Amp?
JBL Stereo
- Thread starter kibitz503
- Start date
Yup it’s under the carpet under the driver seat. Thanks for that
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Back when I was a kid in the late 70's, my parent bought a pimped out Winnebago. It came complete with an 8 track player in the dash PLUS one in a built-in stereo in the "living" area of the RV Even more exciting was the record player that it had! Trust me, it didn't work well on the road.
Before I go into my essay below, let me say that I was communicating via email with the guys at Beat Sonic. They were very responsive and had many ideas and tips to try and resolve my issue.
The whole Beat Sonic amp and the JBL setup is confusing me. I installed it as well and I do think it sounds better but I'm not sure if that isn't just the placebo effect...."I installed an amp and now it's louder and sounds better!". The reason for this confusion is that I was attempting to set up a powered subwoofer (PS) and having issues.
I'd used the Beat Sonic BH10 speaker harness that (according to their site) plugs in between the Amp output and the factory speaker harness. It has 4 pairs of aux outputs, 2 of which you are supposed to run to your PS. Now, since they are after the amplifier, I would have assumed that the signal coming out of the amp would be "speaker" level output. However, when I plugged it into my PS, even though I could get a signal, the volume would NOT change, regardless of the volume of the rest of the system. In other words, I was getting bass thumps even when the volume was turned to 0.
I tried changing the input on the PS to be "line" level and there was no change in outcome. I moved the BH10 to be between the head unit and the amp with no change in outcome. It wasn't until I took the BH10 completely out of the picture and connected to the wires running to the OEM sub in the rear hatch that I was able to control the volume of the sub along with the rest of the system.
So, a big question for me is why is the gauge of the wires connecting the speakers larger than the wires in the harness coming out of the head unit as well as the Beat Sonic amp? Is it because the wires coming out of the head unit are really only "signal" wires going to the JBL amp which them pumps up the signal to "speaker" level and therefore needs a larger gauge? If so, how then, is the Beat Sonic bumping the volume up if it's just sending the signal downstream to another amplifier? This is why I'm conflicted about the Beat Sonic amp and whether I'm just thinking I'm hearing better. I'm not an electrical engineer and sure there is a simple explanation but I'm confused and therefore doubt has set in.
If you're adding an amp or new speakers, it might be best to remove the Beat-Sonic, which is what I’m planning to do. The Beat-Sonic improves the stock system by cleaning up the sound before sending it to the amp, but it’s not really an amp itself even though it say it is. Instead, it just filters the audio signals and sends them to the OEM JBL amp. The smaller wires are used because the signal going to the amp is unamplified, while the signal coming out of the amp is amplified.
(I see from the picture you opened up the back part where the sub is. If you have the premium JBL system how many wires were connected to the woofer?)
That's exactly what I think might be happening but wasn't sure. In that case, would it be more accurate to call it a Digital Sound Processor (DSP)?
BTW, there is another post with some similar conversation that. Here's my post there with pictures of the wiring on the OEM sub.
I was just hoping to add a powered sub since I'm pretty happy with the rest of the sound, just need a little oomph to "feel" it when I'm playing some 90's hip-hop.
So there are 4. Did you figure out If the two goes into the sub are full range and the the other two come out are crossed over to the other speakers. When replacing the sub for me I am planning on ignoring those extra hatch speakers since I don't really think they are needed.That's exactly what I think might be happening but wasn't sure. In that case, would it be more accurate to call it a Digital Sound Processor (DSP)?
BTW, there is another post with some similar conversation that. Here's my post there with pictures of the wiring on the OEM sub.
I was just hoping to add a powered sub since I'm pretty happy with the rest of the sound, just need a little oomph to "feel" it when I'm playing some 90's hip-hop.
So, my powered sub (PS) takes 2 pairs as input. Not sure if you need both pairs or one would suffice but since it had 2 pairs, I ran 4 wires from the connector to the 4 wires on the input of the PS. I can't remember for sure but it would not work with just 1 pair connected. That being said, I did NOT do a scientific test and test all possible pairs on the connector and just stopped when it started "working". However, once I had more than 2 wires connected, the sub started working. I'm sorry but I can't remember for sure if it had to be all 4 or if 3 would suffice indicating that perhaps I was unlucky with the first pair and got lucky when the 3rd wire was connected and got the proper pos/neg signal. If I get a chance this coming weekend, I can try to do more thorough test but I can't promise it since it requires taking the trim off the rear hatch and I've got other projects that are a higher priority right now.
I'm betting that only two wires go to the subwoofer, and the other two connect to the hatch speakers. I’m not sure which two yet—I’ll need to take apart the hatch to confirm when I install the aftermarket amp. Right now, I've swapped out the dash and door speakers and plan to add the DSR1 DSP where the Beat Sonic is currently located in the glove compartment. The Beat Sonic installation in the glove compartment makes wiring much easier since the wiring harness adapter for it taps into the high-level signals and sends them to the amp. I’m planning to cut into those wires for the new setup.
I learned something disappointing while wiring the DSP to the head unit (HU). It turns out the HU only provides one front channel output, and the rear channel wires give no output at all. I’m not sure how the faders work if it’s only one front channel. My guess is that the amp somehow manages it. I wonder if it’s the same setup for the non-JBL system.
If anyone knows work around for this let me know.
This post I found pretty much says I would have to retain the factory JBL amp and tap into the amp for the signals. I really don't want to keep that amp lol
www.tacomaforum.com
If anyone knows work around for this let me know.
This post I found pretty much says I would have to retain the factory JBL amp and tap into the amp for the signals. I really don't want to keep that amp lol
2019 JBL Sound amp connectors pinout for adding aftermarket amplifier, sub, etc.
I came up empty-handed while searching for this information on the internet, so I decided to figure it out and then post it here for others that might find it useful. By probing and measuring my 2019 Tacoma TRD Sport w/JBL sound system with some test equipment and a lot of patience, I managed...
www.tacomaforum.com
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Yeah, I'm thinking these newer stereos are much more computer than old school stereo that we are used to. I'm going to totally oversimplify here but my guess is that the head unit sends an audio signal to the amp via one set of wires and a "controller" signal via another set of wires that lets the amp know which speakers get which amount of volume or something like that. Also, the fact that there is a noticeable delay when pushing the power/volume knob in turning the unit on or off tells me that the audio system in general is more of an "app" that runs on the computer in the dash along with the climate settings "app" and the general settings "app". I'm further convinced that everything is essentially an app by the fact that I can change the temperature settings and heated/cooled seats from my phone.
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