Hyundai Palisade Car Audio Upgrade Review: Focal Bomba Subwoofer

Hyundai Palisade Audio: Is KRELL Sound Enough?

The Hyundai Palisade, a spacious large SUV, offers ample interior room, but this also necessitates a robust sound system to fill the cabin effectively. Even with the KRELL audio option, a lack of deep, impactful bass can leave the overall sound feeling incomplete. This was precisely the concern of the owner in this case.

While the Palisade's KRELL system excels in mid and high frequencies, its low-frequency reproduction is often limited. Simply adding a DSP like the Musway D8 might not be enough to achieve the perfect punch and grandeur of bass without an active subwoofer. This review details an installation at E-Customs that added a Focal Bomba active subwoofer to a Hyundai Palisade.

Palisade Inspection and Existing System Check

The owner had previously installed a Musway D8 DSP and upgraded the front speakers but felt the sound was lacking and the bass was insufficient. Upon arrival at E-Customs, a thorough inspection of the existing setup began. The wiring and sound output of the Musway D8 DSP were checked. It was found that the initial settings lacked proper balance in channel volume and phase alignment, crucial for optimal signal processing.

After consulting with the owner, it was explained that while DSP tuning could improve bass impact to some extent, an active subwoofer was necessary to fully energize the Palisade's expansive interior. The focus then shifted to enhancing the low-end frequencies.

Focal Bomba BP20: The Key to Enhanced Palisade Bass

The chosen component for this upgrade was the Focal Bomba BP20 active subwoofer. This unit features an 8-inch subwoofer driver and a band-pass enclosure design. It boasts a built-in Class D amplifier with 150W RMS and 300W peak power. This power output is substantial enough to deliver powerful bass that can adequately fill the large cabin of the Palisade. The band-pass enclosure is specifically designed to boost certain low-frequency ranges, contributing to a richer bass experience.

Subwoofer Installation in the Palisade Trunk: Power Supply is Crucial

Proper and stable power delivery is paramount for the internal amplifier of an active subwoofer. Drawing power directly from the interior fuse box can lead to sound quality degradation and heat issues. To ensure optimal performance, E-Customs ran an 8-gauge power cable directly from the battery.

The wiring from the engine bay into the cabin was meticulously routed along the factory lines to prevent leaks or interference. The RCA signal cables were connected from the Musway D8 DSP's 9th and 10th channel pre-out ports. To minimize electromagnetic interference, these signal cables were routed on the opposite side of the power cable all the way to the trunk.

Completing the KRELL Audio System with Precision DSP Tuning

With the hardware installation complete, the most critical phase began: precision DSP tuning. Using specialized RTA (Real-Time Analyzer) equipment, the acoustic environment within the Palisade was analyzed. Based on the resulting graph, the phase alignment, time alignment (synchronizing signal arrival times from each speaker), and frequency response were completely re-calibrated from scratch.

The core of this upgrade was integrating the Focal Bomba active subwoofer with the existing system. Achieving perfect phase and time alignment between the factory KRELL system and the new subwoofer was essential to ensure the low frequencies blended seamlessly, creating a cohesive and powerful soundstage throughout the vehicle.