Yup, it is bleak over there. I did post this information over on the kia forums after I couldn't find any information during my search for answers.
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I installed a device from these guys, so far for half a year the radio has been working fine, you can contact them
htttps://smarty-trend.com/kia-sorento-2013-2015/5818-kia-sorento-2012-2021-android-car-stereo-navigation-in-dash-head-unit-ultra-premium-series.html
Did a few updates to this car a couple of weeks ago. Went all JL Audio.
Front - C3 2 way components
Rear - C2 coaxial
Subs - 2 JL Tw3's in truckwedge boxes
Amps - VXI 800/8 and 1000/1
VXI Hub and optical loopback for global eq
All the product
Attachment 18722
Mocking up New amp locations.
Attachment 18721
Pulling all the stupid panels
Attachment 18723
Having to run a ground under the vehicle. All factory grounding locations and original had like 6 ohms of resistance. I knew this wasn't great for the other amp (alpine pdr) I had in there before, but I was too lazy at that point to run a ground so went easy route at that time...but now with this much power on tap, I couldn't do that.
Attachment 18724
Running new wire into the rear doors. Front already was done on previous install.
Attachment 18725
Single Amp Rack mockup done.
Attachment 18729
Building the amp rack. My inspriation was to mimick the tw3 in the truck wedge box. I need to go back and shave the carpet on the amp rack....it was very fuzzy.
Attachment 18726
Second amp rack done
Attachment 18727
Both amps on them
Attachment 18728
Everything all wired up
Attachment 18734
Closer view of the wiring on the back
Attachment 18735
Got both subs in there now
Attachment 18731
Everythign all conceals perfectly. My wife opted for the 2 row model and not a 3rd row. That left this nice area to hide everything
Attachment 18732
Got it all Tuned with the JL Max. This 2 way is one of the best I have ever heard. It images like crazy and sounds fantastic. I am in shock at how well it sounds.
Attachment 18733
Nice and clean!
looks great. I love a great stealth build.
Here is some other info for anyone that searches for kia radios.
This is from a 2013 kia sorento radio with uvo without factory amp.
Note, there is technically pins for spdif coax, but when checking, those were not active on my radio.
I am no longer using this radio (we use it for our trainings now)
Finally put the Kia radio on the test bench at work with the JL MAX. Also remembered to bring in my FM transmitter, (using radio static and open loop actually worked well for this as I got similar results for time stuff, rta was different though.
Aux/USB/Bluetooth in has 1.00ms of delay between left and right channel FM/Phone calls/etc in has 0.41ms of delay between left and right channels.
So if a person wanted to use this Kia Factory radio, and have a good system, they wouldn't be able to time align to all sources without different presets.
Attachment 18740
This is the impulse between aux/usb/bluetooth audio in (yellow and orange with 1ms of delay) and FM/AM/Phone calls (green and blue with 0.41ms of delay) This is why you need two presets for this radio. Also, neither are actually correct delays for proper time alignment to main listening position. I do not know how they came up with these numbers either...
Attachment 18739
Factory eq on it. It did have volume dependent eq. The top orange is vol e, and the one right below is vol30. If no vol eq, those would be the same. It isn't much but there is some treble and bass roll off compared to lower volumes.
Attachment 18738
Another way to see the factory delay. I summed the left and right signal going into the JL max hi level ins. When doing this, you can clearly see the delay appear as comb filtering. You can model this too with the target mode in tun.
Attachment 18737
The JL Max also allows you to delay the hi level in signal. So I did that to remove the delay. You could do this with a sound card like RME/Focusrite/etc, but be VERY CAREFUL on how much voltage you put into one of those!
Attachment 18736
These are the bass, mid, treble adjustments compared to default. Bass adjusts below about 100hz. Treble above about 4k, and mid is 300-1k.
Attachment 18742
This is the powerbass option within the radio. It increases the bass but lowers the midbass (~150hz) some. I would personally set this to high if I was using this radio.
Attachment 18741
Thanks for posting that. Even though it might not be relevant right now, it could be invaluable for someone in the future.