Kia speaker lamp mod

[squishfly]

I drove a Kia Soul the other day and fell in love with the speaker lamps it has (you know, the cool LED lights behind the speaker grill that pulse with the music..
Well, I found A thread on a Kia forum (they are adding the speaker lamps to the rear door as the Kia Soul only comes with them on the front.) and I am wanting to do it to my Beetle.
rear door speaker light install how-to UPDATED - Kia Soul Forums :: Kia Soul Owners
The only problem is that they are wiring the lights into the existing controller for the speaker lamps.
Does anyone have any ideas on where to wire the lights so they will pulse with the music?

[dmbluebeetle]

If the controller in the picture does all the work, then you should get one of those as it would already be set up for lights.

I'm surprised that no one has started producing speakers with the lights built in already.

There are electronics kits you can build to do this too.
http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl;j...0?it=A&id=2423

[wawalker]

Texting, flip-up video screens, cell phones, your burger from BK, flashing speaker lights, etc....

Pretty soon you won't have any attention left to pay to that annoying thing called the road.

I'm sure these things look pretty cool, I saw the commercial, but IMO they belong in a club, not a car.

I'm getting pretty tired of all the distracted driving myself--I see people swerving and crossing the lines all the time, mostly they are texting--I call the 800 DUI line when they are doing it repeatedly.

[Toad]

Unless you have some flashy speakers, I don't really see the point. I did put leds inside the grill of my beetles door speakers, but they were just wired right to yther dash lights so they were just on or off, but they did look awesome.

I also am the kind of person who hates flashings things in their field of vision. Or just lights that aren't supposed to be there.

It would be cool to see someone do this, but I bet the speakers in the soul are a little more visible than the ones in the beetle.

[squishfly]

Originally Posted by dmbluebeetle

If the controller in the picture does all the work, then you should get one of those as it would already be set up for lights.

I'm surprised that no one has started producing speakers with the lights built in already.

There are electronics kits you can build to do this too.
http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl;j...0?it=A&id=2423

Yeah, I thought about getting the controller too, as it gives you the option of the intensity of the light as well as a mood setting that pulses the light. also, the simply "on" or "off" setting is nice too. The only thing i'm worried about though is the price Kia wants for a controller that only they make. Wiring might be a pain too, but it shouldn't be so hard that I can't figure out. The controllers you found are about right, but it's a shame they don't have all the cool settings and have a large red knob on the front.

Originally Posted by wawalker

Texting, flip-up video screens, cell phones, your burger from BK, flashing speaker lights, etc....

Pretty soon you won't have any attention left to pay to that annoying thing called the road.

I'm sure these things look pretty cool, I saw the commercial, but IMO they belong in a club, not a car.

I'm getting pretty tired of all the distracted driving myself--I see people swerving and crossing the lines all the time, mostly they are texting--I call the 800 DUI line when they are doing it repeatedly.

I'm one of those people that won't use the phone while I'm driving. Something about the image of my NB with a smashed up front end makes me cringe. Things I do to my car are usually for my passengers amusement as I get a great deal of enjoyment when somebody rides with me and says something like "Wow, I want this car soo bad!"

Originally Posted by Toad

Unless you have some flashy speakers, I don't really see the point. I did put leds inside the grill of my beetles door speakers, but they were just wired right to yther dash lights so they were just on or off, but they did look awesome.

I also am the kind of person who hates flashings things in their field of vision. Or just lights that aren't supposed to be there.

It would be cool to see someone do this, but I bet the speakers in the soul are a little more visible than the ones in the beetle.

The LED mod is the actually the one I pictured above, The Kia soul's front speaker lamps are actually IN the chrome ring around the speaker, so it's the chrome that lights up instead of the grill (pretty awesome, but I think I'll make it easy on myself and stick them behind the grill.) The speaker lamps in the Soul aren't actually that noticeable unless you physically look down at the speaker. I'd say that they are about the same as far as how visible everything is. In fact, I'd go as far to say that the beetles speakers are more visible than the Souls because the Soul sits like a truck inside and the speakers are closer to the seat and farther down.

[dmbluebeetle]

Originally Posted by squishfly

Yeah, I thought about getting the controller too, as it gives you the option of the intensity of the light as well as a mood setting that pulses the light. also, the simply "on" or "off" setting is nice too. The only thing i'm worried about though is the price Kia wants for a controller that only they make. Wiring might be a pain too, but it shouldn't be so hard that I can't figure out. The controllers you found are about right, but it's a shame they don't have all the cool settings and have a large red knob on the front.

The thing about the kits is you can probably mount them near the speakers and tap off the wires at the speaker. There is power already going to the doors, so you might be able to find an ignition controlled wire already there.

I would imagine the KIA controller would be a fortune too since its brand new.