Running a 4 channel amp to aftermarket door speakers

[T_Stiffler]

What’s up everybody! Just curious if anyone has ran a 4 channel amp in the bronco sport? I’ve seen a bunch of videos for the big boy broncos just curious if I would run into any problems and curious if I’d need the same plug and play adapters I’ve seen in YouTube vids. I have JBL Stage 327’s in all 4 doors and will run proper watt/RMS to speakers. Thanks in advance!!!!!

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[gatornek]

I plan on doing this and is in "in line" for my project mods.

The cleanest way to do it without 'splicing' your cables (which I wouldn't advise) is to use this guy here unless you're slick with connectors and a soldering iron. I am not.

2020 And UP BRONCO / BRONCO SPORT NON Amplified Radio Plug 'n Play Aud – Plug N Play Kits

One side inputs into your amplifier and the other side receives the output. This also assumes your amplifer can receive 'high' signals. Most can. But if not, you either have to turn off the amplifer in your head unit using Forscan, or purchase a lineout converter like audicontrol lc2i

 

[T_Stiffler]

I appreciate you ?

 

[T_Stiffler]

I plan on doing this and is in "in line" for my project mods.

The cleanest way to do it without 'splicing' your cables (which I wouldn't advise) is to use this guy here unless you're slick with connectors and a soldering iron. I am not.

2020 And UP BRONCO / BRONCO SPORT NON Amplified Radio Plug 'n Play Aud – Plug N Play Kits

One side inputs into your amplifier and the other side receives the output. This also assumes your amplifer can receive 'high' signals. Most can. But if not, you either have to turn off the amplifer in your head unit using Forscan, or purchase a lineout converter like audicontrol lc2i



I really appreciate this helps me a bunch! I’m running an amp inside because I’m having a wiring issue somewhere with my driver side speaker, and where they’re aftermarket ford is trying to charge me $175 an hour to tell me what’s wrong because I have aftermarket Door speakers lmao. We know the speaker isn’t blown we’ve tested it, idk if you can help but this will allow the amp to power my speakers and override the head unit technically right? Just cheaper for me to do a whole system set up then to let ford get in there

 

[gatornek]

Yes. The link to that cable I posted is essentially a "tee connector" that loops the speaker wires back. All you're doing is splitting out the speaker wire connections and sticking the amp in between. The wires run right back to their OEM placements once it returns from the amp, so if you do TRULY have a "wiring issue" to your door speaker, this will not fix it; only locating the broken wire will. This will only 'fix' the issue if your issue is with the OEM amplifier in the head unit.

If you wanna post a video of what you're hearing...you can host it on youtube and then link it here. Maybe we can help troubleshoot it better by hearing it.

 

[T_Stiffler]

Yes. The link to that cable I posted is essentially a "tee connector" that loops the speaker wires back. All you're doing is splitting out the speaker wire connections and sticking the amp in between. The wires run right back to their OEM placements once it returns from the amp, so if you do TRULY have a "wiring issue" to your door speaker, this will not fix it; only locating the broken wire will. This will only 'fix' the issue if your issue is with the OEM amplifier in the head unit.

If you wanna post a video of what you're hearing...you can host it on youtube and then link it here. Maybe we can help troubleshoot it better by hearing it.

I’ll see if I can get a vid I’ll tag you after work. It’s so strange though because my driver speaker will work 25 percent of time and other times it won’t but when we took the speaker out and tested it it’s not the speaker. Initially when I was having issues took it out while the speaker was working ran over bumps, gravel roads, checked all wires and when we put door panel back on all 4 were hitting fine. About a week later it’s just hit or miss if the speaker will hit or not. But I thought if the amp was wired to the frame it’d be overriding the head unit technically, and the plug in play would allow compatibility to my stereo/speakers

 

[gatornek]

I’ll see if I can get a vid I’ll tag you after work. It’s so strange though because my driver speaker will work 25 percent of time and other times it won’t but when we took the speaker out and tested it it’s not the speaker. Initially when I was having issues took it out while the speaker was working ran over bumps, gravel roads, checked all wires and when we put door panel back on all 4 were hitting fine. About a week later it’s just hit or miss if the speaker will hit or not. But I thought if the amp was wired to the frame it’d be overriding the head unit technically, and the plug in play would allow compatibility to my stereo/speakers

All the "plugnplay" will do is REROUTE your speaker wires out to your amp, and back. That's it. If there is a faulty or intermittent signal coming out of the head unit as it goes OUT of the head unit to the amp (by way of the "plugnplay"), then that faulty or intermittent signal will still be there as it comes back from the amp and goes out to the left speaker.

My best guess without hearing it is one of the two:

A) Something screwey is going on with your head unit output, and MIGHT BE able to be fixed by resetting the ACM and its factory settings via some OBD2 process.
B) There is faulty wiring between the head unit and the left speaker. This can be tested by using a multimeter to test the resistance on the speaker wire from both plug sides (speaker and head unit)

I would also say to never discount the possiblity of a 'bad ground' somewhere. 'Bad grounds' somehow always rear their head whenit comes to weird electrical issues.

If its just your left speaker, a work around could be to simply use your rear outputs to the amp and bridge them over to the front. You'll lose some power, but you'll solve your left speaker issue if the issue is NOT the head unit itself.

 

[67L48]

The biggest issue with this is that amplifiers and speakers will only amplify and play the audio signal that is present. If the audio signal is garbage, playing it louder won't help a ton. Similarly, higher fidelity speakers may actually reveal more of the signal's shortcomings.

Ford uses CAN bus to route its audio from head unit to the DSP. This makes it exceedingly difficult (read: expensive) to break into these audio channels to access the raw feed before it is corrupted by the DSP. Anything downstream of the DSP is subject to the limitations mentioned in my first paragraph.

So, you can mess around a bit with speakers and amps, but you're never going to get a quality audio signal until you invest in the equipment that intercepts the audio CAN bus, decodes it, and presents it to you in a format that can be managed/amplified.

That's one of the reasons why it's better to start with bass. While we might think of bass as being a young person's preference, it's not. Adding a sub and amp isn't necessarily for cruising around the block and shaking your neighbors' windows. All music benefits from bass. It has an amazing effect on filling everything out. Audibly, it's a much better signal to use, as it's been polluted less by the Ford DSP.

I'd start with a small 8" sub and suitable amp. You'll be impressed by how a small, musical sub will make all the other frequencies and speakers sound instantly better.

Good luck.

 

[T_Stiffler]

All the "plugnplay" will do is REROUTE your speaker wires out to your amp, and back. That's it. If there is a faulty or intermittent signal coming out of the head unit as it goes OUT of the head unit to the amp (by way of the "plugnplay"), then that faulty or intermittent signal will still be there as it comes back from the amp and goes out to the left speaker.

My best guess without hearing it is one of the two:

A) Something screwey is going on with your head unit output, and MIGHT BE able to be fixed by resetting the ACM and its factory settings via some OBD2 process.
B) There is faulty wiring between the head unit and the left speaker. This can be tested by using a multimeter on the speaker wires going to the left speaker, and looking for a constant voltage as sound is heard.

I would also say to never discount the possiblity of a 'bad ground' somewhere. 'Bad grounds' somehow always rear their head whenit comes to weird electrical issues.

If its just your left speaker, a work around could be to simply use your rear outputs to the amp and bridge them over to the front. You'll lose some power, but you'll solve your left speaker issue if the issue is NOT the head unit itself.

it’s literally perfect sound coming out or no sound. I’m trying to get an appt with ford to let them test the head unit they’re giving me shit about it being under warranty but I know it’s not the speaker itself, so I’ve tried to reiterate it’s a head unit issue because theres only one connection that could be the problem on driver side. I’ve had the same issue out of factory speaker and now it’s been two sets of speakers in the front door. I appreciate all your help!

 

[Dude]

it’s literally perfect sound coming out or no sound. I’m trying to get an appt with ford to let them test the head unit they’re giving me shit about it being under warranty but I know it’s not the speaker itself, so I’ve tried to reiterate it’s a head unit issue because theres only one connection that could be the problem on driver side. I’ve had the same issue out of factory speaker and now it’s been two sets of speakers in the front door. I appreciate all your help!

Since you have had the door panel off at least a couple times to put in speakers, would it be possible to install a temporary rigged speaker wire (so the proper connector onto the speaker) but rigged to temporarily run out the door panel over to under the dash? I don’t know how hard it is to get to the connection under the dash (and with using the correct connector pins on the under dash side). It’s a pain to build the temporary cable that connects on both ends correctly but doing so would eliminate or prove the factory speaker wire is the source of the problem. Just a thought.

 

[T_Stiffler]

Since you have had the door panel off at least a couple times to put in speakers, would it be possible to install a temporary rigged speaker wire (so the proper connector onto the speaker) but rigged to temporarily run out the door panel over to under the dash? I don’t know how hard it is to get to the connection under the dash (and with using the correct connector pins on the under dash side). It’s a pain to build the temporary cable that connects on both ends correctly but doing so would eliminate or prove the factory speaker wire is the source of the problem. Just a thought.

Just scheduled an appointment w Ford to test my head unit, my driver dash tweeter isnt working either & Ive never fooled with those so hopefully that'll be enough to prove to Ford that its my head unit & not my speaker where the door speaker only has one connection that could be the issue fingers crossed this shit is under my warranty lololol

 

[T_Stiffler]

All the "plugnplay" will do is REROUTE your speaker wires out to your amp, and back. That's it. If there is a faulty or intermittent signal coming out of the head unit as it goes OUT of the head unit to the amp (by way of the "plugnplay"), then that faulty or intermittent signal will still be there as it comes back from the amp and goes out to the left speaker.

My best guess without hearing it is one of the two:

A) Something screwey is going on with your head unit output, and MIGHT BE able to be fixed by resetting the ACM and its factory settings via some OBD2 process.
B) There is faulty wiring between the head unit and the left speaker. This can be tested by using a multimeter on the speaker wires going to the left speaker, and looking for a constant voltage as sound is heard.

I would also say to never discount the possiblity of a 'bad ground' somewhere. 'Bad grounds' somehow always rear their head whenit comes to weird electrical issues.

If its just your left speaker, a work around could be to simply use your rear outputs to the amp and bridge them over to the front. You'll lose some power, but you'll solve your left speaker issue if the issue is NOT the head unit itself.

Just scheduled an appointment w Ford to test my head unit, my driver dash tweeter isnt working either & Ive never fooled with or replaced those so hopefully that'll be enough to prove to Ford that its my head unit & not my speaker where the door speaker only has one connection that could be the issue fingers crossed this shit is under my warranty lololol

 

[gatornek]

I'm almost certain a "factory reset" of your ACM will fix you right up.

 

[Dude]

I'm almost certain a "factory reset" of your ACM will fix you right up.

How is a “factory reset" of an ACM performed? I am familiar with how to do that for the APIM.

ACM - Audio Control Module
APIM - Accessory Protocol Interface Module

I did find this: (which is stated to also apply to Bronco Sport)

https://ford.oemdtc.com/7860/audio-inoperative-no-sound-from-audio-speakers-no-communication-with-acm-or-dsp-dtc-u1084-u0237-and-or-u0238-2021-ford-mustang-mach-e

 

[gatornek]

The APIM is essentially the CPU of the infotaintment system. It's the orchestrator, and I wonder if the OP has tried that procedure because it could possibly be fruitful. The ACM is essentially the amplifier for the sound. It used to house other mechanical audio devices like cd players, but that seems to have gone away now to. Hence, the ACM doesn't really have too many chips, its mostly mosfet amps and capacitors, but I wonder if there isn't some procedure that "resets" it. I put it in quotes, because its my hypothetical solution, but I'm not specifically aware of any procedure to do so, other than maybe flashing the entire ACM module via Forscan. The problem is most definitely something in the "infotainment head unit" (another gratuitous use of quotes! ? ), whether its the ACM or APIM.

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