In Depth Guide: Adding an aftermarket amplifier and sub

[Sam B]

I appreciate you understanding what I’m doing. I had a guy one time tell me off and call me a bass head. Because I shared some pics in his thread. I’m literally 50k deep in different audio setups for this car. So I definitely know the limits of the car and the advantages for audio.
I do have 2- Raven 12s in the back. But they are totally tuned for SQ. Yes they can get down and jam, but I use them more for exact music reproduction.
The focal utopia is really a top notch setup for these cars. Highly recommend

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[MK5_Ger]

Get a helix sdmi and start over from scratch if you want good quality SQ. The Supra is actually a good platform for audio.

Just want to confirm this: The parking sensor sound for your car is now just stereo and not FL,RL,FR,RR anymore?
This was one thing that annoyed me. Its minor but for me ann

I do have 2- Raven 12s in the back. But they are totally tuned for SQ. Yes they can get down and jam, but I use them more for exact music reproduction.

Can't agree more. I had a single 10" ported Sub. Without the DSP I thought it was good already.
Then I tuned the subwoofer connected to my Match 10 with the UMIK-1 microphone.
The result was just awesome. Clean, crisp but still powerful.

 

[Sam B]

Honestly. I am not sure how to answer that. All the normal car functions are still there. I will take a listen next drive. Mine is hibernating currently

 

[sircodemane]

Following up, I got my DME back and in the car last night and have since spent hours driving around playing with MHD and listening to music.

Femto unlock totally worth. Even the OTS maps are good. I'm running the stage 2 91oct map and it is a huge difference.

As for the sub/amp, I'm happy. I do see what yall mean about not feeling like it's getting the whole lower range, but I just wanted a little more "boom" and that's what I got for a relatively good price. My only real complaint is so many vibrations and rattles in the trunk. Hopefully some dynamat type material will fix that.

 

[Sam B]

Check into resonix for sound treatment. Best by a mile

 

[MK5_Ger]

I do see what yall mean about not feeling like it's getting the whole lower range

If you feel like you are missing some frequencies, you cloud try and connect one of your channels to a rear speaker.
Then you should have the full range covered.

 

[MK5_Ger]

@sircodemane do you happen to know if your 2024 Supra already has the Istep Version S18T-24-03-519 (March 2024) or newer?
This version improved the sound system quite a lot in my experience.

 

[sircodemane]

@sircodemane do you happen to know if your 2024 Supra already has the Istep Version S18T-24-03-519 (March 2024) or newer?
This version improved the sound system quite a lot in my experience.

I am not sure, how would I figure that out? I can go look once I know what to look for.

 

[tracer bullet]

I am not sure, how would I figure that out? I can go look once I know what to look for.

If it's like BMW: Find your driver profile settings, export it to a USB stick, stick it in a Windows machine and open up the exported file with Notepad. It should say in the first few lines.

Thanks for the amp installation details BTW. I'm sure I'm not the only Z4 owner lurking around learning things.

 

[sircodemane]

@sircodemane do you happen to know if your 2024 Supra already has the Istep Version S18T-24-03-519 (March 2024) or newer?
This version improved the sound system quite a lot in my experience.

Yep, it's version S18T-24-03-540 on mine

If it's like BMW: Find your driver profile settings, export it to a USB stick, stick it in a Windows machine and open up the exported file with Notepad. It should say in the first few lines.

Thanks for the amp installation details BTW. I'm sure I'm not the only Z4 owner lurking around learning things.

Thanks for the info! This security container and signature bit are also interesting

 

[MK5_Ger]

Yep, it's version S18T-24-03-540 on mine

Then you are lucky. The older versions sounded so bad.
I went to my dealership to have it updated. It improved it quite a lot. But it's still lacking compared to other cars.

I am unsure if I should add a sub or exchange the existing two "subs" with 2 Ohm aftermarket ones while powering them with an external amp.

 

[BMWAF]

I think a blind A/B test is needed as sound is so subjective. My MY23 sounds pretty good - particularly after the Tadda mod. It's not stellar, but its far from the worst OEM stereo I have heard.

 

[ericchen_ec]

Thanks to your write up I was inspired to do mine!
Didn’t want to add much weight, and it’s an open cabin so an 8in Audison was plenty. Got this used off eBay, $300, and about $50 for the install materials (seller poorly shipped it and some connectors work broken…) It fills in exactly what the stock system was missing without doing too much.

 

[shurbaji17]

What’s up guys , finally got around to adding a aftermarket amp and sub and when I got to the tapping into the existing subwoofers wire I must’ve sent the OEM amp into protection mode and now no music or audio is playing but I can see my car play and everything, Amp has a red light don’t know if that means anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!!

Jordan

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