Tunes in a TJ

[StG58]

Well, it's getting to be fall here on the wet side of Orygun, and it's time to address projects that can be done inside. The speakers in the TJ are horrible...anyone got any ideas for a good, inexpensive upgrade? Just looking to do the sound bar and the fronts. I already have a pretty decent Sony CD - Tuner to work with.

Which brings up the next issue to address. CD's are useless offroad. What's a good alternative to a bag o' CD's? The Sony does have AUX in on the front, though I've never used it.

 

[Chris]

Well, it's getting to be fall here on the wet side of Orygun, and it's time to address projects that can be done inside. The speakers in the TJ are horrible...anyone got any ideas for a good, inexpensive upgrade? Just looking to do the sound bar and the fronts. I already have a pretty decent Sony CD - Tuner to work with.

Which brings up the next issue to address. CD's are useless offroad. What's a good alternative to a bag o' CD's? The Sony does have AUX in on the front, though I've never used it.

I still have the stock speakers, but I supposed any speaker would be better than the stock ones. Polk Audio and Boston Acoustics are some of my favorite aftermarket speakers.

CDs are dead. Time to use that aux port and get it plugged into your smartphone. Then you can stream your MP3s directly from your smartphone. Not only that, but then you'll be part of the modern world :aaaaa:

I can't even recall the last time I used a CD. Heck, modern computers don't even come with CD drives anymore... Mine didn't.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Speakers don't have to be expensive to sound good in the TJ's otherwise horrific acoustic environment. But they do need to have a >90 dB Sensitivity level so they won't need more power than typical head units like our Sonys can put out. A very good speaker choice that meets that Sensitivity requirement (and not many speakers do) without being stupid-expensive is the Polk DB series. 6.5" Polk DBs will fit into the soundbar without modification, at least they did in my '97 TJ's sound bar.

For the front, the TJ's speaker size is a 4x6 which is not a good shape to make a good sounding speaker. It'd be better to convert that 4x6 opening to a round opening for a 5.25" speaker. There are plenty of sheet metal adapters to do that in a TJ like at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZDCGVG/?tag=wranglerorg-20

So far as an MP3 player goes that will plug into your AUX jack, I use an Apple iPod Nano player which you can find used for a good price on eBay or similar sites. Here are some on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=apple+ipod+nano&tag=wranglerorg-20. Or just use your phone to store & play them though they aren't as easily controlled by a head unit as a Nano or similar MP3 player is.

I have a ton of CDs on mine and it does a good job, it even displays the album cover if you download the music to it properly. I loaded my CDs onto a program on my computer called Media Monkey which does a good job downloading onto players like the Apple NANO. And I don't know about your Sony but mine has built-in controls that perfectly control the Nano, even displaying the names, album, and genre on the Sony's display. Whoops your Sony needs a USB port for that, you'd have to control the MP3 player (like the Nano) manually if you just plug it into the Sony's Aux port.

Anyway, that combination has worked well for me for 10+ years, hope that helps.

Edit: P.S. If you buy one of the newer Sonys with built-in Bluetooth, you can make a wireless connection to your Android or iPhone for really easy playing. Though one thing I noticed about my Android's Bluetooth connection for when I play Pandora on my Android through the car radio is that it's not quite as clear sounding as it is when I play the Nano through its USB port. Though that may be because my Bluetooth connection to the Sony is via an FM channel since my Sony is one generation too old to have its own built-in Bluetooth.

 

[StG58]

"Horrific Acoustic Environment". Now that's the understatement of the week! Thanks, Jerry, for the MP3 tips. I've seriously never used an MP3 player, except for the one on my laptop very occasionally. Guess I'll have to look for one of those to plug into the tuner. Good tip on converting to a round, 5.25"speaker for the fronts as well.

Jeeze, Chris, want to talk about vinyl? I still have a stack of those in the closet that get drug out once on awhile. I know that CD's aren't high tech, but really! I probably do need to update / upgrade to at least 1999 or so.

Thanks for the input guys, appreciate it!

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Vinyl is awesome, I have a big collection of LPs out in my garage. My hearing has gone to hell in recent years but I always felt vinyl/LPs sounded better than the digital crap on CDs. None of that analog to digital and then back to analog conversion crap that removes some of the analog content & overtones that make it sound lifelike. Though one of these days I'll convert my LP collection to digital just so I can hear it in the Jeep & more conveniently at home. My LP turntable is crying right now as I type this lol.

 

[StG58]

Got the the same issues here. My hearing is approaching the suck level. About 20 years ago I was shopping for a Stereo set up for the house and lucked into a really good deal on some components. A Japanese made Denon, 6 channel, and Klipch studio monitor speakers, plus some odds and ends to finish it out. Sounded wonderful. The wife and I were changin out light switches, plugs and such in our old house and playing Pink Floyd WAY to loud. (The light fixtures on the outside of the house were rattling ) we both ran into the front room at the same time because we both heard something in a song we'd never heard before. Music with depth and complexity played on a good stereo is a true joy. Sigh, not going to happen in the TJ, I'm afraid.

 

[Chris]

You could just install a record player. Chrysler installed them in some cars way back in the day. It was a factory option, and as I understand it quickly went away because... well, you know why.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...-the-1950s-and-60s/index.htm?loginMethod=auto

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Ha @Chris how did you get that photo of the inside of my Chevy back in 1964! Record players that played 45's that were pretty common but then models came out to play the full-on 33 LP records which were really the big thing!

P.S. Records didn't last long if played much in car record players. To prevent the needles from bouncing & skipping around while driving, the weight on the arms to hold the needle down on the record was ungodly. We didn't care as long as we could be playing the Beach Boys while cruising!

 

[Chris]

Ha @Chris how did you get that photo of the inside of my Chevy back in 1964! Record players that played 45's that were pretty common but then models came out to play the full-on 33 LP records which were really the big thing!

P.S. Records didn't last long if played much in car record players. To prevent the needles from bouncing & skipping around while driving, the weight on the arms to hold the needle down on the record was ungodly. We didn't care as long as we could be playing the Beach Boys while cruising!

I should have know you had first hand experience with these! I can imagine those records didn't last long, there's no way they could.

So what happened anytime you went over a rough road? Did it skip like crazy?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

@Chris no memories of them skipping, they seemed to work well while driving around. The arm had a spring pulling it down onto the record pretty firmly.

We also installed Motorola Vibrasonics for the rear speaker back then which gave a cool delayed sound, like a mild echo.

It delayed the rear speaker's sound slightly through a pair of coiled springs connected to transducers. This was before stereo was available for cars and made for a cool different sound us teenagers loved. God am I old or what!

 

[Chris]

Wow, that's pretty cool! Motorola!? I had no idea Motorola was even around back then, let alone producing audio equipment.

I read an article once about these in-car record players, and they were talking about how they skipped horribly and that's why the car manufacturers finally nixed the idea. Of course that could have just been the guy writing the article.

You definitely can't beat the sound of vinyl, that's for sure.

 

[Rob5589]

I installed a new head unit and speakers soon as I bought mine. I knew CD's weren't gonna work in a wide open vehicle so I opted for a Sony digital media player. It is AM/FM with a USB port and AUX port. I already had a separate Blue Tooth receiver that plugs into the aux port so I could listen to online or downloaded music. Most of my listening is Amazon Prime or Pandora. For speakers I went with Kenwood, 5.25" with adapter bracket for fronts, 6.5" for the pods. Much better but still not great. With the top off I can hear music and that's about it. The top on it isn't too bad. There is no bass realistically. I run small subs in other vehicles so I definitely notice the lack of low end.

TJ acoustics, really the lack thereof, means you aren't going to achieve great sound no matter what you install/spend. I did use polyfill to stuff the pods to get rid of the "hollowness." I am also ordering some foam baffles to put behind the fronts. The fronts angle downward which really kills the sound. Hopefully the baffles will help somewhat. I am also considering a small amp to increase the power output over the head unit's amp.

Whatever you decide make sure the speakers have a high sensitivity, 90+ db. The higher the sensitivity, the more efficient use of available power the speaker will produce.

Buying from Crutchfield, not always the cheapest, will include all installation gear for free. Makes the install easier and cleaner.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MJMV0GU/?tag=wranglerorg-20
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158DSXA40U/Sony-DSX-A40UI.html?tp=5684

 

[Rob5589]

Oh, as far as vinyl, my father in law passed away and left my wife his collection. Mostly doo wop, 50's and 60's, some Beatles, etc. All told, somewhere around 3000 33/45/78's. And we don't even have a record player

 

[Chris]

I used to buy all the time from Crutchfield when I was younger, but once Amazon (and eBay) came around, it just became really hard to pay that much more to buy it from Crutchfield. I mean crap, I have found decks I like on Crutchfield for $150, then seem them for $75 brand new on Amazon or eBay.

You get the install gear with Crutchfield, but you can often times get it at other places (such as eBay and Amazon) if you look around.

 

[StG58]

You could just install a record player. Chrysler installed them in some cars way back in the day. It was a factory option, and as I understand it quickly went away because... well, you know why.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...-the-1950s-and-60s/index.htm?loginMethod=auto

View attachment 6754

That is entirely too cool! A record player in a car. About as practical as the large, firm, well rounded rubber bumpers on the front of a fifties Cadillac, but cool. Thanks for sharing that picture.

Well, it's off to the races looking for speakers and such. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Stinger]

Jeez

Ha @Chris how did you get that photo of the inside of my Chevy back in 1964! Record players that played 45's that were pretty common but then models came out to play the full-on 33 LP records which were really the big thing!

P.S. Records didn't last long if played much in car record players. To prevent the needles from bouncing & skipping around while driving, the weight on the arms to hold the needle down on the record was ungodly. We didn't care as long as we could be playing the Beach Boys while cruising!

Jeez Jerry! Don't give away all the old secrets. You didn't have an 8track to listen to the BBs or The Supremes, Monkeys, Beatles.............

 

[Stinger]

I can't

That is entirely too cool! A record player in a car. About as practical as the large, firm, well rounded rubber bumpers on the front of a fifties Cadillac, but cool. Thanks for sharing that picture.

Well, it's off to the races looking for speakers and such. Thanks for the input guys!

.
I can't remember the last time I even turned my radio on in Stinger!! Always listening for the next F'ing thing to break.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Jeez



Jeez Jerry! Don't give away all the old secrets. You didn't have an 8track to listen to the BBs or The Supremes, Monkeys, Beatles.............

Hah yeah I had an 8-track too. My favorite 8-track tune was 8 Miles High by the Byrds. I loved that particular piece by the Byrds!!

 

[Stinger]

Hah yeah I had an 8-track too. My favorite 8-track tune was 8 Miles High by the Byrds. I loved that particular piece by the Byrds!!

Giddy Up 409

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Giddy Up 409

That is my Android phone's ring tone.