drkoolaid

Hi everyone, I'm planning a complete audio upgrade in my 2016 ES 350 (non-nav, without ML audio).


My system will consist of a DSP, 3-way components in the front (doors + dash + pillars) running in an active setup , coaxial speakers in the rear doors, a subwoofer in the trunk, and an assortment of amplifiers to power everything. From others on this forum, the general method seems to be to tap into the high-level speaker outputs from the factory amplifier and feed those into the DSP. The DSP that I have is the Helix DSP.2 with 6 high-level inputs and 8 low-level outputs. For the inputs to the DSP I can send the front door + dash and rear speaker outputs from the factory amplifier. All outputs of the DSP will used for the speakers, with none remaining for the subwoofer. So I'm thinking I can send the high-level subwoofer output from the factory amplifier into a HI-LO converter to connect to my subwoofer amplifier via RCA.. Additionally I would re-use all the factory wiring that goes to the speakers (would be spliced at the factory amplifier), and only run additional wire to the tweeters that will be added to the pillars.


With that said I have a couple questions:

1. Will the front door + dash and rear speaker outputs from the factory amplifier be sufficient for a full-range signal to be provided to the DSP? Or do I also need to send the subwoofer output from the factory amplifier into my DSP? That was left out to allow for the HI-LO conversion to be done outside the DSP to go directly to the subwoofer amplifier..

2. Does the factory wiring from the factory amplifier go directly to the speakers one-to-one? Or are the front door / dash speakers wired in parallel, meaning I would need to run my own wire? I saw that Ratchey posted this speaker wiring diagram that was very useful, but I'm unsure..: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...ng-colors.html


In all of my previous installs I used an aftermarket head-unit so tapping into the factory amplifier is all new to me.. Above is what I have planned, but maybe there is a better way to go about it? I would appreciate any feedback - this is my first time posting here and I've learned a lot from this forum - once the planning is done I plan on posting pics of the install and giving back to the community. Thanks!

st1800

What is DSP?

OBLexus

Digital Signal Processor

ALL4SPL

I don't have specific answers to your questions, however I had this done to my 17 ES 350 with a Mosconi DSP and all Focal mids and highs and a single Digital Designs 9512. I have a 4 channel on the focals and a mono block on the 9512. I could have done my own install but getting up there in my years, I just had my friends shop do it. Anyway, you will not need anything special signal wise, my factory amp outputs are wired directly to my DSP. I cannot however provide any more info than that, I would consult Helix for assistance.

drkoolaid

Hi ALL4SPL, I've seen your build thread and it really was an awesome install. I saw that your dsp has four inputs, do you happen to know which speakers were used from the factory amp? And I am guessing you used the passive crossovers that came with the 3-way focals to run all the speakers off a 4-channel amplifier? I thought about doing this, but didn't want to lose the individual tuning capability provided by running everything active.. Thanks for your help.

ALL4SPL

To go fully active you would need a 6 channel for the fronts, and 2 channels for the rear speakers (or 2 4channel amps), the DSP should do the work with the inputs you have available. I believe they used the front and rear outputs from my factory amp, nothing more.

drkoolaid

Right - I would need 6 total amp channels. I currently have a 4 channel amp I was thinking to use for the woofers and mids, then would pick up a 2ch amp for the tweets and another 2ch amp for the rear speakers. I think separate amps might be easier to control the gain for each set, not sure how much control over gain I have in the DSP. And okay thanks, sounds like I can get the full signal needed from the front and rear outputs.