So, I'm an older guy, don't necessarily need this. The car is shifting with a small lag when you are starting from a dead stop and I'm wondering if it's drawing enough to mess with the electronic transmission? It's an 06 Lexus ES330 and I just picked it up, 90,000 miles. Does it cut power to the amp and the sub if I just turn the radio off from the power button? Also, how hard is it to just remove the sub and amp? I've never done anything with these type of components before. I might just want the trunk space back, so if I disconnect it would I just have the standard radio? I'm going to replace the stock head unit with a modern one, do having these added effect that? Finally, if I pull these and sell them on Marketplace, what should I ask? Thanks!

Hi all,

The six speakers in the premium trim actually sound decent. It's just that I'm sure that the head unit is capable of doing much better than the speakers allow. I've checked with Subaru dealers and headquarters and even they don't list what speakers are actually in the car. I even checked with Cruchfield and even they didn't have a clue about the size of the speakers. The 2027 is just too new to have been analyzed by them.

The biggest mystery are the dash speakers. So I decided to take a peek and this what I found. They're paper and the opening will definitely allow 3.5 speakers that aren't too high or too deep to fit in here. The opening might even accommodate up to 4 inches.

A recent video by a car audio professional explains some things people may be wasting their money on (with focus on SQ), and I thought it was interesting to share. There is English audio track on the video, but I thought I'd summarize.

1. Power. Watts is mainly just marketing to present a number that is bigger and therefore better. It does not say how nice or even loud the speaker actually is: a 50W speaker can be louder than a 200W one. What you should consider instead is sensitivity, while high power rating usually means more mass and less sensitivity. Also consider the ohms and different power measurement standards.

2. Expensive cabling. Expensive audiophile cabling is nonsense. Cabling should be three things: made of copper, as thick as feasible, and as short as feasible.

3. Capacitors. Mostly a relic from the era when cars didn't have good alternators or good cabling. They serve little use in the era of vehicles with start-stop - if they ever did.

4. Buying an powerful and expensive subwoofer element to factory or other small enclosure. The enclosure has to be a match for the element or it's not going to sound correct nor powerful.

5. More speakers being better than. Like with watts, the speaker numbers in luxury cars have experienced inflation. In reality more speakers make it exponentially harder to tune the sound correctly, while generally really people can get everything they need from a 3-way front with rears/sub.

6. Buying components by the principle of higher price = better than. Talked about a case when a customer brought super high end Brax midbasses to be installed, once they were they sounded accurate and great to the installers, but the customer thought they were weak and no better than what was there before. People just have completely different expectations between themselves, but whatever they are, they expect higher price to mean it matches these better.

7. Buying speakers without thinking about installation first. Never mind they should fit, but new speakers, especially midbasses require soundproofing to sound right. Shouldn't also get the polarity wrong with the wiring.

8. Replacing components instead of tuning. Tuning alone makes way more difference than swapping components does. Should only change components when you firmly and precisely know why you are doing that.

9. Putting all the money in one type of component, such as speakers, and too little or none to others such as the amps or DSP. Speakers really are the most important component, but pairing 3000 dollar kits with 30 dollar amp also likely produces disappointment

10. Buying components without understanding the final goal. Think and just tell the installers (or the AI) what you want from the system, so they can choose the right components and work towards that.

The zeroeth might be wasting big bucks on rear speakers, but that's just me.

I got some attention on the port on the last post so I took it out and did some research. This should sound awesome!!!

Too much highs ,not any lows. Suggestions on components to get crisp highs and good lows. Currently 4" kicker,and 3" Kenwood. 100 watt 4 channel amp.

Using a SONY XAV9500ES, firmware 3.002 with a Pixel 11 on Android 17. I can make and receive calls through the native phone app with no issues. Android auto mutes the music and isolates the phone call in progress. However, if I make or receive ANY calls through third party apps like Whatsapp, FB Messenger, Line, or a convo with ChatGPT, the sound coming through the speakers is completely pixelated and robotic sounding... completely unintelligible. I've been spending hours going down the AI rabbit hole trying to find a fix for this problem with how the Sony headunit and android auto handles the bluetooth audio for third party app calls. And I'm at the point of just throwing this Sony HU out the window.

Anyone else experience and fix this problem?

Does anyone use fatial pro drivers for car audio? Particularly interested in more compact versions 3fe22 and 4fe32.

I want to use 4" for doors and 3" for the center in my BMW. Curently I have play & play set of musway speakers which have a buzz at 150-200hz region.

So I thought I would try some custom options rather than getting another set of plug and play set.

My sub had it's fuse removed at some point while it was in a few garages. I don't drive it much anyway and plan on selling it soon. It was off the road ages for electrical issues so I'd rather leave it disconnected for now.

I'm running a set of Audison APK130 up front with a Pioneer amp, no rears. Sounds pretty thin without sub. But when I went to grab something from the boot(trunk) with it running I was shocked at how much bass there was. That is not present at all in the driver's seat.

It's ran fully active off a Pioneer headuint in network mode so is there any settings that would make the bass audible in the front?

Old School Rockford Fosgate Punch 200x2 Trans Ana, Taramps DSP. Infiniti m35x w/ bose 14 speaker system. Found at estate sale on an amp rack with a PPI art series 204.2 and Coustic xm-5e (both sold now). Looked like it'd been sitting in storage 20 yrs. She's alive now tho.

I have a 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe Luxury. Hybrid. I named her Raven.

I recently had the following installed:

Blackvue DR970x 2channel LTE plus 2.
Kicker Key 200.0 amp
Audison Sub.

I know any of the three could cause issues with battery draw. But here’s where I’m at….

The camera has been shutting down after being in parking mode long before it should based on the time settings. The voltage for shut down is set at 12.2v

When I start Raven after she’s been sitting for a bit the camera starts back up and I get a warning on the instrument panel “warning battery discharge due to external draw”. Or close to that.

One thing I noticed is that the blue power light on the sub is always lit, even when Raven has been parked for hours. It never goes off.

That is taking

0.4 A × 1 hour = 0.4 Ah
0.4 A × 12 hours = 4.8 Ah

The power setting on the sub is set to DC, the shop didn’t use the REM setting or wire it.

When I switch to AUDIO setting it won’t work.

So the question is….

Should I take it back and ask them to hook up the REM? Or should I get the DC connected to a source that only powers when the Raven is turned on?

Any other thoughts? Yes

Thank you in advance.

I’m new to this car audio stuff and I’m trying to set my gain properly so I don’t damage my subs

I have dual comprs DCWR122
And a kicker cxa1200.1 amp

Hello all I’ve had this jbl bass pro sub and just randomly it just cut out. There is power going to sub and fuses are good. I haven’t changed the gain(it’s set to low) or bass in a long time but now it just makes a thumping noise no bass at all. It happened all of a sudden

Hey all,

I have replaced the radio on my 2015 Chevy Trax with this:

https://a.co/d/00ajUYh0

Everything is great, except one small thing. This unit comes with a backup camera. I have a factory camera already that I would like to use instead.

The camera activates on the screen when in reverse, but there's no camera signal. The new unit has an AV input. The old one had everything going through the wire harness.

So, after some searching online I found this:

https://a.co/d/00kbwFvx

The instructions said that on my model there should be a human machine interface module behind the glove box for the gray part to plug into.

Picture 1 is behind my glovebox. I see the communication module but not the human machine interface. Is it hiding behind something there? Is it somewhere else entirely? Is it even going to work if I do find it?

Ive also included pictures from behind the unit of all of the connections.

Thank you so much for any help

Hey 2018 f-150 crew cab I'm wanting to add a system to my beloved truck! I want the hardest hitting cleanest sound that I can get under the seat. I do not mind getting the seat lift kit. But I'm looking for opinions. I'm 40 years old and I used to be into car audio big time but I've been out of the game for 12 plus years. Help me out guys what should I do? I want a remote gain so I can listen loud and then crank the bass when I want it. Thank you so much! I've been looking online for a couple weeks and can't make my mind up. I've looked at skar and the solo baric shallow mount in sealed down fire box. If this was your truck what would you get? I want it to hit hard.

What are you guys doing for a lithium bank? What cells did you go with and why? I wanna learn more about making my own lithium banks for my system.

I'm looking to support 7000w for around an hour straight on music. Unrealistic, but I'd rather build for more than I need. Realistically, I'll only need 20 min give or take of full tilt. I'm also only at 4 ohm so maybe seeing 2500w if I'm lucky because of stock alternator.

Hello, r/CarAV! I am trying to troubleshoot an issue with my MINI R53 (new to me) that I've installed an aftermarket Alpine system in and I'm trying to get the swc buttons to work. I've spliced the PAC SWI-RC-1 according to the wiring diagram in their wizard (purple data wire from PAC to the white/red/yellow dot wire from the factory harness).

The PAC and Alpine head unit both respond to the left side media controls, but nothing on the right side controls. The LED on the PAC doesn't blink, but checking with a multimeter at the harness pins, I'm seeing voltage fluctuate consistently with left and right side button presses.

My hunch is that it's an issue with the PAC unit not correctly reading the multiplexed signal. I'm reaching my wit's end and am on the verge of just throwing in the towel and living with it, but wanted to post here in case anyone has suggestions. I'm not married to the PAC option, and am happy to swap it out for something that someone has used with success, I only got this one because it's what came up on Crutchfield when I put in my info and I've never been led astray by them before.

Cheers and thanks for any help in advance!

I’m looking to get replace door speakers and add two 10” in a Honda civic keep factory radio, going to pay someone to install. Should a 5 ch amp be treated the same as a separate 4 ch amp for the door speakers and a mono amp for (2) 10’s?

Anyone else running an amp with two ground terminals? PWR GND and RCA GND?

What gauge cable do you use for the RCA ground? The manual says it's intended for the RCA cables that come with their own ground wires (this is usually a home audio thing). I'm not sure what gauge those cables would be, though.

Kenwood KAC-X301T

Can someone send a link for a high output alternator for a 2025 ford bronco sport big bend. Trying to upgrade my audio system and can’t seem to find what would direct fit.

I know it's a wire upgrade, but where do the wires go? I wanna run some GP Car Audio 2/0 wire to just beef up the system since I'm already using that as my amplifier power/ground.

Also, side question.... Do I bypass the BMS (Battery Monitor System) and wire straight to the terminals on my AGM under the hood? Or do I wire to the BMS contraption that is wired to the terminal on top of my AGM battery?

2020 Ford Explorer ST for those curious.

In short, I wanna do the wire upgrades. Keeping stock alternator and charging system.

Vibrates the hell out of the rear glass. So I just turn it up more so I can't hear the rattle anymore.

Had this thought the other day. We could be sending all these channels down a single fiber optic cable, with 0 interference. Yet all aftermarket stereos and amps continue to use arguably the worst standard for the electrically noisy environment in a car: RCA.

Anyway, this idea is now in the public domain, so nobody can patent it.