Telluride full stereo upgrade experience - Part 1 Processor and amp

[Teknobenji]

Wanted to post as others have questions regarding feasibility etc. I of course kept the infotainment system as is, but to say that the OEM audio in base or upgrade is underwhelming is an understatement.

Products used: It starts with how to properly get a signal from the factory infotainment – I chose an Audio Control DM-608 for this task. It has wicked good fidelity and solves multiple issues. You could use a simple line level converter with imo poor results. The DM608 allows me to de-EQ the factory EQ’d signal and send something flat and clean to the amp, additionally it providers for crossovers, digital time alignment (for that absolutely perfect drivers seat experience) and a wired knob for subwoofer level and EQ choice.

I have a wholesale line on Kenwood Excelon Reference so went with their 5 Channel amp (XR901-5) (which I have experience with and tbh is near the fidelity of my Focal products at ½ the cost; NEVER thought I would say that about a Kenwood product) and 1st time ever using a single Kenwood speaker, the Reference XR-1603HR 6.5” separates in front and XR-1701 coaxial for rea. As for the subwoofer I chose a DC Audio Level 2 10” Dual 4ohm for output, fidelity and matching with the available amp power.


I molded some ABS to mount the fuse holder next to the battery and routed wire around the back of the battery for a more stealth appearance. Getting through the firewall was ridiculously easy, there are great landmarks and factory grommets to choose from.

Getting the audio signal was easier than expected, drivers front and rear can be grabbed in the kick panel and passengers both in the passenger kick panel. I was able to make connections behind the molex box adding to a cleaner install. I routed the line level to the processor and new speaker signal from the amp back to the kick panel, making all signal connections behind the box; super clean and super easy!

 

[Teknobenji]

Part 2 - Speakers
For the door speakers after removing the door panel I sprayed the interior of the door with RBlox (essentially its rubber/butyl undercoating that absorbs and dampens noise) then used a dynamat type product in some key locations, followed by some closed foam mat on top of the speaker mount to ensure a good seal. I chose to pull the OEM speaker, remove it from its plastic housing and reuse the housing; I certainly cannot make something better fitting. After tearing the speaker out I trimmed the lip off, scraped it clean with a gasket scraper and made some ¼” ABS rings to fit the new midbass into (they were slightly smaller and I needed a good seal, the rear speaker did not require the additional ring)

 

[Teknobenji]

Part 3 - Subwoofer

I debated over subwoofer size and location for a few months, I don’t like using the tub as I use a cargo liner and like to keep things in the tub. I decided to fiberglass an enclosure into the drivers rear quarter panel. I started by removing the panel to see exactly what was behind it and how much air space / speaker depth I realistically had. I did end up moving the gas door lock down a little to give me a less complicated fiberglass experience. Also I moved the 12V outlet as I needed the height. (Moved it to the “surround speaker” location as the EX does not have them)

See pics for the enclosure build, the initial glassing was interrupted by a childs emergency so the back is not as clean as I like; BUT at least no one sees it right? Used 5 layers of glass throughout with an MDF piece on the bottom and top as seen. MDF Rings, then shaped the enclosure and glassed the fleece. Once the whole thing was rigid I trimmed any excess spots to ensure fitment and undercoated the interior and exterior.

Dynamat and closed cell mat were judiciously used behind the quarter panel to decrease any vibration; worked out great.



Everything is still breaking in but it sounds great; DC subs are ridiculous; I had wanted to squeeze a 12” in but aesthetically didn’t like it; it is not necessary. As for the Kenwood Reference speakers – they sound good; still need some break in- but at retail price I would probably look at Morel or Focal at this point; my opinion may change with break in. The are exceptionally clear and detailed (as good as any higher end speaker) but lack some midbass that I always get with Morel. Not sure if I will EQ it (I hate doing that) troubleshoot it (add an enclosure to the speaker?) or just replace them….

 

[Lakaiguy]

Looks good. Definitely not your first build I can tell 👍

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[Socal949]

Looks good. Definitely not your first build I can tell 👍

Would you mind making me a subwoofer enclosure?😁

 

[Teknobenji]

Would you mind making me a subwoofer enclosure?😁

haha no problem - drop it by tomorrow 😝

 

[Teknobenji]

Looks good. Definitely not your first build I can tell 👍

Thanks, I did work in the industry and have never lost the audio bug. I'm pretty happy with how it came out and I was in a time crunch for the enclosure so no complaints. Trying to decide what to do for a grill; I never like them but with kids stuff and groceries and God knows what rolling in the back- its function over form.....adulting 🤷‍♂️

 

[Socal949]

Would you mind making me a subwoofer enclosure?😁

Lol I would if only you where local. 👍😂

______________________________

 

[Kswarns]

Wanted to post as others have questions regarding feasibility etc. I of course kept the infotainment system as is, but to say that the OEM audio in base or upgrade is underwhelming is an understatement.

Products used: It starts with how to properly get a signal from the factory infotainment – I chose an Audio Control DM-608 for this task. It has wicked good fidelity and solves multiple issues. You could use a simple line level converter with imo poor results. The DM608 allows me to de-EQ the factory EQ’d signal and send something flat and clean to the amp, additionally it providers for crossovers, digital time alignment (for that absolutely perfect drivers seat experience) and a wired knob for subwoofer level and EQ choice.

I have a wholesale line on Kenwood Excelon Reference so went with their 5 Channel amp (XR901-5) (which I have experience with and tbh is near the fidelity of my Focal products at ½ the cost; NEVER thought I would say that about a Kenwood product) and 1st time ever using a single Kenwood speaker, the Reference XR-1603HR 6.5” separates in front and XR-1701 coaxial for rea. As for the subwoofer I chose a DC Audio Level 2 10” Dual 4ohm for output, fidelity and matching with the available amp power.


I molded some ABS to mount the fuse holder next to the battery and routed wire around the back of the battery for a more stealth appearance. Getting through the firewall was ridiculously easy, there are great landmarks and factory grommets to choose from.

Getting the audio signal was easier than expected, drivers front and rear can be grabbed in the kick panel and passengers both in the passenger kick panel. I was able to make connections behind the molex box adding to a cleaner install. I routed the line level to the processor and new speaker signal from the amp back to the kick panel, making all signal connections behind the box; super clean and super easy!


View attachment 22993 View attachment 22995 View attachment 22996 View attachment 22997 View attachment 22994

I used Audio Control LC7i and all JL Audio products. I have 2 sets of 6.5 Component speakers, a 5 channel amp and one 10inch sub but still not completely happy with the sound. Do you suggest I swap the LC7i for the DM-608?

I did not do the installation myself so I can't tell you where the signals are pulled from but I assume it's the front speakers. I still have all fading and Bluetooth but lost driver talk. The quantum audio and bass boost sorta work but not like they did pre-install or pre LC7i as I had the install done without it and added it later which cleaned up the sound.

 

[Teknobenji]

The DM608 IMO is a significant upgrade; it allows you to de-tune the factory eq THEN contour the sound; I had gone several rounds of different signal processors in my other vehicle (including the LC7 and a clean sweep, fosgate 360, and a Hertz product) then found the 608 and have been nothing but satisfied; made it an easy choice for the Telluride. If you won’t be setting it up make sure the shop that installs it knows how to tune it; a buddy bought one and had it installed local to me; they did not de EQ and it sounded like dog sh*t.
I liked that it has a simple but configurable control knob; not a fan of the bigger knobs with displays; I like simple and clean for install.

 

[Kswarns]

The DM608 IMO is a significant upgrade; it allows you to de-tune the factory eq THEN contour the sound; I had gone several rounds of different signal processors in my other vehicle (including the LC7 and a clean sweep, fosgate 360, and a Hertz product) then found the 608 and have been nothing but satisfied; made it an easy choice for the Telluride. If you won’t be setting it up make sure the shop that installs it knows how to tune it; a buddy bought one and had it installed local to me; they did not de EQ and it sounded like dog sh*t.
I liked that it has a simple but configurable control knob; not a fan of the bigger knobs with displays; I like simple and clean for install.

Do you still have Driver Talk available after install, and what about the sound processing functions from the stock HU ie, quantum logic, and bass boost. I am sure you don't need them if you can customize the sound yourself with the DM-609.

Thank you again for your input.

 

[Teknobenji]

Driver talk remains; can still fade and balance if you wanted to for some bizarre reason; the sound processing from the head unit is absolute garbage; definitely no longer needed but still useable

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[eebling]

Im in the middle of doing this to my 22' S. That first set of images with the back of those wiring harnesses helped out a lot to tap into the signals. I really did NOT want to remove the radio as some sources suggested and these kick panel locations were nice and easy to get access to. I used those posi tap speaker connectors though, I am trying to NOT cut anything from the factory, so we will see if I can do the entire project without cutting anything from factory. If they give me any problems down the road, I might end up cutting and soldering but for now I will go the "reversible" route. I replaced all the speakers about a month ago with JL c2 650 components for the fronts and c2 650x for the rears.

I finally had some time to start trying to add in the LOC and AMP to finish this up. Hardest part so far is trying to get new speaker wire out of the cab through those plastic interfaces in the doors, but they do have some unused holes in them that you can feed thicker gauge wire through. Next to do is get the 0 gauge wire through the firewall, seems like it would be a challenge with how thick the wire is but some have said it is pretty easy including the starter of this thread. I guess I will find out this weekend when I get another slot of free time to try.! Cant wait to hear how it sounds when these speakers have correct amplification.

I am hoping to be able to snake all the wires through the car too without having to remove any seats. It was easy enough to get the tapped wires to run along the door under the plastic guard and then feed them under the carpet and up the pre cut hole in the carpet under the front passenger seat to where the amp and LOC will eventually go, but it might be much harder to get the left side of the car's speaker wires to under the front passenger seat.

It already sounds noticeably better than the factory speakers that were in the car, even without the amp in. Hopefully by the end of this week, the rest of the components will be installed. Then I can think about what amp and sub to buy to put into the back.!

 

[Teknobenji]

Im in the middle of doing this to my 22' S. That first set of images with the back of those wiring harnesses helped out a lot to tap into the signals. I really did NOT want to remove the radio as some sources suggested and these kick panel locations were nice and easy to get access to. I used those posi tap speaker connectors though, I am trying to NOT cut anything from the factory, so we will see if I can do the entire project without cutting anything from factory. If they give me any problems down the road, I might end up cutting and soldering but for now I will go the "reversible" route. I replaced all the speakers about a month ago with JL c2 650 components for the fronts and c2 650x for the rears.

I finally had some time to start trying to add in the LOC and AMP to finish this up. Hardest part so far is trying to get new speaker wire out of the cab through those plastic interfaces in the doors, but they do have some unused holes in them that you can feed thicker gauge wire through. Next to do is get the 0 gauge wire through the firewall, seems like it would be a challenge with how thick the wire is but some have said it is pretty easy including the starter of this thread. I guess I will find out this weekend when I get another slot of free time to try.! Cant wait to hear how it sounds when these speakers have correct amplification.

I am hoping to be able to snake all the wires through the car too without having to remove any seats. It was easy enough to get the tapped wires to run along the door under the plastic guard and then feed them under the carpet and up the pre cut hole in the carpet under the front passenger seat to where the amp and LOC will eventually go, but it might be much harder to get the left side of the car's speaker wires to under the front passenger seat.

It already sounds noticeably better than the factory speakers that were in the car, even without the amp in. Hopefully by the end of this week, the rest of the components will be installed. Then I can think about what amp and sub to buy to put into the back.!

If you need a pic of anything else specific let me know and I’ll see if I have it.

Getting the high level signal out of the kick panels was brilliantly easy! And frankly, a lot less messy than it usually ends up behind the radio; I did all of mine on the back so once the moles module was clicked back in it looks factory clean.

FWIW- After running an RTA and measuring current flow I was lazy and used the OE wire into the doors; it’s actually. Tether than half of the copper clad aluminum garbage many people are replacing it with and certainly not affecting sound per my ears or RTA. This made me happy because going through Molex in doors goes 1 of 2 ways every time 🤣🤣🤣 (on the flip side I’ll argue that running new wire is the “right” way to do it, and it’s about the only shortcut I took in this install)

The Firewall isn’t too bad actually; just getting enough carpet moved away from the inside and you’ll see a few good options that aren’t well visual e via the engine compartment; I did not get a good pic of that

 

[eebling]

If you need a pic of anything else specific let me know and I’ll see if I have it.

Getting the high level signal out of the kick panels was brilliantly easy! And frankly, a lot less messy than it usually ends up behind the radio; I did all of mine on the back so once the moles module was clicked back in it looks factory clean.

FWIW- After running an RTA and measuring current flow I was lazy and used the OE wire into the doors; it’s actually. Tether than half of the copper clad aluminum garbage many people are replacing it with and certainly not affecting sound per my ears or RTA. This made me happy because going through Molex in doors goes 1 of 2 ways every time 🤣🤣🤣 (on the flip side I’ll argue that running new wire is the “right” way to do it, and it’s about the only shortcut I took in this install)

The Firewall isn’t too bad actually; just getting enough carpet moved away from the inside and you’ll see a few good options that aren’t well visual e via the engine compartment; I did not get a good pic of that

Ah cool thanks. I did what you did and tapped into the wires on the back side so once that panel is popped back into place, you don't see where the wires were tapped into. I am trying to run new, all copper 14 gauge wire out through the doors and have found an open spot in those plastic interconnects in the door, it is a bit difficult with the thickness of 14 gauge, and I have to actually strip off the insulation completely and then use heat shrink tube on each wire to get the diameter small enough to get the two wires out, but it looks like it will work. The other option was to drill out the empty holes in those interconnects but I am trying to make everything completely reversible if for whatever reason I have to get this back to looking like it was still the factory audio, haha, guess I am paranoid that the extended bumper to bumper I paid for might be "void" if I ever have an electrical system problem and they see "aftermarket" audio components in the car.

I think this would go a lot faster if I just cut into the factory wires and used the factory speaker wiring out the doors but trying to do it "right" even though it probably wouldn't make any bit of difference in sound quality. If I get too frustrated, I probably WILL just cut into the factory wires and insert the amp into the factory wiring chain.

I went to a local shop to just ask a few questions and of course they tried to say even adding an extra foot of unnecessary wire will degrade your sound quality, I tried to not laugh out loud, haha. Also said the only way to install this stuff correctly is to remove all seats and the center console of the car and that is why "we charge so much for our work". I will do it myself and save the 2k and not care if I have an extra few feet of wire running around a seat

 

[eebling]

This was the spot that was open and you can snake some wires through the door out to the speakers. But 14 gauge is too thick with the insulation so stripping off the last 2 or 3 inches and re insulating with heat shrink so the wires can pass through and then will connect them to the wires going out of the amp. I used those posi tap connectors to tap into the wires, seems to work, will see if they stay locked, might use some silicone or glue or something on them once Everything is wired and tested to be working, might make them stay locked. Never have used anything like them so maybe they are fine as is, they make it very easy to reverse what you have done basically!

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[eebling]

I think I might have to throw in the towel on this idea of passing wires through the holes in the plastic interconnects in the doors. I spent the last 4 hours trying 14 gauge that was stripped and then heat shrink tubed to re insulate and only get one to go through, so went down to 16 gauge stripped and heat shrink tubed and still can not get two wires to exit the cabin out the door interconnect. Dropped down the glove box to try to get more room to work on the inside from behind the interconnect where the wires go out the door and still have no clearance to do anything.

The other option I hear people do is to drill holes in the interconnects to get the larger wires through. That would be easy for the part that is on the actual door, those pull out easy and can be drilled, however the one on the body is impossible to get a drill to, you would have to remove all 4 doors of the vehicle to drill out the thing and I am not even remotely contemplating actually removing my doors to install speaker wire.!

I was more brave than expected today and removed the front passenger seat, was very easy. Everything has been easier than expected doing this install except getting the wires from the amp back out the doors and actually connecting the power wire to the battery.! There is an overly complex positive battery terminal on this car.! Haha, the terminal also looks fused with a 250 amp fuse so do you really need another inline fuse on the power wire going into the car.?!

I think tomorrow I will just have to do what is the easier method and cut the factory wires to insert my LOC and amp into the sound path. I would have been completely done hours ago if I had.! I was really hoping to not cut any factory wires and also was hoping to have heavier gauge OFC wires running off the amp out to the speakers but I am out of ideas about how to get wires to pass through those plastic interconnects without drilling and removing the doors is the only way to do it as far as I can see. And I had an extra 100 feet of OFC 14 gauge wire show up to my house this morning thinking I would need it and could "make it work", haha, oh well.

The last resort would be to go down to 18 gauge, strip and re insulate with heat shrink tube and I am sure that would be small enough to pass through but then you are getting down to what the factory wire probably is, but I guess at least you wouldn't be cutting the factory wire. Doubt I will be able to find a supplier of 18 gauge wire open on a Sunday tomorrow so might just go the cut and paste route.

I would still be hesitant to drill those connectors, I talked with another local car shop and said that is how they usually do it but they had a car that they said they must have nicked a wire cause almost all the electronics failed and it took something like 3 weeks and 6k at the dealership to fix it, so def dont want to risk that.!

 

[eebling]

Well I finished installing the LOC and JL amp. Ended up having to cut into the factory speaker wires. I could only get on wire to go out of the hole in the interconnect/molex. That was the front passenger, the driver side had too many wires in that area to get a wire to pass through, and the rear interconnects are a different design than the fronts and don't have the rectangular hole in the center.! So there was no chance to get any through the rears. The only other option would have been to remove the doors to drill through the connectors or drill new holes in the metal to create pass throughs for the new wires, and was not going to be doing that.!

I currently am using the LC7i with a JL rd400 amp, JL C2 Component speakers up front and C2 650 coax for the rears and it sounds much better than the stock setup. Maybe eventually I will try out one of those dm608 units, but for now I just wanted to be done with this part of the installation.

I ordered a JL 10tw1-4 sub last night and will make a custom enclosure for it in the next few weeks hopefully. Going to either put it in the trunk storage area or try to form something that contours to that area to the left side of the vehicle in the back behind the left rear wheel well. That speaker only requires a .35 cubic foot internal volume for the enclosure so can fit it in many places. That one will be powered by a JL rd500/1 down the road.

Currently I am using the GTO function of the LC7i to turn it on, it has some quirks to say the least. It does turn on and off correctly, but it stays on for 5-8 minutes after the car is off before turning off, I read somewhere that a lot of new cars keep the radio unit on for a while after the car is off just due to the boot up times. The LC7I will re activate even if you walk up to the car with the key fob in your pocket, since the car awakens and knows you are nearby, the head unit must create some sort of signal that activates the LOC. The amp does turn off right when the car is turned off (and there is a 2 sec lag or so when turning the car on before the amp powers up, but the LOC stays on for a longer period of time.

It also will stay on much longer after the car is off if you open and close any door other than the driver door, again somewhere on the web it said that could be that the car thinks a passenger might still be in the car and it might keep the head unit powered up for longer. The solution I guess would be to use an actual trigger wire to something, some have mentioned the ignition fuse. Maybe once I get to installing the sub I will look into using a real trigger source, but for now it works with the GTO.

I only have the amp gains set to about 1/4 and the system gets too loud to listen to, haha, so much more power than the factory unit. Can't wait to get an actual subwoofer into the chain and really have a well rounded system.

What is a bit surprising is that changing the tone settings on the factory head unit still affects the sound.?! I though the point of the LOC was to strip out any processing of the signal from the head unit, and I thought that would mean adjusting the bass/mid/treble settings in the head unit wouldn't actually do anything. It is actually a nice surprise since you can still shape the sound a little even if it is not the best processing.

I will have to learn more about the LOC and amp settings to tune it all up but just the initial try makes the sound system so much better than factory.

 

[Teknobenji]

Well I finished installing the LOC and JL amp. Ended up having to cut into the factory speaker wires. I could only get on wire to go out of the hole in the interconnect/molex. That was the front passenger, the driver side had too many wires in that area to get a wire to pass through, and the rear interconnects are a different design than the fronts and don't have the rectangular hole in the center.! So there was no chance to get any through the rears. The only other option would have been to remove the doors to drill through the connectors or drill new holes in the metal to create pass throughs for the new wires, and was not going to be doing that.!

I currently am using the LC7i with a JL rd400 amp, JL C2 Component speakers up front and C2 650 coax for the rears and it sounds much better than the stock setup. Maybe eventually I will try out one of those dm608 units, but for now I just wanted to be done with this part of the installation.

I ordered a JL 10tw1-4 sub last night and will make a custom enclosure for it in the next few weeks hopefully. Going to either put it in the trunk storage area or try to form something that contours to that area to the left side of the vehicle in the back behind the left rear wheel well. That speaker only requires a .35 cubic foot internal volume for the enclosure so can fit it in many places. That one will be powered by a JL rd500/1 down the road.

Currently I am using the GTO function of the LC7i to turn it on, it has some quirks to say the least. It does turn on and off correctly, but it stays on for 5-8 minutes after the car is off before turning off, I read somewhere that a lot of new cars keep the radio unit on for a while after the car is off just due to the boot up times. The LC7I will re activate even if you walk up to the car with the key fob in your pocket, since the car awakens and knows you are nearby, the head unit must create some sort of signal that activates the LOC. The amp does turn off right when the car is turned off (and there is a 2 sec lag or so when turning the car on before the amp powers up, but the LOC stays on for a longer period of time.

It also will stay on much longer after the car is off if you open and close any door other than the driver door, again somewhere on the web it said that could be that the car thinks a passenger might still be in the car and it might keep the head unit powered up for longer. The solution I guess would be to use an actual trigger wire to something, some have mentioned the ignition fuse. Maybe once I get to installing the sub I will look into using a real trigger source, but for now it works with the GTO.

I only have the amp gains set to about 1/4 and the system gets too loud to listen to, haha, so much more power than the factory unit. Can't wait to get an actual subwoofer into the chain and really have a well rounded system.

What is a bit surprising is that changing the tone settings on the factory head unit still affects the sound.?! I though the point of the LOC was to strip out any processing of the signal from the head unit, and I thought that would mean adjusting the bass/mid/treble settings in the head unit wouldn't actually do anything. It is actually a nice surprise since you can still shape the sound a little even if it is not the best processing.

I will have to learn more about the LOC and amp settings to tune it all up but just the initial try makes the sound system so much better than factory.

An LOC strips nothing of the signal, it only attenuates it to low level to feed and amp. That’s where a DSP comes in, like the DM608; you can strip the sound of the factory EQ curve and get a true flat signal to your amps. Then using an RTA fix every little acoustic problem inherent to the speakers you chose and the terrible audio environment of a vehicle (not to mention time alignment- which also aids in reducing cancellation between drivers and fixing the problem of being so close to one speaker and far from the rest)

I would argue the DSP is the most important piece of the upgrade. You can have $3k Morel in your front doors that sound flat because of the factory curve. Or a $400 set of JL that sound phenomenal because they were fed a clean/flat signal.

 

[eebling]

An LOC strips nothing of the signal, it only attenuates it to low level to feed and amp. That’s where a DSP comes in, like the DM608; you can strip the sound of the factory EQ curve and get a true flat signal to your amps. Then using an RTA fix every little acoustic problem inherent to the speakers you chose and the terrible audio environment of a vehicle (not to mention time alignment- which also aids in reducing cancellation between drivers and fixing the problem of being so close to one speaker and far from the rest)

I would argue the DSP is the most important piece of the upgrade. You can have $3k Morel in your front doors that sound flat because of the factory curve. Or a $400 set of JL that sound phenomenal because they were fed a clean/flat signal.

Ah OK, I saw somewhere on some web forum someone say the LOC removed some part of the signal like head unit processing, but wouldn't be surprised if someone on the internet gave bad info, haha. Once I get the Sub and sub amp in, then I might look into one of those DM units from audio control or any other one, I see JL has similar hardware but with every DSP you see great reviews and then a few terrible reviews of the same product, so would have to look into them more.

So far it sounds pretty good. I was originally going to put the C1's in, but went up to the next level, and put soundskins in all the doors. Ran a massive sky high audio OFC 0/1 gauge wire in from the battery so I can power up two amps eventually. The only disappointment in doing this project was not being able to run out new wires to the door speakers, but it still sounds very good.!

And if I only would have cut the wires on day 1, I could have saved about 6-8 hours of trying everything possible to get wire out the doors. haha, having to do this outside in the driveway in 95 degree Florida heat for 2 days was not the most fun either but the garage is still loaded with moving boxes from the move to this new house so had nowhere to put the car.