Ha, that's funny about the 5.25" and your kid. I am 7 years away from that. That is completely fine to do that to cut let them off like that.
Which subwoofer do you have? Which amp?
Upgrading the sound system on your Jeep Wrangler TJ
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Ha, that's funny about the 5.25" and your kid. I am 7 years away from that. That is completely fine to do that to cut let them off like that.
Which subwoofer do you have? Which amp?
Xposure
TJ Enthusiast
The sub is the cheap one off Amazon its a powered Rockville 10"....I wasnt expecting much for $115 and figured I'd be sending it back. BUT....its actually impressed me! It fit under the back seat and sounds great. I tried it because it was the only thing I could find that would fit under the back seat.
It has a knob you can mount up front that controls the level so when I drive I swing it around to about 30% and it blends in great for rock and such. Then when my son jumps in, he swings it around to 75% and turns on rap lol.
The amp powering all the small speakers isnt a super nice brand or anything. It a Earthquake Thrust 4.5 from 2001 that I had in my rx7 back in the day. It has crossovers, gain adjustments, a basic equalizer knob, pass through outs, its bridgeable. Rated at 150rms x 4. It works well, I pulled it out of storage and opened it up and it looked great inside....brand new looking inside. So we hooked that up to all the small speakers.
In my rx7 I powered the f/r left on one channel and f/r right on another channel, then bridged the other 2 for a JL Audio 10" sub. It sounded great.
Xposure
TJ Enthusiast
And hey, let me just say.....those 7 years are going to fly by. Everyone tells you that but one day you will be contemplating teaching your kid to drive saying....."is this for real??" And wondering how they are already 15/16. Gotta find things to do with them (even small things) that make the days count because it's certainly easy to just stay busy and the days just pass by.
Putting all this car stereo stuff in the Jeep was something we did together. It was great.
Putting all this car stereo stuff in the Jeep was something we did together. It was great.
I heard good things about that Rockville 10" and its a great addition to have a 10" sub in the Jeep.
As long as you properly store that audio you can recycle it, so glad to hear it's working.
Solid set-up you have, and kid-proof.
It's crazy how time flies, and during this pandemic spring cleaning turned into spring and summer cleaning, so pulling out all that old stuff gives you that holy cow moment.
That's even better you got to do the install with your kid, fun times.
Jackjack97
TJ Enthusiast
If I go with 4 polk db522 and I have the alpine Ute-73bt which had a pre amp of i be leave 18 watts rms but the speakers are 100 wats rms do I need an amplifier?
You will not need an amplifier but you could also look for a different speaker like the Kicker D or C series which will be a couple bucks less and perform just as well.
Or you could get one set of Kicker and one set of Polk and test yourself if you like one or less.
So i just full ordered a set of Blam speakers to replace my Polks. I spent some time talking to my local installer and they do a lot of Porsche convertibles for which they recommend upgrading the tweeters to the Signature series.
So coming next week:
Signature TS20 tweeters which should fit in my Valicar pods
Relax 130RS for front mids
Relax 165RC for the rears
Can't wait to get it installed and tuned.
So coming next week:
Signature TS20 tweeters which should fit in my Valicar pods
Relax 130RS for front mids
Relax 165RC for the rears
Can't wait to get it installed and tuned.
More importantly, did your installer help locate that distortion? My installer really likes the BLAMs, and I have heard the signature series was unreal. You were originally think the AF GB10s, why did you not choose them, out of curiosity? I had the GB10's for a couple weeks before I sold them.
No, I ended up fixing the distortion myself before talking to the installer. I replaced all my battery and ground cables and that solved the issue.
The only AF dealer in town is a company I don't really want to deal with and the GB10 were going to be 4x the price of the Signature tweeters. Apparently the Blam's are brighter than the AF which makes it a better fit for convertibles.
Blam couldn't sell just the front woofers so I had to buy the entire 130RS - so i'll end up with spare Relax tweeters that I might do a sound comparison on.
The only AF dealer in town is a company I don't really want to deal with and the GB10 were going to be 4x the price of the Signature tweeters. Apparently the Blam's are brighter than the AF which makes it a better fit for convertibles.
Blam couldn't sell just the front woofers so I had to buy the entire 130RS - so i'll end up with spare Relax tweeters that I might do a sound comparison on.
That's awesome you were able to fix it with that...
Wow, I would have guessed the BLAM signatures to be on par with the GB10s. Those GB10s were like $400 so those BLAMs must be a great deal.
SlangTex
New Member
Just did the Polk DB522 and Kicker 46CSC54 comparison - the Kickers were definitely louder, but thought the Polk's sounded a bit more natural. I went with the Polk's but would have been happy with either.
Great review as that is the general consensus. Kickers are louder, punchier and better for bass, while the Polks are better for mids. Your ears are spot on.
I love finding little uses for my 3d printer. My blam tweeters came with their own plastic enclosures that mount with a single screw. The screw comes out the back at a 33 degree angle so it wasn't really going to be secure just screwing it into the plastic trim.
So I used Blender to whip up a simple backing plates that matches the angle. I can now crank the screw down so the thing doesn't move.
Check out the size of the original valicar enslosure that had my Polk tweeter vs. the new Blam one. I'm much happier to have the smaller size and apparently these things are loud.
So I used Blender to whip up a simple backing plates that matches the angle. I can now crank the screw down so the thing doesn't move.
Check out the size of the original valicar enslosure that had my Polk tweeter vs. the new Blam one. I'm much happier to have the smaller size and apparently these things are loud.
Some random pics from my install which I just finished up. The sound quality of this setup has no business being installed in a TJ 
I ended up using 14 gauge knukoncepts speaker cable. Soldered and heat shrinked it to the speakers and then used XT60 connectors so i can disconnect as needed.
I ended up using 14 gauge knukoncepts speaker cable. Soldered and heat shrinked it to the speakers and then used XT60 connectors so i can disconnect as needed.
Unspokenfor
New Member
Some random pics from my install which I just finished up. The sound quality of this setup has no business being installed in a TJ
I ended up using 14 gauge knukoncepts speaker cable. Soldered and heat shrinked it to the speakers and then used XT60 connectors so i can disconnect as needed.
View attachment 190680View attachment 190681View attachment 190682View attachment 190683View attachment 190684View attachment 190685View attachment 190686View attachment 190690
I'm looking to do this same setup. How would u rate it against what you replaced? Pricing it out would be similar to the Polks that everyone gets, but polks look to be made out of better quality material with poly cones, etc. Researching the Blam's they have a paper cone. And if there's any warranty issues, it would be difficult to get sorted out.
Also have a 3d printer, so if you could upload the files somewhere that would be cool.
A well made paper cone is better than a poorly made poly cone, or other material.
Polks are eh, I had them and removed them really quickly. Kicker is a better choice for the Jeeps, a couple bucks less as well. If you are a person that cranks the music up go with Kickers, if you like sound quality go with the BLAMs.
Acoustically, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with paper cones, speakers were/are made with paper for over 100 years. They just don't hold up well in high moisture environments. I have a paper cone speaker that is 85 years old and is just fine.
I 100% agree with you, and when treated properly, a paper cone is great and sounds better than a typical poly cone. The speaker manufacturer is generally more important than the material.
The Blams sound much nicer than the Polks. I found the Polks could get deafening loud but didn't really have any clarity. The Blams get plenty loud but at lower volume they sound amazing. Neither have any bass so you can exepct to need to add a sub to even the sound out.
Here is the spacer ring. Make sure you expand by 1% if printing with PLA. It's not just a simple ring - the outer edge is angled to perfectly match the contour of the speaker pod.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4617429
I didn't 3d print the speaker pod for the Signature TS20 - the pod was included with the tweeter. But the design is stupid - the screw leaves the pod at a 30 degree angle so when screwing it into the platic trim it isn't very secure. I created a backing plate to match the angle. Here it is:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4617443