# Dodge Ram w/Alpine "Premium" System



## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

Trying to help a buddy replace the lacking system in his (I think) 2012 Dodge Ram. It has the premium system with nav and all that jazz.

Who has experience with this system? Plan is to use the factory HU with an MS8. A few things are worrying me. I'm wondering where I need to tap for full range signal. Am I going to have any issues with the hands free bluetooth for making calls? I remember some cars only use the center channel for sounds like that.

The other thing I'm wondering is if the system curve changes as volume is adjusted. 

Most of my searches have turned up posts from truck guys. Not audio guys.

I'd love to hear any advice from people who have worked with these trucks.

Plans so far are.

MS8 for processing
3" full range in factory dash locations
6.5" midbass in front doors
Dual 10's in storage compartments under rear seats.

Still undecided on center. I've heard the MS8 does well with one.
Not sure if rear speakers are going to be used. He's old school and thinks he'll need them.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Replacing all the speakers in the Alpine stock system is a real PITA. Figure the better part of a weekend to take it all apart, install everything properly and put it back together again. If the truck has the full built in console, the subs under the back seat are the easiest option but if it has the type of split bench front seats with the removable section, a downfiring ported 12" installed there will perform much better.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

Chaos said:


> Replacing all the speakers in the Alpine stock system is a real PITA. Figure the better part of a weekend to take it all apart, install everything properly and put it back together again. If the truck has the full built in console, the subs under the back seat are the easiest option but if it has the type of split bench front seats with the removable section, a downfiring ported 12" installed there will perform much better.


What do you mean PITA? What's the biggest pain?

If I only do front full-range and midbass... surely it can't be THAT difficult. Lol. What problems did you have?

The truck is full FULL load so it has a center console with inputs and such. Big storage compartment and shifter is in the console too.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

Seems like the MS8 will do pretty much all I need it to. NONE of the speakers receive full range signal so it will have to be summed. Need to tap into all front signals + sub. Shouldn't be too bad.


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## kkreit01 (Aug 27, 2009)

I've been working on my Ram off and on all summer. I'd tap into the OE signals after the OE Alpine amp. It's up under the dash on the driver's side (hidden pretty well). You can find wiring diagrams online (it's the same for Jeeps, etc. that use this same horrible system). It sounds like you have a good plan. I didn't have funds for a DSP, so I used an AudioControl LC6i. I summed the front doors, rear doors, and sub. This provide the best sound for me. I tried summing the dash speakers instead of rear, and it was worse. You'll probably tap all for the MS-8. I have Morel Tempos in my front doors, and a Bravox 10" sub. I am quite pleased with it now (it took a long time coming). I do have an Alpine (aftermarket) 3.5 in the center dash (off OE amp). It's really only heard for Uconnect and Navi Voice. I do plan to add a 5 channel, rear Morels, and maybe EQ in the future. The OE signal needs a lot of EQing. You'll be cursing along the way. It's truly a horrible system -- which Alpine should be ashamed to put their name on. The doors are sealed pretty good, and have some deadening from factory. I only added 1-2 SDS tiles in each front door. The fronts only have about 2.75" depth. There's not much top mount space available before it hits the OE grill on door panel.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

kkreit01 said:


> I've been working on my Ram off and on all summer. I'd tap into the OE signals after the OE Alpine amp. It's up under the dash on the driver's side (hidden pretty well). You can find wiring diagrams online (it's the same for Jeeps, etc. that use this same horrible system). It sounds like you have a good plan. I didn't have funds for a DSP, so I used an AudioControl LC6i. I summed the front doors, rear doors, and sub. This provide the best sound for me. I tried summing the dash speakers instead of rear, and it was worse. You'll probably tap all for the MS-8. I have Morel Tempos in my front doors, and a Bravox 10" sub. I am quite pleased with it now (it took a long time coming). I do have an Alpine (aftermarket) 3.5 in the center dash (off OE amp). It's really only heard for Uconnect and Navi Voice. I do plan to add a 5 channel, rear Morels, and maybe EQ in the future. The OE signal needs a lot of EQing. You'll be cursing along the way. It's truly a horrible system -- which Alpine should be ashamed to put their name on. The doors are sealed pretty good, and have some deadening from factory. I only added 1-2 SDS tiles in each front door. The fronts only have about 2.75" depth. There's not much top mount space available before it hits the OE grill on door panel.


Thanks for the help.

I thought people were saying the center channel handles a lot of the audio... I wonder if I can just leave it out. I'll have to mess around a bit and see if anything is coming out during normal music playback and see how that compares to when making calls.

Thanks for the tip on the doors. I'll prob be going with SB mids. Should be ok with an MDF adapter/spacer.

I've got some Roadkill Extreme that I'll put in as well. We'll see how resonant the panels are once it's apart.

Did you pull cable through the molex?


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## ALan Z (Oct 9, 2013)

Thought I would chime in since I just got done doing some work on my ram. Speaker cable through the molex is easy. All the doors have big open hole to run cable through except the driver's door. The driver's door does have space you just need to split the speaker wire and run it separately. I disconnected my center channel about a month ago, no problem with Bluetooth. For my system I left the rear speakers attached to the factory output and summed my dash, front doors and sub through a RF 3sixty. It's working well. Just finished a couple of days ago and it's coming along, I'm still eq'ing and working out T/A. I used a single 12" sealed enclosure by fox acoustics. Works well with my FI 12" sub. Besides that everything else is fairly easy.


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## dengland (May 25, 2014)

JVD240 said:


> Trying to help a buddy replace the lacking system in his (I think) 2012 Dodge Ram. It has the premium system with nav and all that jazz.
> 
> <SNIP>
> 
> ...


How did this turn out? Did you ever help your buddy?

I bought a 2014 Ram 1500 Limited 2 days ago. It has the 9 speaker Alpine with the sub. I find the Ram setup muddy at the moment. I am going to have to do something....

Thanks


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

dengland said:


> How did this turn out? Did you ever help your buddy?
> 
> I bought a 2014 Ram 1500 Limited 2 days ago. It has the 9 speaker Alpine with the sub. I find the Ram setup muddy at the moment. I am going to have to do something....
> 
> Thanks


Hey man.

It turned out well. Ended up using Audible Physics NZ3A on the dash, H6MB in the front doors and a JL 13TW5v2 in the passenger size storage bin area. 

I used an MS8 for processing the stock high level outputs from the alpine amp. We are looking to replace the processor at the moment because I'm not entirely happy with the tunes the MS8 has been outputting. It seems to be lacking in the midbass region. It images quite well but is not exactly how I want it tonally.

Feel free to ask any questions about it.


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## dengland (May 25, 2014)

Thanks for the response.

This looks interesting for access to "non" processed audio:

Pac-Audio.com Product Details | iPod Integration for your car and More by Pac-Audio - Connecting you to the future

Did you consider the 3sixty3 over the MS8?

I got really spoiled in my 2004 Tundra Access cab. Found a mount for two 8" in a Q-Logic box that replaced a storage bin under the rear seat bench. I had Comp VRs driven by a 300W RF Amp. Bass was Very tight and more than adequate.

Did you leave the center channel connected? Seems like all the sound is coming from dead center of the windshield to me right now (with "surround" turned off).


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

dengland said:


> Thanks for the response.
> 
> This looks interesting for access to "non" processed audio:
> 
> ...


That PAC device would have been very helpful had I known about it. Haha. I would have run that in conjunction with the processor. 

I considered all processors to be honest... I just decided on the MS8 because it wasn't for my vehicle and I didn't want to spend a ton of time on setup/tuning. The owner has little knowledge of audio so this seemed adequate. In hindsight I wish I had gone another route. The features are very limited on the MS8 once it finishes it's tune.

The JL slim sub in this truck sounds very nice. It's a tight squeeze but it was worth the effort. Lots of low end output for a smallish sealed enclosure. I prefer single sub when I can get away with it.

I left the centre channel disconnected. It's just personal preference. The stock tune was so horrible. Centre channel was up like 10dB. It drove me crazy. I think my friend did mention he lost his back up warning beep though. Not a problem with reverse cam and everything else seems to function as it should.


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## dengland (May 25, 2014)

JVD240 said:


> I left the centre channel disconnected. It's just personal preference. The stock tune was so horrible. Centre channel was up like 10dB. It drove me crazy. I think my friend did mention he lost his back up warning beep though. Not a problem with reverse cam and everything else seems to function as it should.


Bit late, but thanks for the response. I think I need to breakdown and get myself set up with a calibrated UMIK-1 USB mic (or equivalent) and REW if (really when, not if) I am going to tackle this project.

I am not sure I trust what I have measured so far. Link below shows what I saw:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/system-design-help-me-choose-equipment-my-car/163916-2014-ram-1500-alpine-measurements.html


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## ThatMattGuy (Mar 5, 2016)

I have a similar question. I have a 2015 Ram1500 regular cab with the Alpine system. I won't lie I'm a rookie and I'm only used to aftermarket decks. I used a HI/LO to both rear speakers and ran a power wire and ground cable for my amp and sub (Alpine MRX-M110 with 12" Alpine Type R and 4 gauge wire. 18gauge to speakers and 14 gauge to sub). The bass seems lacking and the gain is turned way more up than my previous set up in my other 2012 RAM truck (non alpine premium deck) so it's disappointing. When I did a polarity check both pos and neg wires lit up the light on my tester so I had to go with what sounded best.

The big problem I'm having is the USB input and Bluetooth audio. I never touched it. But it has a hard time recognizing my iPhone sometimes and it sometimes cuts in and out or just stops playing. In fact the iPhone will show its playing the song but no audio is coming out at all. Or the factory screen freezes or just shows the name of my iPhone but no album, artist and song and no music. Same with the Bluetooth. 

What should I do differently if I just want my sub installed and hitting harder and are the two issues related? Like I said I never touched anything but the rear speakers.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Tap into the low level pre amp signal going into factory amp under driver dash. 

It dosent have volume control from the deck but is pre amp. Use the ms8 to do the volume control 

Keep the pre amp signal hooked into factory amp as well!!!!!
Also keep the center channel speaker hooked up and bury the speaker in the dash if your doing a center from ms8 that way you will still be able to use BT HF and have nav voices . 

The BT HF and nav comes from the factory amp. So the factory amp has to remain hooked up and so does a speaker from the center. Again bury the speaker in the dash if your using center from ms8

It works very very good, sq is the best it can be! 

You'll loose volume from steering wheel and deck for music from ms8 but who cares the sq is worth the trade off.

No need for line out converter , even if you didn't have a ms8 someone could add a pac-LC1 and use that as a volume control if no dsp was being used


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

^^ I did it in this install with a helix. Had amazing results 

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...nstall-gallery/227282-2015-ram-build-log.html


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