Will upgrade all speakers and add a sub

[rayzfun]

Your amp seems very similar to mine, I checked yours out and it mentions a T harness for oem systems? Mine has a 15a fuse built in too so guessing I should be fine to tap from the fusebox, guessing even though I have an SE the 30a fuse should be live? My amp is a kenwood kac-m1814

 

[Shmann]

Could you write a summary and a shopping list with all items you bought (including sound dampening and adapters). That would help a lot if someone else is going to try it aswell.

 

[rayzfun]

Have you got a remote turn on wire? Do you know if the mg4 infotainment supports this?

 

[MG4 DK]

Your amp seems very similar to mine, I checked yours out and it mentions a T harness for oem systems?

You can't find a harness for the MG4 anywhere, so there is no way around cutting the speaker wires and solder on extensions on both ends.

Could you write a summary and a shopping list with all items you bought (including sound dampening and adapters). That would help a lot if someone else is going to try it aswell.

Yes, I will do that when I'm done.

Have you got a remote turn on wire? Do you know if the mg4 infotainment supports this?

I looked for it. Typically that wire is blue. There are two blue wires coming out of the head unit. I tried both, but one gave 3.5V and the other 1.1V. This Chinese system just has its totally own approach to colors. This is where the remaining pages of the wiring diagram could come in handy

 

[rayzfun]

I will speak to my friend at MG and try and find out what the rest of the pins are on that wiring schematic. Alternatively, the remote turn on switch can be wired to a switched source. In the fuse box. This would provide the 12 V signal to turn the amp on. Hopefully resolving the issue you’re having with the amp not turning on and the head unit not finding the amplifier

 

[MG4 DK]

Found a much better place to get the power cable through the firewall. It is in the driver's side and you can simply push a steel wire through as shown on the image.

Inside the cabin, you can reach the steel wire without removing any panels. Tape the power wire to the steel wire and pull from the other side. Done.

 

[rayzfun]

Virtually the same way I installed my reverse camera! I’ve put a temporary halt on my install as mg have agreed to take my car back and replace it with a new one

Would it be the same for RHD car? Have you got the amp working yet? Did you use a switched feed from the fuse box for the remote turn on?

 

[StopBurningStuff]

@MG4 DK Just to commend you on your work and approach. I am about to start up grading our MG ZS system with a sub, and seeing your work is helping me build confidence. Nice one!

 

[AlunJ]

Some top efforts going on here since I last checked in. Well done all. Looking at all that wiring I don’t think I’m brave enough to do an amp install

 

[MG4 DK]

Things are going well. I had to install an LC2iPro because the head unit won't output speaker signal unless it senses resistance similar to speakers. So here is the overview of the end result:

Whenever you upgrade stuff, a new spot becomes the annoying bottleneck. I realized I had to optimize sound deadening in the doors.

Especially for the rear doors, this made a huge difference. Before, the rear speakers were dragging down the experience, but now they have clarity and controlled mid-bass.

I won't recommend doing what I did, because it was a bit of a hassle. My recommendation to others would be to do level 1:

Level 1
Upgrade speakers and do thorough dampening of the doors (do not underestimate this).
The pioneers I bought work well with the stock unit and are not expensive.

Level 2
Add an active subwoofer.
This requires you to tap into the speaker wires and pull power from the battery or the fuse box.

Level 3
Add an amplifier
You need to cut all speaker wires and solder on extensions. Pull power from battery. Install a line-out converter that can preload with 20-50 ohm or manually add a 50-ohm resistor to all speaker outputs.

Status: I need to mount and clean up stuff. I have a little problem with some ground noise, so I need to re-check my ground connections. The sound is awesome with good lows, a controlled punchy mid-bass, a crystal clear sound stage, and very present male vocals. It is not perfect with female vocals, classic music, and busy music with many instruments - but that is being picky.

 

[Deleted member 9692]

Things are going well. I had to install an LC2iPro because the head unit won't output speaker signal unless it senses resistance similar to speakers. So here is the overview of the end result:
View attachment 15321
Whenever you upgrade stuff, a new spot becomes the annoying bottleneck. I realized I had to optimize sound deadening in the doors.
View attachment 15322
View attachment 15323
View attachment 15324
Especially for the rear doors, this made a huge difference. Before, the rear speakers were dragging down the experience, but now they have clarity and controlled mid-bass.

I won't recommend doing what I did, because it was a bit of a hassle. My recommendation to others would be to do level 1:

Level 1
Upgrade speakers and do thorough dampening of the doors (do not underestimate this).
The pioneers I bought work well with the stock unit and are not expensive.

Level 2
Add an active subwoofer.
This requires you to tap into the speaker wires and pull power from the battery or the fuse box.

Level 3
Add an amplifier
You need to cut all speaker wires and solder on extensions. Pull power from battery. Install a line-out converter that can preload with 20-50 ohm or manually add a 50-ohm resistor to all speaker outputs.

Status: I need to mount and clean up stuff. I have a little problem with some ground noise, so I need to re-check my ground connections. The sound is awesome with good lows, a controlled punchy mid-bass, a crystal clear sound stage, and very present male vocals. It is not perfect with female vocals, classic music, and busy music with many instruments - but that is being picky.

If I do level 1, which is highly likely, do they plug to the same connectors as existing speakers or do I need adapter of some sort. Also, you mentioned I think that you needed some sort of adapter mount for the speakers, do you have a link for the one you used?

 

[MG4 DK]

If I do level 1, which is highly likely, do they plug to the same connectors as existing speakers or do I need adapter of some sort. Also, you mentioned I think that you needed some sort of adapter mount for the speakers, do you have a link for the one you used?

I wasn't able to find any connectors, so I just cut off the connectors and soldered on the extension cable that came with the Pioneers. Easy enough.

The speaker mount adapters I bought were these:
Amazon product ASIN B005LBP8EGThey didn't fit so I ended up cutting them in half and mounted them on top of the connectors that came with the Pioneers. Not ideal. I'm sure there is the right adapter somewhere out there.

 

[Deleted member 9692]

I wasn't able to find any connectors, so I just cut off the connectors and soldered on the extension cable that came with the Pioneers. Easy enough.

The speaker mount adapters I bought were these:
Amazon product ASIN B005LBP8EGThey didn't fit so I ended up cutting them in half and mounted them on top of the connectors that came with the Pioneers. Not ideal. I'm sure there is the right adapter somewhere out there.

Thanks. Couple more questions, I ordered the speakers. The tweeters, have you mounted those next to the original tweeter grills, what did you use to attach them and do you have any more photos of those in situ? And the damping foam, can you recommend what to get?

Feeling a little daunted but whats the worst that can happen

 

[RN88R]

I wasn't able to find any connectors, so I just cut off the connectors and soldered on the extension cable that came with the Pioneers. Easy enough.

The speaker mount adapters I bought were these:
Amazon product ASIN B005LBP8EGThey didn't fit so I ended up cutting them in half and mounted them on top of the connectors that came with the Pioneers. Not ideal. I'm sure there is the right adapter somewhere out there.

could you measure the height of the standard speakers? I want to buy new speakers with the same height so that I don't need adapters.

Thinking about level 1 upgrade.

Thanks for sharing your installation.
Good job.

 

[MG4 DK]

I made a little insert in the tweeter covers for the wire and used nano-tape to place them.

The original speaker rings are 34 mm. Ideally, You want to find an adapter with this height and three mounting holes. Alternatively, find an adapter of less height and add a spacing ring.

Bonus information: The output signal to the rear speakers from the stock amplifier is low-pass filtered. So, if you are replacing the rear speakers, you should not choose three-way co-axial as I did, but just woofers.

 

[Shmann]

Bonus information: The output signal to the rear speakers from the stock amplifier is low-pass filtered. So, if you are replacing the rear speakers, you should not choose three-way co-axial as I did, but just woofers.

I'm really inexperienced in the world of audio especially in cars.
Could someone give me an example of a woofer for the rear doors? Which size should they have? And are there any other components I need to take car for these woofers?

 

[Deleted member 9692]

Bonus information: The output signal to the rear speakers from the stock amplifier is low-pass filtered. So, if you are replacing the rear speakers, you should not choose three-way co-axial as I did, but just woofers.

My speakers will arrive this week. For the rear speakers, I am using the existing cabling no?

Also, you made an adapter for the front door, did you need for the back? Would you recommend I buy your adapter for front and modify as you did?

 

[MG4 DK]

My speakers will arrive this week. For the rear speakers, I am using the existing cabling no?

Also, you made an adapter for the front door, did you need for the back? Would you recommend I buy your adapter for front and modify as you did?

Yes, just use the existing cabling, but you need to cut off the stock connectors and do some soldering.

You need the same type of adapter for the back door. Don't buy what I did. I guess that something like this here will fit:
Amazon product ASIN B0BFXH9TTRIt has the configuration with the three outer holes and a height of 33 mm.

I'm really inexperienced in the world of audio especially in cars.
Could someone give me an example of a woofer for the rear doors? Which size should they have? And are there any other components I need to take car for these woofers?

You could buy two sets of these:
Amazon product ASIN B07H987PN7and use the one set for the front and only use the woofers, but not the tweeters for the back. To simplify things, you could just replace the front speakers and tweeters as the rear doesn't make that much difference when keeping the stock head unit.

You also need to find speaker adapters as discussed above.

 

[Alansurfer]

I made a little insert in the tweeter covers for the wire and used nano-tape to place them.
View attachment 15332
View attachment 15333
The original speaker rings are 34 mm. Ideally, You want to find an adapter with this height and three mounting holes. Alternatively, find an adapter of less height and add a spacing ring.
View attachment 15334
View attachment 15335

Bonus information: The output signal to the rear speakers from the stock amplifier is low-pass filtered. So, if you are replacing the rear speakers, you should not choose three-way co-axial as I did, but just woofers.

I have everything ready now to upgrade the speakers, I’ve built many custom systems over the years, modern head units and wiring are always a challenge. Great tip above about the rears being low-pass, I have a pair of old (new in box) Pro-Plus 6.5” mids that I‘ve used in the past as they are great for low controlled bass notes so I will fit those instead of the coaxial pair I was going to use. Dose this affect your amp output to the rears or are you running off of the front outs from the head unit? I may be tempted to add an amp later.

 

[MG4 DK]

I'm running the amp just from the front outputs. The amplifier does the 2ch to 4ch upscale. It has the effect that the rear speakers also get a full-range signal. In my setup, this is a benefit.

I was worried that the front outputs might be high pass filtered but I tested it with a series of low-frequency tones and it does not seem to be the case.

Today's improvement: I realized that the streaming setting in Spotify was set to Auto. Changing it to Very high improved female vocals and busy instruments.