aftermarket sound system info thread
How-To
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The short answer for amplifier power is to use a relay/resistor off the penthouse connection under the rear seat, regardless of trim or amp being installed.
When it comes to the signal side of the equation, it depends on the speakers being installed but in general you'll want to tap onto the signal from the door mounted midbass and the dash mounted midrange.
When it comes to the signal side of the equation, it depends on the speakers being installed but in general you'll want to tap onto the signal from the door mounted midbass and the dash mounted midrange.
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I'm just curious though, if they tap into the front 12v, what are the downsides? Why are people tapping into the penthouse instead? I've seen multiple threads on audio shops tapping to the front no problem. Is there a more successful way to tap into the frunk battery?
If ur doing less than 1kW you will likely be fine with a traditional install straight off the 12v.
As an installer, tapping onto the penthouse is far easier. It's a shorter run of wire, with no penetration of the firewall (and no need for a grommet) which makes the labor easier. I'm not sure about less powerful amplifiers, but I had the error code pop up on my setup after about a week of playing. I've used the penthouse connection for the last three or four months without issues.
The only time that the front battery connection would be easier is if you are putting the amps in the frunk, but you would still have a penetration for all of your signal and speaker wires.
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I guess my issue with the penthouse is, do most car audio installers need to add relays and things of that nature with all their installs? most likely not, i'd bet most of them havent combed through 95 pages of 5 diff threads on this topic.
The relay is not needed on any other car, only on the 3 and the Y. Its a few more parts to buy but not really worth fretting over, especially since it's a proven method to get power to an aftermarket amp and not worry about any error codes being generated by the car. Some people might have luck not having the relay/resistor with small, relatively efficient amplifiers but it's not worth the extra re-work in my mind.
Top installers have access to their own pro forums. When I showed up to my installers I had pages of screenshots ready to show them about the relay, but I was blown away when they showed me the exact same pages before I even pulled mine out.
Today I did the install of three Infinity Ref4032 speakers into the dash. All I can say is Wow. What a difference. Now it finally sounds good. Is it perfect? No, but what audio is ever perfect.
I bought the brackets and connectors from AmpedGarage. The brackets weren't specifically made for the Infinitys so I had to do a quick mod, which was to shave a little off the inside of the ring so it would fit the driver and be flush. I used a utility knife and a Dremel with a sanding bit to do that, taking off a little at a time until it just fit. It needed about .3mm off so it didn't take long. I prepped the drivers, soldered the connectors onto them so they'd stay put, screwed the two extra speaker ears into the brackets. The one thing I didn't know while doing this was which way to orient the wires relative to the way they attach to the dash. I figured that was an easy change to do on the fly.
Taking the trim off was pretty easy and uneventful. My first struggle was just getting the connector to detach on the left speaker as there is no extra wire and hard to reach. I finally got that and the speaker went in easy. I did the passenger side right speaker next and the old one came out and the new one went in, except that one of the ears interfered with a clip on the dash. I took it back out and cut off the ear on both the bracket and driver, put it in and it was fine. The middle speaker though is a PITA as it has that one screw that is so close to the windshield you can't even get a low profile ratchet in there. I did manage to do that but then I had a hard time removing it. I did that and it came out, the other two were easy. As hard as it was to get out, it was even harder to get it in. I used a needle nose plier to drop the screw in place and tried tightening as much as I could by hand. At that point though I couldn't get anything back there but I used the smaller bit and turned it with a wrench since the ratchet didn't fit.
Then the next fun part started. I put the speaker grill/dash piece back, had a hard time getting the clips in properly and when I finally did I couldn't get it flush in the center. One of the ears of the center speaker, the one closer inside and to the left, gets in the way. So I had to take out that driver after struggling to get it in, clip the ear, and do it again. It wasn't as hard because I knew what worked. The dash went back in easily this time. One thing I did screw up is the rightmost clip holder popped out and fell inside the dash, but with the pillar trim holding it down you don't notice it. It is one of 8 clips anyway. I'll have to say I was very unimpressed with the Tesla drivers in the dash. They felt like a cheap piece of plastic. The magnet is tiny. No wonder they sounded tinny and shrill to me.
So far I've played Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Mamas and the Papas, Alanis Morrisette, Queen and Taylor Swift. I need to try some classical and jazz, both of which sounded horrible on the old speakers.
I haven't even taken it for a drive yet as I got done as it was getting dark at 5pm and the last thing I want to do is drive around Brooklyn in rush hour. Tomorrow...
Now I have to consider the door speakers. Maybe I'll try the Focal ISU 200, but maybe I'll be happy with this for a while.
I bought the brackets and connectors from AmpedGarage. The brackets weren't specifically made for the Infinitys so I had to do a quick mod, which was to shave a little off the inside of the ring so it would fit the driver and be flush. I used a utility knife and a Dremel with a sanding bit to do that, taking off a little at a time until it just fit. It needed about .3mm off so it didn't take long. I prepped the drivers, soldered the connectors onto them so they'd stay put, screwed the two extra speaker ears into the brackets. The one thing I didn't know while doing this was which way to orient the wires relative to the way they attach to the dash. I figured that was an easy change to do on the fly.
Taking the trim off was pretty easy and uneventful. My first struggle was just getting the connector to detach on the left speaker as there is no extra wire and hard to reach. I finally got that and the speaker went in easy. I did the passenger side right speaker next and the old one came out and the new one went in, except that one of the ears interfered with a clip on the dash. I took it back out and cut off the ear on both the bracket and driver, put it in and it was fine. The middle speaker though is a PITA as it has that one screw that is so close to the windshield you can't even get a low profile ratchet in there. I did manage to do that but then I had a hard time removing it. I did that and it came out, the other two were easy. As hard as it was to get out, it was even harder to get it in. I used a needle nose plier to drop the screw in place and tried tightening as much as I could by hand. At that point though I couldn't get anything back there but I used the smaller bit and turned it with a wrench since the ratchet didn't fit.
Then the next fun part started. I put the speaker grill/dash piece back, had a hard time getting the clips in properly and when I finally did I couldn't get it flush in the center. One of the ears of the center speaker, the one closer inside and to the left, gets in the way. So I had to take out that driver after struggling to get it in, clip the ear, and do it again. It wasn't as hard because I knew what worked. The dash went back in easily this time. One thing I did screw up is the rightmost clip holder popped out and fell inside the dash, but with the pillar trim holding it down you don't notice it. It is one of 8 clips anyway. I'll have to say I was very unimpressed with the Tesla drivers in the dash. They felt like a cheap piece of plastic. The magnet is tiny. No wonder they sounded tinny and shrill to me.
So far I've played Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Mamas and the Papas, Alanis Morrisette, Queen and Taylor Swift. I need to try some classical and jazz, both of which sounded horrible on the old speakers.
I haven't even taken it for a drive yet as I got done as it was getting dark at 5pm and the last thing I want to do is drive around Brooklyn in rush hour. Tomorrow...
Now I have to consider the door speakers. Maybe I'll try the Focal ISU 200, but maybe I'll be happy with this for a while.
An update to the post above.
I've been driving around and can say that this just sounds sooooo much better. I put music on with my wife in the car and she didn't want to turn it off like she always did. I could play it louder than before too since it doesn't make my ears bleed. The mid bass is so much tighter with a much better presence. There was a hole in the FR of the stock speakers that seems to have been filled. My daughter was in the car yesterday and put on Dua Lipa and just cranked it up and she thought it sounded fantastic. Now she'll want this in her Camry.
This makes me equate Tesla to Bose. Bose uses cheap drivers but then tunes them to sound better than they should by sculpting the frequency response to emphasize what you want to hear. It all sounds good until you play music that has the frequencies in the hole they create and then it sounds bad. The old Bose 901 speakers only sounded good as background. The had zero imaging because there was all this reflected sound. The M3 full "premium" system with immersive sound may sound OK because of the fill speakers, but when they stripped out half the drivers in the SR+ what was left couldn't possibly fill it all in. And when I pulled those midrange drivers I saw why. They are just cheap paper drivers, just like Bose.
I've been driving around and can say that this just sounds sooooo much better. I put music on with my wife in the car and she didn't want to turn it off like she always did. I could play it louder than before too since it doesn't make my ears bleed. The mid bass is so much tighter with a much better presence. There was a hole in the FR of the stock speakers that seems to have been filled. My daughter was in the car yesterday and put on Dua Lipa and just cranked it up and she thought it sounded fantastic. Now she'll want this in her Camry.
This makes me equate Tesla to Bose. Bose uses cheap drivers but then tunes them to sound better than they should by sculpting the frequency response to emphasize what you want to hear. It all sounds good until you play music that has the frequencies in the hole they create and then it sounds bad. The old Bose 901 speakers only sounded good as background. The had zero imaging because there was all this reflected sound. The M3 full "premium" system with immersive sound may sound OK because of the fill speakers, but when they stripped out half the drivers in the SR+ what was left couldn't possibly fill it all in. And when I pulled those midrange drivers I saw why. They are just cheap paper drivers, just like Bose.
Except that you literally have a parasitic current draw all the time with that 2 ohm power resistor, not to mention a fire hazard.
I can only speak for my 2021, eventually the car shuts down the penthouse and no current is flowing from it. I have a voltmeter that is powered from that connection and it will be off once the contactor opens. Once you open the door and the car begins the boot up sequence it closes in, then you have the resistor coming into play, then full power once everything powers up.
That's good to know then, that actually makes me feel a lot better about the solution. I was thinking about designing a circuit for precharging, but I guess Tesla cycle's the penthouse power on and off during updates sometimes, so it could cause all sorts of havoc to that. I guess if I were to do the resistor mod, I'd buy the highest quality one I could get from somewhere like Digikey or Mouser and then put a thermal switch under it, and a fuse in line with it, and use an isolator relay and NOT and SSD. SSD's get hot and also are less efficient than a relay.
I agree that buying cheap components in this instance could potentially bite you in the long run. I mounted my resistor onto a piece of aluminum that's as far away from flammable items as possible. If anything, the way the car shuts down and removes the parasitic drain is a bonus in my book, reinforcing the reason to stay away from the "normal" 12v battery in the frunk.
I guess the “safe” method here is just using the NVX VADM1. I have not had an error code…..knock on sub enclosure, nor had to install a relay in 5 months. I am running 2 10’s at the full 500 watts. Would 1K be nice? Sure, but I do not feel like pushing it now especially with the winter here in the NE.
This thread has been incredibly informative. Is it reasonable to assume that when installing an aftermarket system that is less than 1000 watts that there shouldn't be any issues with vehicle or battery error codes? I've been running a JL Audio ACS112LG-TW1 sub for months running from the penthouse with no issues but I'm getting the itch to install an amp/dsp to amplify the cabin speakers and I'm wondering what's the best way to go. I have a JL Audio XDv2 600/1 sub amp and two 12W3v3-4 subs in a sealed enclosure from a previous vehicle that I would like to use if I go for the rest of the upgrade. Any info is appreciated. I have a 2020 LR with premium audio for reference.
I'm thinking of adding that exact sub to my 2022 model 3 RWD, where did you put it ?
Depending on which amp/dsp you plan on using, you might be okay. Something like a Helix V8/V12 would still probably work, anything smaller should give you a little more wiggle room.
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