Question about amp install on Base GT

[sinisterblack16]

I have a 2019 GT base with the 6 speaker system. I upgraded the door speakers and a pillar tweeters. I installed a sub and amp and used forscan to turn off the sound processing and turn the signal to low output. I’m using a Rockford RFHLC I bought off amazon to tap into the rear speakers for the amp. When I switched to low level I lost all my power to my speakers. Can I use an lc2i to tap into the rear speakers instead so I don’t have to switch to low level with forscan? I don’t want to amplify the door speakers currently.

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[StangTime]

You will want to use Forscan to only turn off the sound processing and nothing else and change your speaker outputs back to high level. The Rockford RFHLC does the same thing the LC2i does, converts high level speaker signals to low level for external amps. You want the rears to have a full range signal to drive your sub and let the factory amp drive the other speakers. You only use Forscan low level out if you are doing a full external amp setup where you re-wire the factory speakers to your new amp.

Just wanted to add the LC2I is the more flexible option and if you use the ACR-1 external sub control option it makes it even better. Otherwise you will need to use your Front-Rear fader to control your sub level from the drivers seat if using the RFHLC or the LC2i without the ACR-1 knob.
I would try the RFHLC since you already own it.

 

[sinisterblack16]

You will want to use Forscan to only turn off the sound processing and nothing else and change your speaker outputs back to high level. The Rockford RFHLC does the same thing the LC2i does, converts high level speaker signals to low level for external amps. You want the rears to have a full range signal to drive your sub and let the factory amp drive the other speakers. You only use Forscan low level out if you are doing a full external amp setup where you re-wire the factory speakers to your new amp.

Just wanted to add the LC2I is the more flexible option and if you use the ACR-1 external sub control option it makes it even better. Otherwise you will need to use your Front-Rear fader to control your sub level from the drivers seat if using the RFHLC or the LC2i without the ACR-1 knob.
I would try the RFHLC since you already own it.

Thank you so much for the advice. I’m going to put the sub back in and play with the fader. I don’t mind buying the lc2i if I have to but I also was considering upgrading the headunit and calling it a day. I’ll see what happens.

 

[Cathul]

You can also set the front outputs to internal amp in ACM and rears to variable line output if you need.
You'll loose your rear speakers this way, though.

 

[sinisterblack16]

You can also set the front outputs to internal amp in ACM and rears to variable line output if you need.
You'll loose your rear speakers this way, though.

How would I do that? Do you have the coding for forscan?

 

[StangTime]

You can also set the front outputs to internal amp in ACM and rears to variable line output if you need.
You'll loose your rear speakers this way, though.

I didn't know that was a possible combination. Very cool. I would also like to know the Forscan data for this too.

 

[Cathul]

According to the spreadsheet that is circulating on the internet you have to change the following location:

727-01-01 xx*x xxxx xxxx

If you got a base system the * should be "0".
Change it to a "1" and it should be front Internal Amp and rears external variable line output.
Premium systems with a stock DSP/Amp in the drivers footwell should have a "5" where the * is.

All this without guarantee of course as i cannot test it.

 

[sinisterblack16]

You will want to use Forscan to only turn off the sound processing and nothing else and change your speaker outputs back to high level. The Rockford RFHLC does the same thing the LC2i does, converts high level speaker signals to low level for external amps. You want the rears to have a full range signal to drive your sub and let the factory amp drive the other speakers. You only use Forscan low level out if you are doing a full external amp setup where you re-wire the factory speakers to your new amp.

Just wanted to add the LC2I is the more flexible option and if you use the ACR-1 external sub control option it makes it even better. Otherwise you will need to use your Front-Rear fader to control your sub level from the drivers seat if using the RFHLC or the LC2i without the ACR-1 knob.
I would try the RFHLC since you already own it.

One more question for you. Would it be a good idea to tap the front door speakers for my high level input? I’m reading the rear deck speakers aren’t full range.

 

[sinisterblack16]

So I’ve decided it’s just easier to install an aftermarket amp for my door speakers instead of trying to keep the use of the acm. Is there a harness or another easy way to amplify the door speakers without running new lines through the rubber in the door?

 

[Cathul]

Yes, HRN-AR-FO3 from idatalink.
Even if you don't use the Maestro AR or DSR1 you can still use parts of this harness to connect your speaker wires coming from the aftermarket amp to the speakers in the door.
Nevertheless i would advice to get the DSR1 and the HRN-AR-FO3 as you can do lot more things with your system even when running passive on the front.

 

[sinisterblack16]

Yes, HRN-AR-FO3 from idatalink.
Even if you don't use the Maestro AR or DSR1 you can still use parts of this harness to connect your speaker wires coming from the aftermarket amp to the speakers in the door.
Nevertheless i would advice to get the DSR1 and the HRN-AR-FO3 as you can do lot more things with your system even when running passive on the front.

Thanks. I’ll look into getting a DSP. I went cheap kicker on my door speakers and tweeters and now wonder if it was a waste of money. Part of me wants to rip it all out and start over. If I were to use parts of that harness, would the eq in my factory headunit still work or would that become irrelevant? Is that where the dsp comes into play?

 

[Cathul]

Wait a moment... just remembered you got the basic 6-speaker system without a stock amplifier.
In this case you cannot use the aforementioned harness as it connects to the plugs that go into the stock amplifier.

With a basic 6-speaker system you can do it like follows:

You definitely need to rewire your tweeters if you put them into the A-pillar into the stock location, but this is no big deal as it's all easily accessible.

- reprogram the ACM to remove the equalizing
- Get a CARAV 12-240 harness and Stinger speedwire (the 9 conductor cable)
- Connect 2 pairs of wire into the ACM side of the CARAV harness where the speaker output is going in into.
- connect the speaker outputs on the other side of the Stinger speedwire to the high-level input of your amp (i would always use a DSP or an amplifier with integrated DSP, even if the fronts are run passive).
- if needed solder RCAs to the Speedwire to connect the wires to the DSP/DSPAmp/Amplifier, depending on what these provide for the input connections.
- if fronts passive, connect 2 pairs of wire to the output of the amp and at the other end of the Speedwire cable to the passive crossovers (first find a suitable place for them so you know how much cables you need).
- connect the midbass output of the passive crossover to the speaker side front connections in the CARAV adapter
- rewire the tweeter outputs of the passive crossover to the new tweeters that you put into the A pillars in the stock location after removing the stock tweeters
- remove the door panels
- remove the stock speakers
- treat the doors and doorpanels with a decent amount of sound treatment
- connect the stock speaker cabling to your new midbass speaker (maybe with an adapter of any sort, check Metra or other locations for the correct ones)
- put the speaker into the door
- put fastrings on the speakers in the door to couple them with the door panel
- put doorpanels back on
- set up gains
- set up passive crossover (for tweeter attentuation if needed)
- set up crossover between subwoofer and fronts in the amplifiers
- fiddle with the levels of sub and fronts to get even soundlevels between both. When in doubt lower the gains, but never raise them above what you've measured when setting up gains in the first place.

The following only needs to/should be done when using a DSP/DSP-amplifier of any sort and for some of the following points you need a Real-Time Analyser and a microphone.

- reprogram ACM to remove equalization and to get variable line level output.
- measure distance from left/right midbass and sub to the center of the headrest and put the values into the DSP in the required format
- setup the crossover between subwoofer and front speakers accordingly in the DSP
- level match left/right front speakers via DSP
- EQ left/right side to match a target curve

If going fully active on the front you still need to rewire the tweeters, but this time directly from the channels of the amplifier dedicated for the tweeters.

Hope this general procedure is of any help.
In case you got any questions to steps of this process... use Youtube. Every single step is explained dozens of times in hundreds of videos. When in doubt check the videos from Caraudiofabrication and 5 Star Car Stereo to get an idea on how things are done.

 

[sinisterblack16]

Wait a moment... just remembered you got the basic 6-speaker system without a stock amplifier.
In this case you cannot use the aforementioned harness as it connects to the plugs that go into the stock amplifier.

With a basic 6-speaker system you can do it like follows:

You definitely need to rewire your tweeters if you put them into the A-pillar into the stock location, but this is no big deal as it's all easily accessible.

- reprogram the ACM to remove the equalizing
- Get a CARAV 12-240 harness and Stinger speedwire (the 9 conductor cable)
- Connect 2 pairs of wire into the ACM side of the CARAV harness where the speaker output is going in into.
- connect the speaker outputs on the other side of the Stinger speedwire to the high-level input of your amp (i would always use a DSP or an amplifier with integrated DSP, even if the fronts are run passive).
- if needed solder RCAs to the Speedwire to connect the wires to the DSP/DSPAmp/Amplifier, depending on what these provide for the input connections.
- if fronts passive, connect 2 pairs of wire to the output of the amp and at the other end of the Speedwire cable to the passive crossovers (first find a suitable place for them so you know how much cables you need).
- connect the midbass output of the passive crossover to the speaker side front connections in the CARAV adapter
- rewire the tweeter outputs of the passive crossover to the new tweeters that you put into the A pillars in the stock location after removing the stock tweeters
- remove the door panels
- remove the stock speakers
- treat the doors and doorpanels with a decent amount of sound treatment
- connect the stock speaker cabling to your new midbass speaker (maybe with an adapter of any sort, check Metra or other locations for the correct ones)
- put the speaker into the door
- put fastrings on the speakers in the door to couple them with the door panel
- put doorpanels back on
- set up gains
- set up passive crossover (for tweeter attentuation if needed)
- set up crossover between subwoofer and fronts in the amplifiers
- fiddle with the levels of sub and fronts to get even soundlevels between both. When in doubt lower the gains, but never raise them above what you've measured when setting up gains in the first place.

The following only needs to/should be done when using a DSP/DSP-amplifier of any sort and for some of the following points you need a Real-Time Analyser and a microphone.

- reprogram ACM to remove equalization and to get variable line level output.
- measure distance from left/right midbass and sub to the center of the headrest and put the values into the DSP in the required format
- setup the crossover between subwoofer and front speakers accordingly in the DSP
- level match left/right front speakers via DSP
- EQ left/right side to match a target curve

If going fully active on the front you still need to rewire the tweeters, but this time directly from the channels of the amplifier dedicated for the tweeters.

Hope this general procedure is of any help.
In case you got any questions to steps of this process... use Youtube. Every single step is explained dozens of times in hundreds of videos. When in doubt check the videos from Caraudiofabrication and 5 Star Car Stereo to get an idea on how things are done.

Thank you for the advice. My original RF loc didn’t work well so I tried the lc2i and although it helped the sub sound better I’m not the least bit satisfied. So I’ve got a new plan I would like to run by you. I purchased the kicker key 180.4 with dsp from crutchfield, speedwire, and the for-11ck harness from amazon. I’m going to tap the speaker inputs behind the dash, run the wiring to my amp in the rear and then run the return back up. I’m also going to military splice the wiring before the amp for signal to my lc2i for my sub. I’ll then use forscan to switch to low level output to tie it together. My only concern is the splicing for amp input but I haven’t read anything that suggests it isn’t a bad idea.

 

[stone36441]

Curious as to whether or not you got this finished. If you change to low level output there is no need for a loc. I went through this already and have since ditched the loc due the hiss and high pitch noise that chimes from them.

 

[sinisterblack16]

Curious as to whether or not you got this finished. If you change to low level output there is no need for a loc. I went through this already and have since ditched the loc due the hiss and high pitch noise that chimes from them.

I ditched the whole idea. I bought the scosche dash kit and a Sony xav7000 headunit and haven’t looked back. I lost my sync mic for Bluetooth but the aftermarket one works just as well.

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