Stereo upgrade in 2004 TJ

[dave1117]

New to the site and to jeeps...At 60 I decided I needed a toy for the weekends...

Looking to do a basic stereo upgrade and purchased a Kenmore KM X705 digital receiver, Polk DB 522's and Polk DB 5252 with the component tweeter. Not really looking to do a sub... My question is do I need an Amp? Also I bought the 5252's to go in the roll bar sound bar, should I consider putting them in the dash location instead with the tweeters mounted above near the dash?

Sorry if this has been asked before...

Thanks for the welcome and allowing me to join

Dave

 

[RLBrough]

Amp = more power! Basically it boils down to what is the power requirements for you speakers. You can install the stereo and speakers and if you are not happy with the sound then add a small but clean amp. Not all power is good power!
I replaced all my speakers, added tweeter’s on the dash. Installed a 7”touch screen with Apple Car Play in my 97. Works great!

 

[Irun]

New to the site and to jeeps...At 60 I decided I needed a toy for the weekends...

Looking to do a basic stereo upgrade and purchased a Kenmore KM X705 digital receiver, Polk DB 522's and Polk DB 5252 with the component tweeter. Not really looking to do a sub... My question is do I need an Amp? Also I bought the 5252's to go in the roll bar sound bar, should I consider putting them in the dash location instead with the tweeters mounted above near the dash?

Sorry if this has been asked before...

Thanks for the welcome and allowing me to join

Dave

Hard top or soft top? If the latter, a small sub-woofer and amp will make all the difference in sound quality. BTW, we're guessing you meant Kenwood and not Kenmore!

 

[dave1117]

Hard top or soft top? If the latter, a small sub-woofer and amp will make all the difference in sound quality. BTW, we're guessing you meant Kenwood and not Kenmore!

LOL yes, I didn't buy a washing machine!

 

[Wingback73]

The short answer is Yes, you need an amp. You bought a head unit that doesn't have built-in amplification, at least from what I can tell from their website, which means an amplified is not optional for you. There are a lot of different options, but really, the biggest question you should answer is whether you get a 4 channel (the 4 speakers you have) or 5 (which adds a subwoofer).

If you go 4 I would go wtih something like this Soundstream. it is small and high powered. In an open top vehicle you'll want the extra wattage.

If you go 5, I would get something like the RS5.4500D.

To be clear, NEITHER of these is high end. You can pay more and probably get marginally better sound quality (that you'll never notice) and potentially better build quality that you may or may not need. But they are both reasonably small and easy to mount.

The other observation I will make is that 5.25" speakers are a space compromise people make, but really need to be paired with a subwoofer. If you can, I personally would simply use coax in the front and I would go for the 652's in the rear. There is a substantial bass difference between a 5.25 vs a 6.5 (from about 40% more surface area) that you will definitely notice. Yes, the 6.5 has to be surface mounted in the rear, but so what? It isn't like you'll need the headroom.

Good luck!

d-

 

[WestCoastDan]

Without an amp, you'll be unimpressed with the sound level if you have the top down or the doors off, etc.
I upgraded to double-din, added the Polk 5.25" in the dash, w/ tweeters above, Polk 6.5" in the sound bar thinking it would be 'good enough'; it wasn't.
I ended up adding an additional pair of 6.5" in the footwells, a small amp under the steering column, and an 8" powered sub under the drivers' seat.
Now it finally sounds good enough that you can turn it up to hear it on the freeway when the doors and top are off.
It won't win any competitions, but it sounds 1,000 times better than the factory setup.

 

[JMT]

New to the site and to jeeps...At 60 I decided I needed a toy for the weekends...

Looking to do a basic stereo upgrade and purchased a Kenmore KM X705 digital receiver, Polk DB 522's and Polk DB 5252 with the component tweeter. Not really looking to do a sub... My question is do I need an Amp? Also I bought the 5252's to go in the roll bar sound bar, should I consider putting them in the dash location instead with the tweeters mounted above near the dash?

Sorry if this has been asked before...

Thanks for the welcome and allowing me to join

Dave

An amp will not just make more power, it will make clean power. It will sound much more crisp. You don’t have to do that of course. You can run 4 speakers on the head unit amp. It won’t be very impressive because you can’t hear the full range of the music. Adding a self-powered sub can help that and result in a nominal system. For the best a 5-channel amp with a separate 8” sub is an above par system. For your purposes the nominal system sounds like best fit.

 

[TheBoogieman]

At 60, your hearing is impaired from years of loud music. My solution works for all ages.

 

[Travity03TJ]

New to the site and to jeeps...At 60 I decided I needed a toy for the weekends...

Looking to do a basic stereo upgrade and purchased a Kenmore KM X705 digital receiver, Polk DB 522's and Polk DB 5252 with the component tweeter. Not really looking to do a sub... My question is do I need an Amp? Also I bought the 5252's to go in the roll bar sound bar, should I consider putting them in the dash location instead with the tweeters mounted above near the dash?

Sorry if this has been asked before...

Thanks for the welcome and allowing me to join

Dave

I am 50 and also just bought a new Jeep. I bought the same system and type of speakers as you! I’m planning to install those, see how it sounds and add more components if I need to. At this point, I think anything will be an improvement over the stock radio!!

 

[dave1117]

Without an amp, you'll be unimpressed with the sound level if you have the top down or the doors off, etc.
I upgraded to double-din, added the Polk 5.25" in the dash, w/ tweeters above, Polk 6.5" in the sound bar thinking it would be 'good enough'; it wasn't.
I ended up adding an additional pair of 6.5" in the footwells, a small amp under the steering column, and an 8" powered sub under the drivers' seat.
Now it finally sounds good enough that you can turn it up to hear it on the freeway when the doors and top are off.
It won't win any competitions, but it sounds 1,000 times better than the factory setup.

thank you which sub did you put under drivers seat?

 

[dave1117]

The short answer is Yes, you need an amp. You bought a head unit that doesn't have built-in amplification, at least from what I can tell from their website, which means an amplified is not optional for you. There are a lot of different options, but really, the biggest question you should answer is whether you get a 4 channel (the 4 speakers you have) or 5 (which adds a subwoofer).

If you go 4 I would go wtih something like this Soundstream. it is small and high powered. In an open top vehicle you'll want the extra wattage.

If you go 5, I would get something like the RS5.4500D.

To be clear, NEITHER of these is high end. You can pay more and probably get marginally better sound quality (that you'll never notice) and potentially better build quality that you may or may not need. But they are both reasonably small and easy to mount.

The other observation I will make is that 5.25" speakers are a space compromise people make, but really need to be paired with a subwoofer. If you can, I personally would simply use coax in the front and I would go for the 652's in the rear. There is a substantial bass difference between a 5.25 vs a 6.5 (from about 40% more surface area) that you will definitely notice. Yes, the 6.5 has to be surface mounted in the rear, but so what? It isn't like you'll need the headroom.

Good luck!

d-

Thanks for the advise. I did by an Amp. went with the JL audio JD400. Got great reviews and will fit nicely under steering column. Now to just buy an 8" powered sub for under the drivers seat. Seems logical to just do this all at once. Taking the dash apart two or three times to keep upgrading sounds like a PIA...

 

[Wingback73]

4x60W of actual power should be enough for you to listen with doors/top off on back roads, and at least figure out what is playing on the highway. Then again, anything loud enough to truly be heard on the highway will likely deafen you, so I wouldn't worry about it.

In terms of subwoofers, I would suggest you consider your center console rather than under the seat for 2 reasons: rear passenger legroom is already cramped, and under the seat is the lowest part of the vehicle/the water collection point for anything that gets in.

Following the prior logic, this 10" CW is pretty good. it won't go super deep, but is adequately powered and provides better low end than any of the 8" subs that will fit in an equivalently limited space (i.e. a self-contained unit). I have it, along with 5.25 front/6.25 rear Polks in mine, along with a 4x45 alpine amplifier and have never wanted anything louder (see point about going deaf on the highway with it turned up all the way).

The best option, as indicated above, would be to put some larger speakers in the front, but that requires custom work and gets expensive quickly.

d-

 

[dave1117]

4x60W of actual power should be enough for you to listen with doors/top off on back roads, and at least figure out what is playing on the highway. Then again, anything loud enough to truly be heard on the highway will likely deafen you, so I wouldn't worry about it.

In terms of subwoofers, I would suggest you consider your center console rather than under the seat for 2 reasons: rear passenger legroom is already cramped, and under the seat is the lowest part of the vehicle/the water collection point for anything that gets in.

Following the prior logic, this 10" CW is pretty good. it won't go super deep, but is adequately powered and provides better low end than any of the 8" subs that will fit in an equivalently limited space (i.e. a self-contained unit). I have it, along with 5.25 front/6.25 rear Polks in mine, along with a 4x45 alpine amplifier and have never wanted anything louder (see point about going deaf on the highway with it turned up all the way).

The best option, as indicated above, would be to put some larger speakers in the front, but that requires custom work and gets expensive quickly.

d-

thanks again. I have not seen how folks are putting the sub in the center console. I know they come from the factory that way but have not seen any aftermarket consoles for that purpsoe.

 

[Wingback73]

thanks again. I have not seen how folks are putting the sub in the center console. I know they come from the factory that way but have not seen any aftermarket consoles for that purpsoe.

There aren't any - you simply take out the existing guts and then place the new one in. The CW I mentioned is held in place with a couple of foam pads to prevent it from rattling, but otherwise is a tight, but possible, fit on the driver side of the console. You do need to remove the cassette tray, but you shouldn't need that with your new head unit

So no additional components needed, and I'm not saying it isn't tight, just that it will fit. Put the connections facing the front of the Jeep

 

[Lubbockguy1979]

I went with infinity reference series 5.25 in the dash, and 6.5 in the soundboard. So far im very unimpressed with them. I almost went with jbl speakers like i did in my truck. They are very tinny and have zero bass. I have been focusing on suspension mostly but likely will swap the 6.5s out with my truck speakers amd also.update the very budget jvc deck to see if i can eek out a difference in them. Keep im mind this is hard top on. Only going to be worse with it off. Another thing im lookimg at doing is creating some sort of door pod for a better speaker location and probably a powered slim sub under the back seat like ive seen in sevral forum searches. I dont want competition bass but id like it to be somewhat noticeable. Right now with the infinity speakers it sounds like am radio

 

[skrelnik]

thanks again. I have not seen how folks are putting the sub in the center console. I know they come from the factory that way but have not seen any aftermarket consoles for that purpsoe.

Another option, if you want to get creative is under the rear seat.

 

[Wingback73]

Infinity is know for lacking bass. Kicker and MTX are much better in that regard, but lack the prestige. The Polks are a good compromise of sensitivity and bass

 

[dave1117]

So newbie as explained. I found that I have the console with the speaker grill. Not sure what is in there but now my goal is to see how I can fit a self
f powered sub in the console.

 

[Wingback73]

So newbie as explained. I found that I have the console with the speaker grill. Not sure what is in there but now my goal is to see how I can fit a self
f powered sub in the console.

There are multiple that will fit, including the one I shared as well as several of the 8"

 

[skrelnik]

So newbie as explained. I found that I have the console with the speaker grill. Not sure what is in there but now my goal is to see how I can fit a self
f powered sub in the console.

Kicker has a great line-up here, look into there 6.75" subs, just Google. Great fitment in the stock console and gives you a lot of power for what you get. Pair of with a nice amp and you'll be happy.

Since you already purchased a 4 channel amp you would need to buy another amp, or return the 4 channel for a 5 channel amp.

Infinity is know for lacking bass. Kicker and MTX are much better in that regard, but lack the prestige. The Polks are a good compromise of sensitivity and bass

+1 on Infinity and even Polks. Wish @Chris would update the sticky that recommends Polks to the new wave of speakers that are other there.

The other observation I will make is that 5.25" speakers are a space compromise people make, but really need to be paired with a subwoofer. If you can, I personally would simply use coax in the front and I would go for the 652's in the rear. There is a substantial bass difference between a 5.25 vs a 6.5 (from about 40% more surface area) that you will definitely notice. Yes, the 6.5 has to be surface mounted in the rear, but so what? It isn't like you'll need the headroom.

Good luck!

d-

Some 5.25" actually play lower than 6'5", and I would go as far as saying that a bunch of 5.25" speakers will produce enough Wrangler TJ bass when paired with a subwoofer and a good front stage.