Scarlet_Tc

I'm sure this has been absolutely exhausted over the years but it really is nearly impossible to find the specs for the audio components of this damn car. I've searched high and low across the internet and the manual itself but I can't seem to find the power handling or output info for the HU or speakers anywhere. Has anyone had any luck? I have a 2015 with the base double din pioneer HU package.

drizzoh

The stock HU puts out somewhere around 12w @ 4Ω per channel. It is incredibly weak and the frequency range is laughable. You can swap in new speakers for a little volume and clarity
but the way it is wired (with only the 6x9's in the doors amped to about 35w.. at 2Ω) makes a PnP speaker swap somewhat of a pain. What are you trying to accomplish with the specs?

I redid the entire system because it is wired so terribly (new HU, 2 amps, all new 14g wiring, CF speakers w/ crossovers, Stealthbox, etc).
Absolutely worth it, but you can definitely get away with lower spec equipment if you're not an audiophile.

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Scarlet_Tc

Jesus, 12W lol. And I imagine the 6x9 "woofers" are only 35w because the stock amplifier is wired to them. Well this is the problem, I'm 100% an audiophile and super OCD. The sound quality of the mids and highs I could let slide (only because of financial reasons) but the stock bass just didn't do it for me. It never reaches that nice smack that you hope it will. So to start I've been aiming to up the bass game so I bought a 600W RMS JL Audio Amp to support a 600W 10 Inch Kicker Solo-Baric L7S. I've also dropped more money on sound deadening and proofing than I'd like to admit but I find the whole project and experience to be fun and I'll be sure to post about it when it's done! It's gonna be sick when all that rattling is gone and I've already abolished the dreaded armrest panel vibration!

However, I've started questioning balance issues and I'm worried the power behind the bass might drown out the speaker capabilities. Mind you I don't plan on listening to my bass at brain shaking levels, just want to get a nice kick to the chest to remember I'm alive. Anywyay, I've now fallen victim to dabbling with the idea of upgrading the speakers and/or HU in order to balance things out. Do we know what the stock speakers are capable of handling power wise? If I were to just upgrade the HU to boost the power going to them I feel like that would be the most cost effective first move if I run in to balance issues

drizzoh

Swapping out the source unit is always beneficial for overall sound quality. The stock speakers are pretty terrible to boot though. I first added only the sub and that only made the rest of the speakers sound completely inadequate - even when tuned to low levels. Then swapped out the rear 6.5's with some JBL GTO's. That was a nice upgrade but severely drowned out the front stage in sound levels (likely due to them being 3Ω native). With the front being wired so weird though, I then swapped out all the speakers with the Focals w/ crossovers and the 4ch Fosgate amp. This made a huge difference in sound quality (likely one that most would be happy with) but I wanted more control over the frequency tuning so I swapped out the hu last. Now I couldn't be happier. Had the stock unit been a bit better to begin with, I likely would have been fine keeping it. It's pretty, but not good for much else lol.

Given your requirements, you might be able to get away with doing just a door speaker swap + sub if you installed speakers that are more sensitive (such as JBL/Infinity that run 3Ω native). To go much further than that though you will really need to amp + rewire w/ crossovers.

Scarlet_Tc

awesome, thank you so much for all the info! I may definitely have to look in to all around new speakers as an investment. Though I suppose that means I need a completely new amp too :/ i spend most of my time in the car though so I guess it’s just that, an “investment”. Do you know of any other sites aside from Crutchfield for stuff that fits the tC specs? crutch seems to be out of a lot and not much seems to fit

drizzoh

Everyone is low on stock for everything due to all the Covid crap. I usually like Crutchfield but have had good experiences with Amazon and Sonic Electronix as well. I hid my amps under the seats so I had to make sure they were pretty tiny to fit under them for a full stealth install.

If you change the amp you will have to decide if you're running crossovers or not because there's not really another 'proper' way to setup the front stage with the 3 speaker configuration. There are different options, but it's really annoying if you don't amp + wiring + crossover + 3 way components. You can get away with just changing the speakers out, but at least try to get them all to be the same line of speaker for front and rear or the tones and levels will be off. As I said before, I'd try to find JBL or Infiniti speakers because they are very sensitive and will run on anything from 2-4Ω and will sound crisper and louder than the factory speakers without the need of an amp. They will also sound great if you decide to amp later on.

Since you're not looking for anything crazy, I'd start by swapping out the top 2 deck-amped speakers in the front doors and the rear 6.5's (6.75's will fit - use Metra 82-8148 brackets for these - you'll have to cut off some of the mounting tabs to make a bigger speaker fit since they're semi-universal) + your sub and see how you like the setup. If you need more after that, swap the lower 6x9's out and possibly amp them directly. You'll need a drill and a rivet gun to swap the 6x9's out.

Scarlet_Tc

Yeah, I have zero idea why they’ve set it up the way that they have. Well I guess I kind of do but still. The deck amped mid range and tweeters are 4 ohm and the lower 6x9 woofer is running 2ohm if I remember correctly? What if I were to bypass the stock amp altogether and just run the 6x9 off of deck amplification since I’m running the sub now? Also perhaps changing the 6x9 config so that it runs 4ohm instead of 2? Also I believe I recall you saying you swapped the front 6x9 for a round speaker? What size was that?

Also I was really hoping to some how find a rounded replacement of speakers from either JL Audio, Kicker, Alpine or Infinity. Not sure how difficult that will be. I was also going to swap the rear speaker for a coaxial to brighten the sound up

drizzoh

You can change the setup however you want to suit your needs. Just not sure if the HU signal would be enough to push a 4Ω 6x9. Many have swapped out those speakers and the sound was super muddy because of the weird way they amp. If you're looking for something simple, OEM Audio Plus makes a nice full cf speakered pnp amped setup for the tC if you wanted to take out the guess-work. Can get it without the subwoofer and save some green but still an expensive kit - somewhere around $1k subless. Doing a coax in the rear is a no-brainer. You pick up so much clarity doing this even with a low end speaker - but swapping them out without doing the fronts will make the rear shine vs just being fill. The biggest thing the front needs is audible tweeters and mids as they are pretty much invisible. The lows actually aren't that terrible (you're never going to get good bass sound from 6x9's anyway).

I'm running the Focal 165AS3 3-way component fronts w/ the 165AC 2-way coaxial rears. The fronts are using 6.75" round speakers in place of the 6x9's. My amp pushes ~125w per channel.

Added some pics so you can get an idea. The pic of the front doors is a bit older, have since added deadening between the speaker bracket and the door, but here's some pics of my setup. Door skins (and almost entire car) are 100% lined in Noico w/ a layer of Second Skin heatwave pro thermal insulation over top.