I wouldn't go that far without knowing everyone's preferences and experiences about what 'good' is. We're talking low / entry / mid range stuff here. It will never sound phenomenal. iIt will never sound superb. An 5x increase in quality from garbage might bring it up to acceptably mediocre. Which is still not 'that good'. Which could be absolutely great compared to what it was, in some peoples experience and opinion.
A potentially simpler approach to upgrading your TJ audio
- Thread starter Jamison C
- Start date
I wouldn't go that far without knowing everyone's preferences and experiences about what 'good' is. We're talking low / entry / mid range stuff here. It will never sound phenomenal. iIt will never sound superb. An 5x increase in quality from garbage might bring it up to acceptably mediocre. Which is still not 'that good'. Which could be absolutely great compared to what it was, in some peoples experience and opinion.
IMO and many others that have rode in my TJ my speakers are superb, with the top off, going 70mph down the interstate. They get stupid loud and sound crisp to the highest level of volume. Not trying to brag at all, but to those who think it's not possible it very well is. It took me about $950 in high quality audio equipment and I always do my own audio installs.
Not everyone wants to spend that kind of money in audio and that is okay, I am the person who loves music and is stubborn about making sure my audio setup is top notch. But to say you can't have a nice setup in a TJ is absurd to me.
I have no doubt your system sounds amazing. However...
"Stupid loud" is not something I look for in a stereo.
there. I said it
fuck I'm getting old.
Higher frequencies are much more directional to our ears than low. But sperating the high from mids also kills any imaging too
I'm sure it sounds great and is loud. I don't doubt that.
My comment on quality was in response to throwing speakers on a stock head unit and calling it good.
89grand
TJ Addict
That's exactly why I'm using Tang Band wide band drivers on the A pillars playing from 320hz and up, and Dayton 5.25" woofers in the dash playing from 80-640hz, which I have sealed up around the mounting surface for much better bass. The vocals and high frequencies are nice and high above the dash. The weird overlap between 320-640hz is something the DSP does in my Kicker amp. I was skeptical of it, but it sounds nice, and doesn't sound over lapped at all.
Very Nice! You are the exception. No one else even mentioned crossover tuning - just throw some speakers in! The overlap might look weird on paper, but I bet it flattens out in reality.
Dayton doesn't seem to get much use in car audio. Good Value. The 12" sub I built for home still surprises me sometimes when I realize how cheap it was.
Loving the discussion thus far.
So here’s a question. Do you guys think that crossover tuning makes a difference in a TJ with it’s poor sound insulation? Or would those finely tuned settings just got tossed to the wind? (Quite literally if you have the top off
).”
My Kenwood head unit had every crossover setting known to man. I sat there for close to two hours trying tuning the EQ in different ways, setting speaker sizes, setting distance from my head, vehicle settings etc. and felt it made very little difference.
My personal opinion is that my stereo sounds almost the same after putting my factory radio back in.
So here’s a question. Do you guys think that crossover tuning makes a difference in a TJ with it’s poor sound insulation? Or would those finely tuned settings just got tossed to the wind? (Quite literally if you have the top off
).”My Kenwood head unit had every crossover setting known to man. I sat there for close to two hours trying tuning the EQ in different ways, setting speaker sizes, setting distance from my head, vehicle settings etc. and felt it made very little difference.
My personal opinion is that my stereo sounds almost the same after putting my factory radio back in.
Airjunky
TJ Enthusiast
I made tuning adjustments at the crossover in the boat & it was dramatic how much it improved things.... and it's far more open than the Jeep is. I've made EQ adjustments in the TJ & heard big improvements too. I don't see why it wouldn't make an improvement to do crossover adjustments too. We're not comparing it to the audio in a Lincoln or a concert hall..... just comparing it to the same audio in the Jeep before the changes & after.
Loving the discussion thus far.
So here’s a question. Do you guys think that crossover tuning makes a difference in a TJ with it’s poor sound insulation? Or would those finely tuned settings just got tossed to the wind? (Quite literally if you have the top off
My Kenwood head unit had every crossover setting known to man. I sat there for close to two hours trying tuning the EQ in different ways, setting speaker sizes, setting distance from my head, vehicle settings etc. and felt it made very little difference.
My personal opinion is that my stereo sounds almost the same after putting my factory radio back in.
Flip the scenario....Imagine adding the noise of a top down Jeep at 70mph into a listening room with an excellent stereo setup...that's not optimal.
But. Results still depend on what the speakers are capable of, power available, and everything else really.
This is very important. My perspective of “good” may differ dramatically from yours, or Jerry’s. But how do you find the right speaker for a factory system?
This is key. Matching impedance and RMS ratings are vital to making sure a head unit and speakers function together within their optimal range. But how do you pick the right speaker if you don’t know what the factory head unit is pushing? (Assuming you’re like me and want to retain the factory look). Only way to accurately find that out is to hook it up to a dyno and I doubt anyone has done that with a factory Chrysler radio.
I believe most factory radios push 2ohms instead of 4. I would imagine they don’t push more then 20W so it wouldn’t surprise me if the factory TJ radio was pushing 10W RMS/2ohms or less. Any premium system is going to have a proprietary factory amp.
hardtopper
Member
There's 1 ohm and 5 ohm factory stuff out there, and probably a bunch of other odd values.
As for EQ settings, I usually just pick the preset sound mode that best fits the vehicle, figuring I'll just lose my settings next time I disconnect the battery for whatever maintenance work. (I've yet to have settings memory work properly on any head unit, even high end Double DINs.) It's often the one you'd least expect, like Easy or Natural for Pop/Rock/Rap.
As for EQ settings, I usually just pick the preset sound mode that best fits the vehicle, figuring I'll just lose my settings next time I disconnect the battery for whatever maintenance work. (I've yet to have settings memory work properly on any head unit, even high end Double DINs.) It's often the one you'd least expect, like Easy or Natural for Pop/Rock/Rap.
89grand
TJ Addict
My approach as I mentioned earlier, is not the path that most take. Audio equipment, whether home or car has been a passion of mine for a long time. I understand enough to make choices against the norm that still work out better than the norm. Sure, one can use the stock headunit (yuck), or add an aftermarket headunit and coaxials in the dash and sound bar and be happy. Some even add an amp, which is a good idea, but I'm still not impressed with the sound of such a setup. I've tried it with decent equipment, and not junk, and it was still a fail.
If you want to retain usable space in the Jeep, which I do, then you have to live with those limitations. The limitations are that it can only get so loud and will only have so much bass, and will not be loud and sound great at highway speeds with the top down. There is just too much ambient noise to over come. I can hear mine fine at 70mph with the top down, but it's no longer really good sounding.
Some make their decisions based off of certain published specs, I mostly throw those specs out the window. Those specs being power handling and sensitivity. My wide band A pillar speakers have a rated sensitivity of only 80db and a power rating of around 10 watts. Someone that only cares about specs won't believe my setup is louder than their Polk Audio coaxials with their rated 91db specs, because on paper they wouldn't be. In practice they are, and sound a lot better too.
The install and tuning are more dramatic than the brand choices by a large margin. If you just install a headunit and put some coaxials in the stock locations, and put no effort into the install, like sealing off the gaping holes in the dash mount, you'll get mediocre results at best, and to some, that is good enough.
If you want to retain usable space in the Jeep, which I do, then you have to live with those limitations. The limitations are that it can only get so loud and will only have so much bass, and will not be loud and sound great at highway speeds with the top down. There is just too much ambient noise to over come. I can hear mine fine at 70mph with the top down, but it's no longer really good sounding.
Some make their decisions based off of certain published specs, I mostly throw those specs out the window. Those specs being power handling and sensitivity. My wide band A pillar speakers have a rated sensitivity of only 80db and a power rating of around 10 watts. Someone that only cares about specs won't believe my setup is louder than their Polk Audio coaxials with their rated 91db specs, because on paper they wouldn't be. In practice they are, and sound a lot better too.
The install and tuning are more dramatic than the brand choices by a large margin. If you just install a headunit and put some coaxials in the stock locations, and put no effort into the install, like sealing off the gaping holes in the dash mount, you'll get mediocre results at best, and to some, that is good enough.
I remember your thread on what you did with the dash speakers and was very impressed with the idea. I saw others shooting down the idea, but in theory it makes sense. I get almost no bass from my front 5.25s, even with the little pods. But like you said, that depends on how much effort an individual is willing to put in.
When I get my next jeep I’ll probably pick your brain a tad to see if I can merit the same results.
You have to live within the confines of a TJ's environment. You can have a decent sounding system in a TJ, just not the perfect sounding. Ain't gonna happen. I'm pretty happy with my setup, but would like to make the sound pods work better. Problem is, they are just so dang close to your ears that you have to dial them down. I'd like to get more bass from them.
89grand
TJ Addict
If you're talking about the overhead rear speakers, yeah that location sucks. I have mine dialed way down. Down so far that I only need the headunits power, and they're still dialed down. It's a horrible location. I don't use mine for added bass (I may change that with different drivers and crossover values at some point), but for added spacial sense. In other words, my system sounds "bigger" overall when they are on, but you don't notice that they are, until you turn them off.
I'd suggest a subwoofer, if you don't have one, and working on the dash mounts, as they are full of open spaces that cause the little to no bass response that everyone gets from them. If you want the sound higher up at ear level, you'll need to do something other than just the dash locations.
Not to brag, but my setup works and sounds great (parked or at surface street speeds with the top down), and isn't all that expensive.
Is it possible to fit 6.5” speakers in the 5.25” locations in the sound bar without serious modifications? I have infinity kappas currently but one is blown (not by me!) so I’m thinking of putting 6.5s so I don’t have to crank the volume up so loud.
Indeed it would, and using a $20 inline tweeter to piggyback off the coaxial 5.25" speaker is a great addition and would not
In my case I have a fully active 7 speaker set-up controlled by DSP, a very fun DSP.
Awesome, I was hoping they would. 5.25 for me are just not normal. I do Commerical A/V installations so 6.5 seems more normal. This will be only the second time IBe replaced components in an automotive environment. Next I’ll swap the front 4x6 out with a larger size as well. @skrelnik what DSP do you use?
4x6 is not known as a great speaker. Their are kits to upgrade these to 5.25's on crutchfield.
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