Hey guys/gals,new here. I recently purchased a 2018 Stelvio Ti sport and was wanting to add a powered sub to enhance the base stereo system. I joined this forum hoping that I could find where someone has already gone through the process & as well had best place to tap/wire color details. Unfortunately I found nothing. So I have got the installation complete and thought I’d share my process & hope it will help someone else in need. I first started with tapping the rear door speakers, very easy to hide the wire and keep it clean. Tap each side L- orange/orange-blk stripe twisted together,,,R-green/green blk stripe,, picture includes of where I tapped to keep it clean. Returned first sub, thought it was blown till I got a second and had same problem, sounded blown and would cut out on protect mode. Do yourself a favor and purchase a LOC converter, it worked great after installing this product. It’s almost as the rear styrofoam area was meant for this sub, fit beautiful with a few modifications (drill holes for wires). While I had rear left panel off tapping remote turn on wire to 12v plug I noticed there is a spot for 3.5” speakers, so ran wire for those and have Rockford Fosgate on order. I also hooked up some basic tweeters inside that panel for a bit extra from rear. I may have left something out but hope the pictures or the proper colored wires will help someone in there attempt. Good luck
Troy810washere
Adding powered sub to base system:)
Hey guys/gals,new here. I recently purchased a 2018 Stelvio Ti sport and was wanting to add a powered sub to enhance the base stereo system. I joined this forum hoping that I could find where someone has already gone through the process & as well had best place to tap/wire color details. Unfortunately I found nothing. So I have got the installation complete and thought I’d share my process & hope it will help someone else in need. I first started with tapping the rear door speakers, very easy to hide the wire and keep it clean. Tap each side L- orange/orange-blk stripe twisted together,,,R-green/green blk stripe,, picture includes of where I tapped to keep it clean. Returned first sub, thought it was blown till I got a second and had same problem, sounded blown and would cut out on protect mode. Do yourself a favor and purchase a LOC converter, it worked great after installing this product. It’s almost as the rear styrofoam area was meant for this sub, fit beautiful with a few modifications (drill holes for wires). While I had rear left panel off tapping remote turn on wire to 12v plug I noticed there is a spot for 3.5” speakers, so ran wire for those and have Rockford Fosgate on order. I also hooked up some basic tweeters inside that panel for a bit extra from rear. I may have left something out but hope the pictures or the proper colored wires will help someone in there attempt. Good luck
Attachments
Nice write up!
Have you noticed any rattling from the floor cover? Or are you not putting the cover over the styrofoam?
Have you noticed any rattling from the floor cover? Or are you not putting the cover over the styrofoam?
@Troy810washere, people like you are the ones that make road maps for others .... possibly for AR too ..... Great job man.
No rattling you say.....
(Mirror shake...I miss mirror shake...)
Good choice on the Kicker box too BTW. Most sub companies are very overrated/priced IMO. Kicker on the other hand always seems to sound better or as good as the bigger names for a better deal. Haven't asked how it sounds, cause my guess is nice and fast with solid low end extension and good detail.
(Mirror shake...I miss mirror shake...)
Good choice on the Kicker box too BTW. Most sub companies are very overrated/priced IMO. Kicker on the other hand always seems to sound better or as good as the bigger names for a better deal. Haven't asked how it sounds, cause my guess is nice and fast with solid low end extension and good detail.
Wanted to add additional photos of completed work now that the remaining speakers have made it. Added (2) Rockford Fosgate 3.5” 2-way full range & (2) tweeters, both have built in crossovers. A bit of modification around speaker holder due to it being sized for a 2.5 or 3” (guess I measured wrong. Either way worked and can not tell anything has been done, however sounds awesome. Absolutely NO distortion and it thumps?? you can also hear ever note possible. Only other speaker I’ll add is if I can find a way to access center dash speaker otherwise in the music area I’m good.
Attachments
thanks for share Troy810.
One question.. it seems to me that your version haven't any factory sub installed.
Mine does... can I add extra Sub at my system? (Non HK)
Thank you.
Flavio
One question.. it seems to me that your version haven't any factory sub installed.
Mine does... can I add extra Sub at my system? (Non HK)
Thank you.
Flavio
I have the hk system, ordered the kicker and will try to install it this weekend.
What did you tie the extra speakers you put in to? Did you install another amp? I assume mine already has those speakers with the hk..
What did you tie the extra speakers you put in to? Did you install another amp? I assume mine already has those speakers with the hk..
Thanks for posting this up! I installed the same sub today, took about an hour and half. Tied directly into the high level on the amp. It really added what the system was missing.
I agree the HK system could and should be better..but I don't think it is overpaying.
$1000 bucks for speakers and power upgrade is respectable, but your are going to pay more for an equivalent upgrade after market (it will sound better though, but cost minimum $1500 with install for better components and the same power per channel as the HK) Personally I listened to both systems and the sound is much fuller and has better detail throughout the mid range in the HK, the highs seem to roll off more naturally too with less harness where they transition from the tweeter to the mid-woofer. Guitar string plucks, rasp in a male or female voice basically the things that give the music texture are more pronounced and better resolved in the HK. The cost of adding a real sub to the HK system is still (IMO) cheaper than the cost of upgrading all the speakers to an equivalent aftermarket system.
Now all of this is based on you being able to hear this stuff, or even listening to music that has it. Post Malone does not, Sam Smith does sort of, Beyoncé does not (sorry, massive production takes away the organic detail), Run the Jewels does surprisingly, L.P. does, Kaleo defines it. RTJ = hard core hip hop, L.P. = Bob Dylan reborn with a more op sensibility - and female, Kaleo = classic blues with amazingly pure production...just emotional and beautiful, their music cleans my soul, the song "Automobile" is the best song about/for driving ever IMO.) Nothing wrong with listening to ultra-produced music, however if that is what you listen to, than yeah the HK is pretty worthless, however if you do listen to it the HK system actually has really nice speakers with a good, relatively transparent, tone and excellent stereo separation and sound staging.
Either way the sub is a freaking joke.
$1000 bucks for speakers and power upgrade is respectable, but your are going to pay more for an equivalent upgrade after market (it will sound better though, but cost minimum $1500 with install for better components and the same power per channel as the HK) Personally I listened to both systems and the sound is much fuller and has better detail throughout the mid range in the HK, the highs seem to roll off more naturally too with less harness where they transition from the tweeter to the mid-woofer. Guitar string plucks, rasp in a male or female voice basically the things that give the music texture are more pronounced and better resolved in the HK. The cost of adding a real sub to the HK system is still (IMO) cheaper than the cost of upgrading all the speakers to an equivalent aftermarket system.
Now all of this is based on you being able to hear this stuff, or even listening to music that has it. Post Malone does not, Sam Smith does sort of, Beyoncé does not (sorry, massive production takes away the organic detail), Run the Jewels does surprisingly, L.P. does, Kaleo defines it. RTJ = hard core hip hop, L.P. = Bob Dylan reborn with a more op sensibility - and female, Kaleo = classic blues with amazingly pure production...just emotional and beautiful, their music cleans my soul, the song "Automobile" is the best song about/for driving ever IMO.) Nothing wrong with listening to ultra-produced music, however if that is what you listen to, than yeah the HK is pretty worthless, however if you do listen to it the HK system actually has really nice speakers with a good, relatively transparent, tone and excellent stereo separation and sound staging.
Either way the sub is a freaking joke.
It's detailed, not forgiving. Big difference.
The Mark Levinson and ELS systems in Lexus and Acura, as well as systems like BEATS Audio, Bose, Monsoon, etc...are generally designed to sound very good on a wide selection of music by being forgiving to harsh frequencies. Generally this means they are rolled off or deemphasized. This tends to color the sound in a pleasing way, smooth and warm although the amount varies from system to system and car to car. It is definitely not bad and exactly what a lot of people want. Mark Levinson in particular does it in a really great way.
Systems like B&O, HK, B&W tend to more exactly reproduce the sound as it was recorded with less coloring, and definitely no forgiveness. If anything they will highlight harsh production like a 5 year old telling on his big sister. I personally like the systems that are more detailed and precise but less forgiving, but that is in my ears. Definitely not trying to say one is better than another, it is all opinion when it comes to sound quality. If you like it, you are 100% right every time. Same thing if you don't. Just trying to give an idea of where I am coming from when I talk about what I think is good sound.
As a reference I consider great production to be anything by Pink Floyd and Tom Petty, Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique, Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine, Johnny Cash - all the American recording stuff, Anything Quincy Jones has ever done, and every single project Mike Patton touches (Faith no More, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, etc....) so that is the stuff I am looking to sound good. Everything else 80's, 90's, 2k rap, pretty much all pop, southern rock, modern rock/alternative (love Nirvana - still remember where I was standing when I heard Cobain died, can picture it in my head - but the production really is garage quality) I kind of want to sound harsh since that's what it sounds like. I don't want the system to cover it up, to me that is bad sound. I am also a freak.....
Should also add, I don't turn the system up really. I did a few times to get an idea of what it sounds like and IMO above about half volume the digital amps begin to compress the signal to avoid distorting. That compression sounds like pure unadulterated crap so I avoid it...if you are blasting this system...yeah it won't sound good but the base is worse in that regard. To me the compression artifacting might be worse in the Stelvio (more aggressive) then some other cars, but they all have it so I just ignore it and keep that volume low enough it doesn't bother me.
...I spent my teens and 20's designing and installing car audio systems in my personal cars, my pinnacle was in 2007 when I had 3 Brax/Helix amps (Competition A1, A2, A4), 2 3-way sets of Morel Hybrid Ovation speakers with custom wound crossovers in the front and rear, a JL audio 8' W3 in the dash and 2 10' Image Dynamics IDQ subwoofers in the trunk, all installed in a VW Eos. Along with full Alpine Ai-net time delay equalization, a touchscreen headunit with haptic feedback (it simulated the feeling of pushing a button when you touched the screen), optical connections with burr/brown digital analogue conversion and 8 volt signals to the amplifiers with 2 gel cell batteries in the back to run it all. Basically all the top sound quality components that could be purchased at the time, pure class A amplification for all channels including the subwoofers with every speaker (tweeters, mids, woofers and subwoofers) getting their own amplification. Total over 1500 watts with THD (harmonic distortion) levels below .0001%. It was a work of art that truly sounded amazing even when loud enough to not hear traffic or the wind...with the top down....no audible distortion, until it got too loud for my brain to process. Then the transmission broke on the car, I had to lemon it...got the system ripped out, got penalized for even installing it....broke my heart and now I settle....but still, IMO for settling the Stelvio's HK system sounds better than the base system. Neither sound amazing....no factory system does, but the Mark Levison stuff does come pretty close and is way better than this HK system for sure.
The Mark Levinson and ELS systems in Lexus and Acura, as well as systems like BEATS Audio, Bose, Monsoon, etc...are generally designed to sound very good on a wide selection of music by being forgiving to harsh frequencies. Generally this means they are rolled off or deemphasized. This tends to color the sound in a pleasing way, smooth and warm although the amount varies from system to system and car to car. It is definitely not bad and exactly what a lot of people want. Mark Levinson in particular does it in a really great way.
Systems like B&O, HK, B&W tend to more exactly reproduce the sound as it was recorded with less coloring, and definitely no forgiveness. If anything they will highlight harsh production like a 5 year old telling on his big sister. I personally like the systems that are more detailed and precise but less forgiving, but that is in my ears. Definitely not trying to say one is better than another, it is all opinion when it comes to sound quality. If you like it, you are 100% right every time. Same thing if you don't. Just trying to give an idea of where I am coming from when I talk about what I think is good sound.
As a reference I consider great production to be anything by Pink Floyd and Tom Petty, Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique, Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine, Johnny Cash - all the American recording stuff, Anything Quincy Jones has ever done, and every single project Mike Patton touches (Faith no More, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, etc....) so that is the stuff I am looking to sound good. Everything else 80's, 90's, 2k rap, pretty much all pop, southern rock, modern rock/alternative (love Nirvana - still remember where I was standing when I heard Cobain died, can picture it in my head - but the production really is garage quality) I kind of want to sound harsh since that's what it sounds like. I don't want the system to cover it up, to me that is bad sound. I am also a freak.....
Should also add, I don't turn the system up really. I did a few times to get an idea of what it sounds like and IMO above about half volume the digital amps begin to compress the signal to avoid distorting. That compression sounds like pure unadulterated crap so I avoid it...if you are blasting this system...yeah it won't sound good but the base is worse in that regard. To me the compression artifacting might be worse in the Stelvio (more aggressive) then some other cars, but they all have it so I just ignore it and keep that volume low enough it doesn't bother me.
...I spent my teens and 20's designing and installing car audio systems in my personal cars, my pinnacle was in 2007 when I had 3 Brax/Helix amps (Competition A1, A2, A4), 2 3-way sets of Morel Hybrid Ovation speakers with custom wound crossovers in the front and rear, a JL audio 8' W3 in the dash and 2 10' Image Dynamics IDQ subwoofers in the trunk, all installed in a VW Eos. Along with full Alpine Ai-net time delay equalization, a touchscreen headunit with haptic feedback (it simulated the feeling of pushing a button when you touched the screen), optical connections with burr/brown digital analogue conversion and 8 volt signals to the amplifiers with 2 gel cell batteries in the back to run it all. Basically all the top sound quality components that could be purchased at the time, pure class A amplification for all channels including the subwoofers with every speaker (tweeters, mids, woofers and subwoofers) getting their own amplification. Total over 1500 watts with THD (harmonic distortion) levels below .0001%. It was a work of art that truly sounded amazing even when loud enough to not hear traffic or the wind...with the top down....no audible distortion, until it got too loud for my brain to process. Then the transmission broke on the car, I had to lemon it...got the system ripped out, got penalized for even installing it....broke my heart and now I settle....but still, IMO for settling the Stelvio's HK system sounds better than the base system. Neither sound amazing....no factory system does, but the Mark Levison stuff does come pretty close and is way better than this HK system for sure.
this is great and using Rockford Fosgate takes me back to high school putting systems in my Honda CRX and paying for them by doing installs for other people. I have what is truly an incredible audio system in my current car (Revel), but the HK system in my MINI's sucked and it seems like they aren't any better in the Alfa. It would be nice to at least change out the speakers in the base system and add the sub. You got my juices flowing. I should have my Alfa by next weekend. So now I need to decide audio first or tune first 
.
.
@pyrrhusmj@gmail.com you have a Revel Karma??!!!
That is awesome. IMO the absolute most underrated car in the industry. Not a sports car but talk about a great long distance cruiser with style dripping from every pore....great taste sir.
I suspect the Revel will be an incredibly reliable car over the long term. One of the few vehicle besides Tesla capable of over the air updates....and the build quality seems phenominal on the models I've seen...
That review in Bloomburg though...ouch...most underrated car because Bloomburg destroyed them. Noticed a week later Karma had job listings for thier entier media dept...
That is awesome. IMO the absolute most underrated car in the industry. Not a sports car but talk about a great long distance cruiser with style dripping from every pore....great taste sir.
I suspect the Revel will be an incredibly reliable car over the long term. One of the few vehicle besides Tesla capable of over the air updates....and the build quality seems phenominal on the models I've seen...
That review in Bloomburg though...ouch...most underrated car because Bloomburg destroyed them. Noticed a week later Karma had job listings for thier entier media dept...
Can you audiophiles please help with a nagging yearning for learning. I have a 2018 TI Sport. I have base system, and 8.8 navigation with Sirius xm. If you go onto eBay, you can find stelvio head units for sale. Some say high sdars and some are low sdars. Sdars is satellite digital audio radio but when looking at the units,they vary on rear connections and wondering if some units are the higher end options that feed a center channel and maybe HK and or sub. Can you look and please comment. Thanks very much. Mark
Hi Troy810washere, I purchased a powered 8” sub similar to what you purchased. I didn’t tap into the rear speakers, thinking I could just tap into the sub (I have the Harmon Kardon system) wires in the back. Nope. So now I’m looking to do what you did. What I’d like to know is how bad you had to tear up your interior? Pillar plastic? Rear seat? Door sills? Let me know . . . I’d like to get this complete over the 4th of July break. Thanks so much!!!
Lowers resistance which raises current.
You may want to lower your gains...also might want to test the circuit for resistance and to be sure what is it, and that the amp can handle the lower OHM. Chances are you will be fine though, most amps are designed for something like that. You aren't talking about going from 4 ohm to 1, more like 4 to 2, or 8 to 4.
Running is series raises resistance and lowers current so kinda makes sense that wouldn't work.
Safest in a situation like this would be to check with an install shop, or maybe call the manufacturer of the amp and ask them....
You may want to lower your gains...also might want to test the circuit for resistance and to be sure what is it, and that the amp can handle the lower OHM. Chances are you will be fine though, most amps are designed for something like that. You aren't talking about going from 4 ohm to 1, more like 4 to 2, or 8 to 4.
Running is series raises resistance and lowers current so kinda makes sense that wouldn't work.
Safest in a situation like this would be to check with an install shop, or maybe call the manufacturer of the amp and ask them....
Well as it turns out, my sub was bad. Returned it and received a new one. Works awesome. I hooked up only my rear sub (I have the HK system) wires, ground, and power cable, and off she went! Listened to the Batman Returns soundtrack . . . totally awesome now! I can’t believe how this one change totally fills out the sound.
Dang it.
You said Batman Returns...my brain jumps to the first Batman soundtrack...
Now I have to go listen to Batdance.
Thanks for that...
Glad your sub works though!!!
You said Batman Returns...my brain jumps to the first Batman soundtrack...
Now I have to go listen to Batdance.
Thanks for that...
Glad your sub works though!!!
Well, when I needed good subwoofers for my car, I've simply took a pair of Rockville (like over here: https://carinmydna.com/best-15-inch-subwoofer-under-200/), and what I can say for sure - they cost their price, totally. With a good sound card it will give you awesome result, with a clear audio, no matter what you're gonna listen a pop music, rap or hard rock. I'm totally satisfied with that decision.
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
