Looking for good replacements for sound bar speakers

Been following this thread and planning a sound upgrade myself. 2001 all stock components / no subwoofer, thinking speakers and head unit change will suite me just fine. Saw these dash pods for 5 1/4” speakers and wonder if they would make that much difference. Rather expensive compared to just brackets. Thoughts?
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I just installed these last night in my Jeep. My thoughts are that they do make a difference in bass response.

To the question about the stock wiring harness fitting. The connector included connects outside this enclosure.... only the wire leads go through the hole and the gap is closed by the rubber grommet that is included. A dab of silicone in the gaps fills it up nicely.
 
Since I had to change the rear speakers anyway, I went ahead and installed a set of the forum recommended "Kickers" in the dash...
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Oh! Goddess Mother! These new speakers sound so very much better than the crappy stock speakers! Oh my! No comparison whatsoever...

Well, that's what I'm supposed to say, right? Truth is, I really don't know. Since I have no real "source control" with the stock stereo, there's no way I can do a real A/B comparison! I will say that the light rock station I tuned to sounded darn good with these, but it sounded pretty good with the stockers as well - but it was a different song, so who can really say? Since the CD player is kaput (with a Belly Dance CD stuck inside), I couldn't play the same thing and come to any real conclusion. Heck, there isn't even a decent classical station around here which might have helped. I won't be able to really listen to these speakers until I get the new head unit that takes "Geek sticks" (AKA USB "thumb drives"), and even then there'll be no A/B comparison.

When the Metra plug in harness adapters for the rears arrive on Monday, I'll at least be able to see if those used Jensens in the soundbar are a good match for these...
 
Got those same Kickers on order along with an Alpine head unit. I currently have no sound coming through the left side speakers so hopefully I’ll be able to tell the difference...
 
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New head unit is a couple of months out, I'm still doing un-sexy stuff like cooling system hoses and fluids, one more differential oil change and cover, etc, etc. Then the CB and Stereo - I already have the Metra double DIN dash bezel. I'm anticipating a 2K mile trip in the Jeep in mid October - want the CB done at least, the stereo would be nice, and so would the cruise control.

Right now I'm also waiting on the Metra pigtails to come on Monday so I can actually connect those used Jensens in the soundbar.
 
Shop at Crutchfield and you won't have to wait for anything. Everything comes free with the speakers.

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I neglected to mention that the speakers did indeed come from Crutchfield, with the wiring pigtails and adapter plates. I purchased the closed cell foam baffle/enclosure do-dah from them as well. What I'm still waiting on are the pigtails for the used Jensens I put in the soundbar that I bought on eBay for half the price of what Crutchfield was asking. That's OK, I'm a cheap bastard and will wait!