Diving Into Gen2 Standard Audio to Add a Subwoofer

[Supratachophobia]

So everything is great. 7 weeks into ownership of Gen2, and certainly some software bugs. But it is what it is. Now onto the nagging question...

I would have liked to have had premium audio on the shop audio, but it wasn't in the cards for what was available and for what it cost.

Piecing together some other subwoofer threads, I think I found the elusive pink trailer wire for power so that's a solved problem. But I also found what I think is the unused subwoofer signal wire. I'm going to see if it's actually passing any audio through it.

Under the driver's seat does not seem to have an amplifier like in another thread. There is a box with lots of scary orange wires. And on the passenger side, there's something labeled "CSB Energy" and "ABS". If anyone has ideas where the factory amp might be, I'd like to find the other end of that subwoofer connector....

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[BLG]

Following. I’m in the same boat. Show me the way! ?

 

[Whale Blubber]

Don't know if this is helpful to you, but here's a bunch of threads I was tracking when considering my hardware upgrade (which never happened):


Rivian R1 Sound System Upgrade - Social Media Posts

https://s00n.rivianstories.com/posts/stock-subwoofer-upgrade



https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/completed-speaker-sub-upgrade-in-rivian-r1s.22815/





https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/attachments/audio-harness-pdf.59599/ {pdf of audio harness)

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...ivers-seat-and-speaker-harness-pinnout.17077/ (thread on audio harness and seat teardown)

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/attachments/battery-pdf.61669/ (pdf of battery (two battery))

 

[fjfilips]

Same here, R1S in the way without premium audio. Would love to plug and play a sub.

 

[Supratachophobia]

Lots of responses already! Looks like Gen2 might be a totally new beast. I've read through the threads mentioned (thank you), and it looks like things are located in different places the gen2. Going to see if that connector has an audio signal.

 

[Davethadog]

It’s very possible that there is no amp and that the infotainment “headunit” handles the the output. The harness is totally new for gen 2, the goldmine would be if you could find an unused signal sitting dormant.

 

[Supratachophobia]

It’s very possible that there is no amp and that the infotainment “headunit” handles the the output. The harness is totally new for gen 2, the goldmine would be if you could find an unused signal sitting dormant.

I have to believe there's an amp somewhere since it was pretty confirmed the MCU didn't change.

But for the audio signal, I know, right?

 

[BrianB]

I’m rooting for you to figure this out!!

 

[Kylechoffman]

Following and happy to contribute

 

[Supratachophobia]

Just got word from a reliable source that shall always remain nameless, that the new location for the non-premium audio amp is under the passenger side dash. Didn't get confirmation that premium had moved there yet, but my gut says yes.

 

[Supratachophobia]

Hey buddy..... Whatcha doing hiding up here?

This is up under the passenger side dash. Orientation is connectors going up into the amplifier. Someone who isn't colorblind, can you find the two wires from the picture in the original post, in this picture?

Not sure what this means, but maybe the amps are the same between premium audio/standard, and it's just software/processing plus extra physical speakers that make up the difference?

I would be hesitant to physically cut the sub wires here since that's permanent. But this would also be an excellent place to tap an output to a wire than already runs back to *exactly* where you need it.

Last question to throw out there, are we thinking the crossover is done through software or hardware? If software, then a full range tap would need to be on a door speaker. But if hardware at the speaker, it could be done at any speaker.

 

[BrianB]

Looks like the waffle maker got a deal on purple wire

 

[Whale Blubber]

Wouldn't it be nice if the OEM had an electrical diagram or workshop manual available so people could work on the cars without having to reverse engineer them first?

 

[Supratachophobia]

Looks like the waffle maker got a deal on purple wire

Seriously though, are you able to see if those wires match between the two pictures? I can't tell colors.

 

[BrianB]

Seriously though, are you able to see if those wires match between the two pictures? I can't tell colors.

Seriously, it’s a lot of purple/white wires. In a static photo, where I can’t see both sides of the wire, I couldn’t tell which match well enough that I would cut anything.

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