[Franckche]

No longer exists

And with this link : Système audio premium Meridian

 

[Jester]

And with this link : Système audio premium Meridian

 

[Dapicec]

Thank you everyone for contributing and sharing your builds. It has helped a lot and inspired me to put in a kicker 46hs10. The sound system finally has some life to it and better reflects the amazing car that it inhabits.

Connecting the speaker was super easy. I wanted to keep the plug intact, so I used a 12v cigarette adapter and spliced it to the corresponding colored wires on the amp, then simply plugged it into the rear socket. Seems to be working with no issues, it's pretty snug, but time will tell how it holds up. It turns off automatically when the car turns off using "DC" on the auto turn on switch.

Bolted down the board holding the amp with the bigger holes next to the smaller holes that the old amp was secured to. I used a rubber 1/2" kitchen mat between the frame and board and between the board and the speaker.

If you are hesitating, don't. Now I have the sound profile that I expected from a premium audio system.

It's a shame that we have to resort to this after such an expensive purchase. My theroy is that Kia is limiting the amp through software, so that the faulty amps won't end up blowing like they have been.

I have a letter from Merdian that confirms that the front and rear doors have the same hardware and should have similar bass response. Took this to my service department and they decided to compare it to new Ev6s that eventually came in. They both suffered from the same underpower issues, one was really bad. Service department couldn't care less. Decided to take matters into my own hands.

Let me know if you have any questions. I would love if everyone pressured Kia to make it right.

NOCO GC019 15A 14AWG 12V Adapter,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G8WLX14?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

KICKER 46HS10 Compact Powered... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083M9HR4D?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

KitchenClouds Kitchen Mat... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CYDRFWQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[Franckche]

Sorry for the inactive links.
May be with the file directly ???

 

[Jester]

Merci!

 

[StuartJ]

I bought the JBL BassPro SL2, and i'm disappointed. It's either too boomey, or you can hardly hear it except for a narrow band of bass that thumps. It's so unnatural. The output from the Meridian amplifier is clearly not a flat frequency response. I guess it's running through a DSP to try and extract as much bass from the original passive speaker as it can, and the JBL is not matched. Yes, I fiddled with all the controls on the amp. Bass boost down to zero. I brought the JBLs remote level control to front, and you have to adjust it all the time to match it to the material your listening too.

Does anyone know if the Meridian amplifier has a spare line level output?

 

[alexw]

I bought the JBL BassPro SL2, and i'm disappointed. It's either too boomey, or you can hardly hear it except for a narrow band of bass that thumps. It's so unnatural. The output from the Meridian amplifier is clearly not a flat frequency response. I guess it's running through a DSP to try and extract as much bass from the original passive speaker as it can, and the JBL is not matched. Yes, I fiddled with all the controls on the amp. Bass boost down to zero. I brought the JBLs remote level control to front, and you have to adjust it all the time to match it to the material your listening too.

Does anyone know if the Meridian amplifier has a spare line level output?

I’ve been planning to tap off the trunk speaker lines to A/B compare with the sub outputs I’m currently using, but it’s okay enough for now that I haven’t taken the time. I just leave my sub amp’s filters wide open and let the stock shaping ride.

The one thing that does bug me is that the volume scaling for the sub seems different than the other speakers, like at high volume I need a higher subwoofer amp volume that’s overkill at lower system volume. I’m hoping the trunk speakers scale better.

 

[Manticore]

I bought the JBL BassPro SL2, and i'm disappointed. It's either too boomey, or you can hardly hear it except for a narrow band of bass that thumps. It's so unnatural. The output from the Meridian amplifier is clearly not a flat frequency response. I guess it's running through a DSP to try and extract as much bass from the original passive speaker as it can, and the JBL is not matched. Yes, I fiddled with all the controls on the amp. Bass boost down to zero. I brought the JBLs remote level control to front, and you have to adjust it all the time to match it to the material your listening too.

Does anyone know if the Meridian amplifier has a spare line level output?

No, it does not have any line level outputs. It's inputs are all digital. Most people are utilizing the existing 4 wires coming from the amplifier. EV6 Head Unit Sheet 1
EV6 Head Unit Sheet 2
You should note that the AMP has 2 output channels, and the Meridian Sub employs a single woofer. The woofer has dual voice coils and since it is really bi-amped it is actually capable of some commanding output when the output isn't muted by -20 dBA.
I was an audio engineer in a former life and have taken SPL measurements from every driver using a calibrated pink noise source. Not only are the subwoofer outputs muted, but so are the rear door speakers and the surrounds (unless Meridian Surround is ON). So if you really want to solve all the ills on your own, you should consider adding amplification to the rest of the rear drivers.
The current KIA TSB's 494 and 494A for the Meridian AMP don't address this problem at all, but it is a widely complained about issue. My dealer is totally convinced on this issue and he has observed the same problem on EV6's received this month, so it isn't limited to early production cars for the US market.

 

[StuartJ]

No, it does not. Most people are utilizing the existing 4 wires coming from the amplifier. EV6 Head Unit Sheet 1
EV6 Head Unit Sheet 2

Very interesting thanks.
Another thing to note, is the JBL amp is on auto-sense mode, and I have to crank the volume up to get it to switch on. I think this is further evidence, something is not right about the subwoofer output from the Meridian.

 

[redrum]

Even the front speakers had issues playing some genres and could never get loud enough for my tastes before sounding spitty/strident. I was completely underwhelmed with the sound, not just the anemic bass, so I recently did a whole revamp of the sound system and took the Meridian sound system out of the equation. With sub frequencies I do have to change the output levels to better match the material I'm listening to, but this is normal for any system. Having a sub output control knob up front is super vital.

Once I get more specifics from my installer, I'll share the details on where he tapped off to get the best signal. I do know we wanted to get the signal directly from the AV head unit, but unfortunately the Maestro AR module isn't compatible yet with the EV6 (or EVs in general) in this application, which meant he had to use a POST stock amp output.

 

[alexw]

No, it does not have any line level outputs. It's inputs are all digital. Most people are utilizing the existing 4 wires coming from the amplifier. EV6 Head Unit Sheet 1
EV6 Head Unit Sheet 2
You should note that the AMP has 2 output channels, and the Meridian Sub employs a single woofer. The woofer has dual voice coils and since it is really bi-amped it is actually capable of some commanding output when the output isn't muted by -20 dBA.
I was an audio engineer in a former life and have taken SPL measurements from every driver using a calibrated pink noise source. Not only are the subwoofer outputs muted, but so are the rear door speakers and the surrounds (unless Meridian Surround is ON). So if you really want to solve all the ills on your own, you should consider adding amplification to the rest of the rear drivers.
The current KIA TSB's 494 and 494A for the Meridian AMP don't address this problem at all, but it is a widely complained about issue. My dealer is totally convinced on this issue and he has observed the same problem on EV6's received this month, so it isn't limited to early production cars for the US market.

Super interesting! Did you by chance run that test at multiple system volume strings to verify it’s a constant -20dB, vs differing with volume?

 

[Manticore]

Super interesting! Did you by chance run that test at multiple system volume strings to verify it’s a constant -20dB, vs differing with volume?

Yes, but I have run so many tests I don't want to overcomplicate things. Suffice it to say if I set the front center to 80 dBA, the sub would also increase by 5 dBA, but the difference remains constant.
I should also note that the level difference is not -20 dB for all the rear speakers; only the subwoofer demonstrates that big of a difference.
For example, the rear surrounds were down by -15 dB; the rear door tweeters were down by -12 dB. The differences start at -2 dB for the front tweeters and gradually increase as you move backwards. Also, turning on Meridian Surround mode increases the rear surround output (but only those 2 speakers) further complicating the problem.
I chose to present only the unprocessed, totally flat signal to insure every driver received exactly the same signal from the source. The differences exhibited are totally outside the operator's control, and Meridian has gone on record saying there should be no difference in perceived volume or quality between the front and rear speakers.

 

[Jester]

No, it does not have any line level outputs. It's inputs are all digital. Most people are utilizing the existing 4 wires coming from the amplifier. EV6 Head Unit Sheet 1
EV6 Head Unit Sheet 2

Any chance you can get the diagram for the non-meridian system?

Would love to eventually get an amp and sub installed.

Thanks

 

[redrum]

Any chance you can get the diagram for the non-meridian system?

Would love to eventually get an amp and sub installed.

Thanks

I was going to link the thread where I downloaded the non-Meridian schematics from, but I couldn't find it. Here's the attachment from that thread, I think it's the right one.

 

[Jester]

I was going to link the thread where I downloaded the non-Meridian schematics from, but I couldn't find it. Here's the attachment from that thread, I think it's the right one.

Fantastic...

Thank you

 

[ohmyTom]

Ordered Pioneer TS-WX400DA and AT-HLC130 converter.
Going to get power from cigarette lighter with 15A fuse.
The sub says it consume 9.4A max, but with 250W max, I don't quite understand will it trigger the 15A fuse or not??

 

[StuartJ]

The sub says it consume 9.4A max, but with 250W max, I don't quite understand will it trigger the 15A fuse or not??

It will be fine.

 

[LorAlpes]

Hi everyone,
New in this forum (from France), I just got my EV6 GT-Line last October and realized that my previous E-Niro Premium was providing a better sound experience ! Then I googled with the Meridian and I went here . I'm also in the similar French Forum).
So I was trying different possible parameters settings with various kind of musics (all in FLAC), but yes at the end lack of something and especially bass from rear side.
I'm just starting to evaluate what to do : either to change the existing passive sub-woofer (as several did in this forum with apparently significant improvements) or keep it and interface with a dedicated amplifier to boost a bit the signal.
=> did anyone make an upgrade but keeping the Meridian sub-woofer ? What feedbacks about its quality (dual coils loudspeaker), seems to be solid ? Do we need hundreds of watts (I saw some "kicker" references) or just give a hand to the existing stuff ?
Thanks.
Marc.

 

[alexw]

Hi everyone,
New in this forum (from France), I just got my EV6 GT-Line last October and realized that my previous E-Niro Premium was providing a better sound experience ! Then I googled with the Meridian and I went here . I'm also in the similar French Forum).
So I was trying different possible parameters settings with various kind of musics (all in FLAC), but yes at the end lack of something and especially bass from rear side.
I'm just starting to evaluate what to do : either to change the existing passive sub-woofer (as several did in this forum with apparently significant improvements) or keep it and interface with a dedicated amplifier to boost a bit the signal.
=> did anyone make an upgrade but keeping the Meridian sub-woofer ? What feedbacks about its quality (dual coils loudspeaker), seems to be solid ? Do we need hundreds of watts (I saw some "kicker" references) or just give a hand to the existing stuff ?
Thanks.
Marc.

Step 1: wait. Burn in actually makes a decent difference here, and there’s zero from the factory. Mine took like 100 driving hours to start sounding better.
Step 2: replacement sub. I think basically anything would do, and I’d go pre-packaged powered sub. I installed a type S and a 600W mono amp and it’s colossal overkill. I don’t think re-amplifying the stock amp is likely to produce good results, especially not given how (in)expensive powered subs are compared to amps.

 

[jwg08]

I recently installed a custom 8 inch fiberglass woofer taking up the bottom area where the oem stock sub did. It is a Dayton audio HO series 8 inch woofer with a 375w rms amp (skar audio 1200 something) and makes more than enough bass. That plus some eq touchups I did on the midrange really make the sound quite good (coming from an audio systems engineer background). Anyone interested in details message me. View attachment 4727

Why only 8"?Why not 10 or 12? And did you just install it easily yourself or have Best Buy or someone install it for you? How much and how easy was the process?