Pretty sure this would apply to other trim levels as well.
Following is what I did to substantially increase the audio quality of my 2018. I now have a much fuller, richer sound, with low and mid range levels greatly increased. This is probably the best that can be done to this system without getting enclosures for the door speakers (unavailable at this point).
This was accomplished with extensive help from Bruce over at Hush Audio. He did say he's available to help anyone else out that wants to undertake this task. [email protected] I must've asked him a hundred questions and he got back to me quickly ever time.
First, all door & pillar speakers were swapped out to Memphis Audio replacements. Sourced from Crutchfield. Pretty much a no-brainer. Getting the tweeters in the stock locations is a little tricky, but nothing more than 5mins a side. In this setup the center channel speaker is eliminated.
Added an 8" tube subwoofer with self powered amp behind the 2nd row seats. My 3rd row is always down, so there is a perfect little space for it there. See my prev post about removing the 3rd row headrest. Again, super simple. This not a 'thumping' bass sub. Just to fill in the lows.
Ran a 12gauge power wire (fused) from the battery directly back to the grommet on the firewall. There is a little nub there that is waiting for you to punch out and run your wire. Then, removed the glove box stuff and fished the wire through. A little time consuming, but IMO better than draping the wire across the engine compartment to get to the E brake grommet on the drivers side. My way is cleaner.
Bruce sent me a new wiring harness that plugs into the back of the factory unit to split off the front channel and get a signal to the sub. He also hooked me up with a Kicker Key amp to power the fronts. Utilizing his harness, you use the crossovers that came with the speakers and run a new pair of speaker wires to the front tweeters on the A Pillars. Again, super easy. They Key amp is mounted behind the head unit perfectly (its very small). Power is split from the earlier cable run I made. Neg wire run from a stud behind the head unit (and that Neg is also used for the sub amp). Signal for your front door speakers now comes from your new crossovers via the new harness. Turn on signal is handled by the Key (3v).
Crossovers are mounted above the small glove back, behind the panel. Out of the way.
Turn on signal for the Subwoofer amp comes from tapping fuse 23 behind the Pass kick panel. The whole bundle of wires fits easily under the door sills on the passenger side back to the sub.
All that's left to do is turn off the sub and then run the whitenoise programing for the DSP on the Kicker Key to tune the system.
After doing a lot of research, this is def the best bang for your buck to get better audio. Is it a perfect high system? No, not even close. But its much much better.
Following is what I did to substantially increase the audio quality of my 2018. I now have a much fuller, richer sound, with low and mid range levels greatly increased. This is probably the best that can be done to this system without getting enclosures for the door speakers (unavailable at this point).
This was accomplished with extensive help from Bruce over at Hush Audio. He did say he's available to help anyone else out that wants to undertake this task. [email protected] I must've asked him a hundred questions and he got back to me quickly ever time.
First, all door & pillar speakers were swapped out to Memphis Audio replacements. Sourced from Crutchfield. Pretty much a no-brainer. Getting the tweeters in the stock locations is a little tricky, but nothing more than 5mins a side. In this setup the center channel speaker is eliminated.
Added an 8" tube subwoofer with self powered amp behind the 2nd row seats. My 3rd row is always down, so there is a perfect little space for it there. See my prev post about removing the 3rd row headrest. Again, super simple. This not a 'thumping' bass sub. Just to fill in the lows.
Ran a 12gauge power wire (fused) from the battery directly back to the grommet on the firewall. There is a little nub there that is waiting for you to punch out and run your wire. Then, removed the glove box stuff and fished the wire through. A little time consuming, but IMO better than draping the wire across the engine compartment to get to the E brake grommet on the drivers side. My way is cleaner.
Bruce sent me a new wiring harness that plugs into the back of the factory unit to split off the front channel and get a signal to the sub. He also hooked me up with a Kicker Key amp to power the fronts. Utilizing his harness, you use the crossovers that came with the speakers and run a new pair of speaker wires to the front tweeters on the A Pillars. Again, super easy. They Key amp is mounted behind the head unit perfectly (its very small). Power is split from the earlier cable run I made. Neg wire run from a stud behind the head unit (and that Neg is also used for the sub amp). Signal for your front door speakers now comes from your new crossovers via the new harness. Turn on signal is handled by the Key (3v).
Crossovers are mounted above the small glove back, behind the panel. Out of the way.
Turn on signal for the Subwoofer amp comes from tapping fuse 23 behind the Pass kick panel. The whole bundle of wires fits easily under the door sills on the passenger side back to the sub.
All that's left to do is turn off the sub and then run the whitenoise programing for the DSP on the Kicker Key to tune the system.
After doing a lot of research, this is def the best bang for your buck to get better audio. Is it a perfect high system? No, not even close. But its much much better.
