A potentially simpler approach to upgrading your TJ audio

So your "ideas" as an audiophile are to get old, used components of unknown condition🚽 or to replace them with what others have been posting here for years? 🤔
Am I missing something here?🤯

That was my impression as well.

Stock setups generally suck, and the one car I owned that came with a Bose system was dismantled the first weekend. I had like 10 miles on the car.

Chasing audiophile sound in a car stereo is a fool's errand IMO. It's a noisy environment with glass all around (an acoustic nightmare), and no good options for speaker placement. Just buy some decent stuff, spend a weekend tuning things to your liking, and call it done. Save your critical listening for a proper stereo or headphone system at home.
 
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Reformed basshead here.

Instead of using an aftermarket amplifier for the speakers, I used a higher wattage single DIN head unit. Most aftermarket head units only do 22W RMS per channel, due to limitations of the stock wiring.

Units like this one
https://www.sony.com/electronics/marine/mex-m100btprovide 40 watts RMS per channel, which takes the place of a small 4 channel amplifier. It also has the benefit of being a marine stereo, so if the top is left off and it rains, no issues occur.

I hid the subwoofer amplifier (200 watts RMS at 4 ohms) behind my instrument cluster. I'll see if I can find the photo. I used the same console sub.

Now, this setup comes nowhere near my 3 kW setup (2 - 15" subs) in my other car, but it certainly sounds a lot better than stock and can provide considerable volume.

Tuning with pink noise and a calibrated microphone made it even better. The only real weaknesses it has are below the 125 Hz (bass frequencies) and the 16 kHz band. (Meaning theoretically I should add tweeters, midbass drivers and a larger sub to perfect it.)

As an aside, always compare RMS ratings on equipment. Peak ratings are for the most part meaningless, and are used to advertise large numbers. RMS ratings are used to compare the maximum continuous power output of the component. Much like how cars are rated in maximum continuous torque, not peak torque. Theoretically you could get ~2x the instantaneous torque by redlining the engine and dropping the clutch, but realistically that is infeasible for most uses of a car, so engines are rated in maximum continuous torque.
The description of your system is almost identical to what and where I installed mine.
 
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I hate to say it, but those foam baffles really won't do much, nor does polyfill. I've tried the polyfill before and all it did was collect dust back there. The biggest issue the stock dash speakers have, is that the mount is full of gaping holes, and that leads to bass cancellation because the rear sound waves from the speaker interact with the front. Not unlike holding a speaker in your hand and playing it. It will have no bass.

If you use a small sealed pod, it eliminates the front to rear sound wave cancellation, but then restricts the speakers ability to make bass because it's too small, so you end up with excessive upper bass, which not only sounds bad, it also gives the impression of no lower bass.

The absolute simplest and most effective approach, baring something very complex, is to simply seal the front of the mounting surface and do nothing behind the speaker. This works, and works very well in comparison to anything else I've tried.

As the mount is from the factory, you can see how the rear wave can and does cancel out the front wave, causing very weak bass.

And then below, you can see how I sealed the mounting surface, and the bass is dramatically improved. There is nothing going on behind the speaker at all. Just the mounting surface is sealed off, and this prevents the rear sound waves from negatively impacting the front wave.

View attachment 125213

View attachment 125214
So do the baffles make things worse? I ordered a couple and was planning on using them, filling with polyfil and sealing the open gaps. Should I just forgo the baffles/polyfil and simply seal the gaps? Also did you seal anything to the right of the speaker on steering column side?

Thanks!!!

Chris
 
So do the baffles make things worse? I ordered a couple and was planning on using them, filling with polyfil and sealing the open gaps. Should I just forgo the baffles/polyfil and simply seal the gaps? Also did you seal anything to the right of the speaker on steering column side?

Thanks!!!

Chris
I would not use the baffles or polyfill. I don't think they would hurt that much unless the foam baffles are rigid enough to effect air pressure behind the speaker, but they definitely won't improve anything. Sealing the mounting baffles on the other hand makes a very noticeable improvement, one that is easily heard if you do one side first, then compare it to the other.

Yes, I sealed off the right side of the speaker near the steering column the best that I could.
 
Sorry for all the questions but I'm planning on doing this tonight.

Is that just HVAC tape you used?
 
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After closer inspection it doesn't look like straight tape, some kind of putty or something. Guess I'll try and MacGyver something tonight and see how it sounds.
 
I know this topic has been beaten to death, but a thought occurred to me today. The whole point of this thread is to suggest an option based off of the limited room a TJ has. I’ve installed amps and aftermarket setups in cars and trucks where there was room for equipment that would remain unseen. That’s a little more difficult to achieve in a TJ where any extra space for other things is precious. If you’re like me and like a clean factory appearance, with say, the stock radio, this is why this thread is here. It seems asinine, I know. But I don’t think it would hurt to explore.

To start, I’m an audiophile, but not in a stereo or electronics enthusiast kind of way. As a musician and producer, being and audiophile goes hand in hand. I like the music in my car to be as crisp and clear as it would be if I were sitting in the studio mixing it.



Im glad i ran into this thread. First because i also am a musician and also very specific about how i want my music to sound like. Second because im currently researching on how to upgrade my sound system in such a way. I have a 2000 TJ which by the way didnt come with the center console subwoofers. Those werent installed until 2001.. so that creates a problem.

Ive got an aftermarket head + four 75watt RMS speakers. Yes it helped but definitely not satisfied. I need some lower end and i need my speakers to sound crisp at a higher volume. The problem is settling on a solution, a solution to adding some bass to my music. I also for the most part listen to "rock" music.. so i dont need crazy bass... just enough to feel a kick to enjoy the full experience of a song. Not having the option of installing an aftermarket center console sub sucks... so now im considering buying the Vertically Driven 6 speaker sound bar that comes with two small subwoofers plus an amp for the two front speakers.... or keeping my current set up of four 75watt RMS speakers, add an amp and find a way to squeeze a small subwoofer or two into pods and setting them somewhere near the bottom of the two front seats.

I really cant make my mind up right now and its killing me.. as i want to make this upgrade asap... i cant stand listening to distorted music or not being able to hear and feel the bass...

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated..
 
Im glad i ran into this thread. First because i also am a musician and also very specific about how i want my music to sound like. Second because im currently researching on how to upgrade my sound system in such a way. I have a 2000 TJ which by the way didnt come with the center console subwoofers. Those werent installed until 2001.. so that creates a problem.

Ive got an aftermarket head + four 75watt RMS speakers. Yes it helped but definitely not satisfied. I need some lower end and i need my speakers to sound crisp at a higher volume. The problem is settling on a solution, a solution to adding some bass to my music. I also for the most part listen to "rock" music.. so i dont need crazy bass... just enough to feel a kick to enjoy the full experience of a song. Not having the option of installing an aftermarket center console sub sucks... so now im considering buying the Vertically Driven 6 speaker sound bar that comes with two small subwoofers plus an amp for the two front speakers.... or keeping my current set up of four 75watt RMS speakers, add an amp and find a way to squeeze a small subwoofer or two into pods and setting them somewhere near the bottom of the two front seats.

I really cant make my mind up right now and its killing me.. as i want to make this upgrade asap... i cant stand listening to distorted music or not being able to hear and feel the bass...

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated..
Here’s a suggestion for a sub. @kmas0n did it and it sounds phenomenal.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/making-a-non-sub-console-into-a-sub-console.29402/
 
This may have already been covered but I can’t find it on the forum. I need to replace 2-2ohm speakers in my sound bar, I didn’t realize I purchased 2-4ohm speakers (Polk Db522) . I have an alpine MRV-f300 that can handle 2 or 4 ohm speakers. I’m not positive on how the speakers are wired so I’m weary of installing the 4ohm speakers. Would it be better to replace the two with 2 ohm speakers or is it ok to install the 4 ohm speakers without having to re-wire the amp? Thanks In advance for y’all’s help!
 
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Im glad i ran into this thread. First because i also am a musician and also very specific about how i want my music to sound like. Second because im currently researching on how to upgrade my sound system in such a way. I have a 2000 TJ which by the way didnt come with the center console subwoofers. Those werent installed until 2001.. so that creates a problem.

Ive got an aftermarket head + four 75watt RMS speakers. Yes it helped but definitely not satisfied. I need some lower end and i need my speakers to sound crisp at a higher volume. The problem is settling on a solution, a solution to adding some bass to my music. I also for the most part listen to "rock" music.. so i dont need crazy bass... just enough to feel a kick to enjoy the full experience of a song. Not having the option of installing an aftermarket center console sub sucks... so now im considering buying the Vertically Driven 6 speaker sound bar that comes with two small subwoofers plus an amp for the two front speakers.... or keeping my current set up of four 75watt RMS speakers, add an amp and find a way to squeeze a small subwoofer or two into pods and setting them somewhere near the bottom of the two front seats.

I really cant make my mind up right now and its killing me.. as i want to make this upgrade asap... i cant stand listening to distorted music or not being able to hear and feel the bass...

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated..

I relocated my tweeters to the a-pillar trim and use the 6.5" overhead speaker pods for the bass. You get great sound front the tweeters and the overhead pods fill the sound. Yes, a 10" or 12" sub will really add more bass, but that is a bigger project.

A nice 5.25" component set up front with passive crossover would be a big help.

20180708_193310.webp
 
This may have already been covered but I can’t find it on the forum. I need to replace 2-2ohm speakers in my sound bar, I didn’t realize I purchased 2-4ohm speakers (Polk Db522) . I have an alpine MRV-f300 that can handle 2 or 4 ohm speakers. I’m not positive on how the speakers are wired so I’m weary of installing the 4ohm speakers. Would it be better to replace the two with 2 ohm speakers or is it ok to install the 4 ohm speakers without having to re-wire the amp? Thanks In advance for y’all’s help!
According to the manual for the MRV-f300, there isn't any difference in wiring the amp up for 2 or 4 ohm speakers in the 4 speaker configuration. If you wire the new speakers up like the old ones were, you should be fine.
 
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This may have already been covered but I can’t find it on the forum. I need to replace 2-2ohm speakers in my sound bar, I didn’t realize I purchased 2-4ohm speakers (Polk Db522) . I have an alpine MRV-f300 that can handle 2 or 4 ohm speakers. I’m not positive on how the speakers are wired so I’m weary of installing the 4ohm speakers. Would it be better to replace the two with 2 ohm speakers or is it ok to install the 4 ohm speakers without having to re-wire the amp? Thanks In advance for y’all’s help!

Screenshot_20200509-101156.webp
 
According to the manual for the MRV-f300, there isn't any difference in wiring the amp up for 2 or 4 ohm speakers in the 4 speaker configuration. If you wire the new speakers up like the old ones were, you should be fine.

That’s what I saw too but thought I’d ask around to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Thank you for your help!
 
Im glad i ran into this thread. First because i also am a musician and also very specific about how i want my music to sound like. Second because im currently researching on how to upgrade my sound system in such a way. I have a 2000 TJ which by the way didnt come with the center console subwoofers. Those werent installed until 2001.. so that creates a problem.

Ive got an aftermarket head + four 75watt RMS speakers. Yes it helped but definitely not satisfied. I need some lower end and i need my speakers to sound crisp at a higher volume. The problem is settling on a solution, a solution to adding some bass to my music. I also for the most part listen to "rock" music.. so i dont need crazy bass... just enough to feel a kick to enjoy the full experience of a song. Not having the option of installing an aftermarket center console sub sucks... so now im considering buying the Vertically Driven 6 speaker sound bar that comes with two small subwoofers plus an amp for the two front speakers.... or keeping my current set up of four 75watt RMS speakers, add an amp and find a way to squeeze a small subwoofer or two into pods and setting them somewhere near the bottom of the two front seats.

I really cant make my mind up right now and its killing me.. as i want to make this upgrade asap... i cant stand listening to distorted music or not being able to hear and feel the bass...

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated..

This is a great 5.25" component set that is pricey but you can bring with you to any car audio build after the Jeep.

I am unafilliated with this posting.

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threads/morel-virtus-502-5-25-component-set.428247/
Screenshot_20200510-085255.webp

More details on Crutchfield

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_210VIR502/Morel-Virtus-502.html
 
Worried about Bluetooth not being available with the OEM head unit? I have this little gizmo here.

I only just stumbled on this thread. The link above is broken now. Would you mind sharing another one? I'm curious.
 
I only just stumbled on this thread. The link above is broken now. Would you mind sharing another one? I'm curious.

Looks like it’s not available anymore.