6.5" JL Audio Micro Sub + 250/1 JL Amp + LC7i LOC

Relak said:

ya, unfortunately. It was rather faint from the door speakers but after amplifying them and installing higher-end speakers, its much more pronounced. When you start your car up with the music turned off, check and see if there's any "noise" coming from the speakers after the headunit starts up. I haven't sat in any GT350's so i can't speaker to them in general. You'll be lucky if you dont have it though

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Well as I said, I haven't heard anything. Maybe I'm not as picky? haha! That being said I will definitely check next drive.

Thanks for all the info on this. I am not looking for an A plus sound quality upgrade....B Plus would be sufficient. If that is my goal, do you think just a speaker upgrade could accomplish this?

CSL said:

Thanks for all the info on this. I am not looking for an A plus sound quality upgrade....B Plus would be sufficient. If that is my goal, do you think just a speaker upgrade could accomplish this?

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If you upgrade the speakers, make sure to include an amp to power them. They might actually sound less appealing than the stock speakers without the right amount of power behind them. The only chances for considerable bass response is a small sub (like I've done) or fabricating an area for 6x9s in the doors or rear deck. Otherwise you'll be looking at a modest improvement over stock in the mid-high range but not much better in the low range.

Good info. Thanks.

Hasn't there been a discussion somewhere on this forum about a FORScan tweak to eliminate engine feedback noise in the audio system?

Relak said:

I have a pretty bad ground loop somewhere in the electrical system which is causing the feedback that I have in the speakers.

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So I went through this thread yesterday , and it inspired me. Today I went to a highly reviewed audio install shop here in Chicago. Turns out the owner lives near me and we ended up shooting the shut for awhile. Good dude. He's gonna work up some pricing based (I literally had the screenshot of the build from this thread) on all Relak's research/experimenting.
*thank you, Relak*

My question is...
What should I expect the estimate to come in at? Rough estimate. The guy already said he'd have it done in one day. 3-4K?

Relak said:

If you upgrade the speakers, make sure to include an amp to power them. They might actually sound less appealing than the stock speakers without the right amount of power behind them. The only chances for considerable bass response is a small sub (like I've done) or fabricating an area for 6x9s in the doors or rear deck. Otherwise you'll be looking at a modest improvement over stock in the mid-high range but not much better in the low range.

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This was the approach I was considering, adding an amp to the stock system with upgraded speakers. Will need to at least bypass the stock amp. Do you happen to know where the amp is located? Thanks

GTthree50 said:

This was the approach I was considering, adding an amp to the stock system with upgraded speakers. Will need to at least bypass the stock amp. Do you happen to know where the amp is located? Thanks

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Drivers side foot-well to the left of the pedals. pop off the hood release latch, and the kick panel and it's a grey box with three molex plugs in it. I'd send a pic but I'm on mobile at the moment

Relak said:

Drivers side foot-well to the left of the pedals. pop off the hood release latch, and the kick panel and it's a grey box with three molex plugs in it. I'd send a pic but I'm on mobile at the moment

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Thank you. I figure that if I want to use a more powerful amp that I will need to bypass the stock one. Is its safe to assume that yours is no longer part of the system?

GTthree50 said:

Thank you. I figure that if I want to use a more powerful amp that I will need to bypass the stock one. Is its safe to assume that yours is no longer part of the system?

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Actually mine is. The problem with our systems is that some of the signals are created at the factory amp. The center channel on the front dash for example isn't created out of the rear of the headunit but actually after the factory amp. The factory amp also directs some of the signal for the navigation voice.

Since I was having a DSP installed, I didn't care about the factory DSP or the factory amp. The signal was going to be delivered to an aftermarket amp (which would provide the power to the speakers) and the Audison Bit Ten was able to manipulate the signals coming from the factory amp to provide better signal. It's going to be a P.I.T.A. to create a harness for the headunit if you try and bypass. there's a dude on here that provides one but its $200 and requires a bit of patience to get it ordered/delivered.

If you go with a LC7i and aftermarket amp, I suggest running it off the factory amp first or you might also run into the need to do some coding.

Relak said:

Actually mine is. The problem with our systems is that some of the signals are created at the factory amp. The center channel on the front dash for example isn't created out of the rear of the headunit but actually after the factory amp. The factory amp also directs some of the signal for the navigation voice.

Since I was having a DSP installed, I didn't care about the factory DSP or the factory amp. The signal was going to be delivered to an aftermarket amp (which would provide the power to the speakers) and the Audison Bit Ten was able to manipulate the signals coming from the factory amp to provide better signal. It's going to be a P.I.T.A. to create a harness for the headunit if you try and bypass. there's a dude on here that provides one but its $200 and requires a bit of patience to get it ordered/delivered.

If you go with a LC7i and aftermarket amp, I suggest running it off the factory amp first or you might also run into the need to do some coding.

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What was it about the LC7i that did not work in your system vs the Bit Ten? When I saw your original setup I thought, great that is exactly what I wanted to do. I know the Bit Ten is a dedicated DSP but isn't the LC7i supposed allow the use of an amp with a factory headunit?

GTthree50 said:

What was it about the LC7i that did not work in your system vs the Bit Ten? When I saw your original setup I thought, great that is exactly what I wanted to do. I know the Bit Ten is a dedicated DSP but isn't the LC7i supposed allow the use of an amp with a factory headunit?

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It worked as it was designed too but I wanted to be able to manipulate the signals individually. I needed a DSP to do that, but the LC7i works great and should work in most applications.

Relak said:

It worked as it was designed too but I wanted to be able to manipulate the signals individually. I needed a DSP to do that, but the LC7i works great and should work in most applications.

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That is good to know. Reading through your thread had me convinced the factory system was unworkable without the DSP. I'm most likely to give the LC7i a go and see if I like the results. Thanks again for the replies.

Relak, thanks for your write up on improving the factory set up. Very disappointing how weak these OEM sounds are. Question, based on reading other aftermarket sound threads for the GT 350, I noted that some folks were having issues with static and whine (after install of aftermarket components) due to the "piped in" sound track? I'm no expert by any means and am still awaiting the arrival of my 2017 but wanted to mention this. I had also read that folks were trying to remedy this with a Forscan adjustment?

Thanks again for the write up, I'll likely take a similar route as the stock tunes are awful.

PS I also have a 2016 King Ranch with the "premium" sounds and they too were very weak. A whopping 25 watts rating for the cheap paper cone door speakers! However due to the proprietary Sony Premium head unit it is extremely difficult to add an amp to the door/dash speakers. I ended up going with the Kicker VSS door/dash speakers and their sub/amp w/enclosure that fits where the stock sub/amp enclosure goes. The sub improvement is very good and even the kicker door/dash speakers really are a noticeable improvement. Someday I'd like to add a 4 channel amp to the door/dash speakers but it's is much better now.

Relak said:

Actually mine is. The problem with our systems is that some of the signals are created at the factory amp. The center channel on the front dash for example isn't created out of the rear of the headunit but actually after the factory amp. The factory amp also directs some of the signal for the navigation voice.

Since I was having a DSP installed, I didn't care about the factory DSP or the factory amp. The signal was going to be delivered to an aftermarket amp (which would provide the power to the speakers) and the Audison Bit Ten was able to manipulate the signals coming from the factory amp to provide better signal. It's going to be a P.I.T.A. to create a harness for the headunit if you try and bypass. there's a dude on here that provides one but its $200 and requires a bit of patience to get it ordered/delivered.

If you go with a LC7i and aftermarket amp, I suggest running it off the factory amp first or you might also run into the need to do some coding.

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Hi Relak - thanks for your write up. I'm in the process of upgrading my system - I've replaced the front speakers and will get the rears replaced tomorrow. Based on your feedback, it seems like I should buy an LC7i and an aftermarket amp and then tell the tech to install the LC7i after the factory amp, then wire it into the after market amp (head unit -> factory amp -> LC7i -> aftermarket amp).

Does that sound right? Sorry this is all foreign to me so I'm trying to figure out what direction to give the install tech so that the system doesn't mess up any of the steering wheel controls or add additional ANC crap.