6.5" soundbar adapters

[Pdiehm]

bumping this. I am about to do the same...but I'd prefer not to work upside down.

How does one go about removing the sound bar. I haven't really found any videos with clear instructions....but it also looks like it's quite involved, so maybe an exacto knife and a dremel may be the play here.

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[Varilux]

bumping this. I am about to do the same...but I'd prefer not to work upside down.

How does one go about removing the sound bar. I haven't really found any videos with clear instructions....but it also looks like it's quite involved, so maybe an exacto knife and a dremel may be the play here.

It never occurred to me to remove the sound bar for this installation. Even if it only took 15 minutes to do so, I don't think I would have bothered. I tried using a Dremel for a few minutes, didn't find that completely to my liking and switched to a hand held jigsaw. As long as you are moderately careful, the jigsaw works perfectly and very quickly. All the cutting takes less than 20-30 minutes at most, and leaving the sound bar attached keeps it from moving around as you're making your cuts.

 

[Pdiehm]

It never occurred to me to remove the sound bar for this installation. Even if it only took 15 minutes to do so, I don't think I would have bothered. I tried using a Dremel for a few minutes, didn't find that completely to my liking and switched to a hand held jigsaw. As long as you are moderately careful, the jigsaw works perfectly and very quickly. All the cutting takes less than 20-30 minutes at most, and leaving the sound bar attached keeps it from moving around as you're making your cuts.

i don't have a handheld jigsaw, i do have a dremel...so that will have to work.

will hook up my shop light, leave it in and have the vacuum handy. i imagine you have to take out the porting as well.

 

[Varilux]

i don't have a handheld jigsaw, i do have a dremel...so that will have to work.

will hook up my shop light, leave it in and have the vacuum handy. i imagine you have to take out the porting as well.

Yes, the porting will all be discarded (at least as I recall). I tried to have my son hold our ShopVac right next to where I was cutting for the first few minutes. That proved rather ineffective, so we abandoned the vac and just waited till the end to sweep up all the little bits of plastic. Sweeping up was probably one of the more time consuming parts of the whole project (although admittedly because I'm OCD and once I started sweeping I ended up detailing the entire interior of the Jeep :^).

 

[Pdiehm]

Yes, the porting will all be discarded (at least as I recall). I tried to have my son hold our ShopVac right next to where I was cutting for the first few minutes. That proved rather ineffective, so we abandoned the vac and just waited till the end to sweep up all the little bits of plastic. Sweeping up was probably one of the more time consuming parts of the whole project (although admittedly because I'm OCD and once I started sweeping I ended up detailing the entire interior of the Jeep :^).

so did you use just 1 speaker? or did you include the tweeter? I have 2 wires back there, one for the 4" and one for a 3.5"...I'm thinking it's probably just easier for the non-mechanically inclined to hook up the tweeters and utilize both sets of wires.

 

[Varilux]

so did you use just 1 speaker? or did you include the tweeter? I have 2 wires back there, one for the 4" and one for a 3.5"...I'm thinking it's probably just easier for the non-mechanically inclined to hook up the tweeters and utilize both sets of wires.

I installed 6.5" coaxial speakers (i.e., woofer and tweeter is incorporated into a single speaker). I originally hooked up just one set of wires (the ones going to the larger of the original speakers), and noticed the sound seemed sort of hollow. Then I "bridged" both sets of wire (hooked both original white feeds to the positive of the new speaker and both original black feeds to the negative of the new speaker) and it sounded great. Most others who have tried this route seem to be pleased with the results as well (one person with the premium audio system had some crackling at higher volumes).

One caveat to keep in mind. If you start the Jeep with speaker wires disconnected, the head unit will turn that speaker off. For example, if you decide to start the Jeep, turn on the head unit, and then try to hook up your speakers, you will not get any sound from them UNTIL you turn the Jeep back off, give the system time to "reset" and then start the Jeep again. This has created consternation for many people working on this sound system. Likewise, if you disconnect a speaker with the system on and then reconnect it (e.g., to try out a different wiring configuration), the head unit may turn that channel off until you allow the system to reset. Just keep it in mind if for some reason you aren't getting any sound at all from a speaker- shut the Jeep off and let it reset.

 

[Goosed]

bumping this. I am about to do the same...but I'd prefer not to work upside down.

How does one go about removing the sound bar. I haven't really found any videos with clear instructions....but it also looks like it's quite involved, so maybe an exacto knife and a dremel may be the play here.

It takes time to get off. I remember having a hard time getting my hand into the bar to disconnect the light.

That being said, you may want to take the time to do it. When you cut out the new hole, you’ll lose the ports that help with bass. This is unfortunate, but think about stuffing the bar with some polyfill and sound deadening it. Worth it.

 

[Pdiehm]

I installed 6.5" coaxial speakers (i.e., woofer and tweeter is incorporated into a single speaker). I originally hooked up just one set of wires (the ones going to the larger of the original speakers), and noticed the sound seemed sort of hollow. Then I "bridged" both sets of wire (hooked both original white feeds to the positive of the new speaker and both original black feeds to the negative of the new speaker) and it sounded great. Most others who have tried this route seem to be pleased with the results as well (one person with the premium audio system had some crackling at higher volumes).

One caveat to keep in mind. If you start the Jeep with speaker wires disconnected, the head unit will turn that speaker off. For example, if you decide to start the Jeep, turn on the head unit, and then try to hook up your speakers, you will not get any sound from them UNTIL you turn the Jeep back off, give the system time to "reset" and then start the Jeep again. This has created consternation for many people working on this sound system. Likewise, if you disconnect a speaker with the system on and then reconnect it (e.g., to try out a different wiring configuration), the head unit may turn that channel off until you allow the system to reset. Just keep it in mind if for some reason you aren't getting any sound at all from a speaker- shut the Jeep off and let it reset.

yeah, i think i will just add the fosgate tweeters. the wiring is there, it's one less thing for me to screw up.

 

[Pdiehm]

Drilled out the tweeter holes. Turned out nice.

 

[Pdiehm]

Soooo...these Fosgates have to go back. Reason being: they are TOOO SMALL!

Spent an hour on the phone with crutchfield, who is awesome talking about it. They were convinced that I was doing something wrong.

contacted SSVWorks, who informed me that while it is for a 6.5” speaker it actually needs to be a TRUE 6.5” speaker which is actually a 6.75” speaker.

the Fosgates I got was only 6”...they used the mounting tabs to make it 6.5”. I ordered the P1675-S component set and before I drill out the larger tweeter hole, will mount in the speakers. I am seriously contemplating removing the sound bar to do this but it seems like it’s a tedious ordeal.

will update as I obtain the part.

 

[Pdiehm]

New speakers should be here today and I think I am going to remove the soundbar. I think it will be just a ton easier to do talk the speakers that way can fighting gravity while installing...

that said the speakers should actually line up this time and maybe it will be easier. We shall see

 

[Daffydnbugs]

New speakers should be here today and I think I am going to remove the soundbar. I think it will be just a ton easier to do talk the speakers that way can fighting gravity while installing...

that said the speakers should actually line up this time and maybe it will be easier. We shall see

Good luck on the removal. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Pdiehm]

Good luck on the removal. Let us know how it goes.

i am still kicking around leaving it in. It seems like a lot of things that could go wrong in removing. I may start it and see how the sides come off but if I have to really fight to get the trim open, I may leave it.

I keep going back and forth

 

[Pdiehm]

All done. Removed the sound bar. And did my trimming. Install was a breeze and the only casualty was the dome light clips broke. I need an oil change this week and may have them just put one in.

 

[Daffydnbugs]

All done. Removed the sound bar. And did my trimming. Install was a breeze and the only casualty was the dome light clips broke. I need an oil change this week and may have them just put one in.

Just a couple of questions. First, how was the removal of the soundbar? Second, what did you use to for the cutting? Nice job, btw.

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