Adding a real subwoofer w/amp to your Mach-E

[markboris]

@markboris This is a super clean install, and it looks like you have helped alot of people, that awesome! I have a quick question for you? Im installing a system that can take 12-24v do you still recommend the fuse from the 12v to the system or do you think I can skip it? Also any concern about the system staying on and pulling from the 12v?

Hi Harrison, if you mean the fuse for the main 12V+ cable that is at the battery, yes you need that fuse. If that cable should ever short to ground, the fuse will blow otherwise without a fuse you could have a real issue on your hands.

Your question about the "system" staying on, you mean the amp built into the JL sub? If so, it will not stay on because you will have the remote turn on set to signal sensing. The amp will only come on when it receives and audio signal from the OEM sub wires that you connected to the input on the JL sub. When the JL sub amp does not receive an audio signal for more than 25 seconds, it will turn off.

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[ArthurDOB]

I am excited (and a little nervous) to try this when summer rolls around. I'd really like some better bass than what the stock system provides.

 

[Vgkfan]

If you are talking about adding the sub, I have that info in the first post of this thread. I'm traveling today (driving) so can't make up a quick list right now but many others have done this and might chime in. Very few parts/wiring needed.

Reading through the original post, I thought this is exactly what I need to change the sound from decent to good. Until I realized it wasn’t simply take the old sub/amp out and replace with new. I could pay a shop to do it, or look for a sub/amp that would be a direct replacement for the Oem one which I may be able to do myself. I would love your opinion.

 

[mkhuffman]

Reading through the original post, I thought this is exactly what I need to change the sound from decent to good. Until I realized it wasn’t simply take the old sub/amp out and replace with new. I could pay a shop to do it, or look for a sub/amp that would be a direct replacement for the Oem one which I may be able to do myself. I would love your opinion.

IMO adding an amp is the best way to go. The input into the factory amp is not analog, so replacing it is a big challenge. I think one forum member was going to try it but I am not sure if he ever got it to work.

You can pull the analog speaker out from the factory amp and add a new amp and new subwoofer. I guess you could try to replace the existing subwoofer but I doubt it will be much better due to the space available in that area.

 

[markboris]

Reading through the original post, I thought this is exactly what I need to change the sound from decent to good. Until I realized it wasn’t simply take the old sub/amp out and replace with new. I could pay a shop to do it, or look for a sub/amp that would be a direct replacement for the Oem one which I may be able to do myself. I would love your opinion.

There isn't any space in the rear where the OEM sub is to replace it with anything decent. Actually I don't think there is anything at all that will fit back there and if it it does, would not make a bit of difference. The easiest way to add bass is what I described in the first post. A sub box with a built in amp. Drop it into the lower area under the cargo floor and wire it up. Mike (above) I believe used a different approach and put a self powered sub under one of his seats.

 

[Vgkfan]

There isn't any space in the rear where the OEM sub is to replace it with anything decent. Actually I don't think there is anything at all that will fit back there if it it does, would not make a bit of difference. The easiest way to add bass is what I described in the first post. A sub box with a built in amp. Drop it into the lower area under the cargo floor and wire it up. Mike (above) I believe used a different approach and put a self powered sub under one of his seats.

Thank you so much for the info, will be looking forward to a better sounding system.

 

[Vgkfan]

IMO adding an amp is the best way to go. The input into the factory amp is not analog, so replacing it is a big challenge. I think one forum member was going to try it but I am not sure if he ever got it to work.

You can pull the analog speaker out from the factory amp and add a new amp and new subwoofer. I guess you could try to replace the existing subwoofer but I doubt it will be much better due to the space available in that area.

Ok, thanks so much for the info. I will definitely have to think more about this. Was hoping pull oem amp, replace with new and improved amp, get better sound. I’m thinking not being very diy, best bet may be to take to a shop, if I can find one that has done Mach e s before.

 

[Mach1E]

Thank you so much for the info, will be looking forward to a better sounding system.

Cheapest and easiest upgrade is one of the slim subs that fit under your seat. But it’s not that much easier as it requires the same wiring, just less distance.

 

[Vgkfan]

Cheapest and easiest upgrade is one of the slim subs that fit under your seat. But it’s not that much easier as it requires the same wiring, just less distance.

I was wondering if the wiring was the same. Thank you, I no longer have to wonder.

 

[mkhuffman]

Cheapest and easiest upgrade is one of the slim subs that fit under your seat. But it’s not that much easier as it requires the same wiring, just less distance.

Yeah, that is not as easy as you think, if you don't want it to get crushed when your shorter wife drives the car. To avoid that problem, I put mine on sliders so it moves with the seat. And it doesn't get crushed. But it wasn't the easiest project. It would have been easier to put it in the spare tire hole.

 

[TheDarkLord]

So I’m seeing a few have installed the 4 channel amp from the dsp, what exactly needs to be done to do this? I read the thread but my brain cannot compute. I changed all my door speakers a few months ago to Alpine S2’s and would like to get more oomph out of them

 

[markboris]

So I’m seeing a few have installed the 4 channel amp from the dsp, what exactly needs to be done to do this? I read the thread but my brain cannot compute. I changed all my door speakers a few months ago to Alpine S2’s and would like to get more oomph out of them

Hey Marcus, yes actually quite a few of us have added that little JL amp in-between the DSP and speakers. Unfortunately none of us have posted a detailed install on this and that's why you see bits and pieces on this thread. I've mainly helped everyone with this over DM since this thread has to do with adding a sub. I'll contact you and we can talk further.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Hey Marcus, yes actually quite a few of us have added that little JL amp in-between the DSP and speakers. Unfortunately none of us have posted a detailed install on this and that's why you see bits and pieces on this thread. I've mainly helped everyone with this over DM since this thread has to do with adding a sub. I'll contact you and we can talk further.

My installation looks like this. I used Posi-Lock connectors (the little red tubes). Also, the blue larger Posi-Tap connector on the top right is to an OEM ground.

I used an OEM body stud from the inadequate Ford sub that used to live in this space to bolt down the bottom of this JL amp. It is just below the JL amp's bottom edge and cannot be seen in this picture. This one OEM body stud & nut keep the JL amp snugly in place.

The JL amp's wires are all clearly marked with channel tags. You just need to match every speaker wire from the Ford amp (example: Left Rear Door, etc.) and splice in the JL amp Left Rear Door wire into that speaker wire run, etcetera speaker wire by speaker wire. That, and ground the JL amp and also pull in a power line, as described in the thread... I used the 10-inch Sub's power line from below the trunk floor. Finally, look at the RCA connections as described in the thread. The RCA stuff and the ground are easy... the only tedious careful work is individual speaker wire interconnections. And of course running the power line...

Good luck! This mod is worth the installation work.

 

[markboris]

My installation looks like this. I used Posi-Lock connectors (the little red tubes). Also, the blue larger Posi-Tap connector on the top right is to an OEM ground.

I used an OEM body stud from the inadequate Ford sub that used to live in this space to bolt down the bottom of this JL amp. It is just below the JL amp's bottom edge and cannot be seen in this picture. This one OEM body stud & nut keep the JL amp snugly in place.

The JL amp's wires are all clearly marked with channel tags. You just need to match every speaker wire from the Ford amp (example: Left Rear Door, etc.) and splice in the JL amp Left Rear Door wire into that speaker wire run, etcetera speaker wire by speaker wire. That, and ground the JL amp and also pull in a power line, as described in the thread... I used the 10-inch Sub's power line from below the trunk floor. Finally, look at the RCA connections as described in the thread. The RCA stuff and the ground are easy... the only tedious careful work is individual speaker wire interconnections. And of course running the power line...

Good luck! This mod is worth the installation work.

Thanks Martin and I will add the wire diagram for the proper colors necessary to make these connections and you also need two pairs of RCA wire converters for the input to the JL amp. I sent Marcus a detailed explanation on this. You need to pick up the remote turn on at the power point in the right rear of the cargo area and the proper wire to connect to for that is the Violet/Brown wire at that power point.

RCA wire connectors (you need two pairs)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082DPQ8WD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Speaker wiring diagram (10 speaker B&O system)

JL amp settings.

My install after taped up

 

[markboris]

UPDATE 04/07/24:

Three years ago, I started this thread after installing the JL Audio 10” sub enclosure with built in amp in my Premium. It’s a great little sub and because it has a built in amp, it’s a bit easier to install. This sub allows the cargo floor to be in the upper or lower position.

A month or so later, I replaced it with their 12” version. Because of the taller height, you must keep the cargo floor in the upper position. I upgraded to the 12” version not because I needed more output (it has more than enough for this system), but because the lower end was kind of lacking. It depends on the genre of music one listens to, but many find the OEM sub to be all they need (I don’t see how when it barely puts out any low end bass) while others want that lower end that they are missing in their music or use to it from their high end home system.

I’v had my GT now for 2+ years and have the same JL 12” Sub as I had in the Premium and while it works well, have never been completely satisfied with the lack of very low end bass. I get reminded of this every time I drive my ICE Mustang which has the same JL 12” sub. The bass in that car goes very low and sounds more dynamic. After doing some research I found that the B&O DSP/Amp in the Mach-E has a steep rolloff starting at 35Hz. Not only that, but starting at 14 on the volume control, the level of the audio signal going to the OEM sub no longer matches that of the other speakers and is somewhat attenuated.

In order to fix both of these issues I need to do two things. One, install a device that removes the rolloff and restores the low end bass and Two, grab the audio signal for the JL amp from some where other than the OEM sub wiring.

After reading online and talking to one of my friends that owns an auto stereo store, the best device (which also happens to be the least expensive) is the Kicker KeyLoc DSP/LOC. This little device analyzes the heavily EQ’d audio signal coming from the B&O amp and makes it flat across the entire band within 1.5dB. This is exactly what I was looking for. It is only a two channel device which is perfect since I’m only working with the sub. There are many other companies that make these devices like JL Audio and Audio Controls which have many more channels to correct your entire system but the sub is only one channel. Besides, if I wanted to correct the entire system and make it flat, I can easily do that using FORScan (free) but I would only be doing this if I replaced all the speakers and I’m not going that far with this car. As a side note, I did add a small JL Audio 200W RMS (50W RMS x4) amp after the B&O to provide 50W for each door which really woke up the B&O speakers. Much better dynamics and punchier mid-bass.

Installing the Kicker KeyLoc was fairly easy. Originally I had used the audio signal from the OEM sub to the input of the JL sub amp but since this signal becomes attenuated above 14 on the volume control, I needed to tap into the wires going to the front door speakers coming from the B&O amp. The wires are LF White +, White/Brown - and RF White/Violet +. White/Orange -. I ran those into the KeyLoc and started its setup process. You need to download three audio files from Kicker. One file tests for proper input gain, another for noise floor and the last analyzes the frequencies and flattens out the incoming signal. The KeyLoc has RCA outputs that plug right into the JL sub amp. After it had completed its setup, it is very easy to hear the difference because you can easily turn the EQ of the KeyLoc on and off. Turning on the “flat” setting on the KeyLoc instantly brought back that nice low end bass I was missing. I am very very happy with the bass in the car now. I want to say again, this might NOT be something you will want to do depending on the type of music you listen to. If you are happy with the bass that you have now with whatever aftermarket sub you have, I don’t think I would spend the $140 for the KeyLoc plus the time it takes to install it (1-3 hours depending on your skill level).

I used my RTA to test the output at 60, 50, 40, 30, 25 and 20Hz with and without the KeyLoc EQ. With the KeyLoc EQ turned off (B&O EQ active) At 60 and 50Hz, there was no difference. 40Hz, was down 2.5dB, 30Hz was down 12.5dB and 25, 20Hz was not even on the display so they were more than 20dB down.

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