Making standard audio system a 'premium' system

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12XLT

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In October, I replaced my 2000 Tahoe with a 2012 Expedition. The Tahoe had three rows of speakers and a subwoofer, all factory.

My Expedition only has two rows of speakers (2 in each front door, 1 in each second row door) and not hearing anything from the third row (like I've been used to the past eleven years) is really annoying!

I just read a 2012 dealer brochure which showed a 'premium' option described as this:
"Premium Sound System with single-CD player, MP3 capability and 7 speakers (including a subwoofer) with 340 watts"

I would upgrade the existing six speakers but has anyone added the (assumed) amp and subwoofer? I'm just surprised and disappointed that this stuff wasn't standard and I'd really like to enhance the sound considering there is so much free space in the large interior. Thanks in advance for your advice!
 

Trainmaster

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I just finished this exact thing in a 2008. In that year, the base audio for the XLT was "Premium" and the high end system in the Limited trim was the "Audiophile". There are also steering wheel controls missing from the low end system in the 2008. The following items are different:

The radio has to be replaced as the base radio has no woofer connections and a lower power output.

The rear door speakers are different; rated for 50 watts vs. 25 watts.

The woofer, amplifier and enclosure must be installed in the rear quarter.

The rear quarter trim must be replaced with trim with a grille or must be cut to install an aftermarket grille.

The most difficult part of the job is the wiring. I'm not certain of the differences between the 2008 and the 2012 insofar as what wiring is included in the base model. The 2008 XLT had none of the necessary woofer wiring and the harnesses had to be made.

The high end radios have an additional jack for the plug that provides signals to the woofer.

The harness between the radio and the woofer amplifier requires two plugs, a shielded pair for the signal, a 12ga power wire for the amp, 14ga ground and an 18ga conductor for the 5 volt switching signal that turns the amp on and off. The power wire must be routed past the radio to the fuse box in the right kick panel where a fuse exists for the amplifier, but no pin for that circuit is included in the fuse box connector, so that pin must be added to the connector. The harness is snaked from the radio to the back quarter panel amp.

The replacement radio must be one that originally was programmed to use a woofer. That function has to have been activated in the replacement radio for it to direct the low signals to the woofer amp. You can check that on the radio's configuration menu. I'm not sure if the 2012 radios are similar in this regard.

Steering wheel controls are another project but they require making a new steering wheel harness, adding the switch, adding pins to the radio connector and adding four 24ga wires between the radio connector and the clockspring connector.

Hope this gives you some idea of the scope of the work involved. I feel it was worth the effort. They system sounds great to me. Much better. The cost was $80 for an Ebay woofer/amp with connector included, $50 for the 50 watt rear door speakers, $50 for a junk yard quarter trim with speaker grille, $15 for the radio connector, $20 for wire and a few dollars for terminal pins which were hard to find.

Good luck with your project. Let me know if you need any other information.
 
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