Audio Upgrade for 2021 Base 6-speaker: add a center channel and get HD Radio? Detailing the ACM from a B&O Bronco

[djcwardog]

I haven’t done the amp yet, but when I do - right rear behind the panel, where a stock subwoofer would go “if equipped.”

And 23OBX2.7, you definitely have to touch your ACM in Forscan if you’ve swapped in the B&O example as I did. You’ll need Forscan to disable the A2B circuitry at least.

I also want to ensure that the signal into the DSP is full range, without any high-pass filters applied. The front qualifies but the rear does not as delivered. I may decide to use (in fact I did so decide) only the front stereo signal for my DSP and let it set balance and fade as part of the tuning process. In that case I could code out the rear speakers entirely (I did not need to code them out). All my front to rear fade is through the DSP. I now ignore those options in the head unit

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[Sluggz]

I haven’t done the amp yet, but when I do - right rear behind the panel, where a stock subwoofer would go “if equipped.”

And 23OBX2.7, you also want to ensure that the signal you send into your DSP is full range, without any high-pass filters applied. The front qualifies but the rear does not as delivered. I may decide to use only the front stereo signal for my DSP and let it set balance and fade as part of the tuning process. In that case I could code out the rear speakers entirely. However, if I wanted to retain front to rear fade in the head unit and have a full range rear signal I would need to code it so in Forscan.

Yea I already have a full 6 channel DSP with additional mono amp for sub setup, but looking to get a little more power and need to figure out where to stash it. My current 6 channel fits right under my seat, but this would be a little bigger

 

[23OBX2.7]

I haven’t done the amp yet, but when I do - right rear behind the panel, where a stock subwoofer would go “if equipped.”

And 23OBX2.7, you also want to ensure that the signal you send into your DSP is full range, without any high-pass filters applied. The front qualifies but the rear does not as delivered. I may decide to use only the front stereo signal for my DSP and let it set balance and fade as part of the tuning process. In that case I could code out the rear speakers entirely. However, if I wanted to retain front to rear fade in the head unit and have a full range rear signal I would need to code it so in Forscan.

I just rely on the integrated sub amp LOC to flatten the signal, and process it to what the amp designers, acoustocal engineers, super coders & computers put together for high level signal inputs.

Seems to work with Audison DSP and Kenwood XR amps but get whatbyou pay for. Its easy to connect some DSP amps to another amp to boost power.

I recommend to Sluggz to just get some more wiring, and an MTI amp rack for all amps etc. Not only will it make everything easier, it will also ensure amps have enough air space for effecient convection / cooling and keep them clean and dry - critical aspects of harware perfoemance and longevity.

 

[djcwardog]

I used the Trail Seven amp rack and added some pieces of sound deadener wherever anything was secured to the body. Not shown but I got my small subwoofer amp to fit immediately to the left of the DSP amp shown. AudioControl‘s software works well to get things sorted for initial listening. I have the front stereo signal out from the head unit as my amp input. Then outputs are: channels 1-2 to front 3-way speakers, 3-4 to rear pods, 5 summed as mono to the center speaker, 6 unused, and the line out RCA (7-8), also summed as mono, to my sub amp. Once I had the outputs mapped I used the “Auto” feature to let the DSP tune things to flat - while playing pink noise through my iPhone (seen as an iPod) as the source. The AudioControl will power on when it senses voltage on the speaker-level signal going to the amp input. Then, its amp turn-on lead gets energized and you can run a jumper from that to have the sub amp power on. After saving my settings, I am now tweaking the settings by ear. For example, my center was a bit strong so I dropped it about 3db and it cuts off below 225 hz (for now). I have my rear pods also cut off at 225 hz. The sub amp? After setting the rotary pot controls I let the DSP tune the low frequencies as well. As long as your manual set up of the sub amp is wide enough, the DSP will restrict it to receive whatever bandwidth you select on its output controls. I kept the default 25-90 hz for now. I found the bass to be overwhelming but got it sorted by ear - dropping it down 7 db (for now) - to get musical extension of the bottom octave without boominess.

With reference to the start of my thread and because mine is a two-door I didn’t want to sacrifice valuable storage area by mounting my Trail Seven sub box on the tailgate as they intend. Do that with the rear seats up and you lose much of your rear storage. Rather, I laid the box down on the floor behind the rear seat thereby creating a nearly flat area (top of box to rear seat backs when folded down). True, you give up 6” of vertical height but the rear seats backs project up that amount anyway and make it impossible to have a flat area without raising up the very rear of the trunk floor. For me, a flat area is key even if I have an obstacle at the tail gate opening. I plan to build a simple frame and hide the sub box entirely by laying down a large rubber WeatherTech mat from a prior Yukon SUV. Now I’ve got a 2-seater with adequate flat trunk storage.

All in all, a fun project using electronics I already had on hand from prior cars.

Snapped a photo of their web page offering this amp rack.

Note that you have to clear the seat belt retractor seen at upper right. The top outline of the amp rack is a good indicator of where the trim panel will rest so keep your gear below it.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Wow that 6.1200 is massive! I recommend mounting it on some 1/4" spacers and drilling some 1" holes or routering some slats in the amp rack for great convection airflow.

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