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.
I'll note that the base audio has gotten drastically better with the last few OTA updates. Like night and day. Still room for improvement, but music was unlistenable before.
Update Time!
TLDR; tapped driver's side rear door for signal, 12v cig outlet is good enough for power, going to throw everything into a sealed custom box with the subwoofer manuals recommend size of .75 cubic feet. (19x12x7 roughly, but I'm going to contour it to the storage well)
Aight kids, very sorry for my lack of updates for basically the last year. Had some stuff happen and this wasn't a priority. But now it is.
Here is what you are seeing with the attached photos. Speaker level tap of the rear driver door speaker which according to a frequency analyzer is as full range as it gets with the basic audio package.
I ran a 16awg, pure copper wire from the *inside* of the door wiring harness. That way, once the splice is shoved back in, the grommet seals the hole as normal and there aren't any extra holes anywhere. The magic wires you want are purple/black and black/purple; or the bottom right two wires if you are looking at the back of the plug. The new subwoofer input runs down into the B pillar and through an already made hole (thanks borescope!), to then continue it's way under the kick panel, behind the carpet trim, under the rear carpet, and into the trunk storage well.
Now, here's where I'm taking some creative license. Car audio amplifiers are 12v, and there happens to already be an e-fused 12v supply in the trunk that is ripe for the taking. I was originally going to use the trailer harness which is good for 35 amps, however, I read/heard somewhere that completing that circuit could cause the car to think there was a trailer attached. So in big bold print, the cigarette lighter says 180 watts max. For the mathletes out there, that's 15amps @ 12v. Perhaps a bit light for a subwoofer, but A: we aren't going to any competitions, and B: peak RMS is hard to get to in the real world and almost always transient in nature (ie. not a constant draw). Certainly worth it for me to at least try this first. I will also note that the Rivian was putting out 13.4v in these tests so that's 200+ watts.
What you really want to read is.... everything sounded so much better with the subwoofer. Like, everything. Like, really better. In fact, when I was breaking everything down to clean up, I unplugged the subwoofer first and couldn't believe how the stock stereo sounded so naked in it's default state.
Equipment:
NVX VADM1 500 watt RMS (500@1ohm,350@2ohm,180@4ohm)
NVX SMW10D4 dual voice coil 350 watt RMS (2x4ohm posts, 2ohm when wired in series)
L2Ci, still on the fence if I need it, so TBD
Next steps:
Finalize connections
Build the actual speaker box
Enjoy
Recommend checking out Car Audio for your Rivian. Crutchfield customer service people have always been worth talking to/chatting with.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....
Appreciate that, but i think we are on the right track again.
I'm tapping the rear door, you may be referring to the front door harness. In my ear dyno, the rear seemed slightly louder. Being physically closer to the rear was nice as well so less wire to run.That's interesting. So there was no vacant space in the middle? The front door connector (looks the same) has vacant space in the middle. It also has a third connector there, that has the two coax cables for the cameras. I guess it's different. I pushed wires thru the front door.
How would I go about doing that test? Interesting theory.
