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Audio Build - My neighbors are gonna hate me

alphalife9

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No updates yet... Works been killing me...

You "could" replace the dash speakers and tweeters with the Morels, but I would check and see what kind of wattage your Alpine amp is putting out.

Sometimes simply swapping relatively expensive speakers into stock speaker locations without upgrading the amps can leave a person a little disappointed. Not to mention, the crossovers for the individual speakers and how those would be set up.
I agree. I was thinking these two-way would be a step up from the Infinity and Kicker speakers some are upgrading to which appear to make a difference. Do the Morels come with crossovers? I believe the factory wiring has bass blockers but nothing else in terms of crossovers. Not sure.
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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I agree. I was thinking these two-way would be a step up from the Infinity and Kicker speakers some are upgrading to which appear to make a difference. Do the Morels come with crossovers? I believe the factory wiring has bass blockers but nothing else in terms of crossovers. Not sure.
Yes, they do make crossovers:

3way
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-LXnoo...tm6zgNBTI-u0Y8WWwLq_cPOBRkebBqDEaAttmEALw_wcB

2way
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-0nRfh...ypD0_hlt8UbIKXeje9A4DK0Ypw9TA_-oaAqJzEALw_wcB
 
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Finally had a little time!

Here is a comparison of the factory pod vs the Metra. Unfortunately, the Metra is slightly smaller than the factory one, but it's my only option... There is no way the factory one could be made to hold a 6.5".

IMG-20200204-113555599.jpg


IMG-20200204-113607843.jpg



I cut a hole and epoxied in the aperiodic vent.

IMG-20200204-154907427.jpg


IMG-20200204-155001675.jpg



Rough cut for the 1/2" birch plywood baffle

IMG-20200204-155342061.jpg
 
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Btw, I have seen a few videos and read instructions on how to remove the driver side speaker pod on the JL, and they all say that you need to disassembled most of the dash. This is absolutely not true. I removed my pod quite easily by taking out a few of the screws and simply pulling the lower dash panel back enough to drop the pod out. Very similar to how it's done on the JKs...

Edit: just to not have over-simplified this, by a few screws I mean about 14... Lol. Now that I have it figured out, I could pull the driver side pod in about 20 minutes. The passenger side should be easier as you can pull it through the glove box area...
 
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Cleaned up the baffle and painted it

IMG-20200205-103313315-HDR.jpg


IMG-20200205-104741004.jpg




Wrapped it in CLD. It's amazing how different it sounds now when you knock on the plastic! It sounds thick and solid.

IMG-20200205-140646305.jpg


IMG-20200205-140656840-HDR.jpg



I think it looks alright with the Morels. I will be leaving the grill on to protect the speaker as I squeeze it in to place...

IMG-20200205-151252787.jpg


IMG-20200205-151302349.jpg
 

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DavidRam

DavidRam

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To you other JL guys, the factory pods are actually ported with some degree of tuning... I actually think the pod and sound could be improved upon with better 4"(?) speakers, especially if one was to determine the port tuning and match it with the aftermarket speaker.

IMG-20200205-095354466-HDR.jpg


Where my thumb is
IMG-20200205-095412574-HDR.jpg
 
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Got the passenger side pod in... This side is easier access than the drivers side, you just take out a couple screws and pull the dash back and slip the pod in and out through the glove box opening.

However, it's much tighter in there, so I made a 1/4" baffle (compared to the driver side 1/2") and that still wouldn't fit. Easy fix, I flipped the tab to the back side and got creative with a bolt. ;)

IMG-20200225-114907285.jpg


I put a little foam on the Morel grille so it wouldn't vibrate against the dash. Here you can see how tight it is, less than a 1/16" of room.

IMG-20200225-114933776.jpg


IMG-20200225-115000567.jpg
 
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Time for the sub box! The wood: 3/4", 13 ply, void free, Baltic birch... This stuff is beautiful and super strong.

Ripped them to size, the lengths will be cut on the miter saw.

IMG-20200226-133509663.jpg


Got my homemade router/table saw combo dirty! :)

IMG-20200226-133556592.jpg


Started gluing and nailing it together

IMG-20200304-170556245.jpg


Double baffle for the 60 lb sub. The outer one got really tight!

IMG-20200304-160644903-HDR.jpg


These are 1/4-20 screw in tee nuts, my favorite!

IMG-20200304-170121527.jpg
 

Gaust

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To you other JL guys, the factory pods are actually ported with some degree of tuning... I actually think the pod and sound could be improved upon with better 4"(?) speakers, especially if one was to determine the port tuning and match it with the aftermarket speaker.

IMG-20200205-095354466-HDR.jpg


Where my thumb is
IMG-20200205-095412574-HDR.jpg
Looking good! I have been thinking the same thing with the OEM speaker pod. Do you know if anyone has measured the port and enclosure?
 

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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Looking good! I have been thinking the same thing with the OEM speaker pod. Do you know if anyone has measured the port and enclosure?
Thanks! I haven't had time to, but I'd like to at some point...
 
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DavidRam

DavidRam

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Because there will be an acrylic window where you will be able to see inside the box, I had to make the bracing look decent:

IMG-20200310-161729989.jpg


IMG-20200310-161842416.jpg


Screwed and glued the tee nuts in

IMG-20200310-163207684.jpg


IMG-20200310-163230823.jpg
 

Gonz

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I really like how you wrapped the Metra pods on the outside for sound treating. Surely looks much easier than trying to do the inside! I'm assuming based on your experience with high end car audio that doing the outside is just as effective as the inside?
 
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DavidRam

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I really like how you wrapped the Metra pods on the outside for sound treating. Surely looks much easier than trying to do the inside! I'm assuming based on your experience with high end car audio that doing the outside is just as effective as the inside?
I didn't treat the inside because I didn't want to reduce the interior volume of pods that are already to small... The outside treatment was to take away the hollow, plasticy sound of the pods, and it did a really good job of that.
I don't think it would make a noticeable difference to do this to factory pods with factory equipment, but my pods with the Morel speakers will be getting 150 watts rms so they needed all the help they could get.
 

jeepingib

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I'm really enjoying this. I know very little about the high end side of audio, and this has been a very instructive post for me.
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