[Defjukie]

I just saw your pictures and funny enough I used the same "Install Gear" amp installation kit and used the same location to power my amp. As for ground I used the same ground the stock amp uses. BTW, I actually didn't know where the stock amp and sub were lol.

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for their help. This past weekend I installed, LC2i, fosgate r500x1d amp and Infinity Kappa 10" sub (sealed box). The LC2 is awesome, no remote 12v needed from the drivers kickpanel.
I had planned to do that but 1st I tried using the built in remote turn on feature of the LC2i. I tapped into the stock sub woofer signal and put that into the LC2i, when it senses a signal it turns on, I then used the remote out on the LC2i to turns on the amp.

It works great and turns everything off when the car is "off". I verified this by using the turn off feature on the car and then walking outback (with trunk open) and seeing everything turn off.

Did someone mention they changed the tweeters on the doors? What did you use and did they bolt right in?

I installed the tweeters that came with the Focal ISU200 kit. The door tweeter housing basically has 3-4 "clips" that the tweeter snaps into. I had to remove the housing around the Focal tweeters to get it to fit, and even then it's just kind of jammed in there. Sloppy, but snug enough it's not going to move.

 

[hamtonp]

Thanks Defjukie. That's what I thought was the issue. I was thinking about getting the Soundstream BX-20Z, but might be good idea to stick what works.
With the LC2i adjustments you made, do you get hard hitting tight bass now in addition to the low rumbling bass?

 

[Defjukie]

Thanks Defjukie. That's what I thought was the issue. I was thinking about getting the Soundstream BX-20Z, but might be good idea to stick what works.
With the LC2i adjustments you made, do you get hard hitting tight bass now in addition to the low rumbling bass?

it's a little better, but you know how these things go... never really feels good enough I'm always thinking to myself how it's not hitting as hard as I think 500W should, but then I cut the gain down using the knob and realize just how much bass it's actually adding.
I'm currently (still) working on getting my Focal 8" woofers to fit in the front doors, and I think that will add even more bass if/when I get them in.

 

[Feathermerchant]

The Model 3 uses a digital system from Analog devices. If we could program it to change the frequency response it would be a cleaner way to improve the sound.

 

[_Travis_]

I just saw your pictures and funny enough I used the same "Install Gear" amp installation kit and used the same location to power my amp. As for ground I used the same ground the stock amp uses. BTW, I actually didn't know where the stock amp and sub were lol.

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for their help. This past weekend I installed, LC2i, fosgate r500x1d amp and Infinity Kappa 10" sub (sealed box). The LC2 is awesome, no remote 12v needed from the drivers kickpanel.
I had planned to do that but 1st I tried using the built in remote turn on feature of the LC2i. I tapped into the stock sub woofer signal and put that into the LC2i, when it senses a signal it turns on, I then used the remote out on the LC2i to turns on the amp.

It works great and turns everything off when the car is "off". I verified this by using the turn off feature on the car and then walking outback (with trunk open) and seeing everything turn off.

Did someone mention they changed the tweeters on the doors? What did you use and did they bolt right in?

I'm replacing my front door tweeters. The OEM tweeters are a fairly standard size, so it might be possible to cut the existing fixture to work with aftermarket tweeters. My aftermarket tweeters are too large to fit in the OEM fixtures, so I 3D printed new fixtures. It was a lot of work.

 

[_Travis_]

Here is an image. The line leading to the amp is not hooked up yet because I was still working on the amp.
There is a styrofoam covering the penthouse. I just cut off 1/2 inch off the sides so the fusebox would clear.

Have you gotten any error messages? I connected my amps here and nothing happened immediately, but when I tried to drive the car I got "Vehicle systems are powering up" followed by "Cannot maintain vehicle power", and the car won't shift into drive. I disconnected the amps, waited several hours, the error messages are still there.

Update:
I got the error message again yesterday, but it cleared in about an hour. I've driven my car three or four times today and I haven't gotten the message again. I don't know what caused it.

 

[Defjukie]

Have you gotten any error messages? I connected my amps here and nothing happened immediately, but when I tried to drive the car I got "Vehicle systems are powering up" followed by "Cannot maintain vehicle power", and the car won't shift into drive. I disconnected the amps, waited several hours, the error messages are still there.

You connected your amps here (the penthouse), or to the 12V battery?

If it's the penthouse, just make sure everything is tightened back down sufficiently. Can't think of any other reason you'd have this issue

 

[_Travis_]

You connected your amps here (the penthouse), or to the 12V battery?

If it's the penthouse, just make sure everything is tightened back down sufficiently. Can't think of any other reason you'd have this issue

I connected to the 12VDC output on the penthouse, not the battery up front. After a few more hours the error messages went away and the car is driving normally again. I haven't hooked up the turn-on lead yet, and when turned off the amps are pulling a few tens of milliamps. So I can't imagine how this is causing a problem. I guess maybe the amps pulled a large current for a moment when I hooked them up, and that caused a software safety trip somewhere? I'll charge them through a resistor before connecting them back up and see if the error messages come back.

 

[Defjukie]

I connected to the 12VDC output on the penthouse, not the battery up front. After a few more hours the error messages went away and the car is driving normally again. I haven't hooked up the turn-on lead yet, and when turned off the amps are pulling a few tens of milliamps. So I can't imagine how this is causing a problem.

Is it possible you shorted something out while removing the nut from the post? If you somehow grounded that post to the body of the car, I might've put itself into some kind of protective mode.

 

[_Travis_]

Is it possible you shorted something out while removing the nut from the post? If you somehow grounded that post to the body of the car, I might've put itself into some kind of protective mode.

I don't think so. If you connect the positive first, then ground, it's just about impossible to short anything. I don't know. The errors have gone away for now. If they come back I'll talk to tech support and dig deeper.

 

[Defjukie]

I don't think so. If you connect the positive first, then ground, it's just about impossible to short anything. I don't know. The errors have gone away for now. If they come back I'll talk to tech support and dig deeper.

Dropping a wrench or screwdriver on the exposed post would likely do it, as it would also be contacting the metal portion of the penthouse. Actually could happen pretty easily.

 

[RunWatt]

Is it possible you shorted something out while removing the nut from the post? If you somehow grounded that post to the body of the car, I might've put itself into some kind of protective mode.

I was a little scared to remove the nut so I got a new nut and just put my ring terminal on top of the original nut, there is enough thread on the post to add a nut.

 

[hamtonp]

Thx defjukie. I think I'll just get the LC2i.

I haven't received any error messages yet. Been beating the crap out if my subs. Will let you know if I do.

It is a little scary removing and installing the nut. Need to make sure the wrench doesn't accidentally tap any surrounding metal parts

 

[Johnston]

You guys that have installed aftermarket amps and subs, would you mind showing some pictures of the final install?

 

[_Travis_]

More updates from my weird situation.

Three days in a row now I've gotten "Vehicle Systems Powering Up" followed by "Cannot Maintain Vehicle Power". I disconnect everything, both the power connection to the penthouse and the turn-on connection to VC_LEFT, and after an hour or two the error messages go away. I recharge the amps through a 1KΩ, 10W resistor, reconnect both leads, and the car and stereo work fine for the rest of the day. Then the next morning I get the error messages and the car won't start again. I've checked my currents and there are no discernible problems there. The turn-on lead is consuming <1mA. The power lead is consuming 1-2mA when off and <5A when on. 12V battery voltage is at 12.5V and penthouse voltage is ~14V. I'm out of ideas. Phone support can't diagnose the problem so I'm taking it in for service to see if something is flat out broken. Maybe I shorted something and burned something out.

 

[Defjukie]

More updates from my weird situation.

Three days in a row now I've gotten "Vehicle Systems Powering Up" followed by "Cannot Maintain Vehicle Power". I disconnect everything, both the power connection to the penthouse and the turn-on connection to VC_LEFT, and after an hour or two the error messages go away. I reconnect both leads and everything works fine for the rest of the day. Then the next morning, the car won't start again. I've checked my currents and there are no discernible problems there. The turn-on lead is consuming <1mA. The power lead is consuming 1-2mA when off and <5A when on. 12V battery voltage is at 12.5V and penthouse voltage is ~14V. I'm out of ideas. Phone support can't diagnose the problem so I'm taking it in for service to see if something is flat out broken. Maybe I shorted something and burned something out.

Sorry to hear this. Please let us know if they find anything.

 

[davidericlee]

Guys - You are all making this way more complicated than it needs to be! I've just completed the most simple aftermarket sub swap you can do and it adds a ton of bass response to the existing system - especially at higher volumes. I simply swapped out the stock 8" sub with a Rockford Fosgate P3SD4-8. I simply removed the brackets on the amp to access the sub in the existing box, removed the old sub and connected the wires to the new sub. I was able to then mount the new sub in the existing box and sealed the edges of the new speaker to ensure there weren't any gaps for air to get through. This upgrade cost me $150 for the new sub and that's it!

Photos below on how to access the sub and swap it out. I'm very happy with the results! Stock look with much better bass response!

 

[JWardell]

Some useful info on SR+ audio just posted in reddit:

 

[Defjukie]

Guys - You are all making this way more complicated than it needs to be! I've just completed the most simple aftermarket sub swap you can do and it adds a ton of bass response to the existing system - especially at higher volumes. I simply swapped out the stock 8" sub with a Rockford Fosgate P3SD4-8. I simply removed the brackets on the amp to access the sub in the existing box, removed the old sub and connected the wires to the new sub. I was able to then mount the new sub in the existing box and sealed the edges of the new speaker to ensure there weren't any gaps for air to get through. This upgrade cost me $150 for the new sub and that's it!

Photos below on how to access the sub and swap it out. I'm very happy with the results! Stock look with much better bass response!
View attachment 23249 View attachment 23250 View attachment 23251 View attachment 23252 View attachment 23253 View attachment 23254

One issue with your approach is that the enclosure volume and port characteristics are highly unlikely to be matched to the speaker you put in there. Also, there's no real comparison between doing something like this and adding a 10 or 12" sub and aftermarket amp of 400-500W. Night and day sound-wise.

So, to be fair, your system is going to sound different than those that are making it more compicated.

 

[davidericlee]

One issue with your approach is that the enclosure volume and port characteristics are highly unlikely to be matched to the speaker you put in there. Also, there's no real comparison between doing something like this and adding a 10 or 12" sub and aftermarket amp of 400-500W. Night and day sound-wise.

So, to be fair, your system is going to sound different than those that are making it more compicated.

Yes totally get that - there are folks who are certainly more concious of that than I would be but the headache of tapping into a specific power source, adding an external amp and having a 2nd sub with it's own enclosure seems to be a lot of work when you could simply swap out the existing sub and get a nice boost. I also didn't want to take up any trunk space with an additional box and wanted a stock look.

Effort to improvement ratio was there for me!