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#1
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Audio for 1997 Jeep Wrangler ??
I just bought a 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, MINT. I want to upgrade the radio system. It has front grill speakers, plus rollbar speakers. I would like to start by upgrading the speakers, and then later put in an aftermarket radio deck. I might later spring for an amp. I don't want a super-powered system, just something that sounds real nice. I listen to jazz, new age, some country, and other types , but not rap or hard rock. I also have a 2000 Grand Cherokee with the stock radio and Infinity line speaker option and it sounds great !! I would like for my 1997 Wrangler to sound at least as good, hopefully at least a bit better. Can I hear from some of you guys that have upgraded your Wrangler stereos, and what you have and liked ?? From browsing at Crutchfield, it appears that the front dash speakers are 4 X 6, and that the speakers in the sound bar are 5 1/4 . Both of these are pretty small, so I guess I will be limited a lot, but I just want a much better sound than what came in this Jeep. I will appreciate any ideas. Thanks !!!!!!!! --James-- |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.car
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Audio for 1997 Jeep Wrangler ??
Hello,
I'm kinda surprised you haven't gotten an answer yet, but I'll put in my 2 cents worth. Maybe my friend that has a 99 TJ will chime in also. I've got a 2000 WJ. In my experience the Head Unit should be upgraded before the stock speakers, provided the stock speakers are not damaged already. Most popular aftermarket speakers require much more power than the factory speakers do, making it very difficult for the factory head unit to adequately power them, and hence most people end up being unhappy with the new setup thinking it should sound a lot better, but in fact sounds worse. Many can't even be adequately powered by an aftermarket head unit either and still sound like crap until they are externally powered by an amplifer. Most aftermarket head units are much more powerful than the stock head unit, providing much better amplification to the stock speakers, and not distorting nearly as easily at higher volumes. So far on my Jeep Grand Cherokee, I've got an Alpine DVD HU with a 6-channel amp powering all speakers, all still factory. It sounds remarkable, and the bass from the factory 6x9s sound like subs in the doors. My previous Tahoe was the same way, but the speakers were run off the aftermarket head unit. You may find that you may not want to replace them after getting better amplification to them. If you're planning on a HU, I'd get it first, and then upgrade the speakers later if you still want to. You'll be much happier between the two purchases as well. My friend like I said has a 99 TJ, so nearly identical to your own. The sound bar has some aftermarket Diamond speakers that sound damn good with his aftermarket HU, but I forget what brand it is. He also just modified the front dash to hold 5.25" rounds instead of the 4x6" speakers. I haven't heard it yet to know if there's an improvement though. Brandonb James wrote: I just bought a 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, MINT. I want to upgrade the radio system. It has front grill speakers, plus rollbar speakers. I would like to start by upgrading the speakers, and then later put in an aftermarket radio deck. I might later spring for an amp. I don't want a super-powered system, just something that sounds real nice. I listen to jazz, new age, some country, and other types , but not rap or hard rock. I also have a 2000 Grand Cherokee with the stock radio and Infinity line speaker option and it sounds great !! I would like for my 1997 Wrangler to sound at least as good, hopefully at least a bit better. Can I hear from some of you guys that have upgraded your Wrangler stereos, and what you have and liked ?? From browsing at Crutchfield, it appears that the front dash speakers are 4 X 6, and that the speakers in the sound bar are 5 1/4 . Both of these are pretty small, so I guess I will be limited a lot, but I just want a much better sound than what came in this Jeep. I will appreciate any ideas. Thanks !!!!!!!! --James-- |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.car
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Audio for 1997 Jeep Wrangler ??
Yes Mr. B i will chime in
I have the 99' TJ that he was refering too. I currently have a Panasonic CD HU in the dash, 5.25" Diamond Audio D351i in the sound bar and Alpine SPS-1329S 5.25" that i just recently installed in the dash to upgrade a set of Walmart 4x6 Kenwoods that came with it when it was bought. I am not running an amp at this point its all off the 40wX4 HU, i am looking to install an Amp for them in the future and think that it will help alot. Now about your install and my experiances. Headunit: This is the heart of the install so dont skimp on this. I would reccommend that you get one that has a VERY good shock sensor. With the TJ short wheel base and stiff suspention any little bump will cause your CD's to skip (found this out with the first HU). I would suggest getting a nice Alpine HU, in my experiance thier shock absorbtion is one of the best. If you are not going to run CD's then this wont be an issue. Soundbar: Depending on your sound bar you *may* be able to modify it to fit 6.5" components in them. Otherwise your looking at 5.25" stock. *most* of your sound will be from the sound bar. The front speakers with thier location unfortunatly lose alot of sound as they point at your knee's. Get a nice set of speakers for your sound bar. I would highly reccommend the Diamond Audio D351i's I have them in mine and they sound great! even unamped. They cost me about $150/pair and i installed them myself. I would reccommend that if your sound bar doesnt have it to stuff some polyfill in the bar before you put in the new speakers, it made mine sound better. You can pick up a bag of it at Walmart for a coupld dollars. There are some people that as the sound bar is where you get most sound will install a second sound bar near the windshield so you have 6 speakers surround. Dash speakers: As you said the dash comes with 4x6 speakers and from my experiance they just dont do a whole lot of good. There are places online that sell upgrade kits to convert them to 5.25" or you can do it your self with an afternoon about about $6 in sheet tin or you can buy a kit from he http://tinylink.com/?sVDO4VbO2s .. I am going to be making a walk through of my dash upgrade but havent had time to sit down and do it. If you want to see uncropped pictures to get an idea of the conversion they are at this link he http://showcase.netins.net/web/aioka/Speaker/Jeep/ ** Pictures are LARGE so dialup beware.After the install i didnt notice much difference, so i added some Polyfill behind each speaker (unfortunaly dont have a pic of that yet) and notice a big differnce. Although my sound bar speakers are much more noticable then the dash speakers still i did notice an upgrade from the 4x6's i had before. I think my main issue now is that the Diamond's are a better quality then the Alpines and therefor over casting them. I will be switching the Alpines for another set of the diamonds in the future. There are other addons that you can get to help with your install and some examples are he http://tinylink.com/?ghh211jAQl . However remember that unlike a car and your Cherokee, the wrangler has alot to contend with for outside noise (Tire, Engine, Road). So its going to take alot for your TJ to sound "Better" then it would if the install was in your Cherokee. If you have a Hardtop that helps alot, but if you ever you the softtop or have the softtop down, you will lose alot of your noise level trying to downed everything else out. If you have any quesions please let me know, ill try to answer them. -Branden "Brandon Buckner" wrote in message news:G31%f.921019$xm3.73189@attbi_s21... Hello, I'm kinda surprised you haven't gotten an answer yet, but I'll put in my 2 cents worth. Maybe my friend that has a 99 TJ will chime in also. I've got a 2000 WJ. In my experience the Head Unit should be upgraded before the stock speakers, provided the stock speakers are not damaged already. Most popular aftermarket speakers require much more power than the factory speakers do, making it very difficult for the factory head unit to adequately power them, and hence most people end up being unhappy with the new setup thinking it should sound a lot better, but in fact sounds worse. Many can't even be adequately powered by an aftermarket head unit either and still sound like crap until they are externally powered by an amplifer. Most aftermarket head units are much more powerful than the stock head unit, providing much better amplification to the stock speakers, and not distorting nearly as easily at higher volumes. So far on my Jeep Grand Cherokee, I've got an Alpine DVD HU with a 6-channel amp powering all speakers, all still factory. It sounds remarkable, and the bass from the factory 6x9s sound like subs in the doors. My previous Tahoe was the same way, but the speakers were run off the aftermarket head unit. You may find that you may not want to replace them after getting better amplification to them. If you're planning on a HU, I'd get it first, and then upgrade the speakers later if you still want to. You'll be much happier between the two purchases as well. My friend like I said has a 99 TJ, so nearly identical to your own. The sound bar has some aftermarket Diamond speakers that sound damn good with his aftermarket HU, but I forget what brand it is. He also just modified the front dash to hold 5.25" rounds instead of the 4x6" speakers. I haven't heard it yet to know if there's an improvement though. Brandonb James wrote: I just bought a 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, MINT. I want to upgrade the radio system. It has front grill speakers, plus rollbar speakers. I would like to start by upgrading the speakers, and then later put in an aftermarket radio deck. I might later spring for an amp. I don't want a super-powered system, just something that sounds real nice. I listen to jazz, new age, some country, and other types , but not rap or hard rock. I also have a 2000 Grand Cherokee with the stock radio and Infinity line speaker option and it sounds great !! I would like for my 1997 Wrangler to sound at least as good, hopefully at least a bit better. Can I hear from some of you guys that have upgraded your Wrangler stereos, and what you have and liked ?? From browsing at Crutchfield, it appears that the front dash speakers are 4 X 6, and that the speakers in the sound bar are 5 1/4 . Both of these are pretty small, so I guess I will be limited a lot, but I just want a much better sound than what came in this Jeep. I will appreciate any ideas. Thanks !!!!!!!! --James-- |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.car
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Audio for 1997 Jeep Wrangler ??
Brandon and Branden, many thanks for the very very informative replies
!!!!! I am VERY interested in converting the front so that I can use 5 1/4 speakers up front. I am sure that I will have followup questions, so be ready !! Thanks again. --james-- |
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