Stereo system upgrade

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Zorba said:
I figured that the boom mats were 90% of the pods for 10% of the cost! I cut a bass port in the back. YMMV and all that...
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And there is no need to spend that much on pods relative to the cost of the speakers we generally put in our TJs. Like these pods are more than most spend on their speakers. I'd rather spend the money on relocating the tweeters before adding those pods.
 
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skrelnik said:
And there is no need to spend that much on pods relative to the cost of the speakers we generally put in our TJs. Like these pods are more than most spend on their speakers. I'd rather spend the money on relocating the tweeters before adding those pods.
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Well, they certainly are vastly overpriced for what they are. Probably costs $1.50 to make.
 
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Zorba said:
Well, they certainly are vastly overpriced for what they are. Probably costs $1.50 to make.
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Like what you did at the rear of the pods. They shouldn’t be enclosed. All dash / door speakers are infinite baffle design they need air behind the magnet. The only thing a pod will do is help push the sound towards the grill out into the cabin and / or help keep them dry. Honestly, the pods are really not going to give you any sonic improvement. A simple speaker ring made from any diy foam to help get that sound up towards the grill rather than leaking sideways behind the grill but that’s about it.
 
Thedogsbollocks said:
Like what you did at the rear of the pods. They shouldn’t be enclosed. All dash / door speakers are infinite baffle design they need air behind the magnet. The only thing a pod will do is help push the sound towards the grill out into the cabin and / or help keep them dry. Honestly, the pods are really not going to give you any sonic improvement. A simple speaker ring made from any diy foam to help get that sound up towards the grill rather than leaking sideways behind the grill but that’s about it.
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I'm not an acoustic engineer by any means - but it sure seems to me that a speaker wouldn't work well in a completely sealed enclosure - Alternately compressing and pulling a vacuum on the air trapped inside doesn't seem optimal.

As for foam rings:

00.jpg
 
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Just be aware as an FYI that all factory amps have built in EQ. You’ll never know how that amp has had it sound EQ’d. They do this to compensate for the poor factory speakers and the poor locations they are in. You also will never know what ohms the factory amp or factory speakers are presenting. So...when replacing speakers where a factory amp is installed , even though the new speakers are far better they actually might sound crappy due to the way the factory amp has been set up.
If you are installing new speakers etc you should really pick up a new amp. Kenwood / Kicker for example has some great low cost amps perfectly capable of driving overhead replacements etc. 50 / 75 watts plus is plenty. ( note here a 100 watt amp is not twice as loud as 50 watt amp.It takes 10x the wattage to double output. So for example it would take a 500 watt amp to be twice as loud as a 50 watt amp) More power is better but don’t worry too much for your satellite speakers. A modest power amp say 75 watts will give you a great result and not cost the earth. ...just sayin
 
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Thedogsbollocks said:
Just be aware as an FYI that all factory amps have built in EQ. You’ll never know how that amp has had it sound EQ’d. They do this to compensate for the poor factory speakers and the poor locations they are in. You all never know what ohms the factory or factory speakers are presenting. So...when replacing speakers where a factory amp is installed even though the new speakers are far better they might sound crappy due to the way the factory amp has been set up.
If you are installing new speakers etc you should really pick up a new amp. Kicker for example has some great low cost amps perfectly capable of driving overhead replacements etc. 50 watt plus is plenty. ( note here 100 watt amp is not twice as loud as 50 watt amp)...just sayin.
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I didn't know that, but it makes sense. I recently replaced the stock speakers in my old Mercedes - they were marked as being six (!!) ohms.
 
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Zorba said:
I'm not an acoustic engineer by any means - but it sure seems to me that a speaker wouldn't work well in a completely sealed enclosure - Alternately compressing and pulling a vacuum on the air trapped inside doesn't seem optimal.

As for foam rings:

View attachment 253265
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Those rings are far better and do more for the sound than any pod ever will...perfect!
 
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earnjam said:
I bought this bad boy for $20 off Amazon 😂

View attachment 250318
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Welp, it lasted less than a month. 😆

Worked fine yesterday AM. Went to drive a couple hours later and nothing. Radio fuse is fine, power is making it to the unit, just nothing once it gets there.

Good news is the return window for it is 1 month, so I'm gonna pull it today and send it back. 😁

That's what I get for going dirt cheap.
 
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earnjam said:
Welp, it lasted less than a month. 😆

Worked fine yesterday AM. Went to drive a couple hours later and nothing. Radio fuse is fine, power is making it to the unit, just nothing once it gets there.

Good news is the return window for it is 1 month, so I'm gonna pull it today and send it back. 😁

That's what I get for going dirt cheap.
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You can buy a Dual high powered unit at Crutchfield with all installation gear for under $30. You have 60 days to return with no questions asked. 1 year warranty. I installed one in the Wife's Scion this morning. Took me all of 10 minutes start to finish.
Dual.jpg
 
I just hate the looks of like 99% of aftermarket car stereos. They look like a late 90's winamp skin. Some sort of outlandish artistic vision of the future with tiny, almost unusable buttons.

The one I got had a tiny row of buttons but I liked that it had a big knob for changing the radio station or moving forward/back on tracks when using bluetooth.
 
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earnjam said:
I just hate the looks of like 99% of aftermarket car stereos. They look like a late 90's winamp skin. Some sort of outlandish artistic vision of the future with tiny, almost unusable buttons.

The one I got had a tiny row of buttons but I liked that it had a big knob for changing the radio station or moving forward/back on tracks when using bluetooth.
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If you like old fashioned, outdated stuff. I have a factory Jeep TJ stereo. ;)
 
TheBoogieman said:
If you like old fashioned, outdated stuff. I have a factory Jeep TJ stereo. ;)
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Well nobody is going to break in and steal it.

So at least you have that going for you. Which is nice.


My 2003 factory radio does Bluetooth!

I paid 2.5 times the price of one of this 99 dollar wonders to keep the look, All the while tunes from my iPhone.

Not aways loud enough at 50mph and over with windows down. but I like the look.

https://1factoryradio.com/jeep-2/
 
This thread is making me think I may cannibalize the un-used back seat in an effort to hide the amp and sub. Total stealth with disconnects so I can pull it out if need be.
 
DarkStar357 said:
I'm a noob at this... why polyfill stuffing?
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I don't think this ever got answered... When the air passes through the Polyfill it is scattered and dissipated by the fibers, causing the air to be less dense. The speaker then interacts with the enclosure as if it is larger than it really is, changing the sound. (learn.soniclectronix.com)
 
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nathanotis said:
I don't think this ever got answered... When the air passes through the Polyfill it is scattered and dissipated by the fibers, causing the air to be less dense. The speaker then interacts with the enclosure as if it is larger than it really is, changing the sound. (learn.soniclectronix.com)
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Well , that’s the theory anyway. You’ll get so many arguments about this being snake oil or not. What I would add is it’s only useful for bass speakers. All other car speakers ...or the vast majority are infinite baffle speakers meaning they’re designed for no housing.
 
skrelnik said:
And there is no need to spend that much on pods relative to the cost of the speakers we generally put in our TJs. Like these pods are more than most spend on their speakers. I'd rather spend the money on relocating the tweeters before adding those pods.
Click to expand...
Dead right and if using pods cut out the back. No speaker other than your bass should be enclosed completely like these pods do. The rear of the pod is just too close to the rear of the speaker and effectively ensures that speaker does not work as it should.
 
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