Adding an Aftermarket Amp(s)

Sting_NC_USA · Apr 30, 2019

The calibration process of a DSP usually takes care of the "hiss," which is common on many aftermarket systems using a basic LOC.

rawgeezy33 · Apr 30, 2019

I’ve been reading this thread and it appears to be very good information. I know nothing about car audio and wanted to ask about adding 4” kickers to knee panel
6.5 kickers to soundbar and a alpine PCs 300.4 amp would improve my sound. I have the basic system in the JL. Any help would be appreciated

Sting_NC_USA · May 2, 2019

rawgeezy33 said:
I’ve been reading this thread and it appears to be very good information. I know nothing about car audio and wanted to ask about adding 4” kickers to knee panel
6.5 kickers to soundbar and a alpine PCs 300.4 amp would improve my sound. I have the basic system in the JL. Any help would be appreciated

Best advice I can give, based on what you're describing, is to flip your approach and put most/all of your money into the front speakers and a decent sub. I have the exact same separates running up front as I do in the soundbar, and you can barely hear the ones in the soundbar. Passengers can hear them, but the rear soundbar speakers really perform best as "fill" speakers.

You'll be hard-pressed to get 6.5's in the kick panel, though I can tell you 5.25's fit and sound very good if you invest in quality speakers and a reputable amp. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to help.

anotherWS6 · May 3, 2019

I pulled the trigger on a pair of component Infinity Reference 5.25's. Open box deal on ebay, got a really good price. These are for the front. Figured I'd put the woofer in the knee panel and tweeters in the dash. Kinda secong guessing this. They will be amped. Could have had amped coax in the knee panel and a better 3 inch in the dash running off of the factory deck. Any thoughts?

I could also use the set in the sound bar. Although I've been expecting to put a coax 6.5 there.

Sting_NC_USA · May 3, 2019

You should be good with the separates. Putting coax's in the kick panel area, unless the tweeters can be angled/aimed, wouldn't add much at all.

rawgeezy33 · May 4, 2019

Sting_NC_USA said:
You should be good with the separates. Putting coax's in the kick panel area, unless the tweeters can be angled/aimed, wouldn't add much at all.

Do you have pics of the 5.25” speakers in the soundbar?

Sting_NC_USA · May 5, 2019

rawgeezy33 said:
Do you have pics of the 5.25” speakers in the soundbar?

Sorry, I don't. I had every intention of capturing the entire install, but it got to be a bit overwhelming. There's no real magic happening up there anyway. I simply cut the stock opening a little wider and layered it with sound deadening material.

rawgeezy33 · May 5, 2019

Sting_NC_USA said:
Sorry, I don't. I had every intention of capturing the entire install, but it got to be a bit overwhelming. There's no real magic happening up there anyway. I simply cut the stock opening a little wider and layered it with sound deadening material.

Cool. I’m hoping to take the leap sooner rather than later.

Scott_S · May 6, 2019

I've been considering the VX1000/5i installed under the driver's or passenger's seat, as recommended in a few threads, but I'm worried about water damage. I'd hate for a $1000+ amp to be destroyed because I drove through a puddle with the doors off or because I had the top down when it started raining. Installing it under the dash near the steering column or glove compartment might work, but this amp (and most 5-channel amps) may be too large to fit there.

Another possible option would be to use the Alpine power pack amps. The KTA-30FW, rated at 75W RMSx4 for the main speakers (same power rating as the JL amp at 4 ohms), and the KTA-30MW for the subwoofer, rated at 300W RMS at 2 ohms. At just over 9 inches by less than 4 inches, these should have no problem fitting under the dash, and as a bonus they're weather resistant (IP66 rated).

There are a couple downsides vs. the VX1000/5i:
1) No DSP, so I'd probably need a separate DSP unit.
2) The mono amp is only half the power of the sub channel on the JL amp, so I could only support one Stealthbox subwoofer. If I end up deciding that I want a second Stealthbox, it would require another Alpine mono amp, which starts to take me back to the space problem with the 5-channel amp. For anyone with experience with JL Stealthbox subs, would one of these at 300W be sufficient to pair with a 4-channel amp at 75W, or should I really try to come up with a way to manage the power for two subs?

JPMcNown · May 7, 2019

David F. · May 8, 2019

[QUOTE="

Driver side 10" JL stealth box
http://www.jlaudio.com/sb-j-jl4ddrv-10tw1-4-car-audio-stealthbox-94665

Passenger side JL 10" stealth box
http://www.jlaudio.com/sb-j-jl4dpas-10tw1-2-car-audio-stealthbox-94667

[/QUOTE]

Disappointed I cannot find these boxes without the subs. I already have that exact sub mounted in my cargo tub in a standard box. Would like to have it mounted like what you are getting. The one sub I have with 300 watts to it is already more bass than I need. Good luck with install.

JeeJeep · May 17, 2019

Sting_NC_USA said:
Most head units these days send encoded/processed signals to the stock amps and the only way to pull a usable signal over to an aftermarket amp is from the stock amp's output. I haven't had a chance to test the Alpine system, though.

I understand it's expensive, but I have to recommend the JL Fix referenced above. It can handle the stock amp's speaker level output/signal, but more importantly, it conditions the signal and provides a more balanced feed to your aftermarket amp. I'm blown away by the quality of sound I'm getting out of it. You will need the resistors. If you run four channels (Front-left, Front-right, Rear-left, Rear-right) you'll need 4 of the resistors mentioned. Buy 8 in case you break a few (they're really cheap!).

This diagram may not transfer well (use full screen just in case). Just before the JL Audio Fix's input, you'll strip a small section of the wires just before the positive and negative connectors for each channel. The resistor is soldered at the solder points shown. I'd recommend staggering them so the ceramic resistor sits parallel with your positive and negative wires. Then, carefully apply heat shrink or some other protective shield.

Thank you for the detailed post!

Regarding the resistors; the ones you linked to in your original post have been discontinued, they recommended the 10W version of the same resistors. Will those work?

Also, what heat sinks/protective shield did you use?

I have the 7” Uconnect and plan to replace the speakers with 2 focal ES100K in the kick panels and focal Es130k in the sound bar. Also going with the JL Audio Fix-86, JL Audio DRC-205 and JL audio VX400 amp (per Carstereochick’s recommendation -https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/speaker-replacement-upgrade.20561/page-6#post-689930). Currently have two JBL BassPro SL8 subs installed under each of the two front seats. Are there any other potential issues/considerations I should be aware of?

JLsport2019 · May 17, 2019

JeeJeep said:
Thank you for the detailed post!

Regarding the resistors; the ones you linked to in your original post have been discontinued, they recommended the 10W version of the same resistors. Will those work?

Also, what heat sinks/protective shield did you use?

I have the 7” Uconnect and plan to replace the speakers with 2 focal ES100K in the kick panels and focal Es130k in the sound bar. Also going with the JL Audio Fix-86, JL Audio DRC-205 and JL audio VX400 amp (per Carstereochick’s recommendation -https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/speaker-replacement-upgrade.20561/page-6#post-689930). Currently have two JBL BassPro SL8 subs installed under each of the two front seats. Are there any other potential issues/considerations I should be aware of?

How did it sound?

JeeJeep · May 17, 2019

JLsport2019 said:
How did it sound?

I didn’t get it installed yet - still gathering info

Sting_NC_USA · May 18, 2019

JeeJeep said:
Thank you for the detailed post!

Regarding the resistors; the ones you linked to in your original post have been discontinued, they recommended the 10W version of the same resistors. Will those work?

Also, what heat sinks/protective shield did you use?

I have the 7” Uconnect and plan to replace the speakers with 2 focal ES100K in the kick panels and focal Es130k in the sound bar. Also going with the JL Audio Fix-86, JL Audio DRC-205 and JL audio VX400 amp (per Carstereochick’s recommendation -https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/speaker-replacement-upgrade.20561/page-6#post-689930). Currently have two JBL BassPro SL8 subs installed under each of the two front seats. Are there any other potential issues/considerations I should be aware of?

Do you have a Fry's Electronics near you? They carry these resistors in stock and on their showroom floor. I can't recommend the other resistor as I have no experience with them.

I'm not using heat sinks and am only using large heat-shrink tubing/electrical tape. No heat issues with these that I've noticed (going on close to a year now).

I believe you'll be very pleased with your setup. It's highly recommended that you consider purchasing a small box (or two) of sound deadening material to line the stock enclosures. The jury is out on whether sealing the front enclosures vs. not sealing the ports makes a huge difference. They come ported, so I've removed the "ports" on mine and sealed the holes as best as I could. There's practically no way to seal the soundbar enclosures without building your own internal enclosure within the soundbar's speaker cavity. I've attempted to do so by lining and forming it with extra sound deadening material. As mentioned earlier, don't waste too much time/money on the soundbar.

I also recommend purchasing some foam rings (see your local audio store) to close the gap between the kick panel speakers and the kick panel speaker panel itself. This will help with sound/air leakage due to how the Jeep panels are configured.

Good luck with the install!

PS: Spotify is about the only streaming service I've found that will provide a higher quality sound stream. Make sure you have some high-quality music for your first twist of the volume knob! I highly recommend "You and your friend" - Dire Straits.

Adding an Aftermarket Amp(s)

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