Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Planning out an audio upgrade

whitrzac

whitrzac

TJ Enthusiast
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Feb 22, 2019
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I just threw the random spare parts I had laying around at the audio system in the jeep. Even the DSP in the 80prs can't fix how bad it is, lol.

Right now my plan is a set of 5.25 components, and use the 80prs active crossover/network mode.
I have a set of 5.25 pods in the front, tweeters will get mounted to the windshield frame.
A nano 4ch amp mounted to the firewall for the front speakers/tweeters.

Where I'm fuzzy is how to get an acceptable low end on a vehicle with no windows or doors. Power fixes everything, but there's no where to fit a decent sub setup.
I think a pair of shallow 8s could fit in the rear pods, but they're not exactly sturdy. A shallow 8 under the rear seat might work, but then there's something in the way when I need the storage space.

Any suggestions?
 
whitrzac said:
I just threw the random spare parts I had laying around at the audio system in the jeep. Even the DSP in the 80prs can't fix how bad it is, lol.

Right now my plan is a set of 5.25 components, and use the 80prs active crossover/network mode.
I have a set of 5.25 pods in the front, tweeters will get mounted to the windshield frame.
A nano 4ch amp mounted to the firewall for the front speakers/tweeters.

Where I'm fuzzy is how to get an acceptable low end on a vehicle with no windows or doors. Power fixes everything, but there's no where to fit a decent sub setup.
I think a pair of shallow 8s could fit in the rear pods, but they're not exactly sturdy. A shallow 8 under the rear seat might work, but then there's something in the way when I need the storage space.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Upon my quest for adding audio without sacraficing interior space( I utilize all of it), the best answer is not what you want to hear. With that said, I put 6.5" Polk components in my overhead speaker pods and set the LPF to about 250hz with a 6db/oct slope. Combined with the kicker 6.75" in the center console it works. Not going to win any awards, but I would recommend going that route and seeing how you like it.

Adding the tweeters to the a-pillar was the best upgrade to date. You will love that improvement.
 
I just installed this last weekend. I was surprised it is as good as it is. I mean sitting still, driving around town it's fairly impressive for a single 10" in such a small enclosure. I really figured it would sound like a midbass speaker, but it gets fairly deep. Now I'm not going to lie, if you want loud bass at freeway speeds with the top down, you're going to need an enclosure that takes up nearly the whole back seat area as there is just so much road and wind noise to overcome.

I'm pretty picky about audio quality, but really in an open top Jeep, there is only so much you can do, especially if you need to maintain what little space they have.

That is a nice deck you have. I used to have the 880PRS.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073W5PVMP/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
I saw a video a while back of a tj with a box under the frame on the driver side that had a port going into the cab. Not sure how good it is but that would be ideal for conserving storage space.
 
That thought has crossed my mind.
Underfloor subs work in houses too...
 
I recently did my install. 4x 75w amp powering JL C2-525x in all 4 locations and 1x 300w powering the 2ohm Kicker. LP and HP filters on the amps. New wiring to all speakers. Without doing any cutting for custom locations, I think it's about as good as it can be. If I were to add tweeter locations I would go with the C5 series. These speakers won't work well without a powerful amp. For head unit power or stock radio I'd try the C1 series.
 
I fitted a lanzar 8" all in one sub in the center console. It did overheat and go to protection mode. I removed the amp part form the sub and now i run a soundstream 5ch amp to power the speakers and the sub. It works great.
 
toximus said:
I recently did my install. 4x 75w amp powering JL C2-525x in all 4 locations and 1x 300w powering the 2ohm Kicker. LP and HP filters on the amps. New wiring to all speakers. Without doing any cutting for custom locations, I think it's about as good as it can be. If I were to add tweeter locations I would go with the C5 series. These speakers won't work well without a powerful amp. For head unit power or stock radio I'd try the C1 series.
Click to expand...

How the install go? Glad to read you did put in all new speaker wire.
 
skrelnik said:
How the install go? Glad to read you did put in all new speaker wire.
Click to expand...

It went pretty good. I've been writing posts for my build thread, but I'm waiting to post them until I finish up a few other posts to keep my build thread organized. I'm glad I went with Crutchfield because I had to exchange things a couple of times until I was happy and I received a dud amp which they exchanged without hassle. After several redos I am very happy. I'm not sure I've heard better audio in a car using stock locations (not that that's saying much, but I think it turned out impressive). I debated going with 6.5" woofers in the sound bar but I think I'm actually glad I went with 5.25" they hit hard and tight which I'm not sure the 6.5 would be as tight. Maybe that'd be fine for the rear if I set the filter even higher on the rears and allow them to be low end filler. Either way, I would not recommend these without a beefy amp, I'm having to turn things up quite a bit to get enough volume out of them — thankfully without distortion.

I am still tempted to switch the fronts to the C5-525x so I can turn the tweeters up 2db with the crossover and have the option to later put a second set of tweeters up higher on the dash. But the price jump there is steep.
 
Can someone measure the actual diameter of the resesed area of the 03+ speaker pods? I have adapters glued in mine currently...
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts
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