What are your EQ settings on your factory head unit?
- Thread starter Vtx531
- Start date
I picked up a pair of 03+ sound pods with some older style Polk db 6.5”. Good enough to mess around with and hear how they sound but I dont think I will be using them because:
A. I don’t want to drill into my 02 rollbar and padding for mounting them
B. They didn’t come with grills
C. I want 5.25’s for my soundbar not 6.5s
So, I got these somewhat useless items for me! Oh well it’s a Jeep parts hoarding thing I suppose.
I was one year too early. I like a lot of aspects of the 03+ such as the sound pods instead of the soundbar.
A. I don’t want to drill into my 02 rollbar and padding for mounting them
B. They didn’t come with grills
C. I want 5.25’s for my soundbar not 6.5s
So, I got these somewhat useless items for me! Oh well it’s a Jeep parts hoarding thing I suppose.
I was one year too early. I like a lot of aspects of the 03+ such as the sound pods instead of the soundbar.
Why do you want 5.25's? I have those exact 6.5" Polks (the marine version) in the sound bar of my '98 TJ. They fit perfect with no drilling.
I want to use the stock speaker grill covers.
No drilling but you still have to put new holes with self tapping screws right?
The pods cleaned up nice with water and a microfiber cloth.
I used the existing holes. You're right they won't fit with stock speaker grills, I used the aftermarket grills that came with the Polks, they look pretty decent. My stock speaker grills vibrated a little bit and one was cracked so I wasn't sad to get rid of them.
Wow I didnt think the existing holes would work. That’s cool - In that case, Ill screw these on and see how they sound. Good enough for short term but I think long term I’m going to want the factory look. Thanks for that info.
One audio thing (of many) that I don’t understand, everywhere I read says match the speaker watts rating to the amp, so a factory amp should have speakers with lowest possible watt rating? Does that mean a smaller speaker would sound better with factory HU?
I’ve read the argument that the soundbar speakers are right next to your ears, so the 5.25” speakers are already too much compared to the front speakers. Anything to that?
I wouldn't say they are too much or that they are "louder" than the factory ones, just noticeably clearer.
Do you have the newer black style ones? It looks like they have more holes available for mounting but doesn’t look like the Polk grills would work with those screw holes.
These gold color speakers only have the 4 holes that are further apart from the 5.25 factory holes but I think I can use the plastic adapter ring to utilize the factory holes so maybe that is what you did?
Mine are the older gold ones. I can't remember if I used the adapter ring or not, I'll see if I can grab a pic of them once I'm back home.
Head Lice
TJ Addict
How could you go wrong with that high $$ aftermarket head unit ? Multi colored star bursts moving across the face, love those randomly placed tiny control buttons! They're perfect for the majority of TJ owners with their knitting needle thick fingers.
The oddly colored digital clock display is nice and small . . . it's like reading the very bottom of the optometrist chart. Check your eyes while driving. What could be better than that.
Oh! . . . . did I mention the 104 page operating manual . . . shows how to change the rotation of those multi colored starbursts. This will keep the passenger enthralled. No sense looking out the window at the elk.
Support China!
No need...
I got my speaker wire connectors in the mail today. They are not the right ones. I was able to unpin one of the new connectors and rig it to at least try out the speakers.
I used the adapter plate. It did fit with no drilling and no new holes.
Results: Pretty disappointing and goes with my past experience. I must have something wrong with my ears. The stock speaker is noticeably louder. The polk speaker maybe sounds slightly better but it’s hard to say and obviously not as loud. I wish I wouldn’t have ordered the pods for the front now and just stuck with the oem speakers.
Maybe I can try some 5.25 OEMs in the front pods?
Right now, I am leaning toward keeping oem speakers and just add a sub to fill in the low end that is missing.
On a related side note: I had read that the OEM speakers are 2 ohm compared to 4 ohm for aftermarket speakers. I tested the oem speaker with a multimeter and it showed about 5.7 ohms. Polk showed about 5.2 ohms. Not sure why the discrepancy. I thought that might have meant the Polks would be louder but that is not the case.
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If I may comment....the speaker coil is measured as an impedance ie what the speaker looks like with a typical audio signal running through it..what you are measuring is the DC resistance...there is not a direct relationship (that you can compute) between impedance and resistance..so apart from affirming continuity there is little direct benefit from DC measurement.
Usually cheap OE car speakers are selected for efficiency and low cost at the expense of acoustic performance..
So without a much better head unit / discrete amplifier the premium speaker will sound quieter and when overdriven by the anemic OE head unit will be disappointing...
From what I can see products like some of the Kicker units are optimised for cheap OE headunit with greater efficiency at the expense of some slight trade off in other aspects of acoustic performance....
IMHO
PS the dent in the tweeter looks like a bit of poor manhandling...
Usually cheap OE car speakers are selected for efficiency and low cost at the expense of acoustic performance..
So without a much better head unit / discrete amplifier the premium speaker will sound quieter and when overdriven by the anemic OE head unit will be disappointing...
From what I can see products like some of the Kicker units are optimised for cheap OE headunit with greater efficiency at the expense of some slight trade off in other aspects of acoustic performance....
IMHO
PS the dent in the tweeter looks like a bit of poor manhandling...
Thank you for explaining the resistance thing. I didn't think the numbers I came up with made sense.If I may comment....the speaker coil is measured as an impedance ie what the speaker looks like with a typical audio signal running through it..what you are measuring is the DC resistance...there is not a direct relationship (that you can compute) between impedance and resistance..so apart from affirming continuity there is little direct benefit from DC measurement.
Usually cheap OE car speakers are selected for efficiency and low cost at the expense of acoustic performance..
So without a much better head unit / discrete amplifier the premium speaker will sound quieter and when overdriven by the anemic OE head unit will be disappointing...
From what I can see products like some of the Kicker units are optimised for cheap OE headunit with greater efficiency at the expense of some slight trade off in other aspects of acoustic performance....
IMHO
PS the dent in the tweeter looks like a bit of poor manhandling...
The more I am researching this subject, the more I am coming to the conclusion that the Jeep engineers have really optimized the audio system to run on the power available. There is a lot more to it than “they use the cheapest thing possible”. In fact, usually OEM stuff is pretty high quality and I see no reason why the audio system would be any different.
I want to try ditching the oem Infinity speakers in the dash and go back to the oem 4x6’s, as I would not be surprised if they are optimized to make the Jeep sound best with no console sub and probably even designed to not be enclosed in the back and all the other issues that go along with putting speakers in that location.
Suppose I need to reassess my goals. To be louder? Not really. To sound better? Yes- but how? I think the answer is a sub. This leads me back to the Jeep being a low security vehicle with limited storage space.
Now I wish I had paid the extra for premium audio system when I bought my Jeep for the stock center console sub.
As this is only a weekend/fun car, is it worth adding a sub, amp, wiring? Worth losing storage space and worrying about the sub getting stolen?
At this point I’m not sure if the music is as important to the experience as it is, in say, a boat. I wouldn’t want to be without any radio but for simplicity’s sake, maybe I need to learn to live with what I have.
Are you using a stock head unit? I'll admit I have a Sony head unit in mine that I replaced at the same time I did my speakers so I'm not sure how that would impact the sound quality if you have the stock one. I didn't use the adapter plates on my speakers, but the screws I took out were self tappers, so maybe it had been modded in the past? Anything is possible between now and 1998 haha.
Usually with most automotive manufacturers (these days at least) the audio systems are designed as a whole , head units , internal equalisation and speakers as a matched system, usually at 2 or 3 price points for the basic, better, best type approach.
25 years ago not sure what was in the minds of those that specified the audio parts..
I spent an absolute fortune on DSPs, amps, speakers for my BMW Z4, probably not quite as bad an environmental challenge as a TJ but close..
One man’s perfectly acceptable system is unliveable by another, only you can make that call..
The base TJ system looks pretty primitive by today’s standards but as others have commented without a lot of processing, amplification and quality speakers you are likely to have something you can hear but probably not particularly enjoyable..
Even if you go down the route of major upgrade then probably everyone for 100 yards will here your taste in music..
For me, my HU was replaced by a japanese sat nav head unit (mines an import coming back from Japan) so I’ve already bought the nice Android head unit that fits the TJ 2003 on dash and I will first try some Kicker or Fosgate speakers that fit in the OE holes..
25 years ago not sure what was in the minds of those that specified the audio parts..
I spent an absolute fortune on DSPs, amps, speakers for my BMW Z4, probably not quite as bad an environmental challenge as a TJ but close..
One man’s perfectly acceptable system is unliveable by another, only you can make that call..
The base TJ system looks pretty primitive by today’s standards but as others have commented without a lot of processing, amplification and quality speakers you are likely to have something you can hear but probably not particularly enjoyable..
Even if you go down the route of major upgrade then probably everyone for 100 yards will here your taste in music..
For me, my HU was replaced by a japanese sat nav head unit (mines an import coming back from Japan) so I’ve already bought the nice Android head unit that fits the TJ 2003 on dash and I will first try some Kicker or Fosgate speakers that fit in the OE holes..
Subs don't always have to be used in that trashy way. I've seen several instances where they were used to add bass without being obnoxious. Those powered subs you can stick under a seat are a good example.
To me it just seems like a waste of time in a TJ. When I'm cruising down the road with no top or doors I don't even bother listening to the radio, it becomes annoying when I come to a stop sign and the volume is blaring and I keep having to turn it up/down. When moving slowly or with the top on, it does help having a bit clearer speakers, but trying to get good quality audio in a TJ is like try to get good quality audio on a boat.
For my 06 X, without a factory sub, I found a used center console from a Rubicon that had the stock amp and speaker. Replaced the torn speaker with a new Kicker, and had a "Car Toys" shop wire it up to my factory 6 disc head unit/player. Nothing major, the parts were cheap, install cost was low (sorry don't recall the amount), and it Sounds great (for me).
Inside the console I have the factory CD holder storage tray. For me, the limited storage there prevents keeping a lot of unusable/lost crap, which is a good thing. I don't worry about theft, both the console lid and glove box lock. If somebody wants to get in that badly, have at it, I don't leave valuable stuff in there when I'm not in the jeep.
Theft of the sub components and head unit ? Possible, but not likely, who really wants to waste the time on stock stuff?
Ray
I like your thinking.
Yea, the small, powered subs are great. I have one in my boat and the speakers sound like crap without it and great with it. They are only about 100 watts so just enough to fill in the lows. Makes the whole thing sound louder and richer.
I’ve been looking at this 2-channel amp today online: https://jensenmobile.com/xda92rb.html
$60 in stock at Walmart. Class D , relative small size, low power requirement, I think I could wire it up to the factory HU power source and be okay. It has a 25amp fuse. Factory unit has 20 I think? and if I was using the Jensen amp to power the speakers, then the factory HU should draw hardly any power right? Worse case scenario - it blows the fuse behind the glove box and I could move the power source to the unused sub fuse behind the glvoebox. I could run all four speakers wired in parallel to the 2 channels and then just lose the fade option, right?
Or run only the front pair of speakers off the 2 channel amp and allow the rear speakers to remain powered by the stock HU? This might be too much power for the factory radio wiring but I could run the Jensen amp off the unused factory subwoofer fuse behind the dash.
Then after I think this all through, I get back to the point that jeepguy03 made above. Maybe it would be good to just get better speakers that aren’t as loud. Who wants to blast their ears when going down the highway topless anyways? Probably not me. Will the radio be used mostly at low speeds or with the top on? In that case, I don’t really need it to be loud.
This is all making my head spin.
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