Upgraded SR Partial Audio to Full Premium

[metalhawk]

Thanks all for this thread, (and the others linked at teslaowners). Particularly @Wampa ! I've finished most of my install, which is modelled directly after Wampa's with the soundstream Picasso Nano PN5.640D. I still need to pick up a Sub (guess I have to call the SC as there don't seem to be ebay options) and mount the amp.

One question for anyone who's used the PN5.640D (Wampa?) where's the 12v switched input supposed to connect? I assumed it was the line in on the "Turn on/remote base" input but if I connect that cable, I immediately get a protection fault and the amp won't turn on. It seems to work fine without (autosensing as mentioned earlier in the thread?). Do I need to connect the switched 12v?

 

[AdamMacDon]

Thanks all for this thread, (and the others linked at teslaowners). Particularly @Wampa ! I've finished most of my install, which is modelled directly after Wampa's with the soundstream Picasso Nano PN5.640D. I still need to pick up a Sub (guess I have to call the SC as there don't seem to be ebay options) and mount the amp.

One question for anyone who's used the PN5.640D (Wampa?) where's the 12v switched input supposed to connect? I assumed it was the line in on the "Turn on/remote base" input but if I connect that cable, I immediately get a protection fault and the amp won't turn on. It seems to work fine without (autosensing as mentioned earlier in the thread?). Do I need to connect the switched 12v?

I just finished the install with a factory sub and the Picasso amp. I've attached a screenshot from the video I'm making about it. For switched power don't bother wasting your time if using direct level inputs. If you have a line convertor and are using the low level RCA inputs then you will need to wire up the remote turn on. The remote on wire is attached to the wire harness for the remote bass control knob. It's a tiny white wire about 6 inches long, mine was labeled "remote". Also don't waste your time looking on eBay, they all want above OEM prices. My SC only charged me $295 CAD which is worth around $200 USD. The only thing is some service centers wouldn't sell me it so I had to shop around. Make sure you buy an extra 10mm nut too. I didn't do this and luckily had one in my parts bin that fit. The other nut and bolt you can harvest from the plastic spacer the SR+ has instead of the sub.

 

[metalhawk]

Thanks! Yes, so I brought the line in from the 12v switched and connected it to the tiny white wire on the "remote". Whenever I connect the remote/wire combo into the port it immediately sets off the protection fault (without music playing etc.). I may just leave it disconnected.
Here's hoping my CS doesn't give me trouble. Thnks for the pic, I'd considered mounting there as well. Debating that vs. under the rear deck. Right now it's hiding in the spare trunk..

 

[AdamMacDon]

Thanks! Yes, so I brought the line in from the 12v switched and connected it to the tiny white wire on the "remote". Whenever I connect the remote/wire combo into the port it immediately sets off the protection fault (without music playing etc.). I may just leave it disconnected.
Here's hoping my CS doesn't give me trouble. Thnks for the pic, I'd considered mounting there as well. Debating that vs. under the rear deck. Right now it's hiding in the spare trunk..

I would leave it disconnected, it's not required for high level inputs and seems to cause issues for you. I had no use for the remote in wire, so I taped it off.

I originally had my kit living in my sub trunk, but in a motivation to make my car look half decent and tuck my stuff away. Glad I got it wrapped up, now I just have to find a way to edit these video clips into something that is less rambling and more concise.

 

[badiban]

What is everyone's thought on wiring the mirror tweeters in parallel? Those two tweeters are the main things I'm interested in activating. Is there a risk of overloading the OEM amplifier if I do this?

 

[AdamMacDon]

What is everyone's thought on wiring the mirror tweeters in parallel? Those two tweeters are the main things I'm interested in activating. Is there a risk of overloading the OEM amplifier if I do this?

First, I'm not sure why you'd be at risk of overloading the stock amp. Unless you mean you literally just want to wire up those tweeters to the factory speakers? If you are doing this install with an aftermarket amp, the factory amp shouldn't even really be in the equation. I just finished the install with an aftermarket amp wiring up the front headliner speakers, rear deck speakers, and factory sub.

Second, I'm not quite sure why you'd want to waste time with those tweeters. I originally was going to put them in series with the A-pillar speakers, but vetoed the idea midway through the install. First off, they are tiny speakers and probably not noticeable, even the 2 inch A pillar speakers aren't that noticeable, and those are around 25W. Best bang for your buck in my humble opinion would be a factory sub, three channel amp, and the rear deck speakers. Even the A pillars were kind of a waste of time in my experience. The front sound stage is pretty dang good in the SR+, but the rear is pretty much just two 4 inch speakers in the rear doors... Awful. Someone accurately summed it up as a set of premium headphones with one ear piece missing.

However, if you're still certain you want to do this, your best route would be to tap into the front mid range speakers at the ICE connection (above the passenger footwell). Run wires alongside the firewall to the connector for the tweeter on the driver side and wires to the passenger side tweeter connector (good luck getting a tap on that tricky thing). Also make sure you wire in bass blockers inline on the positive wires to your tweeters. No way they'll sound decent or survive receiving that much low end frequency. I'd suggest around 5kHz blockers. I highly doubt you have to worry about any extra stress on the factory amp, you'll be lowering the impedance wiring in parallel, but the wattage of them is so minuscule, I doubt it would matter. Don't take my word for it though, again I recommend NOT doing that, albeit more from a sound quality perspective than anything.

 

[badiban]

First, I'm not sure why you'd be at risk of overloading the stock amp. Unless you mean you literally just want to wire up those tweeters to the factory speakers? If you are doing this install with an aftermarket amp, the factory amp shouldn't even really be in the equation. I just finished the install with an aftermarket amp wiring up the front headliner speakers, rear deck speakers, and factory sub.

Second, I'm not quite sure why you'd want to waste time with those tweeters. I originally was going to put them in series with the A-pillar speakers, but vetoed the idea midway through the install. First off, they are tiny speakers and probably not noticeable, even the 2 inch A pillar speakers aren't that noticeable, and those are around 25W. Best bang for your buck in my humble opinion would be a factory sub, three channel amp, and the rear deck speakers. Even the A pillars were kind of a waste of time in my experience. The front sound stage is pretty dang good in the SR+, but the rear is pretty much just two 4 inch speakers in the rear doors... Awful. Someone accurately summed it up as a set of premium headphones with one ear piece missing.

However, if you're still certain you want to do this, your best route would be to tap into the front mid range speakers at the ICE connection (above the passenger footwell). Run wires alongside the firewall to the connector for the tweeter on the driver side and wires to the passenger side tweeter connector (good luck getting a tap on that tricky thing). Also make sure you wire in bass blockers inline on the positive wires to your tweeters. No way they'll sound decent or survive receiving that much low end frequency. I'd suggest around 5kHz blockers. I highly doubt you have to worry about any extra stress on the factory amp, you'll be lowering the impedance wiring in parallel, but the wattage of them is so minuscule, I doubt it would matter. Don't take my word for it though, again I recommend NOT doing that, albeit more from a sound quality perspective than anything.

Thank you for this, this was very informative. I'm surprised to hear the tweeters and A-pillars didn't add a lot to the sound quality, makes me feel better about not having the premium interior. If it's really not that dramatic, then I'll consider just adding the subwoofer, and possibly activating the rear deck speaker later.

A subwoofer I considered adding is the JL Audio 12TW1 MicroSub+, which has an integrated Class D amp with automatic turn-on capability (via signal sensing or DC offset sensing). In your opinion, would you think this subwoofer install require an additional relay to prevent the 12V errors?

I appreciate the help and insights!

 

[AdamMacDon]

Thank you for this, this was very informative. I'm surprised to hear the tweeters and A-pillars didn't add a lot to the sound quality, makes me feel better about not having the premium interior. If it's really not that dramatic, then I'll consider just adding the subwoofer, and possibly activating the rear deck speaker later.

A subwoofer I considered adding is the JL Audio 12TW1 MicroSub+, which has an integrated Class D amp with automatic turn-on capability (via signal sensing or DC offset sensing). In your opinion, would you think this subwoofer install require an additional relay to prevent the 12V errors?

I appreciate the help and insights!

No problem, I found the community here and on other forums very helpful, without them I never would have completed the premium audio upgrade to the quality I did with their help. Least I can do is return the favor!

I'd really recommend activating the rear deck and factory sub. The rear deck speakers are also SUPER easy to access (takes like 10 minutes if you're really slow and cautious). A great ROI for the time spent. The only catch is in some 2020 models they started phasing out the rear speakers and the wiring harness for them in the C-pillar area. You'll have to check your specific vehicle and see if they are there or not.

Whether you need to deal with the relay hassle really depends how much juice your system is pulling. I put in a 5 channel amp that is rated at 640 watts, and has a 40A fuse. So the maximum it could ever draw is 40A, and more realistically it's a fraction of that. In my case I have yet to see any 12V errors in about 3 weeks. The sub you specified is only 400W peak power, so I think it should be totally fine. if you want a sub, a great option is buy a factory sub (and one nut) from your local service center, mine only cost me $295 (Canadian, which is barely over $200 USD). It also bolts right in and allows you to avoid sacrificing any trunk space or aesthetics. It was hard to get, I ended up buying one from the next province over because my local SC is incompetent and claimed it was a restricted part, even though clearly not listed as such.

I'll be editing the video on my sound system install soon so people thinking about SR+ audio upgrades have an idea what to expect!

 

[Konea]

No problem, I found the community here and on other forums very helpful, without them I never would have completed the premium audio upgrade to the quality I did with their help. Least I can do is return the favor!

I'd really recommend activating the rear deck and factory sub. The rear deck speakers are also SUPER easy to access (takes like 10 minutes if you're really slow and cautious). A great ROI for the time spent. The only catch is in some 2020 models they started phasing out the rear speakers and the wiring harness for them in the C-pillar area. You'll have to check your specific vehicle and see if they are there or not.

Whether you need to deal with the relay hassle really depends how much juice your system is pulling. I put in a 5 channel amp that is rated at 640 watts, and has a 40A fuse. So the maximum it could ever draw is 40A, and more realistically it's a fraction of that. In my case I have yet to see any 12V errors in about 3 weeks. The sub you specified is only 400W peak power, so I think it should be totally fine. if you want a sub, a great option is buy a factory sub (and one nut) from your local service center, mine only cost me $295 (Canadian, which is barely over $200 USD). It also bolts right in and allows you to avoid sacrificing any trunk space or aesthetics. It was hard to get, I ended up buying one from the next province over because my local SC is incompetent and claimed it was a restricted part, even though clearly not listed as such.

I'll be editing the video on my sound system install soon so people thinking about SR+ audio upgrades have an idea what to expect!

What's the part number for the factory sub?

 

[AdamMacDon]

What's the part number for the factory sub?

Part number for the sub is: AUDIO,SPEAKER,SUBWOOFER,ASY 1079747-00-D

You'll also need ONE 10mm nut. The other bolt and nut are already there for the blank plate the SR+ has instead of the sub. Part info:
NUT,HEX,FLG,M6-1.0x14[St]-P-04 1016227-00-A

The nuts are technically restricted, so you may or not be able to get them, depending how chill your service center employees are.

For future reference, you can look up parts on the Tesla catalogue: https://epc.tesla.com/#/catalog

 

[21miDay]

The only catch is in some 2020 models they started phasing out the rear speakers and the wiring harness for them in the C-pillar area. You'll have to check your specific vehicle and see if they are there or not.

My car has the rear deck speakers and under software -> Additional vehicle information it has "Audio system: Premium speakers, no external amplifier". Someone who doesn't have the rear deck speakers - what does yours say?

 

[Supershanefx]

Just found this harness from TeslaOffer!

So how would I go about adding an amp to remove the load from the stock amp to this?

Purchase:
Model 3 SR+ Inactive Speaker Activation Wire Harness – Tesla Offer

 

[Chetanh]

Yes would like to know if this will make life easier. I want to do this but have never done car audio before. Cant find installer in the GTA. Maybe someone else with a little more knowledge wants to do it and we can do it together (GTA and around)

 

[badiban]

Just found this harness from TeslaOffer!

So how would I go about adding an amp to remove the load from the stock amp to this?

Purchase:
Model 3 SR+ Inactive Speaker Activation Wire Harness – Tesla Offer

This is a big deal, in my opinion. This seems much more noob-friendly and simpler. I'd be worried about overloading the OEM amplifier, though. Also, would this require you to add bassblockers for the tweeters?

 

[Chetanh]

Is the amp in the sr+ different from premoium? If yes then can we replace the amp to handle the extra speakers?

 

[todd2fst4u]

Is the amp in the sr+ different from premoium? If yes then can we replace the amp to handle the extra speakers?

It’s the same amp, it’s part of the ICE computer. The premium sound system adds a second amplifier. You can’t add this amplifier without modifying the software as well.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Just found this harness from TeslaOffer!

So how would I go about adding an amp to remove the load from the stock amp to this?

Purchase:
Model 3 SR+ Inactive Speaker Activation Wire Harness – Tesla Offer

Honestly that will probably not sound too great. The stock amp is something like 200 Watts and putting more speakers in parallel isn't ideal.

The best bang for buck is get a three channel amp, OEM subwoofer and hooking up the two rear deck speakers. It's not that hard either.

I'll post my video walkthrough of my install soon. I did 4 speakers and sub and I gotta be honest that the A pillars were not worth the hassle.

 

[hmmwv]

This is a big deal, in my opinion. This seems much more noob-friendly and simpler. I'd be worried about overloading the OEM amplifier, though. Also, would this require you to add bassblockers for the tweeters?

I've been watching the Chinese Tesla community developing a fool proof solution to activate those speakers since the beginning of the year. This particular harness popped up in China just a few months back and apparently there are tons of installs done already. I think it's a great price as it's pretty much the same as what sellers on Taobao charge. The results will be better than before but honestly without a dedicated amp it won't blow you away. It does not require you to add bassblockers, but you can do so by yourself.

 

[Chetanh]

I would be hesitant before connecting all the speakers to the same amp.

 

[AdamMacDon]

I would be hesitant before connecting all the speakers to the same amp.

Yup, I think this is at best a hack workaround. You really need another small amp of some kind to get the best experience. That said, I wish I'd known about this before my install, since it'd be nice to have pigtail harnesses instead of cutting and tapping directly into my OEM wires (even if they are useless in the SR+ model).