Anyone start tearing down a 2019 to install sound system?

ArcherMP · March 8, 2020

20 hours ago, JMO76 said:

I originally was going this route, but my installer said something that made a lot of sense. Rather than leaving the amp in and then trying to change the signal into something usable after the fact, it would be better to grab the signal before the Bose equipment has a chance to change it. Plus I looked at the costs between the Fix86/LLJ loopback harness & a Nav TV unit+speaker harness, and Nav TV is the cheaper option.

Before factory audio systems introduced a canbus output from the radio, nobody ever would've left a factory amp in and tried to adjust the signal after the fact. They would've either replaced the head-unit with an aftermarket model or used an LOC and maybe a line driver to feed their amps. But now that so much of the vehicle's non radio functions are run through the radio/display, I think people are more hesitant to replace it.

Makes a lot of sense to me, if the Nav-TV functioned as designed. I'm sure they will work out the issue someday, but for now we are kind of stuck. The frustration of the Nav-TV cutting out and having to come up with a way to reset it remotely makes me feel that the fix86 route would be cheaper and less of a headache because it actually works.

Ean1879 · March 9, 2020

Looking for a little guidance or help, please. My truck threw four or five "check engine" codes after installing a JL amp. The same worked great, but the check engine light was worrisome. So, I unhooked the amp, power, and the remote wire and still had the errors. I then drove it for 30 minutes, tried unplugging the negative battery terminal, and plugging it back in, and the codes remained. So, I started doing some research and saw that some vehicles have a feature where if you turn the vehicle on and off three times in a row, it will reset the check engine light. I tried this, and it did not seem to work originally so I went inside. When I came back outside after about 30 minutes, the check engine light went back off again.

So, any idea what might have caused the check engine lights? And the multiple code? I followed the LLJ customs install video, and this isn't my first amp install, so I'm a bit perplexed. I've used this amp/sub/wires in another vehicle before and never had issues. I did hook the remote wire up of the passenger side fuse box, as I've seen others do. I spliced in to the speaker wires in the door sill, and grounded the wire under a bolt to the rear seat.

Any thoughts? Thanks

JH1973 · March 9, 2020

2 hours ago, Ean1879 said:

Looking for a little guidance or help, please. My truck threw four or five "check engine" codes after installing a JL amp. The same worked great, but the check engine light was worrisome. So, I unhooked the amp, power, and the remote wire and still had the errors. I then drove it for 30 minutes, tried unplugging the negative battery terminal, and plugging it back in, and the codes remained. So, I started doing some research and saw that some vehicles have a feature where if you turn the vehicle on and off three times in a row, it will reset the check engine light. I tried this, and it did not seem to work originally so I went inside. When I came back outside after about 30 minutes, the check engine light went back off again.

So, any idea what might have caused the check engine lights? And the multiple code? I followed the LLJ customs install video, and this isn't my first amp install, so I'm a bit perplexed. I've used this amp/sub/wires in another vehicle before and never had issues. I did hook the remote wire up of the passenger side fuse box, as I've seen others do. I spliced in to the speaker wires in the door sill, and grounded the wire under a bolt to the rear seat.

Any thoughts? Thanks

If you take that to a dealer to have the problem fixed be sure to pull all of your audio gear and cover up those wire splices as good as you can because you have voided the electrical warranty and possibly the entire vehicle warranty by splicing into the wiring.

JMO76 · March 9, 2020

On 3/8/2020 at 12:18 AM, JMO76 said:

Here's a question for you guys. I swapped out the Bose speakers (will add Nav TV, amp, & sub soon). I used Hertz Audio Dieci 6x9s & 6.5s in the doors, and opted for just tweeters in the dash. This was the setup I used on my '16 Silverado, and that sounded pretty good.

This OTOH sounds like crap. On my old truck it sounded fine powered by just the factory non Bose radio (much better after I added an amp with crossover. But on this system with the Bose amp still in place it got worse with new speakers.

I think the Bose amp routes most of the mid to upper range to the dash speakers. To get any decent volume out if it, I had to turn down the bass on the radio down to about -7 so I don't blow out the speakers. Even then, it's about half as loud as before.

I'm thinking about putting more of a full range speaker in the dash to get some volume back. But I tried the Memphis Audio 2.75" speakers in my old truck and they didn't sound good on the radio or the amp. Crutchfield has Kenwood 2.75" speakers but they look about the same as the Bose units I took out. So I looked at slightly smaller speakers from higher end manufacturers and the two I'm looking at are the Audiofrog GS25 and the Motel CCWR254. From what I've read the GS25s will play louder and are built stronger, but both are better options than the Memphis or Kenwood's despite being smaller.

So I have 2 questions. First, anyone who has experience with these speakers, are they worth the higher price? By that I mean can they play clean and loud without crapping out? Second, for anyone who's used the GS25s, the owner's manual shows they have several mounting tabs on them (pic below), one of which is stamped GM that looks like the same mounting tabs from the factory Bose speakers (one square and one tapered, the ones at about the 1 & 6 o'clock positions in the pic). Do the mounting holes on the GM tabs align with the factory mounting holes? The cones on the GS25s are smaller (2.5" vs 2.75") so it's not very clear. I also don't know if GM has 2.5" factory speakers on other vehicles or not. Any help is appreciated.

As an addendum to the above post, I got some of the speakers mixed up. The 2.75" speakers from Powerbass were the ones that looked like the factory Bose speakers. The Kenwood's seem to be a better option than the PB or Memphis Audio models in that they have a higher power handling. I also missed a model from Sundown Audio. From what I can tell, the options look to lay out like this:

Memphis Audio & Powerbass both handle about 15W RMS, the Sundown and Morel both take around 30W RMS, the Kenwood's take 50W RMS, and the Audiofrogs take about 75W RMS. All are 2.75" except for the Morel and Audiofrogs which are 2.5" but may still mount in the factory holes. So if anyone has any experience with any of these, please sound off. I only have experience with the Memphis Audio models so anything is appreciated.

Blk99cobra · March 9, 2020

On 3/8/2020 at 1:18 AM, JMO76 said:

Here's a question for you guys. I swapped out the Bose speakers (will add Nav TV, amp, & sub soon). I used Hertz Audio Dieci 6x9s & 6.5s in the doors, and opted for just tweeters in the dash. This was the setup I used on my '16 Silverado, and that sounded pretty good.

This OTOH sounds like crap. On my old truck it sounded fine powered by just the factory non Bose radio (much better after I added an amp with crossover. But on this system with the Bose amp still in place it got worse with new speakers.

I think the Bose amp routes most of the mid to upper range to the dash speakers. To get any decent volume out if it, I had to turn down the bass on the radio down to about -7 so I don't blow out the speakers. Even then, it's about half as loud as before.

I'm thinking about putting more of a full range speaker in the dash to get some volume back. But I tried the Memphis Audio 2.75" speakers in my old truck and they didn't sound good on the radio or the amp. Crutchfield has Kenwood 2.75" speakers but they look about the same as the Bose units I took out. So I looked at slightly smaller speakers from higher end manufacturers and the two I'm looking at are the Audiofrog GS25 and the Motel CCWR254. From what I've read the GS25s will play louder and are built stronger, but both are better options than the Memphis or Kenwood's despite being smaller.

So I have 2 questions. First, anyone who has experience with these speakers, are they worth the higher price? By that I mean can they play clean and loud without crapping out? Second, for anyone who's used the GS25s, the owner's manual shows they have several mounting tabs on them (pic below), one of which is stamped GM that looks like the same mounting tabs from the factory Bose speakers (one square and one tapered, the ones at about the 1 & 6 o'clock positions in the pic). Do the mounting holes on the GM tabs align with the factory mounting holes? The cones on the GS25s are smaller (2.5" vs 2.75") so it's not very clear. I also don't know if GM has 2.5" factory speakers on other vehicles or not. Any help is appreciated.

The gs25s will drop right in i have all audiofrog door and dash speakers in my truck now and to me they are worth the premium price i was on the fence myself but my audio shop talked me into it and i was very happy with the results but i have a arc ps-850 powering them so i cant speak to how they sound on the bose amp

JMO76 · March 9, 2020

4 minutes ago, Blk99cobra said:

The gs25s will drop right in i have all audiofrog door and dash speakers in my truck now and to me they are worth the premium price i was on the fence myself but my audio shop talked me into it and i was very happy with the results but i have a arc ps-850 powering them so i cant speak to how they sound on the bose amp

I've got them on the Bose amp temporarily until we can put a Nav TV unit in. After that I'm going to run a Kenwood Excelon XR901-5 for the speakers and sub. It puts out 60W RMS @ 4ohms and 75W RMS @ 2ohms, so with it on the same channel as the front door speakers, that should be just about right. I read an review between the GS25sand the Model CCWR254 and he said the Morels were slightly clearer but the Audiofrogs were noticeably louder.

It is a lot for them, in fact the price is almost the cost of a decent subwoofer. Never thought I'd consider spending so much on such a small speaker.

Blk99cobra · March 9, 2020

20 minutes ago, JMO76 said:

I've got them on the Bose amp temporarily until we can put a Nav TV unit in. After that I'm going to run a Kenwood Excelon XR901-5 for the speakers and sub. It puts out 60W RMS @ 4ohms and 75W RMS @ 2ohms, so with it on the same channel as the front door speakers, that should be just about right. I read an review between the GS25sand the Model CCWR254 and he said the Morels were slightly clearer but the Audiofrogs were noticeably louder.

It is a lot for them, in fact the price is almost the cost of a decent subwoofer. Never thought I'd consider spending so much on such a small speaker.

I agree that they are pricey for what they are but im about to change my setup and run all gb speakers in the front and have a set of gb tweeters flush mounted in the a pillars under the handle also a few months my shop tried the nav tv unit and i was very unhappy with it i lost alot of volume with my setup from the voltage drop and it also sets a communication code in the bc when you take the factory bose amp out and with the problems i have had with these dealerships blaming aftermarket stuff with issues on my truck i had the factory amp

reinstalled

LA_33 · March 11, 2020

On 3/8/2020 at 12:30 PM, ArcherMP said:

Makes a lot of sense to me, if the Nav-TV functioned as designed. I'm sure they will work out the issue someday, but for now we are kind of stuck. The frustration of the Nav-TV cutting out and having to come up with a way to reset it remotely makes me feel that the fix86 route would be cheaper and less of a headache because it actually works.

I am also hoping they work out the issues with the NAV-TV unit very soon. I am a couple of weeks from finishing my build. I already have the amp rack built. It is completely setup, wired, just needs to be bolted in behind the rear seat and hooking the power into the distribution blocks. I am finishing the sub enclosure this weekend, then installing the components and rear speakers. So maybe in a couple of weeks there will be an update before I do the final install.

I am not against going with the JL Audio fix. I would just be out $600 for the NAV-TV.

Edited March 11, 2020 by LA_33

dm1975 · March 11, 2020

2 hours ago, LA_33 said:

I am also hoping they work out the issues with the NAV-TV unit very soon. I am a couple of weeks from finishing my build. I already have the amp rack built. It is completely setup, wired, just needs to be bolted in behind the rear seat and hooking the power into the distribution blocks. I am finishing the sub enclosure this weekend, then installing the components and rear speakers. So maybe in a couple of weeks there will be an update before I do the final install.

I am not against going with the JL Audio fix. I would just be out $600 for the NAV-TV.

Just curious what speakers are you putting in?

ArcherMP · March 11, 2020

2 hours ago, LA_33 said:

I am also hoping they work out the issues with the NAV-TV unit very soon. I am a couple of weeks from finishing my build. I already have the amp rack built. It is completely setup, wired, just needs to be bolted in behind the rear seat and hooking the power into the distribution blocks. I am finishing the sub enclosure this weekend, then installing the components and rear speakers. So maybe in a couple of weeks there will be an update before I do the final install.

I am not against going with the JL Audio fix. I would just be out $600 for the NAV-TV.

Yeah, that's exactly how I feel about it too. Do you have any pictures of your setup?

LA_33 · March 11, 2020

29 minutes ago, dm1975 said:

Just curious what speakers are you putting in?

Focal flax 6.5 components in the front

Focal flax 6.5 coaxials in the rear

Two Focal P30f subwoofers- this is their flax 12"

LA_33 · March 11, 2020

29 minutes ago, ArcherMP said:

Yeah, that's exactly how I feel about it too. Do you have any pictures of your setup?

I will get some pictures of my amp rack and my progress on the enclosure when I get home this evening.

ArcherMP · March 11, 2020

6 minutes ago, LA_33 said:

Focal flax 6.5 components in the front

Focal flax 6.5 coaxials in the rear

Two Focal P30f subwoofers- this is their flax 12"

I went with the flax in the front as well, something about them seems more warm or natural, to me anyways.

LA_33 · March 11, 2020

18 minutes ago, ArcherMP said:

I went with the flax in the front as well, something about them seems more warm or natural, to me anyways.

The flax series are amazing speakers. They are the best sounding speakers in that price range available in my opinion. I have never listened to the flax subwoofers in a vehicle, but I was told they have great sound quality and I also wanted everything to match.....OCD I guess. Hopefully they sound as good as the components and coaxials.

ArcherMP · March 11, 2020

8 minutes ago, LA_33 said:

The flax series are amazing speakers. They are the best sounding speakers in that price range available in my opinion. I have never listened to the flax subwoofers in a vehicle, but I was told they have great sound quality and I also wanted everything to match.....OCD I guess. Hopefully they sound as good as the components and coaxials.

I had a single P20f (8") in the center console of my 2018 and it was amazing. No doubt in my mind you will be happy with your choices. Are you running all new speaker wire?