rmarceau

I'm starting this thread to (1) document my upgrade process and (2) get some input on issues I'm running into.

So here is the progression from stock to now (I'll add pictures later):

Original:

-Stock 2007 IS350 non-ML (Pioneer) stock audio system with Navigation

Phase 1:

-Added two JL 6w10v2 subs running off a JL 1000.1 amp
-Replaced front woofers with 6.5" Hybrid Audio Technologies (HAT) L6SE woofers
-Replaced Mids with HAT L1R2 Tweeters
-Disconnected stock tweets (no need for 3-way given range of HAT setup)
-Wired in RF 3Sixty.2 after stock amp for sound processing. Used front woofer, front mid/tweeter, and sub signals to create full range summed sound.
-Front stage is powered by a Genesis Profile 4 Ultra Amp

Phase 2:

I was having some trouble with distortion from the stock amp which was making tuning very challenging. So, i decided to upgrade my stock non-ML amp to the ML amp to reduce distortion from the source. This is where it gets interesting...


Here are the primary obstacles to doing this:

-ML amp is 8 ohms and stock is 4 ohms-- not an issue for me since it's all going into the processor and coming out as 4 ohms from my aftermarket amps either way. However, this would be a major issue if you wanted to just swap out the amp in an IS with the stock speakers.

-ML amp does not send enough voltage to get the RF 3Sixty to turn itself on (requires 6 volts). To solve this issue, I just had to tap into the ACC (orange wire in D connector) to get the turn-on signal from that.

-Wiring pinouts ARE different even though both amps use the same harnesses (plugs). Thankfully there are wiring diagrams that help you find the changes. For example, what was the rear right signal output in the stock setup changes to the center channel output from the ML amp. Luckily, the front stage uses all the same wires, so I just had to cut the rear right wires so the center channel wouldn't come through the stock back speakers (i just cut all the wires carrying rear signals so there would be no sound going to them at all).

-Crossovers are very different. I don't have a RTA to get specifics, but i could tell (after running the 360s self tuning) is that there is a big dip at around 800-2khz after installing the new amp. I't so low that even cranking up the eq settings in the 360 tuning software cannot compensate for it. This dip was not there with the Pioneer (stock) amp. My iPhone RTA showed the dip and confirmed what I was hearing-- though this is not as accurate as the real thing...


Where i need input:

So, I think the problem with the front stage lacking mid range (800-2khz or so) is because the ML amp likely sends most of this frequency range to the center channel speaker. Right now I don't have the center channel speaker output running into the 360. So, if I'm right, then running the center channel into the processor should add in the missing portion of the sound spectrum.

Am I missing something obvious or does that sound right to you all? Let me know what you think...



Thanks for the help! I read a lot of discussions on here before I started this project, so hopefully I can share lessons learned from my process so that others can benefit.

CarbonDtls

iTrader: (4)

Posts a little confusing, why did you bother putting in the ML amp?

When running the signal from the RF360 are you using the mid signal and tweeter signal?

rmarceau

I put in the ML amp because the Pioneer one was distorting. So, I figured the ML amp would provide a much cleaner source that is closer to the quality of the rest of the components ive installed. No sense driving clean amps with a one that is distorting.

The 360 is summing all the signals, so yes. I ran the front door woofers and the mid/tweeter into the 360. Also ran the sub into the 360 to get the bottom end. I assumed id get a full signal this way and was right using the stock amp, but seems it's no longer true with the ML amp.

So, all i can think of is that I need to now include the center channel from the ML amp to get the missing frequencies.


It just seems odd to me that there would be such a dip in those frequencies, so I posted the story to see if anyone had other ideas I could test.