Subwoofer Install w/ Harman Kardon System

[ST1276]

@ST1276 If all of your speakers are out of phase except one it sounds more like one is out of phase and the rest are fine. What matters most is that everything is in phase with each other.

True. And the stereo sounds good. I tested with a polarity test tone and a test meter. Still would rather have them all playing correctly. Should be an easy enough fix with a pin removal tool.

 

[TheBusch]

View attachment 27775 View attachment 27776

what are the "surround" speakers?

 

[Koreanmissile]

New member here- I want to thank all the contributors especially WildBill for your incredibly informative posts. I completed my subwoofer install in my 2021 Stinger GT2 last night and it was REALLY straightforward thanks to you guys. I'm posting an overview here of what I did and used in case it helps someone else in the future.

Installation process:

1. In trunk passenger side take off felt panel to expose fuses. If you peek through the hole you can see the connectors that are detailed in the pinouts provided elsewhere in this thread. you don't need to remove the panel to access the harness.

2. find the red connector (which is the B connector in the diagram and has a sticker saying 1 on it), pull the tab in gently and remove.

3. Identify these wires (thanks Wildbill) to tap off the speaker level output from the sub channels. (I chose not to tap the front or rear speakers per the earlier discussions of filters being present in the signal output).

SUB 1 + White
SUB 1 - Brown
SUB 2 + Red
SUB 2 - Blue

4. Tap into these wires. I used the blue connectors in this kit that I bought on Amazon for $12 "AIRIC 120PCS T-Tap connectors wire splice kit"

5. I highly recommend a good splicing tool to make the connections. I tried a pliers and it didn't work- I had to make a trip to Home Depot to get a good one.

6. This is the subwoofer I highly recommend for this installation: Rockford Fosgate P300-12 Punch it's $269. They make a 10 and 12" version. It's powered by a Class D amp, takes speaker level inputs, has a level control, is inexpensive and sounds really great. I had it in my prior vehicle and love it.

7. I used the provided connectors to splice to two sets of 2 conductor speaker wire I had then connector to the adapter provided with the subwoofer.

8. Remove the spare tire to access the battery. Use a wiring kit such as this "Boss Audio Systems KIT2 8 gauge amplifier installation wiring kit" that I bought on amazon for less than $20. I connected the positive lead to the small bolt on the positive terminal of the battery to the inline fuse. I attached the ground (I had to splice extra wire to it to make it long enough so maybe look for a kit with a longer ground wire or just use the extra positive wire like I did) to the same bolt that the battery is grounded to on the frame.

9. Run these cables to the adapter on the subwoofer. This particular subwoofer doesn't require a remote wire- It can turn on with an audio signal or DC offset (I used the former)

10. I placed the line level control with adhesive velcro on the side of the center console. For this subwoofer the input is set to high level, my crossover is at ~80 or 90 hz, phase is 180 and level you can decide yourself.

11. I attached the sub with a bungee cord to the child seat hooks on the back of the seat. the 12" sub didn't fit standing up under the felt trunk theft deterrent thing. It's laying on it's back facing up. I had the wires comes up from under the panel in the farthest left corner of the trunk.

12. plug everything in. power it up and enjoy.

This subwoofer added so much to the system. I'm an audiophile and it just didn't sound right without the tight thump that this subwoofer supplies. I ran the free iphone app "Sonic" to do sine wave sweeps to see how it sounded. I didn't touch the stock equalizer, but I turned off Clarity hi-fi and set the advanced setting to "On Stage" and I love it. Best part is you can easily adjust the bass with different material. I hope this helps future installers.

 

[Dopacak]

I'm looking to use the same or similar type sub amp setup. Do you have any photos of the finished product?

New member here- I want to thank all the contributors especially WildBill for your incredibly informative posts. I completed my subwoofer install in my 2021 Stinger GT2 last night and it was REALLY straightforward thanks to you guys. I'm posting an overview here of what I did and used in case it helps someone else in the future.

Installation process:

1. In trunk passenger side take off felt panel to expose fuses. If you peek through the hole you can see the connectors that are detailed in the pinouts provided elsewhere in this thread. you don't need to remove the panel to access the harness.

2. find the red connector (which is the B connector in the diagram and has a sticker saying 1 on it), pull the tab in gently and remove.

3. Identify these wires (thanks Wildbill) to tap off the speaker level output from the sub channels. (I chose not to tap the front or rear speakers per the earlier discussions of filters being present in the signal output).

SUB 1 + White
SUB 1 - Brown
SUB 2 + Red
SUB 2 - Blue

4. Tap into these wires. I used the blue connectors in this kit that I bought on Amazon for $12 "AIRIC 120PCS T-Tap connectors wire splice kit"

5. I highly recommend a good splicing tool to make the connections. I tried a pliers and it didn't work- I had to make a trip to Home Depot to get a good one.

6. This is the subwoofer I highly recommend for this installation: Rockford Fosgate P300-12 Punch it's $269. They make a 10 and 12" version. It's powered by a Class D amp, takes speaker level inputs, has a level control, is inexpensive and sounds really great. I had it in my prior vehicle and love it.

7. I used the provided connectors to splice to two sets of 2 conductor speaker wire I had then connector to the adapter provided with the subwoofer.

8. Remove the spare tire to access the battery. Use a wiring kit such as this "Boss Audio Systems KIT2 8 gauge amplifier installation wiring kit" that I bought on amazon for less than $20. I connected the positive lead to the small bolt on the positive terminal of the battery to the inline fuse. I attached the ground (I had to splice extra wire to it to make it long enough so maybe look for a kit with a longer ground wire or just use the extra positive wire like I did) to the same bolt that the battery is grounded to on the frame.

9. Run these cables to the adapter on the subwoofer. This particular subwoofer doesn't require a remote wire- It can turn on with an audio signal or DC offset (I used the former)

10. I placed the line level control with adhesive velcro on the side of the center console. For this subwoofer the input is set to high level, my crossover is at ~80 or 90 hz, phase is 180 and level you can decide yourself.

11. I attached the sub with a bungee cord to the child seat hooks on the back of the seat. the 12" sub didn't fit standing up under the felt trunk theft deterrent thing. It's laying on it's back facing up. I had the wires comes up from under the panel in the farthest left corner of the trunk.

12. plug everything in. power it up and enjoy.

This subwoofer added so much to the system. I'm an audiophile and it just didn't sound right without the tight thump that this subwoofer supplies. I ran the free iphone app "Sonic" to do sine wave sweeps to see how it sounded. I didn't touch the stock equalizer, but I turned off Clarity hi-fi and set the advanced setting to "On Stage" and I love it. Best part is you can easily adjust the bass with different material. I hope this helps future installers.

 

[Corleone1]

Very good!

Is there anyone that know what crossover stock floor sub has? If its to low like under 50-60 Hz maybe its better to tap front or rear? Isnt there ny way to turn of engine sound completely? In my panel i can adjust in 3 steps but not all off.

 

[Aarvix]

it's very low, about 45Hz.

You can get a LOC that sums channels to bring in some of the higher notes.

 

[WildBill]

Very good!

Is there anyone that know what crossover stock floor sub has? If its to low like under 50-60 Hz maybe its better to tap front or rear? Isnt there ny way to turn of engine sound completely? In my panel i can adjust in 3 steps but not all off.

Problem is that the front and rear have a high pass crossover so you don't get the lowest frequencies. I tried using the front first and then changed to the subs for my source. Pulling from the subs was much better IMO.

 

[TheBusch]

Very good!

Is there anyone that know what crossover stock floor sub has? If its to low like under 50-60 Hz maybe its better to tap front or rear? Isnt there ny way to turn of engine sound completely? In my panel i can adjust in 3 steps but not all off.

if you update the your software you will have an option to turn it off, although many have said they cannot tell the difference with it maximized and minimized. I tapped off of the floor subs and do not hear engine noise in my subwoofers. I doubt the cutoff is 50, probably closer to 70.

 

[Corleone1]

if you update the your software you will have an option to turn it off, although many have said they cannot tell the difference with it maximized and minimized. I tapped off of the floor subs and do not hear engine noise in my subwoofers. I doubt the cutoff is 50, probably closer to 70.

Thank you! I will check to update Media and Navigation. Is there any other updates that is good to have?

 

[TheBusch]

Thank you! I will check to update Media and Navigation. Is there any other updates that is good to have?

I wasn't impressed enough to change it. Check out some videos of it before you decide on it.

 

[Corleone1]

I wasn't impressed enough to change it. Check out some videos of it before you decide on it.

Ok, I will. Thanks!

Is there any other updates that only KIA do when service? My car was in last june so maybe there could be an update?

 

[Corleone1]

I have now put in my 10" sub (box) and add a Hertz 2 amplifier. Thanks to this thread it was easy to tap stock sub wires as the Hertz have high level inputs, mono, lowpass. Its bridge running and leave 170W with 1% THD.

Ohhh, what a differense! I go down in bass adjustments for stock loudspeakers and level up sub. Sub amplifier also have a bass boost at 50Hz, 6 or 12 db, I like the 6...

I think sound is ok as stock and now with sub sounds really great. Problem is that I am listening from Spotify with level 30 at Volume control, a bit to much to be healthy.

A good tune to test the sound is "Becoming Insane" with Infected Muchroom, test it...

 

[BCSTINGER3]

This thread help me install my subwoofer a couple years back. It was very helpful and much appreciated! There is one thing that continues to bother me and I haven't seen an official fix for the issue. The subwoofer does not play higher tones loudly or more specifically tones above 50hz. Yesterday, I turned on a tone frequency video from YouTube and could clearly hear the difference in loudness once the tone increased to 50hz. I know it is not my amplifier because it is set a lot higher than 50hz.

Has anybody been able to alleviate this issue? I saw someone mentioned using an LC6i and blending the sound from the front doors and subwoofers to get the full range. Has this option proven to be successful?

 

[Aarvix]

You need a line-out controller with signal summing.

The factory amp cuts the subs fairly low (around 50hz), summing in the signal from the door woofer will add in the frequencies for the 6.5" door speaker to give your sub more range. You can then use the amp crossover to control how high you want it to actually play.

It's not perfect, since the factory sub and door woofer are crossed using 12db/octave slopes, meaning they tend to cancel each other out at the crossover frequency, but it's the best you can do without an expensive DSP.

LC6i does summing, so that should work.
I have a wavtec link4 which also does summing that I used before my DSP that I'd sell for $75.

 

[BCSTINGER3]

You need a line-out controller with signal summing.

The factory amp cuts the subs fairly low (around 50hz), summing in the signal from the door woofer will add in the frequencies for the 6.5" door speaker to give your sub more range. You can then use the amp crossover to control how high you want it to actually play.

It's not perfect, since the factory sub and door woofer are crossed using 12db/octave slopes, meaning they tend to cancel each other out at the crossover frequency, but it's the best you can do without an expensive DSP.

LC6i does summing, so that should work.
I have a wavtec link4 which also does summing that I used before my DSP that I'd sell for $75.

Thanks a bunch for this info!! I now know where to start my research to alleviate this issue.

 

[mfenske]

I've heard about this too. As far as I see it the most practical way around it is to get a pure signal without any processing...AAAAAND as I understand that the only way to do so is to tap the signal digitally via the SPDIF/Coaxial leads going to the amp and then running them to an external DSP. Keep in mind that's fairly involved.

 

[stoopid]

I've heard about this too. As far as I see it the most practical way around it is to get a pure signal without any processing...AAAAAND as I understand that the only way to do so is to tap the signal digitally via the SPDIF/Coaxial leads going to the amp and then running them to an external DSP. Keep in mind that's fairly involved.

I believe what Aarvix is saying and what I've done personally a few times is to tap any other speaker cables, usually the trunk speakers but since we don't have any in the Stinger I would tap either of the pair of doors speakers, then the (4) tapped wires [R +/-, L +/-] get sent to the loc (line out converter), which sums the signal for the subwoofer [one pair +/-]. This would actually work fine just accessing the output connector/cables at the existing amp. I've used something like this for taps ion the past:

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Since we're only looking for a signal, tapping is fine since it doesn't draw any power or create any additional resistance on the output cable. Then set the crossover on the sub to the desired spot.

Some self powered subs even come with loc capabilities built in.