk for a common ground point with the other equipment. This keeps noise down low by preventing ground-loops, which are caused by ground points that are not really in common and have a voltage difference. There may be some that argue this point. The PAC unit also has a remote-turn on line for activating the amps and preventing any power-on pops. I extended this with 18 gauge wire from the amp kit and plugged it into both amps rather than using the remote-sensing function of the amps. I did try that out and it worked pretty well, but I liked the remote wire solution better as it seemed to work faster. I ran the adapter RCA plugs just over the panels above the accelerator and brake pedals. I pulled them out a bit for this picture so you can see how I ran it. The unit is behind the radio, there is plenty of room back there, and I ran the RCA’s from here and over the panels above the pedals and into the left kick panes silencer. This way I can get to them if needed. In all you should be running a ground wire (18 gauge) a remote wire (18 gauge) and two sets of paired RCA cables from the Pac unit toward the back of the trunk. The kits had plenty of wire to accomplish this.
Running signal wire and speaker wire back to the trunk. This is a lot easier than I expected. The driver side has a very deep channel and all the panels pop on and off with clips for easy access. In addition to the wires from the PAC unit, I also pulled my Dash speakers out and connected the 16 G speaker wire to them. The installation for speakers is described elsewhere, but in short I ran the right speaker wire over the dash to the right speaker, and dropped both left and right speaker wire down the hole for the left dash speaker. There is plenty of room and channels in the dash under the top cover to run wire. This way the wire comes out at the left kick panel at the same place as the RCA’s and ground/remote wires from the PAC unit. I also ran speaker wire for the door speakers, but I didn’t run it through the doors, I just terminated them at the OEM AMP. I’ll explain that below.
You can move the driver kick silencer panel, the foot-rest carpeting, and lift out all the runners on the driver side, the inverted T panel at the B pillar, and the runner cover and back seat side bolster. Everything pops out and the rear left passenger seat bolster (the part that doesn’t fold down) is the only screw you have to undo. Instructions for removing panels and running wire can be found with the MOPAR Rear Camera installation instructions, only that will refer to the passenger side, but otherwise it all works the same. The wires will run neatly along the channel, up along the rear passenger seat and into the trunk under the flap for the rear folding seats with no issue. This picture illustrates the passenger side, but the driver side is the same.
Powering, securing, and grounding the amps This is the great thing about our cars. You can run a short stretch of power cable under the trunk floor panel to your amps. The positive battery terminal accommodates one or more of the power cables and you need only a few feet. The fuse holders, which needs to be no more than 18” from the battery, fit under the floor panel nicely. The NVX power cable comes pre-marked for the place you should splice in the fuse holder, which is convenient. The picture shows only one of the power lines and fuse holders from the amp kits. The other fit very neatly under the silencer panel lip on the right side of the trunk so you can’t see it. My amps required a 10 gauge and 8 gauge line, so I just bought two 8 gauge kits for my installation. You can also use a larger gauge power wire, such as 4 or 0 and then a power distribution block. But the two individual ones hooked up fine here and seemed to fit better overall. Cost less too. The fuse holders fit nicely into a channel in the flooring so no need to worry about clearance.
Because the ground should be close by within 3 feet, I sanded down an unused place for a rear seat fastener and drilled an 8mm self-tapping sheet metal screw into place. I used this to ground the amps, the extended PAC ground, and my digital sound processors that I will talk about later.
And here is how I mounted the amps directly onto the rear fold-down seats,
Tapping into OEM wiring OK, maybe I am a little bit of a wuss, but I was daunted by the task of running 16-gauge speaker wire into the front doors. I was also experimenting with a lot of configurations and had the thought that someday I may want to return everything to stock. So what I did was to take the C1 and C2 connectors at the amp and splice in 18 gauge bullet connectors. This way, I could detach the out wiring for the doors, rear deck, or dash (the outs for the dash are on the C1 22-pin connector. The outs for the others are on the C2 16-pin connector) and plug in the speaker leads from the amps. Sure you are running lower gauge wire the last couple feet, but it is convenient. If you are running an LOC after the amp or just want to run a high-level signal directly into the high inputs in the amp this also works well. You can make little custom RCA adapters to plug into the bullet connectors and plug those into the RCA interconnects that run to the back an plug into the amps. Lots of options here by doing that so you can find whatever suits you. I have to confess that getting bullet adapters secure on the harness wiring was a hassle for a couple of them. With the connectors you can work on a bench top. For the harness you have to get on your back to get up there and strip and crimp the connectors on. I suggest getting some decent crimping tools.
Installing a Digital Signal Processor
If you have gone up through a speaker and amp upgrade, you are probably pretty happy with how your system sounds. But in reality, even if you have used top-quality speakers and amps, it won’t be as good as it can be, and I have just ruined it for you. There are a number of issues with trying to install stereo in a tin can that you are sitting off center in. You are not in the center of the “stage”, you have sound coming at you in all directions, arriving at different times, and it is reflecting off of some surfaces like the windows, as well as being absorbed by things like the seats. So you have a lot of sound, but no focus, spikes and valleys in the frequency response and blurry imaging. It can’t be fixed perfectly, but you can make huge improvements by using a digital sound processor, or DSP. A DSP is basically a dedicated computer that will equalize the sound, precisely control the crossover frequency between the speakers, and adjust the output volume and the timing of each speaker so that you get the sound in the correct time-domain at the right intensity. Excellent DSPS are made by Rockford Fosgate, Alpine, JL, and JBL, as well as audiophile companies like Audison and Helix. These run in the $600-$1000 + range. Not for me. Precision Power/Soundstream make a very good $500-$600 range DSP as well. These are based on the audiophile company MiniDSP, based in Hong Kong. MiniDSP also makes its own DSP’s with very high quality components and specs, but they are intended for use by the DIY crowd, of which I am one of. These DSPs sell for $125. Now you are talking! I highly recommend the miniDSP’s and by extension, the PPI DEQ8. These are installed between your signal and amplifier and handle all the sound processing. One of the best things about these is that they adjust the time-alignment of speakers so that you can perfectly align left and right for excellent stereo imaging. Another is that you can time the speakers front and rear so that the subwoofer sound arrives at the same time as the rest of the sound, which makes percussion and bass instruments sound like they are coming out of your window. The equalization function also help to correct the distortions from reflections, phasing of the sound, or other things that can lead to odd sounds or distortions. I guarantee that this will make your system sound amazing.
And if you actually read this far, Thanks, I owe you a beer!