Audio Upgrade in RHD RS (NOT the US version)
I finished the subwoofer install a few days ago and now the other audio upgrade parts have arrived. I'm hoping our non-US version RS system is wired similarly to the ST as I've already completed upgrades on that model.
Anyway, I thought I'd start a separate thread for any Aussies considering audio mods since the US version is so different, with the abomination-masquerading-as-a-sub, amp and fake engine noise generator in the boot.
The shallow-mount 12-inch JL Audio sub install was straightforward (see separate thread http://www.focusrs.org/forum/30-foc...ative-option-hidden-custom-sub-enclosure.html):
The new parts are:
Amp - JL Audi HD900/5, really compact and one of the first genuinely audiophile quality class D amps. 4x100w rms plus 1x500w rms for sub. Intend to fit under the passenger seat; there is a bright side to our Recaro shell seats being mounted high and with no adjustment! I'll just need to build a small mounting platform above the rear aircon vents. Hopefully the speaker cables are easily accessible behind the panel on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel as they are in the ST. I'll let you know.
Front speakers - Hertz Mille Legend MLK 1650.3 components. 6.5 inch 125w rms woofer. 35mm tweeter. Insanely massive crossovers (see photo). Hope there is lots of room inside the the doors, if not they'll go beneath the driver's seat. Lovely accurate, dynamic speakers, EISA's Speaker system of the year 2016. Just a tiny bit expensive though (I got a good deal)...
Rear speakers - Hertz Mille Pro MPK 165P.3 6.5 inch woofer 115w rms. 25mm tweeter. Less bloated crossover.
Apart from the sound, one of the things I really like about Hertz is that each component is laser etched with a QR code which you can scan to confirm that it is a genuine product. I saved about 30% by buying direct from Italy so it's important to know you're not buying counterfeit products.
4 AWG power cable. 12 awg to subwoofer, 14 & 16 to speakers.
Doors will all be lined in dynamat (well, similar but cheaper local version) sound deadening material. The boot is already done of course.
I'll be spreading the install out over several days due other commitments but I'll post anything I think might be useful.
Cheers.
Update 1- Checking Amp Location
First proper look at how the amp will fit under the passenger seat. I knew that the transverse rod of the slider mechanism might be in the way and also that I'd have to mount the amp over the aircon vents. It looks like it should slot straight in (phew).
Fitting under here (the seats have no height adjustment):
View from front showing slider bar obstruction:
From rear showing vents and clearer view of slider bar:
From the rear, just sat on sockets as spacers for rough height check. Clearance increases as the seat is moved towards the rear. No probs:
The wire connections are towards the front of the car and tucked well back from the passenger's feet.
The amp gains etc are located behind the black fascia facing to the rear of the car. This will be easily accessible for adjustments but the amp is far enough forward that it won't be seen or kicked by a rear passenger.
Good cooling. I won't be blowing hot air out of the vents, even in winter in Adelaide it'd be minimal and wouldn't upset the amp. The cold air blasting out in summer can only help.
Looks like it should be easy to fit, although you wouldn't be able to get a larger unit in that space without cutting and reshaping the slider bar somehow. I'm going to take the seat out for access when I actually install the amp.
Update 2 - Checking Speaker Wiring Access and Colours
Very happy to confirm that the speaker wires are very easily accessible, in the same place as in the Focus ST.
The passenger side (RHD Aus/UK cars) transmission tunnel panel is most easily removed by just pulling outwards on the front bottom edge, below the small pop fastener cover. There is no point in taking the little panel out to get to the pop fastener as the head of the fastener almost fills the cavity and you can't get a panel removal tool behind it anyway.
Once you have pulled the side out by an inch or so to free the pop fastener, simply pull the whole panel towards the front of the car to remove it.
Here's a close up of the panel so you can see the way the tabs are oriented, requiring you to slide the panel forward to remove and rearward to reinstall.
You can remove the little fastener cover from the panel now, as you'll need access to push the pop fastener back into place when refitting. The cover needs to be levered out from the forward edge first and then pulled towards the front of the car to remove it, due to the tab shapes.
The wiring is now very easy to get at. You need the largest vertical loom:
When it's time to cut/splice, the wires you need are coloured:
LEFT FRONT + WHITE
LEFT FRONT - WHITE WITH BROWN STRIPE
RIGHT FRONT + WHITE WITH PURPLE STRIPE
RIGHT FRONT - WHITE WITH ORANGE STRIPE
LEFT REAR + BROWN WITH GREEN STRIPE (becomes White with Green stripe later in the loom & at spkr)
LEFT REAR - BROWN WITH YELLOW STRIPE
RIGHT REAR + BROWN WITH WHITE STRIPE
RIGHT REAR - BROWN WITH BLUE STRIPE
You can probably see some of those colours already, below the loom wrap. Each pair is twisted together so it's all pretty obvious. You'll need to unwrap the loom to expose more wire length to work with, of course.
I'll be cutting the wires an inch or two above the connector and soldering my wires for connection to the amp onto the end of the wire above the cut.
If you plan to use the original speaker wiring to run from your amp to the speakers, just connect the correct amp channel outputs to the appropriate wires below the cut in the loom.
If you need larger gauge wiring from the amp to the speakers (for higher powered systems) you'll just run new wires from your amp through the molex connectors at the doors directly to the speakers. In that case the wires in the loom below your cut will not be used. Edit: see Update 5 on page 6 of this thread ref connections from amp to front speakers - much easier solution available
In either case, any new wires spliced into the loom can be run under the edge of the carpet at the bottom of the panel opening.
I'll update when I actually do this to make it clearer.
Update 3 - Stupid #*%×@%€ Molex !
(Edit: most people will not have to wire through the molex as the factory wire to the front speakers turns out to be 14 AWG and can handle 300wrms!).
Like most modern cars, the RS has a Molex connecter where the speaker wires exit the car body to go to the door. This is an efficient system to use from a manufacturing point of view as, on the assembly line, the door internal wiring can be completed separately before fitting to the car body by simply plugging the two parts of the molex together.
It's a pain for subsequent audio mods though.
I intended to pull the molex from the car and drill through both halves to allow 16 awg speaker wires to pass through. I've done this on previous cars. The connecter to the front door looks like this (the rubber boot has been pulled back slightly to reveal the molex clips):
Remove the block by pressing on two black lock tabs on top and one at the bottom. Pull and twist the block out of the hole it's mounted in (gently). You'll find 2 or 3 inches of slack in the loom so you can pull the block out that far:
Unfortunately, the molex block is deeper than I expected and more difficult to dismantle and drill in situ. In this photo I have unplugged the speaker wire input connecter from the back of the molex:
My revised plan is to cut the two factory speaker wires going into this molex plug (white and white+brown) and connect my new wires from the amp at that point.
Update: wire cutting not required (see Update 5 on page 6)
On the exit side of the molex I'll cut and replace the original wires going to the speaker. I think that's the black & black+purple stripe pair but I'll confirm the colours and polarity when I remove the mid-woofer from the door (turns out that the wires are both black but the positive is marked with a purple dab of paint at the speaker connection - check before you cut it off).
The short length of smaller gauge wire passing through the molex won't degrade the signal to the speakers significantly, even with the extra soldered connections.
Update 4 - Fitting Amp and Wiring
Took the seat out to fit the amp. Just one captive bolt to disconnect the electrics, then the 4 rail bolts. I discovered that, if I folded the seat fully, I could just lift it up onto the rear seat out of the way. This avoids the possibility of scraping trim or paint when taking it out of the car. This only took 10 minutes.
The front of the amp is fastened to the top of the rear aircon vents with extra strong velcro, the rear is mounted on a fabricated metal frame which allows unrestricted airflow. It's very securely fixed but can be quickly removed without taking the seat out if ever required. All connections and controls are easily accessible.
The 4-gauge power cable runs through the large rubber grommet where the main loom goes into the engine bay. I took the glove box out (5 torx bolts) to access this and also because I wanted to feed the new speaker cables through to the door molex from this area. However, the grommet can be reached without removing the glove box. It's to the right of the fuse box It helps if you are a contortionist. I used an old soldering iron to melt a small hole in the grommet from the engine bay side and then opened it out with a stanley knife (very carefully) before feeding the cable through.
For the amp remote power trigger wire, I used a piggyback fuse holder (aka add-a-fuse) from F85 in the passenger compartment fuse box (used for aircon, moonroof, heated seats etc).
I cut the factory speaker wires in the location described above.
I soldered the new wires on and fed them behind the carpet down to a slit I cut below the passenger side right seat rail location before connecting them to the amp inputs:
Speaker wire connection to factory loom tidied up:
The power and speaker input wires connected up:
Intend to fit speakers and finish wiring tomorrow.
See later post on page 6 for final update
I finished the subwoofer install a few days ago and now the other audio upgrade parts have arrived. I'm hoping our non-US version RS system is wired similarly to the ST as I've already completed upgrades on that model.
Anyway, I thought I'd start a separate thread for any Aussies considering audio mods since the US version is so different, with the abomination-masquerading-as-a-sub, amp and fake engine noise generator in the boot.
The shallow-mount 12-inch JL Audio sub install was straightforward (see separate thread http://www.focusrs.org/forum/30-foc...ative-option-hidden-custom-sub-enclosure.html):
The new parts are:
Amp - JL Audi HD900/5, really compact and one of the first genuinely audiophile quality class D amps. 4x100w rms plus 1x500w rms for sub. Intend to fit under the passenger seat; there is a bright side to our Recaro shell seats being mounted high and with no adjustment! I'll just need to build a small mounting platform above the rear aircon vents. Hopefully the speaker cables are easily accessible behind the panel on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel as they are in the ST. I'll let you know.
Front speakers - Hertz Mille Legend MLK 1650.3 components. 6.5 inch 125w rms woofer. 35mm tweeter. Insanely massive crossovers (see photo). Hope there is lots of room inside the the doors, if not they'll go beneath the driver's seat. Lovely accurate, dynamic speakers, EISA's Speaker system of the year 2016. Just a tiny bit expensive though (I got a good deal)...
Rear speakers - Hertz Mille Pro MPK 165P.3 6.5 inch woofer 115w rms. 25mm tweeter. Less bloated crossover.
Apart from the sound, one of the things I really like about Hertz is that each component is laser etched with a QR code which you can scan to confirm that it is a genuine product. I saved about 30% by buying direct from Italy so it's important to know you're not buying counterfeit products.
4 AWG power cable. 12 awg to subwoofer, 14 & 16 to speakers.
Doors will all be lined in dynamat (well, similar but cheaper local version) sound deadening material. The boot is already done of course.
I'll be spreading the install out over several days due other commitments but I'll post anything I think might be useful.
Cheers.
Update 1- Checking Amp Location
First proper look at how the amp will fit under the passenger seat. I knew that the transverse rod of the slider mechanism might be in the way and also that I'd have to mount the amp over the aircon vents. It looks like it should slot straight in (phew).
Fitting under here (the seats have no height adjustment):
View from front showing slider bar obstruction:
From rear showing vents and clearer view of slider bar:
From the rear, just sat on sockets as spacers for rough height check. Clearance increases as the seat is moved towards the rear. No probs:
The wire connections are towards the front of the car and tucked well back from the passenger's feet.
The amp gains etc are located behind the black fascia facing to the rear of the car. This will be easily accessible for adjustments but the amp is far enough forward that it won't be seen or kicked by a rear passenger.
Good cooling. I won't be blowing hot air out of the vents, even in winter in Adelaide it'd be minimal and wouldn't upset the amp. The cold air blasting out in summer can only help.
Looks like it should be easy to fit, although you wouldn't be able to get a larger unit in that space without cutting and reshaping the slider bar somehow. I'm going to take the seat out for access when I actually install the amp.
Update 2 - Checking Speaker Wiring Access and Colours
Very happy to confirm that the speaker wires are very easily accessible, in the same place as in the Focus ST.
The passenger side (RHD Aus/UK cars) transmission tunnel panel is most easily removed by just pulling outwards on the front bottom edge, below the small pop fastener cover. There is no point in taking the little panel out to get to the pop fastener as the head of the fastener almost fills the cavity and you can't get a panel removal tool behind it anyway.
Once you have pulled the side out by an inch or so to free the pop fastener, simply pull the whole panel towards the front of the car to remove it.
Here's a close up of the panel so you can see the way the tabs are oriented, requiring you to slide the panel forward to remove and rearward to reinstall.
You can remove the little fastener cover from the panel now, as you'll need access to push the pop fastener back into place when refitting. The cover needs to be levered out from the forward edge first and then pulled towards the front of the car to remove it, due to the tab shapes.
The wiring is now very easy to get at. You need the largest vertical loom:
When it's time to cut/splice, the wires you need are coloured:
LEFT FRONT + WHITE
LEFT FRONT - WHITE WITH BROWN STRIPE
RIGHT FRONT + WHITE WITH PURPLE STRIPE
RIGHT FRONT - WHITE WITH ORANGE STRIPE
LEFT REAR + BROWN WITH GREEN STRIPE (becomes White with Green stripe later in the loom & at spkr)
LEFT REAR - BROWN WITH YELLOW STRIPE
RIGHT REAR + BROWN WITH WHITE STRIPE
RIGHT REAR - BROWN WITH BLUE STRIPE
You can probably see some of those colours already, below the loom wrap. Each pair is twisted together so it's all pretty obvious. You'll need to unwrap the loom to expose more wire length to work with, of course.
I'll be cutting the wires an inch or two above the connector and soldering my wires for connection to the amp onto the end of the wire above the cut.
If you plan to use the original speaker wiring to run from your amp to the speakers, just connect the correct amp channel outputs to the appropriate wires below the cut in the loom.
If you need larger gauge wiring from the amp to the speakers (for higher powered systems) you'll just run new wires from your amp through the molex connectors at the doors directly to the speakers. In that case the wires in the loom below your cut will not be used. Edit: see Update 5 on page 6 of this thread ref connections from amp to front speakers - much easier solution available
In either case, any new wires spliced into the loom can be run under the edge of the carpet at the bottom of the panel opening.
I'll update when I actually do this to make it clearer.
Update 3 - Stupid #*%×@%€ Molex !
(Edit: most people will not have to wire through the molex as the factory wire to the front speakers turns out to be 14 AWG and can handle 300wrms!).
Like most modern cars, the RS has a Molex connecter where the speaker wires exit the car body to go to the door. This is an efficient system to use from a manufacturing point of view as, on the assembly line, the door internal wiring can be completed separately before fitting to the car body by simply plugging the two parts of the molex together.
It's a pain for subsequent audio mods though.
I intended to pull the molex from the car and drill through both halves to allow 16 awg speaker wires to pass through. I've done this on previous cars. The connecter to the front door looks like this (the rubber boot has been pulled back slightly to reveal the molex clips):
Remove the block by pressing on two black lock tabs on top and one at the bottom. Pull and twist the block out of the hole it's mounted in (gently). You'll find 2 or 3 inches of slack in the loom so you can pull the block out that far:
Unfortunately, the molex block is deeper than I expected and more difficult to dismantle and drill in situ. In this photo I have unplugged the speaker wire input connecter from the back of the molex:
My revised plan is to cut the two factory speaker wires going into this molex plug (white and white+brown) and connect my new wires from the amp at that point.
Update: wire cutting not required (see Update 5 on page 6)
On the exit side of the molex I'll cut and replace the original wires going to the speaker. I think that's the black & black+purple stripe pair but I'll confirm the colours and polarity when I remove the mid-woofer from the door (turns out that the wires are both black but the positive is marked with a purple dab of paint at the speaker connection - check before you cut it off).
The short length of smaller gauge wire passing through the molex won't degrade the signal to the speakers significantly, even with the extra soldered connections.
Update 4 - Fitting Amp and Wiring
Took the seat out to fit the amp. Just one captive bolt to disconnect the electrics, then the 4 rail bolts. I discovered that, if I folded the seat fully, I could just lift it up onto the rear seat out of the way. This avoids the possibility of scraping trim or paint when taking it out of the car. This only took 10 minutes.
The front of the amp is fastened to the top of the rear aircon vents with extra strong velcro, the rear is mounted on a fabricated metal frame which allows unrestricted airflow. It's very securely fixed but can be quickly removed without taking the seat out if ever required. All connections and controls are easily accessible.
The 4-gauge power cable runs through the large rubber grommet where the main loom goes into the engine bay. I took the glove box out (5 torx bolts) to access this and also because I wanted to feed the new speaker cables through to the door molex from this area. However, the grommet can be reached without removing the glove box. It's to the right of the fuse box It helps if you are a contortionist. I used an old soldering iron to melt a small hole in the grommet from the engine bay side and then opened it out with a stanley knife (very carefully) before feeding the cable through.
For the amp remote power trigger wire, I used a piggyback fuse holder (aka add-a-fuse) from F85 in the passenger compartment fuse box (used for aircon, moonroof, heated seats etc).
I cut the factory speaker wires in the location described above.
I soldered the new wires on and fed them behind the carpet down to a slit I cut below the passenger side right seat rail location before connecting them to the amp inputs:
Speaker wire connection to factory loom tidied up:
The power and speaker input wires connected up:
Intend to fit speakers and finish wiring tomorrow.
See later post on page 6 for final update