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Adding an Aftermarket Amp(s)

Mercia Arnold

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Any leads for the best 5 channel amp? Reading various online reviews and I'm not much into these before so confused a bit like what things should I consider before buying. I am open to suggestions within a budget <$500.
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KellsiesJLUR

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Any leads for the best 5 channel amp? Reading various online reviews and I'm not much into these before so confused a bit like what things should I consider before buying. I am open to suggestions within a budget <$500.
Depends on what you are looking for and what you are starting out with? Do you just want more bass? Just want it to be louder?
 

Daffydnbugs

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All installed and loving it! The Pac Amp Pro makes installation so easy. Replaced all speakers in Jeep and put in a self powered sub woofer. Used factory speaker wiring due to aftermarket amp only being 50 per channel. Ran RCA cables from Pac to amp and subwoofer, couldn't have been any easier. A little bit of adjusting and all done. Now I can't keep my wife out of the Jeep! Last one out the door gets to drive the Journey to work. If I were to do it over I'm not sure I would have messed with the soundbar. The biggest gain made speaker wise was replacing the dash speakers and using the pods for 6.5" speakers in the kick panels. Thank you to all who responded to my posts here and a very big thank you to @Sting_NC_USA for starting this thread
 

KellsiesJLUR

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All installed and loving it! The Pac Amp Pro makes installation so easy. Replaced all speakers in Jeep and put in a self powered sub woofer. Used factory speaker wiring due to aftermarket amp only being 50 per channel. Ran RCA cables from Pac to amp and subwoofer, couldn't have been any easier. A little bit of adjusting and all done. Now I can't keep my wife out of the Jeep! Last one out the door gets to drive the Journey to work. If I were to do it over I'm not sure I would have messed with the soundbar. The biggest gain made speaker wise was replacing the dash speakers and using the pods for 6.5" speakers in the kick panels. Thank you to all who responded to my posts here and a very big thank you to @Sting_NC_USA for starting this thread
Do the pods help with the mid bass and vocals? Are they a calculated sealed enclosure or are they vented also?
 

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Daffydnbugs

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The pods are sealed but I also filled with poly and covered inside with sound deadening. They definitely bring out the mid and vocals. Not an easy task in replacing but if you follow the instructions in the first post, you should have no problem.
 
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Sting_NC_USA

Sting_NC_USA

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I reached out to JL and yes , problem still persist.. this was the response.

Lee DobsonToday at 10:32
Hello,

The FiX-86 will work with your Jeep, however, the FiX-86 and FiX-LSA-4 will not offer a low enough impedance by themselves to correct the output muting on your Wrangler JL OEM system. You will need to use some 40 ohm (5 watt or greater) resistors in conjunction with the FiX-LSA-4 to accomplish low enough of a load.

Simply wire one 40 ohm (5 watt or greater) resistor in parallel on each speaker lead before input into the FiX-LSA-4. Next, connect the output harnesses of the FiX-LSA-4 to the inputs of the FiX-86 and calibrate the FiX with the supplied FiX calibration track.
Resistor wired in parallel over single speaker wire (one end of the resistor connects to OEM speaker lead "+", the other end connects to OEM speaker lead "-"):
?name=inline-1469313962.png

Once completed, the OEM output muting will be defeated, and the OEM signal will be corrected.
Sincerely,
Lee Dobson
Technical Support Specialist
Unfortunately, I believe they're responding to the signal sensing test, which completely turns a channel off if the proper resistance isn't present.

Once uConnect turns each channel on, it isn't (as far as I'm aware) retesting and then shutting down the channel after a successful boot up.
 

Nate3531

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I reached out to JL and yes , problem still persist.. this was the response.

Lee DobsonToday at 10:32
Hello,

The FiX-86 will work with your Jeep, however, the FiX-86 and FiX-LSA-4 will not offer a low enough impedance by themselves to correct the output muting on your Wrangler JL OEM system. You will need to use some 40 ohm (5 watt or greater) resistors in conjunction with the FiX-LSA-4 to accomplish low enough of a load.

Simply wire one 40 ohm (5 watt or greater) resistor in parallel on each speaker lead before input into the FiX-LSA-4. Next, connect the output harnesses of the FiX-LSA-4 to the inputs of the FiX-86 and calibrate the FiX with the supplied FiX calibration track.
Resistor wired in parallel over single speaker wire (one end of the resistor connects to OEM speaker lead "+", the other end connects to OEM speaker lead "-"):
?name=inline-1469313962.png

Once completed, the OEM output muting will be defeated, and the OEM signal will be corrected.
Sincerely,
Lee Dobson
Technical Support Specialist
I just remembered it happened even with my cell phone as the signal so it can't be the JL speaker issue.
Just a thought, have you tried turning the gains on the amp almost all the way down? I know that having the gains turned too high can cause unnecessary clipping.
I figured it out. Sub has a bad coil. Open short. Swapped in a shallow mount 10" I have from a previous build and it plays up to the suspension limit of the surround. No cutting out at all. So it was clipping but not for the normal reasons. Push the sub just a hair hard and it shorted. Thanks for all the suggestions.
 

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KellsiesJLUR

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Yes absolutely.
Well, between wiring and components if you are talking about a JL ide say an amp, the converter and a sub is probably going to put you well over $500. Especially if you are considering paying a shop to install. I had tapped into my rear channels on the sound bar and just used the high level input of a cheap amp and a sub. That route could probably be done at about $500. But that will only gain you bass. The original speakers won't be much louder except that you will be able to turn the bass down on the factory speakers so you can turn them up a bit more. All that is assuming that you don't have a factory amp. I can't attest to tapping into an amplified factory system that way.
 

Nate3531

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Well, between wiring and components if you are talking about a JL ide say an amp, the converter and a sub is probably going to put you well over $500. Especially if you are considering paying a shop to install. I had tapped into my rear channels on the sound bar and just used the high level input of a cheap amp and a sub. That route could probably be done at about $500. But that will only gain you bass. The original speakers won't be much louder except that you will be able to turn the bass down on the factory speakers so you can turn them up a bit more. All that is assuming that you don't have a factory amp. I can't attest to tapping into an amplified factory system that way.
It really does take most of the distortion out of stock speakers to run the bass eq in the stereo at 0 or -2. i Just finally got my sub only install complete and the stock speakers sound tons better.
 

KellsiesJLUR

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It really does take most of the distortion out of stock speakers to run the bass eq in the stereo at 0 or -2. i Just finally got my sub only install complete and the stock speakers sound tons better.
Yeah, more power on them helps but you really can't expect much more from a 4 " factory woofer trying to cover such a broad spectrum from a vented box aimed at your knee
 

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Have you guys seen this?
https://catalog.pac-audio.com/catalog/radio-replacement/srk-jw18eh
This may be a game changer.
Honestly, I found the Alpine head unit a little bit overpriced and the UAQ is great but also quite pricey if you buy from Infotainment not used.
But this could open up new possibilities for aftermarket units and the integration seems to be pretty good with this PAC set and the Stinger head unit.
 

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Have you guys seen this?
https://catalog.pac-audio.com/catalog/radio-replacement/srk-jw18eh
This may be a game changer.
Honestly, I found the Alpine head unit a little bit overpriced and the UAQ is great but also quite pricey if you buy from Infotainment not used.
But this could open up new possibilities for aftermarket units and the integration seems to be pretty good with this PAC set and the Stinger head unit.
:)

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-have-you-guys-upgraded-to.58756/post-1289877

There's a handful of us already on the forums who've made the jump!
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