Speaker upgrade question

Ottisww

Ottisww

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Would it be better to upgrade speakers from stock to after market or buy a sound bar? (don’t have a sound bar.) Sound performance isn’t what I want it to be and don’t want to spend but so much. So is one is better then other ?
 
Ottisww said:
Would it be better to upgrade speakers from stock to after market or buy a sound bar? (don’t have a sound bar.) Sound performance isn’t what I want it to be and don’t want to spend but so much. So is one is better then other ?
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Ive got a friend who has a YJ, and he upgraded the dash speakers. They sounded so much better over stock, it was impressive yet he couldn't hear music w the top off while on the highway. He just bought a bluetooth speaker and keeps it bungeed to his roll bar above his head. Problem solved.

Similarly with me, and ive got the soundbar. I upgraded both my dash and soundbar speakers but it wasnt till I installed a sub in the center console that I could hear my music nice and clear during highway rides w the top down.

Point is, you’ll have to spend a couple hundred, or get a bluetooth speak off Amazon and strap it to your rollbar. In retro, Id have been fine w that set-up myself.
 
Personally, I think the soundbar is better than upgrading the dash, if you could do only 1.
The soundbar speakers are much, much, much easier for me to hear due to their location (and possibly size).
Like on a scale of 1-10 for volume, I'd say my fronts are a 3-4, while my soundbar is a 7-8.

However, it may be worth noting that my audiophile friend gave me some lecture about proper soundstage requires the speakers to be in the front.
My "soundstage" has me hearing the most sound from the rear. He hates that. I'm fine with it.
(Yes, I can change the fade...)

A sub will also make a significant improvement.

Note: I have 5" in dash with adapters in front and I think 6" in the soundbar. I might be off the number a bit, but the soundbar speakers are at least 1" bigger.
Also do the foam/baffle thingie.
 
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Do you have the factory head unit of an aftermarket one? Power to the speakers is equally important for good sound quality.
 
I'd rather have good speakers in front of me than bad speakers in front of me and good speakers behind my head. A good way to upgrade the front speakers, which is not expensive, is to buy an adapter plate to convert the OE size from 4x6 (a bad shape for a speaker) to round 5.25" coaxial speakers like the Polk DB series. Be careful to not just buy the first or least expensive 5.25" speaker you find, some are too insensitive to sound good with the rather low power the OE radio puts out. You want a speaker with a sufficient "Sensitivity" rating to respond well to the OE radio's low power output. A speaker with at least a 90 dB (decibel) Sensitivity rating like the Polk DB speaker line has is what you want.
 
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Definitely recommend the sound bar upgrade the I went with a reasonable set of speakers all the way around, didn’t go crazy. But the sub under the back seat was a game changer. B568EB24-99FB-4779-A58F-2C85168F0118.jpeg
 
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Another one here to recommend the Polk 5.25s. If you want to take it a step further, an alpine head unit with an alpine powerpack amp is a phenomenal upgrade and can easily be hidden behind the dash.

I have 2 polk db521s if anyone is interested. I put 6.5s in my soundbar and removed the 5.25s.
 
Another for the Polks. And the reason for Crutchfield is...I had a conflicting wiring diagram so I called tech support. 8:30 at night on a Sunday. Phone rang 4 times and then got a tech. So after question was answered I asked why the wiring diagram they emailed was wrong in the first place. He put me on hold and in less than 30 seconds the tech supervisor is on the line. This is on a Sunday night! Plus the free install kit is first rate. The free harness is good too. After all done the sound was amazing. For 5 minutes. Then the head amp quit. I did a quick check of all wires and eliminated all other points. Called on Monday. Said what happened and how I troubleshoot everything. The guy said "well, that means the head is it. Sending you a new one. Be in the mail by end of day." No b.s., no did you plug it in crap. That is why you should buy from Crutchfield.
 
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my system.

10" Rockville powered amp, right around 100 dollars on Amazon. making a ammo can center console to fit it nicely.
4x6 Rockford Fosgate up front 90 db sensitivity. right around 50 dollars from Crutchfield
5.25 Rockford Fosgate in sound bar, 90 db sensitivity.
I bought the open box price for both. right around 50 dollars a set from Crutchfield, used an old pillow and filled the sound bar with the stuffing.
a used pioneer amp that I bought for 50 off craigslist. placed below steering column
a pioneer head unit from Walmart right at 109 dollars, should have bought it on line for 60 bucks. didn't want to draw attention when parked so went for a cheaper head unit.
wiring and connectors about 40 dollars.

So for around 400 dollars, it really does sound good. I hear it loud when driving with the top down at 65. Take your time and read all the free info on the Crutchfield website and then source everything.
 
I'll second the Alpine head unit with the "power pack" amp. It all plugs in nice and neat. I also went with the "speaker pods" up front with Alpine 5 1/4". It was tough cutting that metal strip out and "bending" everything so the speaker cone wouldn't hit the metal frame of the dash. The PO had the Vertically Driven Products 6 speaker sound bar in back which was in poor condition. I put in two Alpine 6 1/4" coaxial speakers in and disconnected the mid and tweeters which were way too harsh for my ears. I actually removed both tweeters from the bar to create a "bass reflex" port which helped a bit then just installed the screens to keep the creepy crawlers out. Definitely pack the pods and sound bar with some kind of sound absorbing material. I had to play around with the amount to get the sound I like. The system sounds real clean when standing still and at low speed with the top on, but it is definitely missing the low end when getting up to speed. I find cutting the HPF off at about 100Hz allows me to turn it up so I can hear the music over the wind, but then the low end sound suffers. I'm Looking to get the Alpine powered sub to round it all out, I have it in my Subaru and it is incredible.
 
I found putting an amp on all four channels and one for the sub makes for a much more balanced sound output at all levels. With the head running the four channels the sub would be severely over powered when at a red light in order to get good sound when at speed. Or I would have no bass at speed in order to have good sound when not moving. I have a 400w (50w rms per channel) for the front and pod speakers and 200w (75w rms @2ohms) on the sub woofer keeps everything in balance no matter what the sound output.
 
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