DS18 Sound Bar System

[williambmac]

Here are the parts I have been considering;

Head Unit - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJMK8FR/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Sub Woofer/Amp Combination;

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079PSSD6N/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I am partial to Alpine. My HU is a ILX-207. I run two alpine amps and a type r sub in the back.

If you want to stay with the single din take a look at

https://www.alpine-usa.com/product/cde-175bt. I ran one of these a couple years ago and it was nice.

oops my bad, I ran this one. https://www.alpine-usa.com/product/cde-hd149bt

You can also run a compact amp like this. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP445U/Alpine-KTP-445U-Power-Pack.html?tp=72998

you can mount it up under the dash.

Check out crutchfield and take a look around. Sonicelectronics is also a good site.

 

[skrelnik]

No subwoofer at present. I am looking at adding an under seat sub and an under seat amp. What do you mean about backing into the amplifier due to having Infiniti speakers?

What I mean by back into the amplifier is if those Infitity speakers are rated at 4 ohm with 50 watts RMS and 150 watts max - you do not want an amplifier that rated at 2 ohm with 200 watts RMS and 400 watts max.

Underseat sub is good, if it fits. Or in the center console if you get the right size welf powered sub, or passive sub. You could even throw a box under the rear bench.

 

[skrelnik]

Here are the parts I have been considering;

Head Unit - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJMK8FR/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Sub Woofer/Amp Combination;

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079PSSD6N/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I like that head unit, I previously had an older model of that one and sold it here on the forums, a couple years back.

That self powered sub is a good one, basic, cheap, easy install and will give you what you need. It should fit inside the center console as well.

Are you adding a 4 channel amplifier for the other speakers - If yes, check out that Soundigital 800.4 amplifier - size and power is tremendous:

https://soundigitalusa.com/products/800-4-evox/

 

[williambmac]

Just in case your interested. I do have some older stuff for sale here.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/stereo-equiptment.39914/
Neither of the head units are bt and the pods were sold yesterday.
I do have the alpine cde-hd149bt unit also but I'm kind of hesitant about selling it as I might put it in my beater car

 

[Tristar_tj]

So I am running a Kenwood X503 for my HU with marine grade Kenwood speakers in the rollbar pods and Kenwood dash speakers. For now, I may just upgrade to Polk speakers, add tweeter pods to dash and add an amp to push it all. I don't have the center console sub but I may get a 5 channel amp in case I add a sub in the back later on.....sound like I'm ok the right track?

 

[Tristar_tj]

I would never consider something like that. I run a 97-2003? sound bar in my lj with 6.5 infinity Kappa component speakers. and 5.25 kappa components in the dash.
For the asking price of that piece you could upgrade your components and have cash left over. Do a little research here, I believe Polk speakers are the choice of many here.
Keep one thing in mind, a stock HU is going to limit the sound quality of a good set of speakers.

What adapters you running for 5.25s up front?

 

[Tristar_tj]

I have a box in my rear with dual 10" subs, but I take it out when topless at the beach, or similar place. Theft is a concern. Any questions let me know, and this forum has good resources, just sift though it.

Take a peak at the options I wrote above, you can build a system in the Jeep for a good price, and if you are handy, and willing to do a little work, the best mod I made was relocating the tweeters to the a-pillar trim. Like this:

View attachment 192889

Link to these tweeter pods?

 

[Hopper]

Way to expensive. I just put ModPods in with Polk dx 5 1/4. Ssf one people say they have fit 6 1/2 in them. They dit up front under the front door away from the pedals.
Way better than speakers behind you. You can build an entire system for the cost of that sound bar. Spend your money on quality speakers. Although the polk are not the top of the line like MB Quartz they are water resistant and sound great the fact they are priced pretty good doesn't hurt.

 

[skrelnik]

So I am running a Kenwood X503 for my HU with marine grade Kenwood speakers in the rollbar pods and Kenwood dash speakers. For now, I may just upgrade to Polk speakers, add tweeter pods to dash and add an amp to push it all. I don't have the center console sub but I may get a 5 channel amp in case I add a sub in the back later on.....sound like I'm ok the right track?

You are on the correct path, but the Polk speakers would not be an upgrade, closer to a parallel trade-off. If you want improvement you need to go the next level up. Looks into these brands for a true upgrade: BLAM, Helix, Focal. I posted some Blam's above, and can show you like 3-4 other options for you to pick from, if you like. I have Helix/Focal/Micro Precision speakers, and the Micro Precision tweeters are by far the best speakers I have owned.

For the amplifier, you have a crossroad - 4 channel amplifier with a self powered sub, or 5 channel amplifier with a passive sub. I like the 5 channel route as there is one less set of power and ground wires to run. You could put a box in the rear cargo, or even look for a slim line box to put under the rear sear itself, in a hidden installation. If this is passive, and not self powered, then it will be so easy to disconnect if you need to remove the rear seat.

What adapters you running for 5.25s up front?

If you buy 5.25" speakers from crutchfield they come free with the speakers. Or Google this part number for the brackets: http://metraonline.com/part/82-1013

Link to these tweeter pods?

Tweeter pods may actually come with the tweeters, so you kind of want to pick out tweeters first. But you can go cheap Chinese or quality German:

https://www.ebay.com/i/264530991107...tF_yuWgT_98DGhuU0WU-rj8NG3GD4X44aAkD8EALw_wcB
High end German: https://www.pods-tweeters-midrange.com/

 

[Tristar_tj]

You are on the correct path, but the Polk speakers would not be an upgrade, closer to a parallel trade-off. If you want improvement you need to go the next level up. Looks into these brands for a true upgrade: BLAM, Helix, Focal. I posted some Blam's above, and can show you like 3-4 other options for you to pick from, if you like. I have Helix/Focal/Micro Precision speakers, and the Micro Precision tweeters are by far the best speakers I have owned.

For the amplifier, you have a crossroad - 4 channel amplifier with a self powered sub, or 5 channel amplifier with a passive sub. I like the 5 channel route as there is one less set of power and ground wires to run. You could put a box in the rear cargo, or even look for a slim line box to put under the rear sear itself, in a hidden installation. If this is passive, and not self powered, then it will be so easy to disconnect if you need to remove the rear seat.



If you buy 5.25" speakers from crutchfield they come free with the speakers. Or Google this part number for the brackets: http://metraonline.com/part/82-1013




Tweeter pods may actually come with the tweeters, so you kind of want to pick out tweeters first. But you can go cheap Chinese or quality German:

https://www.ebay.com/i/264530991107...tF_yuWgT_98DGhuU0WU-rj8NG3GD4X44aAkD8EALw_wcB
High end German: https://www.pods-tweeters-midrange.com/

Awesome info man! So I'll likely go with the adapter pods for the dash so I can bump up to 5.25s and possibly get the dash tweeters with mounts then figure out what 5.25 and 6.5 speakers to go with for the dash and roll bar and amp to push it all...
See attached pics of pods and tweets.

 

[skrelnik]

Awesome info man! So I'll likely go with the adapter pods for the dash so I can bump up to 5.25s and possibly get the dash tweeters with mounts then figure out what 5.25 and 6.5 speakers to go with for the dash and roll bar and amp to push it all...
See attached pics of pods and tweets.

View attachment 193244

View attachment 193245

You mentioned that you were going to get 5.25" speakers for the front, but the pods you posted are for 4"x6" speakers. I think you would want these pods, in which case you do not need the Metra Brackets.

Please look into other tweeters than those ones. You could get something similar for $50, $20 tweeters and those chinese Ebay pods.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HWJTIBE/?tag=wranglerorg-20

@LJGreg built his own tweeter pods, with using the pods supplied from him BLAM speakers, the same BLAM's I mentioned above. It looked like this - His old tweeter pod and the newer smaller one.

 

[Tristar_tj]

You mentioned that you were going to get 5.25" speakers for the front, but the pods you posted are for 4"x6" speakers. I think you would want these pods, in which case you do not need the Metra Brackets.

View attachment 193256


Please look into other tweeters than those ones. You could get something similar for $50, $20 tweeters and those chinese Ebay pods.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HWJTIBE/?tag=wranglerorg-20

@LJGreg built his own tweeter pods, with using the pods supplied from him BLAM speakers, the same BLAM's I mentioned above. It looked like this - His old tweeter pod and the newer smaller one.

View attachment 193261

Those front pods are actually to adopt from 4x6 to the 5.25 for dash speakers! I definitely like his tweeter pods too! I'll check out BLAM stuff momentarily...

 

[scottgraham]

Here are the parts I have been considering;

Head Unit - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJMK8FR/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Sub Woofer/Amp Combination;

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079PSSD6N/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I've got that amp under my drivers seat, my kid has the bigger one in the back.
I'm happy w/ it, and he is as well.
I also have tweeter pods but they are mounted high on the A piller to pull the sound up.
I'm just running a Sony MEX I believe 5300BT and it's enough power for me.

 

[Tristar_tj]

So here's some speakers I'm considering... suggestions welcome

Dash - 5.25" (with adapter pods)
-Polk DB522
-Hertz X130
-Memphis PRX5
-Focal RXC-130

Roll Bar - 6.5"
Infinity Primus PR6510CS
Polk Audio DB6502
Fosgate P165-S1
Focal RSE-165

I checked out BLAM and they're simply out of my budget

 

[skrelnik]

So here's some speakers I'm considering... suggestions welcome

Dash - 5.25" (with adapter pods)
-Polk DB522
-Hertz X130
-Memphis PRX5
-Focal RXC-130

Roll Bar - 6.5"
Infinity Primus PR6510CS
Polk Audio DB6502
Fosgate P165-S1
Focal RSE-165

I checked out BLAM and they're simply out of my budget

What amplifier will you be using, if any?

It looks like you have 5.25" coaxials and 6.5" components. I do not think you want 6.5" components, unless you would place the tweeters in the roll bar?

 

[Tristar_tj]

What amplifier will you be using, if any?

It looks like you have 5.25" coaxials and 6.5" components. I do not think you want 6.5" components, unless you would place the tweeters in the roll bar?

Not sure on amp right now...still trying to figure it which speakers to go with. I may add tweets up front at some point.

 

[skrelnik]

Not sure on amp right now...still trying to figure it which speakers to go with. I may add tweets up front at some point.

Okay, so then you want a 5.25" coaxial and 6.5" coaxial. What is your budget for these, $250-$300 based off your other speakers? Are you also getting the select increment pods?

An amplifier is important. One should buy one set of speakers to be run off the stock amplifier, and a different set of speakers to be run off a new amplifier.

If you are using the stock head unit and amplifier, I would grab either Kicker D series, both 5.25" and 6.5". You can then get a small amplifier to drive them and that may give you exactly what you want.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-o7Ch1xbxg78/p_206DSC6504/Kicker-43DSC6504.html
https://www.walmart.com/ip/43DSC504-KICKER-5-25-Inch-130mm-Coaxial-Speakers-4-Ohm/148485831

 

[Tristar_tj]

Okay, so then you want a 5.25" coaxial and 6.5" coaxial. What is your budget for these, $250-$300 based off your other speakers? Are you also getting the select increment pods?

An amplifier is important. One should buy one set of speakers to be run off the stock amplifier, and a different set of speakers to be run off a new amplifier.

If you are using the stock head unit and amplifier, I would grab either Kicker D series, both 5.25" and 6.5". You can then get a small amplifier to drive them and that may give you exactly what you want.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-o7Ch1xbxg78/p_206DSC6504/Kicker-43DSC6504.html
https://www.walmart.com/ip/43DSC504-KICKER-5-25-Inch-130mm-Coaxial-Speakers-4-Ohm/148485831

Yes I'm gonna use the select increment pods for the dash. I'm thinking about coaxial components up front and in roll bar. I have a Kenwood KMM-X503 but still unsure of aftermarket amp to push everything. Should I run coaxial or non-coaxial in roll bar? I definitely think I need them up front even if I do add tweets up front later to further build the front stage.

Thanks for all the information and suggestions

 

[skrelnik]

Yes I'm gonna use the select increment pods for the dash. I'm thinking about coaxial components up front and in roll bar. I have a Kenwood KMM-X503 but still unsure of aftermarket amp to push everything. Should I run coaxial or non-coaxial in roll bar? I definitely think I need them up front even if I do add tweets up front later to further build the front stage.

Thanks for all the information and suggestions

You have to go coaxial in the roll bar, please do not go with a component as you will need to find a location for the tweeter. I once did that a couple years ago and it was not worth it.

You have a great head unit, and those kicker speakers would be like $140 total for both pairs, and you may be able to get a small 4 channel for around $125 and you will be in a good place for $300 when you factor in the amplifier.

The next level up you would want t a budget of $600. A solid amp, and speakers. Level would be a $1,000 budget....

These are my personal choices but each level will bring something additional to the sound.

Based on what I read from you, I would grab those Kickers along with an amplifier like this one:

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-127449-Soundstream-ST4.1200D.html
If you want more bass, you can spend a $100 on a self powered sub. Simple and cost effective.

 

[Tristar_tj]

You have to go coaxial in the roll bar, please do not go with a component as you will need to find a location for the tweeter. I once did that a couple years ago and it was not worth it.

You have a great head unit, and those kicker speakers would be like $140 total for both pairs, and you may be able to get a small 4 channel for around $125 and you will be in a good place for $300 when you factor in the amplifier.

The next level up you would want t a budget of $600. A solid amp, and speakers. Level would be a $1,000 budget....

These are my personal choices but each level will bring something additional to the sound.

Based on what I read from you, I would grab those Kickers along with an amplifier like this one:

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-127449-Soundstream-ST4.1200D.html
If you want more bass, you can spend a $100 on a self powered sub. Simple and cost effective.

Awesome stuff man!! 10-4 on the coaxial for the roll bar
What would be your suggestions on speakers and amp for a 600 buck budget?