Amplifier mounting location suggestions

[jroncalli]

Hello, I am currently installing the complete Alpine kit for my base model 2023 model 3. Everything is going well, however I was wondering if anyone else has installed this and if so, where they mounted the amplifier. I was considering just mounting it to the floor, right up against the back seats, but I have no idea what is directly underneath the trunk floor, and if any screws would puncture anything, like the high voltage battery for example.

Does anyone know if there is any danger of mounting the amp in this location, or if anyone has installed this kit and has any suggestions?

This is the kit I am installing Alping Tesla Model 3 Kit

Thank you

 

[Getchkix]

Waiting for mine to come in, but going to install it on the roof of the truck (under rear deck inside the car) and build my amp rack there.

 

[kevcaid]

Well What did you do? I'm think of mounting it upside-down on the trunk ceiling ..

 

[Getchkix]

Need to run the wire in the car to see what I can do. Currently planning to remove my oem sub, relocate oem sub amp, and making a amp rack where the oem sub and amp rack currently are

 

[Getchkix]

Well What did you do? I'm think of mounting it upside-down on the trunk ceiling ..

Thats where alpine recommends for M3, but something about mounting upside down I don't like so a personal prefernce.

 

[kevcaid]

Wasn't fun but it's up out of the way. I will monitor the heat.
I made make my own mounts theirs look weak.

 

[Getchkix]

Wasn't fun but it's up out of the way. I will monitor the heat.
I made make my own mounts theirs look weak.

Smart making your own mount. I saw it and thought it was really questionable. Finishing my sub box, and then going to remove my sub and relocate the oem sub amp and then put the alpine amp along side it

 

[Getchkix]

Where are you mounting your controller ?

 

[kevcaid]

The kit didn't come with one. I may get one down the road and use a flat phone charger mount that flips behind the screen.

 

[Getchkix]

Came across this. Goes where the oem subwoofer is, not sure where or how to get it

 

[kevcaid]

Came across this. Goes where the oem subwoofer is, not sure where or how to get it

That's already in the car that doesn't come with the sub. You have to remove it to install Alpine sub. I wanted to use it a a amp bracket but will not bolt back in with the sub in place.

 

[bo3bdar]

For what it's worth, my amp (JBL DSP-4086) specifically says to not mount it upside down because it will overheat.


I used an aluminum plate cut to fit the space where the OEM sub and amp normally go. There are three logical mounting points for bolts to hold it in place.

My car had neither back there so it was empty space. I did not use the approach of mounting directly to the plastic Tesla bracket, because I have two amps and there was no good way to make them fit. That Tesla bracket will still mount over top of my plate here, and hold the trunk liner in place.

 

[Getchkix]

For what it's worth, my amp (JBL DSP-4086) specifically says to not mount it upside down because it will overheat.


I used an aluminum plate cut to fit the space where the OEM sub and amp normally go. There are three logical mounting points for bolts to hold it in place.

My car had neither back there so it was empty space. I did not use the approach of mounting directly to the plastic Tesla bracket, because I have two amps and there was no good way to make them fit. That Tesla bracket will still mount over top of my plate here, and hold the trunk liner in place.

View attachment 1046603

Do you happen to have any more photos of how you used each moutning location? I was looking at this type of design earlier today with cardboard. I assume this also doesn't have the OEM Subwoofer amp? Im struggling to figure out how to go about mounting that if I go this route

 

[Getchkix]

That's already in the car that doesn't come with the sub. You have to remove it to install Alpine sub. I wanted to use it a a amp bracket but will not bolt back in with the sub in place.

My car didn't come with this. I assume because I have the premium audio? Will see if I can find on ebay or something, worth looking into as a potential option

 

[bo3bdar]

Do you happen to have any more photos of how you used each moutning location? I was looking at this type of design earlier today with cardboard. I assume this also doesn't have the OEM Subwoofer amp? Im struggling to figure out how to go about mounting that if I go this route

Here is maybe my best picture. I've added some red lines to emphasize the bolting spots. I'm repurposing some holes that were there from the welding. The bottom one was a bit tight and I dremeled it out a bit so the bolt would fit. In case it's not obvious there is no mounting point up top. The top part of the aluminum plate is behind that beige metal bar. It's one reason I used aluminum plate- I wanted it to be stiff with only 3 point mounting.

The bottom right mount is where the OEM subwoofer would have mounted if it was there. It's used to mount the plastic guard as well. I ground down the surface to use it as the electrical ground as well, which is how it is used for OEM sub.

Here is a top view of the plate after extensive grinding and cutting to get something to fit that weirdo space. Goal was to not touch/impact the existing wiring in any way, which is where some of those subcuts come from. No point in having sharp metal edges slowly wearing through insulation. This is backside view.

 

[bo3bdar]

My car didn't come with this. I assume because I have the premium audio? Will see if I can find on ebay or something, worth looking into as a potential option

If you don't have the OEM subwoofer in that well, then you don't have the premium audio. That package includes the subwoofer, a second amp, and connecting 6 more audio channels. If I'd had the premium audio I would not have designed and built my add on, but the base system on my cheap car was not as good as I wanted. One reason I wanted to add an amp, was because the Tesla equalizer at 5 bands is just crap. Adding a DSP allows me to properly tune the system.

If that space is empty, you have the normal audio system, but also some of the speakers like the front window tweeters are disconnected.


If you only have a single amp to mount, I'd look closely at whether you can get away with using the plastic bracket as the mount point. Backside mounting. I think it's strong enough, just not enough surface area to handle my dual amps, with only 2 mounting points each. However, if I had to do it again, I'd probably use the bracket, because making that aluminum plate was a total bitch.

 

[Getchkix]

If you don't have the OEM subwoofer in that well, then you don't have the premium audio. That package includes the subwoofer, a second amp, and connecting 6 more audio channels. If I'd had the premium audio I would not have designed and built my add on, but the base system on my cheap car was not as good as I wanted. One reason I wanted to add an amp, was because the Tesla equalizer at 5 bands is just crap. Adding a DSP allows me to properly tune the system.

If that space is empty, you have the normal audio system, but also some of the speakers like the front window tweeters are disconnected.


If you only have a single amp to mount, I'd look closely at whether you can get away with using the plastic bracket as the mount point. Backside mounting. I think it's strong enough, just not enough surface area to handle my dual amps, with only 2 mounting points each. However, if I had to do it again, I'd probably use the bracket, because making that aluminum plate was a total bitch.

thanks for all the details! I do have the premium audio which is why I asked which you have. I removed the subwoofer amp and subwoofer box that came with the car as I have the alpine plug and play dsp amplifier, focal inside speakers, and an audiofrog subwoofer in a customer enclosure for the storage cubby in the trunk.

Ideally I’d make my bracket out of abs plastic like I did in my previous car, which is in the same exact spot but I can’t wrap my head around how
Or where to relocated / remount the oem subwoofer amp. As for the subwoofer and its explore I had planned to entirely remove it for the extra space

 

[bo3bdar]

thanks for all the details! I do have the premium audio which is why I asked which you have. I removed the subwoofer amp and subwoofer box that came with the car as I have the alpine plug and play dsp amplifier, focal inside speakers, and an audiofrog subwoofer in a customer enclosure for the storage cubby in the trunk.

Ideally I’d make my bracket out of abs plastic like I did in my previous car, which is in the same exact spot but I can’t wrap my head around how
Or where to relocated / remount the oem subwoofer amp. As for the subwoofer and its explore I had planned to entirely remove it for the extra space

Yeah, the Tesla subwoofer even with premium sound is only OK, so I can understand the motivation to better the subwoofer. For what its worth, the premium audio is already really well tuned for the car, Tesla did a good job of EQing the baseline.

You'll need the Tesla rear amp though. The signals that go to that amp are digital, not analog, and are encoded somehow. So no one knows how to use them to get audio. You thus need to tap the outputs to get analog to input to something like the JBL or Alpine DSP.

Still- with the premium audio system, this will be a bit of a mess. You'll need the front channel audio signals that you can only get from the computer in the front of the car, and the rear channel audio from the Tesla rear amp. You need all those to do a proper job of getting the input to the DSP, otherwise you'll only be able to tune half the audio, which sort of defeats the purpose and is too much work for low improvement.

I think if I were in your shoes, I'd try using the stock rear amp, and just wire up your better subwoofer and see what you think. Simplest and fastest way to improve the premium system. (you can get the subwoofer analog audio out pretty easily) Leave one of the rear seats down to really improve the bass. At some point before 2020 Tesla removed the ported area in the rear deck and it degraded the audio.


My car is the lowest cost $35K unicorn from 2020. Base audio, and I don't even have AutoPilot. So I only had to tap the front amp in the computer and could map the 6 channel audio to my JBL DSP inputs. I used the NVX subwoofer and custom box in the driver side rear cubby. I use a 600W JL Audio to drive the woofer in the doors, and the subwoofer. The audio is killer, once tuned with the DSP. Only remaining problem I need to solve is that my 920W of new amps will throw battery errors about once every 3 months.

 

[Getchkix]

Already got t

Yeah, the Tesla subwoofer even with premium sound is only OK, so I can understand the motivation to better the subwoofer. For what its worth, the premium audio is already really well tuned for the car, Tesla did a good job of EQing the baseline.

You'll need the Tesla rear amp though. The signals that go to that amp are digital, not analog, and are encoded somehow. So no one knows how to use them to get audio. You thus need to tap the outputs to get analog to input to something like the JBL or Alpine DSP.

Still- with the premium audio system, this will be a bit of a mess. You'll need the front channel audio signals that you can only get from the computer in the front of the car, and the rear channel audio from the Tesla rear amp. You need all those to do a proper job of getting the input to the DSP, otherwise you'll only be able to tune half the audio, which sort of defeats the purpose and is too much work for low improvement.

I think if I were in your shoes, I'd try using the stock rear amp, and just wire up your better subwoofer and see what you think. Simplest and fastest way to improve the premium system. (you can get the subwoofer analog audio out pretty easily) Leave one of the rear seats down to really improve the bass. At some point before 2020 Tesla removed the ported area in the rear deck and it degraded the audio.


My car is the lowest cost $35K unicorn from 2020. Base audio, and I don't even have AutoPilot. So I only had to tap the front amp in the computer and could map the 6 channel audio to my JBL DSP inputs. I used the NVX subwoofer and custom box in the driver side rear cubby. I use a 600W JL Audio to drive the woofer in the doors, and the subwoofer. The audio is killer, once tuned with the DSP. Only remaining problem I need to solve is that my 920W of new amps will throw battery errors about once every 3 months.

he alpine plug and play amp. Has wire harnesses that T off from the front and rear amp. Much more subwoofer channel power that I’m also taking advantage of