Bypass Sony Subwoofer Amp on 2016

[Lostneye]

These are some of the original build pics.

Stinger Roadkill on the drivers door. At the time I was running Hybrid Audio Legatia 6s, the Frogs came later. FYI FAST rings are a waste of time, pick up some closed cell insulation tape from Home Depot, cheaper and works better.

Fully deaded door with the MLV visible just about to get the speaker hole cut out.
Speaker baffles for mids in front doors

Original amp mounting on the drivers side trunk bulkhead. You can see the Helix velcoed to the Sony amp. This was running high level form the Sony amp into the Helix. DSR1 wasn't out and PAC didn't support the Taurus yet.

Interior side of the sub baffle and IDQ12s

Drivers side sail panel. Originals were used and fiberglassed. I have since had the factory tweeter grills filled nd the a pillar trim covered with dark grey Alcatera to match the PP steering wheel.

Passenger side sail panel

 

[tech10002]

Man you really went all out with the damping. It took me a few hours just to dynamat the rear deck and seal every *********** I could find. I like the tweeters in the sail panels. That’s where Ford should have put them in the first place. I didn’t see any more holes in the deck area. I blocked off the huge ones on the far left and right behind the seat bolsters. I hope I didn’t miss anything too huge. I’ll give the baffles a shot. I’m not the best with wood and only have hand power tools. I can make something work but it looks like crap. My thing is electronics/mechanics.

If the DSR1 doesn’t work to my satisfaction, I think I’m gonna try the dql-8 on the Sony outputs first since it’s free. Do you use the Audiocontrol app for RTA? Just wondering if I really need to buy that expensive microphone. The last time I saw an RTA it was a big box with a bunch of LEDs on it and it belonged to an audio shop my friends father owned. I have been out of the game a loooong time. Lol

 

[tech10002]

So just an update for anybody interested, I got the dsr1 installed temporarily and the voice command prompts, backup sensors, cross traffic alert, etc all work properly. I haven’t had a chance to drive it yet, so I’ll check nav prompts tomorrow. There’s no alternator whine at idle and while revving it and no hiss until you go to 30 on the volume without a source playing, and the hiss is just barely audible then. The only issue I’m having is the dsr1 turns back on every minute or two and turns the amp on for 20 seconds when the car is off with the doors closed. I posted in the idatalink forum, so if I can’t get a fix, I think I can just used an ignition switched source for the amp turn on.

Will post more updates once I play with it some more tomorrow.

By the way, this is the hardest car I have ever seen to install an amp power wire in. Lol

 

[tech10002]

So another update. I played with it some more, and it appears the car commands the amp to turn on periodically. Pin 3 on connector C4326A is labeled subwoofer/amplifier enable. This pin gets 6V on it and serves as the factory amp turn on I believe. I’m not sure you can do anything about the random turn ons. They only last a few seconds and seem to get less frequent the longer the car is left alone.

I ended up running the power wire through the factory harness boot under the cowl where the windshield wiper transmission sits. I hid the fuse under the factory under hood fusebox so it’s pretty stealth. I’ve made up my amp rack to bolt where the factory Sony amp lives and plug in just like it except for the power wires. Next I’ll get it bolted in and install my Jl Audio separates in the front. Will be a day or two though since I have to help my father in law tear into the engine in his Nissan. Grrrrr!! I hate working on that piece of crap. Lol

 

[tech10002]

Had a chance to work on the stereo some more. I deadened all 4 doors with Dynamat Extreme and made sheet metal covers for the huge holes that are just covered in plastic. I installed Stinger Roadkill Fast Rings on all 4 speakers and finally got a chance to RTA tune. I got it pretty flat initially and then tuned to my taste and it sounds pretty good for still just having the deck subs. I’ve got some JL 12W1s on order so I’ll be turning the deck subs into quasi mid bass drivers with band pass set at around 100 to maybe 250hz. I decided to give up the trunk pass through to have some real subs. If the deck subs don’t sound how I want since they’re really not designed for that, I’ll probably get a pair of dedicated mid bass drivers later.

I’m pretty happy with the tuning on the DSR1 DSP, but I am not happy with the preamp voltage. Running a 1khz sine wave at 0 dB and the volume all the way up, I’m only getting a little over 2V peak to peak out of the DSR1. Really? They couldn’t do better than that? You have to run the amp gains way higher than I’d like and that drives the noise floor up. Probably will be going with the amp pro and a real dsp at some point. Might stick the dsr1 in my wife’s Flex then.

That’s all for now. Still have subs and another amp to install for mid bass when the ups man comes.

 

[tech10002]

System redesign update number 1542... Lol Really should change the title of this thread. This thing has really taken on a life of its own. Anyway, wasn’t satisfied with the infinite baffle 8s, so those are gone and will be donated to my wife’s Flex. The supposedly new JL Audio 12w1s I ordered from eBay ended up being worn out used ones, so I returned those and decided to go another route. Plus I wasn’t really satisfied with the fit of the pre made box, so I went with a single JL 13w3 in a custom box since the airspace requirement worked well with the space I was willing to sacrifice. I still have to sand a little more and carpet it, but it fits over the useless little **** in the front of the trunk and the sides are scribed to the trunk liner so hopefully it will look like the sub came factory once it’s all done. Hope to have the sub box installed by this weekend. Probably gonna sh*tcan the DSR1 and go with the Pac Amppro and a DSP. My experiment with the Dsr1 has not been good needless to say.

 

[tech10002]

Got the box carpeted and the sub temporarily mounted. Have to pick up some batting tomorrow to finish the sub box. I ordered the Metra box carpet, and man that’s some good stuff. I always used the cheap stuff from Walmart before, but the Metra stuff is stretchy and conforms to the box. I suck at covering boxes, and this was relatively easy.

Ordered the Amppro and a JL Audio Twk-D8 DSP. Really hoping it will work correctly and get rid of the kludgyness and noisiness of the dsr1 and just work like the car was intended. I’m gonna return whatever I like less to crutchfield.

That’s it for now.

 

[tech10002]

Got the box mounted in the car last night. I didn’t get the poly batting until after the box was in the car, so waiting for the glue to outgas before installing the sub. I had to totally replace the carpet over the **** because the factory one was too rigid and looked like crap where I had to level the ****. Ended up raising the back of the **** 1 1/2” with 2x3s and stainless L brackets. Built out the area with 2” upholstery foam to blend the carpet with the contours of the existing trunk liner and glued it with spray contact cement. The match is pretty good. You don’t even notice the slight shade difference unless you shine a light directly on it. It’s mainly the different pile of the fibers that gives you a slightly different shade. Will get a better picture in sunlight once the speaker is in.

Pac Amppro and dsp should come on the brown truck this evening, so if that goes well, I should be able to wrap this up soon. Gonna have to totally rethink my amp mount since it’s sitting where the factory amp used to live and the amp pro requires the factory amp to work. Doh!!

 

[Lostneye]

I guess I missed some posts updating this thread.

The only thing I really did myself was add the optical out tot he PAC. I'm not sure what mic Nick at Apicella Auto Sound used when tuning but it was definitely not an entry level one but I wouldn't expect it to be from a shop. IIRC the mic was connected directly to a laptop and I think using REW(Room Eq Wizard)no separate RTA. What I understand if the mic is halfway decent an has a calibration file(since no mic is 100% accurate some will provide and a file with the response curve so tuning can take into account how the mic affects the reading) you should be fine. I guess like anything it's how crazy do you want to get, the average person doesn't even upgrade the stereo let alone tune with a RTA.

I would suggest you ditch the fast rings and use closed cell foam. This was my first install using fast rings and I ended up switched to closed cell foam which I have used before and the difference is noticeable. And getting the foam insulation tape from the hardware store is cheap.

Any reason you didn't stay IB with the new sub? Nice looking box though.

It's a shame about the DSR1. Its been out long enough they should have these issues fixed.

 

[tech10002]

I used the fast rings because they were easy to order and I wasn’t sure what size tape I’d need. I have to get most of my supplies off amazon, etc. I live way out in the middle of nowhere, so it’s a 2 hour plus ordeal to go to Lowes. Home Depot would be half a day since there’s not one near me. I’ll try the closed cell foam some day. The fast rings really make a big difference. I put them in my wife’s car, and the volume just about doubled.

I went sealed mainly just because it’s what I know. I had the 13w3 from another car, and the specs don’t recommend infinite baffle, either.

I really hope the Amppro works. I’m not happy at all how the dsr1 sounds. From the quality components I’ve used, it should have sounded pretty decent, and it just wasn’t “there” sound wise. I’ve read the same thing over and over in reviews of the dsr1. The hiss and flakey volume control drove me nuts too. You should read how the dsr1 is working in the 2019 Dodge trucks with the big uconnect screen—or should I say not working.

I think I may take a break for a day or two before ripping the dash apart to try the Amppro. I’ve had enough for a while. Lol

 

[Jeff2017]

You have some serious skills. Nice work!

 

[tech10002]

Another update... I finally gave the Amppro a try with a JL Audio Twk-D8 dsp. Man what a difference!! The DSR1 is a piece of garbage. I barely did any tweaking on the dsp and it sounded great. On the dsr1, it was loud but had no balance. The bass was muddy, and the mids and highs were harsh and undefined. It sounded artificial to me. The Amppro ancillary functions actually work properly too. The amp turn on turns the amps on and off when it’s supposed to every time, and all the Sync prompts, steering wheel controls, etc work properly. The DSR1 is going back to crutchfield tomorrow.

The Twk-D8 has a really cool function too. I has multiple programmable presets that you can switch on the fly using the remote level control. You push in on the **** and it cycles to the next programmed preset and changes the color of the status led. And it’s not just eq settings. You can have separate crossover settings, gains, etc on every preset. I really like it because you can optimize it for different types of music. For all I know, maybe all DSPs do this? This is my first real Dsp, so I thought that was really cool.

Will take some pics later. Still waiting on a few parts to finish it up but hopefully should be buttoned up by the weekend.

 

[tech10002]

You have some serious skills. Nice work!

Thanks. Really trying to make this one look as nice as I can. I’m definitely not much of carpenter or upholsterer. I did quite a bit of cussing building that box. Lol One thing I know for sure is I admire the guys that do this for a living. It is not easy.

 

[Lostneye]

Another update... I finally gave the Amppro a try with a JL Audio Twk-D8 dsp. Man what a difference!! The DSR1 is a piece of garbage. I barely did any tweaking on the dsp and it sounded great. On the dsr1, it was loud but had no balance. The bass was muddy, and the mids and highs were harsh and undefined. It sounded artificial to me. The Amppro ancillary functions actually work properly too. The amp turn on turns the amps on and off when it’s supposed to every time, and all the Sync prompts, steering wheel controls, etc work properly. The DSR1 is going back to crutchfield tomorrow.

The Twk-D8 has a really cool function too. I has multiple programmable presets that you can switch on the fly using the remote level control. You push in on the **** and it cycles to the next programmed preset and changes the color of the status led. And it’s not just eq settings. You can have separate crossover settings, gains, etc on every preset. I really like it because you can optimize it for different types of music. For all I know, maybe all DSPs do this? This is my first real Dsp, so I thought that was really cool.

Will take some pics later. Still waiting on a few parts to finish it up but hopefully should be buttoned up by the weekend.

Shame the DSR1s issued weren't worked out. My gut feeling if they haven't fixed it by now it's not getting fixed.

Many DSPs have presets, not all come with a remote. I plan on getting a remote for my Helix for this reason.

 

[tech10002]

Shame the DSR1s issued weren't worked out. My gut feeling if they haven't fixed it by now it's not getting fixed.

Many DSPs have presets, not all come with a remote. I plan on getting a remote for my Helix for this reason.

Yeah. I was really hoping the dsr1 would be usable. It was a lot cheaper and took up a lot less space. Oh well—I guess you get what you pay for. It was my own fault. I got plenty of warning how much they suck.

Here’s a quick pic of the amp and processor. Still have some tidying up to do, through bolt the amp rack, wire loom, cable tie, etc. It doesn’t look nearly as nice as it did before all mounted on the diamond plate in place of the factory amp, though. I also got the Amppro mounted permanently. For as big as the car is there sure isn’t much room in the dash. I had a tough time finding a place to stick that Pac. Still waiting on some hardware to finish up but close to being able to drive the car again.

 

[Lostneye]

I was one of if not the first Taurus owner with the DSR1. They did fix some of the issues so I'm told but I was warned as well as RF never fixed all the bugs with thier 360.3 DSP. Live and learn I guess. The Amppro is tight fit, mine is Velcroed behind the ACM but it's in there tight.

That's where my amp was mounted originally. When I switched to Zapco I had an amp rack built using part of the spare tire well and the DSP is literally velcroed to the Sony amp. No one will see it behind the carpet anyway.

 

[tech10002]

I was one of if not the first Taurus owner with the DSR1. They did fix some of the issues so I'm told but I was warned as well as RF never fixed all the bugs with thier 360.3 DSP. Live and learn I guess. The Amppro is tight fit, mine is Velcroed behind the ACM but it's in there tight.

That's where my amp was mounted originally. When I switched to Zapco I had an amp rack built using part of the spare tire well and the DSP is literally velcroed to the Sony amp. No one will see it behind the carpet anyway.

Yeah, mine is directly behind and below the ACM tucked in the inch or so of free space available. All I could do is Velcro it too. I electric taped the **** out of the optical cable so it wouldn’t come unplugged, also I don’t want to take the 700 screws holding the dash together out again. Lol

JL Audio has a relatively new line of amps with the dsp integrated and with an optical input. I seriously considered one of those, but I’ve spent enough money already and it’s about a grand and makes the same power as my old Alpine, so not much incentive there.

I couldn’t be happier with the JL DSP. It sounds fantastic and is super easy to adjust. There is no distortion or input clipping from the Amppro feeding the Twk even with the volume at 30 either, just a beautiful pure sine wave. There is zero hiss until you have it paused with the volume all the way up, and it’s barely audible even then. You can’t hear it if you start the car. It’s a far cry from the incessant hiss even at low volume on the dsr1. I ran a 5 meter usb cable to just behind the back seat and Velcro it in place when I’m not using it. It will reach the passenger seat easy, and the laptop sits there out of the way while you’re adjusting. I discovered another cool feature too—valet mode. You ground a terminal on the power connector and it puts the dsp in a dedicated valet preset. I set mine at -24db overall, and it almost sounds stock with the volume at 30. I’m putting a switch under the dash right behind the driver kick panel so I can keep the dealer techs from blasting my system at oil changes.

Just waiting on the brown truck to deliver the last couple parts I need and it’ll be finished—finally, other than the instrument cluster lens I scratched the **** out of putting the bezel back on—doh! That will be in next week. At least it was only 22 bucks.

 

[Choppa]

So am I correct in assuming that with the DSR1 you get rid of the stock amp but with the PAC you keep it?

 

[Lostneye]

Yeah, mine is directly behind and below the ACM tucked in the inch or so of free space available. All I could do is Velcro it too. I electric taped the **** out of the optical cable so it wouldn’t come unplugged, also I don’t want to take the 700 screws holding the dash together out again. Lol

JL Audio has a relatively new line of amps with the dsp integrated and with an optical input. I seriously considered one of those, but I’ve spent enough money already and it’s about a grand and makes the same power as my old Alpine, so not much incentive there.

I couldn’t be happier with the JL DSP. It sounds fantastic and is super easy to adjust. There is no distortion or input clipping from the Amppro feeding the Twk even with the volume at 30 either, just a beautiful pure sine wave. There is zero hiss until you have it paused with the volume all the way up, and it’s barely audible even then. You can’t hear it if you start the car. It’s a far cry from the incessant hiss even at low volume on the dsr1. I ran a 5 meter usb cable to just behind the back seat and Velcro it in place when I’m not using it. It will reach the passenger seat easy, and the laptop sits there out of the way while you’re adjusting. I discovered another cool feature too—valet mode. You ground a terminal on the power connector and it puts the dsp in a dedicated valet preset. I set mine at -24db overall, and it almost sounds stock with the volume at 30. I’m putting a switch under the dash right behind the driver kick panel so I can keep the dealer techs from blasting my system at oil changes.

Just waiting on the brown truck to deliver the last couple parts I need and it’ll be finished—finally, other than the instrument cluster lens I scratched the **** out of putting the bezel back on—doh! That will be in next week. At least it was only 22 bucks.

It's not hard but a real pain to get into the dash.

I haven't used the Twk but heard good things and it's relatively inexpensive as DSPs go. That valet mode is awesome, that's a new one for me, never hear of that. I still had some noise with the PAC using RCAs, no where near the level the DSR1 had. I honestly didn't hear the noise form the PAC unless I was trying but I have competed and lost points because of the noise which is why I added the optical. It's quiet now.

So am I correct in assuming that with the DSR1 you get rid of the stock amp but with the PAC you keep it?

Correct. The DSR1 plugs into the harness in place of the stock amp. The PAC goes in the dash and plugs in between the ACM and APIM. The good thing about the PAC is the stock amp still works so if you wanted to just add am amp for the front mids/tweeters and a sub for example you can keep the other speakers powered by the stock amp.

 

[tech10002]

It's not hard but a real pain to get into the dash.

I haven't used the Twk but heard good things and it's relatively inexpensive as DSPs go. That valet mode is awesome, that's a new one for me, never hear of that. I still had some noise with the PAC using RCAs, no where near the level the DSR1 had. I honestly didn't hear the noise form the PAC unless I was trying but I have competed and lost points because of the noise which is why I added the optical. It's quiet now.

I never even tried the RCAs. I was so disgusted with the whole dsr1 thing, I went optical from the start and ordered the Twk with the Amppro optical option so I wouldn’t have to rip yet more crap back out of the car once I wasn’t satisfied. I’ve installed and uninstalled everything at least twice now I think. Lol The biggest compromise with the Twk is there’s no Bluetooth or tablet support for configuration. You have to use a windows laptop with the Tun software and a usb cable. The pre outs are not very impressive either at 4v, but it’s not noisy even at a relatively low output level.