Speakers

jodomcfrodo

jodomcfrodo

Antagonist and Dick
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Illinois
Hi all,
I'm looking at upgrading my speakers so I can drown out the wind noise. I'm looking to spend around $200 on the roll bar speakers. What are the best ones I can get for that? Is it even worth upgrading the speakers in the dash? I feel like they don't do much. Also, what should I get for a sub? I'm looking for a fairly good one but don't want to spend too much on it. Maybe $125 or so. I have a pioneer head unit with Bluetooth and stuff like that. Picked it up in late 2015 so I'm assuming it will be good enough to power everything.

I don't know much about audio so I'm not sure how much I should be spending to get a good system. Hopefully $350~ is enough to get some good speakers but I really don't know.

Thanks!
 
I bought my TJ with an 8" sub, encased in a box. A 200 watt amp, and pioneer sound bar speakers. It has a Kenwood deck and sounds very nice. I don't know much it all costed whomever put it in, but I do know it takes up all of my storage area. I have contemplated taking the sub-woofer out so I have that area behind the seat. I guess I'm just trying to say, I think I'd stick with the soundbar speakers and forgo the sub. Unless you have a better option than putting it behind the back seat. Anybody have any nifty storage ideas? Im struggling to find ample space for things.
 
jodomcfrodo said:
Hi all,
I'm looking at upgrading my speakers so I can drown out the wind noise. I'm looking to spend around $200 on the roll bar speakers. What are the best ones I can get for that? Is it even worth upgrading the speakers in the dash? I feel like they don't do much. Also, what should I get for a sub? I'm looking for a fairly good one but don't want to spend too much on it. Maybe $125 or so. I have a pioneer head unit with Bluetooth and stuff like that. Picked it up in late 2015 so I'm assuming it will be good enough to power everything.

I don't know much about audio so I'm not sure how much I should be spending to get a good system. Hopefully $350~ is enough to get some good speakers but I really don't know.
Click to expand...

Don't overspend on your speakers. 1) Makes it a prime target for getting easily stolen and 2) it's never going to be as good as custom system in an enclosed, insulated, and sound deadened car.

That being said, I picked up a set of Polk Audio db521 and db651s speakers for the dash and sound pods respectively for $200 from Crutchfield. I also changed out the head unit for a Pioneer MVH-X560BT for $130. Probably the biggest bang for the buck I got from the upgrade though was due to stuffing polyfil in the sound pods and in the dash behind the speakers.
 
Travis said:
I bought my TJ with an 8" sub, encased in a box. A 200 watt amp, and pioneer sound bar speakers. It has a Kenwood deck and sounds very nice. I don't know much it all costed whomever put it in, but I do know it takes up all of my storage area. I have contemplated taking the sub-woofer out so I have that area behind the seat. I guess I'm just trying to say, I think I'd stick with the soundbar speakers and forgo the sub. Unless you have a better option than putting it behind the back seat. Anybody have any nifty storage ideas? Im struggling to find ample space for things.
Click to expand...

I think I have a sub in the center console. I have a sahara model so I think it came with that.

VirtualRussel said:
Don't overspend on your speakers. 1) Makes it a prime target for getting easily stolen and 2) it's never going to be as good as custom system in an enclosed, insulated, and sound deadened car.

That being said, I picked up a set of Polk Audio db521 and db651s speakers for the dash and sound pods respectively for $200 from Crutchfield. I also changed out the head unit for a Pioneer MVH-X560BT for $130. Probably the biggest bang for the buck I got from the upgrade though was due to stuffing polyfil in the sound pods and in the dash behind the speakers.
Click to expand...

I know it will never be as good as a sound deadened car but my speakers are from 2001 and aren't all that great. Just trying to get a simple upgrade ya know. Would JL be a good choice for everything?
 
JL are good speakers, but I've always used Poly Audio or Boston Acoustics personally. Of course the real driving force behind the speaker sound quality isn't going to be the speakers as much as it is the amp.

Obviously the Wrangler is probably the worst vehicle ever to dump a lot of money into the sound system, but I don't think you could go wrong by upgrading the speakers. Believe me when I say that any speakers you could buy would be better than the factory ones.

So yeah, JLs would be a good bet!
 
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Chris said:
JL are good speakers, but I've always used Poly Audio or Boston Acoustics personally. Of course the real driving force behind the speaker sound quality isn't going to be the speakers as much as it is the amp.

Obviously the Wrangler is probably the worst vehicle ever to dump a lot of money into the sound system, but I don't think you could go wrong by upgrading the speakers. Believe me when I say that any speakers you could buy would be better than the factory ones.

So yeah, JLs would be a good bet!
Click to expand...

I just placed an order for JL C2-525Xs and some JBL GTO6429s at crutchfield. Hopefully they get here before I run down to Moab. 7 hour drive with factory speakers would kind of suck.

Is there any way to break in speakers? Or should I just go straight ahead to blasting them full volume?
 
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No way to break in speakers, just turn them up. Not sure I would turn them to full volume ever though, that could potentially blow a speaker (and damage your hearing long term, trust me on that one).

Crutchfield in my experience has always been so slow to process orders and overpriced compared to Amazon (and others). However, I'm sure they'll be here by the 7th as that's plenty of time!
 
Chris said:
No way to break in speakers, just turn them up. Not sure I would turn them to full volume ever though, that could potentially blow a speaker (and damage your hearing long term, trust me on that one).

Crutchfield in my experience has always been so slow to process orders and overpriced compared to Amazon (and others). However, I'm
sure they'll be here by the 7th as that's plenty of time!
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Oh I didn't mean full volume. Just normal listening volume. I leave on the 28th for SLC/Moab but I paid for 2 day shipping so I hope they get out soon enough. If not, it isn't a big deal. Put them in when I get back.
 
jodomcfrodo said:
Oh I didn't mean full volume. Just normal listening volume. I leave on the 28th for SLC/Moab but I paid for 2 day shipping so I hope they get out soon enough. If not, it isn't a big deal. Put them in when I get back.
Click to expand...

Oh, you'll be fine then for sure, no worries there.

Haha, okay good. I thought you meant you were going to crank them to full volume... I was going to say, probably not a good idea unless you want to blow them!
 
Chris said:
Oh, you'll be fine then for sure, no worries there.

Haha, okay good. I thought you meant you were going to crank them to full volume... I was going to say, probably not a good idea unless you want to blow them!
Click to expand...

Yea. I can hear my stock ones start to crackle when I put them to where I can hear them when driving 60 with no doors and no roof. Hopefully that won't happen with these. But I'm going to take it easy on them for a while. The roof and doors will be on for a while so no worries there. They seem to have good reviews. Is mixing speakers an issue? Like I have JL in the roll bar but JBL in the dash. Will that cause issues with volume or something like that?
 
Chris said:
Crutchfield in my experience has always been so slow to process orders and overpriced compared to Amazon (and others). However, I'm sure they'll be here by the 7th as that's plenty of time!
Click to expand...

So far I've been lucky with their shipping and I've been selective enough to not use them for everything. When it comes to car audio though I've found that once they start throwing in the free wiring adapters for the speakers and head units any price difference has been well worth it. I even got free 4x6 adapters for my 5 1/2" dash speakers.

jodomcfrodo said:
Yea. I can hear my stock ones start to crackle when I put them to where I can hear them when driving 60 with no doors and no roof. Hopefully that won't happen with these. But I'm going to take it easy on them for a while. The roof and doors will be on for a while so no worries there. They seem to have good reviews. Is mixing speakers an issue? Like I have JL in the roll bar but JBL in the dash. Will that cause issues with volume or something like that?
Click to expand...

If your getting crackles at volume then new speakers will definitely help. And don't hesitate to mix and match speakers. I only went with a single vendor because they had the characteristics I was looking for at the price I wanted.
 
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A couple things... first, what makes a "marine grade" speaker is essentially nothing more than having used something like a polypropylene, mylar, etc. material for the speaker cone. Most automotive speakers use those synthetic materials for speaker cones now, just avoid any speaker with a paper cone if you want to keep water from damaging it.

And since you are not adding an aux amplifier, it is crucial you choose speakers with a 90 dB or higher Sensitivity rating. That 90 dB or higher Sensitivity rating assures you that the speaker will not require more wattage power than your head unit can provide. A speaker rated to 250 watts but with, say, only an 84 dB Sensitivity rating, would not play as loudly or as cleanly as a speaker with, say, a 100 watt rating, but with a 92 dB sensitivity rating when connected to a standard head unit that doesn't also have an aux external amplifier.

Polk's DB series of speakers is one example of a good line of speakers with high Sensitivity ratings (92 dB) so they could easily be driving to good listening power levels without needing a more powerful amplifier than you have now.
 
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This is the system I purchased from Crutchfield. Service was fantastic and shipping was fast.

The two modifications that assisted in making this sound terrific was the installation of a headliner in my hard top and installing the front 4 X 6s in the original plastic housing pods that the OEM speakers were in. With just a bit of Dremel magic they fit perfectly.

DSC07742-001.JPG

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radio.png
 
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This is kind of far down on my to-do list, but when I was looking into it earlier the threads stressed installing a small amp first (unless replacing the entire stereo with one sufficiently stronger) saying it made a big difference, first with the stock speakers, and then with any replacement speakers. The Alpine KTP-445U was referenced as one that would fit behind the glove box.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VVYL46/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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Kevin E said:
The head unit on his list has a built in amp. It should provide plenty of power.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SCS26KE/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Click to expand...

Valid point. My earlier research was just the Kicker factory replacements that Quadratec sells + possibly a small amp. I actually like the layout of the stock TJ radio - I find it very usable by touch and like the way you can flip between FM-1 and FM-2 by hitting the pre-set buttons twice. I just wish it had an auxiliary jack for a MP3 player and displayed the name of the song being played on the radio. That, and of course a bit more oomph from the speakers. (My Wrangler is an X, so only has 4 speakers, not the upgraded sound system that came with the Sport.)

A related anecdote - 1 1/2 years ago I replaced the old cassette stock stereo in our '91 VW Vanagon camper with a new Pioneer with CD and aux + USB jack and was surprised to find that I really don't like it from a usability standpoint (the sound is fine). I assumed name-brand car radios were much the same and didn't put much thought into layout. However, the buttons are very small and unreadable when driving. It's quite non-intuitive, even how to turn it off, and the program buttons aren't well segmented from a couple menu-type buttons so when you reach to flip between channels one doesn't easily hit the right buttons by touch. I've also found that I really don't like a red backlight. On a different front - I had a lot of problems with Sony units in our sailboat. It was inside the cabin and completely dry, but I went through 3 of them in 7 years (from 2005 - 2012) because the CD player constantly failed (even after changing to a marine unit). I won't buy Sony again because of this, though I'm sure there are people who have a preference for them (same with Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, etc.)

Anyway, my main point was don't overlook the button and function layout of any replacement unit. Imagine using it from a reaching over mostly by touch while you're driving standpoint, in addition to the power, sound and features. Good luck.
 
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VirtualRussel said:
Don't overspend on your speakers. 1) Makes it a prime target for getting easily stolen and 2) it's never going to be as good as custom system in an enclosed, insulated, and sound deadened car.

That being said, I picked up a set of Polk Audio db521 and db651s speakers for the dash and sound pods respectively for $200 from Crutchfield. I also changed out the head unit for a Pioneer MVH-X560BT for $130. Probably the biggest bang for the buck I got from the upgrade though was due to stuffing polyfil in the sound pods and in the dash behind the speakers.
Click to expand...

Would you be able to clarify the bit about stuffing polyfil in the sound pods and in the dash behind the speakers. What does this do? (This is doll and pillow stuffing - right? Looks like one can buy a bag of it at a craft store for ~$4).
 
Kevin E said:
The head unit on his list has a built in amp. It should provide plenty of power.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SCS26KE/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Click to expand...

Yep the Sony I purchased does indeed include a small external amp. It was originally recommended by our fellow member Reign Mack. The kit Crutchfield put together for me is all the sound I will ever need considering the TJ is a road worthy tin can. What I will say is that the headliner I installed not only made my radio sound better but the Jeep is now much more quiet and it stays cooler in the blazing Mexican sun.
 
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