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Light Harmonic speaker HONEST review and install

Discussion in 'Model S' started by ADEEL421, Nov 12, 2020.

  1. Ostrichsak

    Ostrichsak Active Member

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    As long as you use the hot glue sticks mint specifically for high temperature it will be fine. I've done many car projects over the years that have survived this summer's just fine as long as it's the high temp version.

    I'm more curious if he is the bass sound system or the ultra high fidelity sound. If it's the ladder it will have more power and changing out the speaker should yield more of a result. If it's the former they will be underpowered no matter what so any perceived improvement in audio quality is likely placebo effect.
     
  2. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

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    [​IMG]

    If you're going through the effort of putting speakers in you might as well use a bit more time and properly treat the door with soundproofing mat.

    STP Gold works great and is an inexpensive competition-grade material.
     
    • Like x 1
  3. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

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    The LH are high-end speakers that truly plug and play so the price of not having to butcher the stock speakers and wiring was worth it for me. Would rather just swap them over than having to deal with creating custom brackets. The other advantage is they are designed to work with the stock amp so you know it will sound good. The difference was immediately obvious for me.
     
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  4. nkohlimd

    nkohlimd Member

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    I have a pair of brand new Gen2 LH speakers is anyone is interested...please PM me. I felt it made a HUGE difference for front sound stage and is the easiest plug and ply upgrade for a DIY...add some sound isolation to the doors and you are good to go....next step would be a tuning of the system followed by subwoofer install...Cheers!
     
  5. jjlawyer

    jjlawyer Member

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    Ill just add to this that i recently repurposed the front door speaker brackets to mount the mids from a pair of Infinity Kappa 60CSX. They went in the bracket perfectly with a bit of scraping and cutting of the bracket and i used epoxy to secure them. The infinity tweeters went in the OEM location and the crossovers behind the dash. This is an easy mod if you understand what i just wrote and have two hands, you can do this. I also added a Rockford Fosgate R2-200X2 to power these and used some dynamat amazon nock-off sound deadener. I already put a sub box in the trunk about a year ago. I would recommend front speakers with amp as a better first mod than the sub since you do get a lot of bass from the fronts with the added power.
     
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  6. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    Don’t get me wrong. Listening to them sound do sound great. It’s a high quality speaker. But If the plug and play solution works best for some people, then great. I’m just saying something like a infinity might be just as good or some other good speaker at a cheaper price point. If I had to pay 1000 dollars like some people did for all for I wouldn’t find it worth it. Especially since the rear offer little power anyway. But I will speak to the clarity of them. Like I said they’re great sounding speakers. And they do solve the problem of bass deficiency the s has. But looking at how poor the factory speaker is almost anything would be a serious improve over the stocks. Never saw a door speaker so light.
     
  7. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    #47 Solar40, Feb 14, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2021
    @jjlawyer That’s pretty much what I did except I tried to screw it at first. After the puncture I switched to the glue immediately. Lol. As far as the bracket. By the second speaker I was able to tear the middle out the speaker and just snap the plastic tabs off with wrench. They just broke right off. Then put the speaker in and glued. Just sayin that process is really simple and I can see if you have bought something like a infinity kappa, you be just as happy for less money. Still works as a plug and play. I’d Acutaully like to compare it to another s with door speakers modded to see how they stack up.
     
  8. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    #48 Solar40, Feb 14, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2021
    @ADEEL421 that was 3m plastic and rubber glue. Nothing hot. And they are light harmonic speakers.
     
  9. bigdave79

    bigdave79 Member

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    I have the BA designs speakers and subwoofer installed for the last year and a half. I paid some dude to install it and quite frankly he did a sloppy job. The system shipped with an AudioControl LC2i line converter which he didn't install. He said that since the Rockford Fosgate amp had speaker level inputs, I didn't need the LC2i.

    He also wired the sub to just one of the front speakers (the left). In fact initially he had it wired to the left rear speaker so I got barely any extra bass for such a large sub. I told him the stock amp send barely any low end signal to the rears so I made him switch it to the front.

    I have 2 questions: is it worth the extra effort to run a second set of wires from the right front speaker to the amp? Should I get the LC2i installed? Will it make a significant difference to the quality considering the time involved?

    Thanks!
     
  10. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    #50 Solar40, Feb 14, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2021
    @bigdave79 I gotta appointment tomorrow to get my amp switched out. So I’ll get to see how the sub sounds then providing I can keep my appt due to snow tomorrow. Not a pro installer or anything but I would recommend you install the lc2i. As far as wiring from one speaker. My installer actually mentioned something like that, but I don’t know if he did it that way. Plus he did install the lc2i. I’ll ask him tomorrow if he wired from both sides.Anyway I can’t wait to hear how mine sounds with the ba speakers and the nvx sub. The shop got everything installed then we found out my amp was no good(used). Had to get another, so all this wait been killing me. At least now, it should be a quick amp change cause all my wiring is done and sub installed.
     
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  11. jjlawyer

    jjlawyer Member

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    @bigdave79 - I am assuming that the sub is wired so that the front left speaker level output from the MCU is branched with a y connector to both inputs of the sub amp, or if not it is a mono amp. if that is the case it probably will not make much of a difference to wire the other channel as most bass is mono. There is no benefit to using the lc2i if you are getting enough gain which i am sure you are. using the lc2i will be another place for noise to enter the system.

    Solar40 - you have the lc2i installed - do you have an audible noise floor at volume 0?
     
  12. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

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    Definitely no point in running wires from the other speaker. It's actually super common to only use one side since bass is of equal output in both R/L channels for 99% of music.

    The LC2i does literally the exact same function as a high-level input on an amp. So I guess it depends on how well your amp processes the high-level input but it makes sense to not use the LC2i if you don't have to. Fewer components in your system is a good thing.
     
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  13. bigdave79

    bigdave79 Member

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    I assume there's a Y connector somewhere because on the amp itself there are wires going into both the right and left speaker level inputs. But I know for sure that the amp is only hooked up to the right channel because the installer told me so and the bass disappears if I adjust the balance to the left of the car.

    Ok. I guess I won't worry about adding the LC2i. Anyone want to buy it?
     
  14. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    Ok. Fellas just got back from the shop again and more bad news. Got the amp switched out and the sub was blown also. Sounded like crap so we unhooked the rca’s for now. Tested the sub and got 0 ohms. Smdh!! Now I gotta order a new sub. Anyway, should I stick with a nvx sub or any recommendations on something that might sound better with this same setup. Everything else is nvx so I was gonna stay the same unless there’s something better. And @jjlawyer i didn’t get to tested the volume sounds yet because of the bad sub.
     
  15. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

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    How were you able to blow the sub? It's 750w RMS and 1500w peak. That's quite a bit of power needed to actually blow it.

    Personally the space saving design + great sound makes the NVX sub a win in my books. That said I don't listen to it at an extremely high level. Usually only about a quarter power is the point where the bass doesn't drown the rest of the music out.
     
  16. D Unit

    D Unit Member

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    Where are you located? I am going to replace mine with a Dayton Audio HO subwoofer so I can sell you mine if you're interested.
     
  17. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    I’m in ny but I think Ima go with another nvx and keep it in line with the rest. It sound like it would hit harder than I thought. As far as it blowing it, think the speaker and amp were blown when I got it. Noticed whoever took it off the previous car just cut the positive amp wire so ya never know.
     
  18. D Unit

    D Unit Member

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    Not sure if I was clear, but I meant I was going to use the Dayton Audio woofer and sell my unsused NVX sub that is included in the kit.
     
  19. Solar40

    Solar40 Member

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    #59 Solar40, Feb 16, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2021
    Oh. Ok. Give me till the end of the week and I’ll gladly take it if we can come up with a comparable price with the shipping. How much?
     
  20. jjlawyer

    jjlawyer Member

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    Also look into a JL audio box/amp. i think a 12 inch would fit in the lower trunk section.
     

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