Upgrading the sound system on your Jeep Wrangler TJ

sorry I have been meaning to respond to this but couldn't for the life me me find any of the old photos I took, the marine rated m series may suit your needs if not overkill

You may be surprised at how small these JL audio XD amps are, this is the XD800 and XD300 sitting next to each other behind my back seat/ storage box.

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I don't use my wrangler as a boat but once its folded back down the amps are as high as my steering wheel and hidden away when I have the roof off.
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the JL XD300 mono block is connected to this passive sub in the back Kicker KA46CWTB82
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The XD300 melted the kicker speaker so replaced it with an Alpine SWR-8D4 the kicker enclosure is top quality and the speaker was good 300watt RMS and 600watt peak but the alpine can handle a bit more at 350watt RMS and 1000watt peak.


The XD800 amp is connected to a whole load of component speakers using passive crossovers.
DB Audio T-Rex 6.2C 250W 17cm 2-way component speaker below the front doors and in the sound bar

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I am using the Focal TiS 1.5 tweeters in the sound bar instead of the DB audio ones.
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Then the slightly larger DB Audio T-Rex 6.2C 250W 17cm 2-way component speaker in the back
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DB Audio tweeters above the dash
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I have these speakers inside the dash but have completely forgotten who makes them.
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my head unit is a the Kenwood DDX9906XR it has 5v pre-outs so it was important to get the gain set correctly on each channel. its got apple carplay, android audio and a dvd player and 2 usb connections.
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Are those Focal Flax 5.25" in those Select Increment pods?
 
Are those Focal Flax 5.25" in those Select Increment pods?
ok I dug a bit deeper, think they are the pioneer TS-E171CI or at least the same range if not the same size
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sorry I have been meaning to respond to this but couldn't for the life me me find any of the old photos I took, the marine rated m series may suit your needs if not overkill

You may be surprised at how small these JL audio XD amps are, this is the XD800 and XD300 sitting next to each other behind my back seat/ storage box.

View attachment 312229

I don't use my wrangler as a boat but once its folded back down the amps are as high as my steering wheel and hidden away when I have the roof off.
View attachment 312230
the JL XD300 mono block is connected to this passive sub in the back Kicker KA46CWTB82
View attachment 312235
The XD300 melted the kicker speaker so replaced it with an Alpine SWR-8D4 the kicker enclosure is top quality and the speaker was good 300watt RMS and 600watt peak but the alpine can handle a bit more at 350watt RMS and 1000watt peak.


The XD800 amp is connected to a whole load of component speakers using passive crossovers.
DB Audio Systems T-Rex 5.2C 230W 13cm 2-way component speaker below the front doors and in the sound bar

View attachment 312236

I am using the Focal TiS 1.5 tweeters in the sound bar instead of the DB audio ones.
View attachment 312239

Then the slightly larger DB Audio T-Rex 6.2C 250W 17cm 2-way component speaker in the back
View attachment 312245

DB Audio tweeters above the dash
View attachment 312246

I have these speakers inside the dash but have completely forgotten who makes them.
View attachment 312255View attachment 312256

my head unit is a the Kenwood DDX9906XR it has 5v pre-outs so it was important to get the gain set correctly on each channel. its got apple carplay, android audio and a dvd player and 2 usb connections.
View attachment 312272
Your setup must generate some SERIOUS audio output in something as compact as our Jeeps. This is the first I've seen of the speaker housings that fit between the roll bar and rear wheel wells. I will have to check those out! Are they made by Select Increments?

Center console and rear storage are a must for me, but I wonder if some 6.5 woofers in those enclosures could help fill out some of the lows that I'm lacking without a proper sub :unsure:

Also, did you have any issues with excessive "noise" from the sound bar? I'm getting a lot of resonance (not sure if resonance is the right term here, but it's the one I'm gonna use) from my all metal sound bar, and I haven't even added an amp yet.
 
Your setup must generate some SERIOUS audio output in something as compact as our Jeeps. This is the first I've seen of the speaker housings that fit between the roll bar and rear wheel wells. I will have to check those out! Are they made by Select Increments?
Virtually Driven - Sound Wedges, if you look closely I have added mdf spacers to give them a bit more depth for clearance. 7BBF74F9-8085-4006-82E9-C1AD1F3BF9C4.jpeg
 
Center console and rear storage are a must for me, but I wonder if some 6.5 woofers in those enclosures could help fill out some of the lows that I'm lacking without a proper sub :unsure:

I think you would be better off getting an under-seat active subwoofer instead maybe it can fit under your rear seat still saving your rear storage and centre console.
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Also, did you have any issues with excessive "noise" from the sound bar? I'm getting a lot of resonance (not sure if resonance is the right term here, but it's the one I'm gonna use) from my all metal sound bar, and I haven't even added an amp yet.
I have not had vibration issues with the soundbar this is using a hardtop or frame less soft top, it was another vertically driven product made mostly out of plastic and nylon, I really should have kept the stock sound bar through tbh.
 
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I think you would be better off getting an under-seat active subwoofer instead maybe it can fit under your rear seat still saving your rear storage and centre console.
I really like some of the under rear seat (or even in the rear seat) sub installs I have seen on here. The only thing holding me back is that the inside of my rig sees a lot more water, and sometimes mud, than I care to admit. Anything in the floorboard is destined for water damage at some point.
 
I really like some of the under rear seat (or even in the rear seat) sub installs I have seen on here. The only thing holding me back is that the inside of my rig sees a lot more water, and sometimes mud, than I care to admit. Anything in the floorboard is destined for water damage at some point.
if you get water coming in then you really want to stay away from these Virtually Driven - Sound Wedges, the woofers are pretty much the lowest point of the vehicle with these things.
 
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My Jeep came to me with aftermarket Pioneer head unit, Sony Xplods 5.25s in the sound bar and pioneer entry level 4x6s in the dash.
Even with hard top on, the head unit would shut itself down before I could achieve enough volume to drown out the road noise at highway speeds.

Started by replacing head unit with Kenwood KMR-M328BT. I picked the Kenwood for marine rating and 4.0 V preouts. The head unit resulted in a much cleaner sound off the bat, which was an unexpected benefit.

Next I replaced sound bar speakers with Alpine Type-S 5.25 coaxials as a test. I liked the Alpines, moved them to the dash and grabbed some JL C2-650x coaxials for the sound bar. Probably more of a nostalgia driven purchase than anything as I've always wanted some JL speakers.

The speaker upgrades resulted in a much cleaner sound, especially at higher volumes. Now I just need to clean up the vibrations from the sound bar.

I'd like to add an amp, but I'm curious how much of a difference the amp will make considering I'm not running a sub woofer. Anybody just running speakers in stock locations notice a significant difference in sound quality after adding an amp?
 
Ok I have installed everything, can someone show me their amp settings so I have a reference to start fine tuning? I have it’s setup okish now but don’t feel like I’m maximizing what it’s capable of

@Chris
 
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finding out more about correct gain settings will make a world of difference, they will be unique to your system, it’s not volume.