Sponsored

Gonz's '18 JLU Audio Upgrade w/pics

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
I've been reading and researching quite a bit here for a while, the search function has yielded some great results and helped point me in the right direction. In an effort to repay that, I'll add some more options and material so hopefully someone else can learn as I did!

I have an '18 JLU, 8.4" Alpine stock system. The vehicle is pretty much bone stock, with the exception of some lighting upgrades.

Here's what I've gotten my wish down to, and what I'm planning on ordering within the next week or two:

Leaving stock radio as is, no need to upgrade or mess with that right now.
Pac Amp pro R2 w/Toslink output

Amp - I have a Phoenix Gold DSP not being used, I bought it for use in a 2010 BMW M5 build, but the build never happened, long story. My original plan was to get the JL 900/5 amp, run the PG DSP to it, then head out to all speakers from there. Now I'm thinking more along the lines of saving the PG DSP for another car, and getting the JL VX1000/5i. It's a big jump in price from the 900/5, but I like the built in DSP and how everyone here has been raving about it. EDIT: I ended up going with the JL VXi 700/5 amp, with the DSP built in.

Front speakers - Focal Performance PS165F3 6.5, 3.5, tweeter using the Metra pod for the knee speakers. They're on sale, there's a new version coming out, can't beat the price on this one! The comparable speakers I considered would be the JL C5 3-way and the Morel VIrtus 603.

Soundbar - Focal Expert PC 165F coax using the SSV speaker adapters. I'm also planning on lining the inside of the soundbar pods with sound deadening and maybe a bit of poly fill. Again, these are discounted heavily right now, otherwise the JL C5 coax was a consideration.

Sub - I may catch hell for this, but I'm going to give a shot at reusing the stock sub location with a better speaker, some sound deadening for reinforcement, and see what happens. Worst case if it sounds like crap then I'll get the SSV enclosure instead. The actual speaker I'm looking at is the Focal Performance P25FS, a shallow mount 10" sub. It's a 4ohm sub that wants 300RMS, the amp I'm looking at, at 4ohms, is 400rms, which will be great. I was very highly considering the JL 10TW3-D4, a 10" dual voice coil sub that would run at 2ohms with the higher power output from the JL amp. EDIT: I scrapped the idea of reusing the stock enclosure, and got the SSV Works empty enclosure and the JL 10TW3-D4 sub. Edited again, the JL 10TW3 does not fit the SSV enclosure, dammit! That's going back, I ordered a Focal RSB-250 instead.

Other - I'll order the JL amp rack for under the passenger seat. I'm still trying to figure out what I should do with the crossovers for the front speakers (suggestions welcome). Regular assortment of wiring for the amp, new speaker wire, optical cable from PAC Amp Pro to Amp.

Once everything is ordered I will plan on taking a ton of pics to update as I go. I plan on using all the great other threads on here for all the installation and disassembly/reassembly.

Please, I welcome all suggestions and insight. If anyone thinks I should go with other options or has ideas one way or the other about the DSP/Amp combo I'm all ears!
Sponsored

 
Last edited:

Gibbage

Well-Known Member
First Name
Kevin
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Threads
11
Messages
68
Reaction score
79
Location
Seattle area
Website
www.youtube.com
Vehicle(s)
2018 Ocean Blue Sport S
Occupation
3D Artist
I'm looking forward to this! I have the Alpine myself and would love to bring a bit more high end and miss, but your speakers are definitely out of my budget. So I live vicarious through you!

Question. From what I know, the Alpine system has its own Amp. Will you need to disable this if you run your own?
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
Question. From what I know, the Alpine system has its own Amp. Will you need to disable this if you run your own?
From my understanding, the PAC AmpPro unit will intercept the digital signal from the head unit to the amp, but the amp will stay in place. I don't actually even know where the stock amp is located. My hope is that there's plenty of room behind the dash to keep the PAC AmpPro somewhere back there.
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
I'm leaning towards getting the SSV sub box instead of trying to reuse the stock sub box. The bolt hole pattern on the stock box is screwy and I'm afraid it'll be a ton of work adapting it to an aftermarket sub, all with the risk of it sounding like s#!t. With the SSV box vs. the JL Stealthbox, I give up a little bit of the factory look, but I can use whatever shallow mount sub I want and end up with much better sound.

Hopefully placing order tonight for all my gear!
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
This is getting real, I just ordered all the gear! I have a few odds and ends to pick up locally, like speaker connectors, Tesa tape etc., otherwise I'll have gear by the end of this week then plan on crushing this install! Well, if the weather warms up, I don't have a heated garage.
 

Sponsored

jeeplaw

Well-Known Member
First Name
David
Joined
Mar 26, 2019
Threads
15
Messages
108
Reaction score
74
Location
Spring, TX
Vehicle(s)
2006 Dodge Charger Daytona, 2019 JLUR
Looking forward to the install!
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
Everything I need for the install has arrived! Here's a quick pic of the bulk of the equipment, a couple odds and ends arrived separately.

It's been a bit chilly here the last few days, temps hovering around 30 and I don't have a heated workspace. I'm nervous about prying on plastic parts (dashboard) when it's cold, but I see temps in the 50's coming in a few days so I'll be able to get into it. I'll probably start working on the rollbar speakers and sub install for now, get as much done without tearing into the dash as I can.

IMG_8519.JPG
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
Slowly getting started, did some exploratory work inside the Jeep figuring out how to remove the soundbar, where to run wires, etc.

Also wrapped the new knee speaker pods in sound treatment to cut down on how hollow and plasticky they sound.

IMG_8567.JPG
IMG_8568.JPG
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
Made a small amount of progress today, it was a nice day out, mid-50's, and warm enough to get out and start pulling on plastic.

I'm going to take the power wire through the driver side, even though the amp will be passenger side. Just easier than removing a fender liner and all that. I had no problem popping off that driver side grommet, cut a hole in the middle and put the wire grommet into the hole, and popped it right back in place.

I removed the sound bar and started cutting into it for the speaker brackets. The Dremel bit shown worked awesome, I wasn't sure how it would do cutting through plastic, even though that's what it's for, and it was smooth as butter. Just go slow and deliberate.

Here's a few in process pics:

Investigating where the Pac AmpPro will go
IMG_8584.JPG

Taking the soundbar off:
IMG_8582.JPG


Note the top can stay on, just pull the plastic trim piece loose to get to the three 10mm bolts:
IMG_8581.JPG

Dremel Bit Used:
IMG_8585.JPG
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
And here's the soundbar speakers installed (well, enough for a pic, still need to run the wiring).

Does anyone have any thoughts on where to place the crossovers for the soundbar speakers? Should I put them down by the amp, or mount them somewhere within the soundbar? Pros/cons in my thought process: Keep them by the speakers, minimize speaker wire run and not have the underseat area cluttered. Cons - Where on earth do I put them, keep them out of sight as well as out of the weather with the top down.

IMG_8586.JPG
IMG_8587.JPG
IMG_8588.JPG
 

Sponsored

Gibbage

Well-Known Member
First Name
Kevin
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Threads
11
Messages
68
Reaction score
79
Location
Seattle area
Website
www.youtube.com
Vehicle(s)
2018 Ocean Blue Sport S
Occupation
3D Artist
Thanks for the tip on getting the sound bar down. The video I saw showed a LOT more work than just pulling the trip peace!
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
Made a little more progress today, ran the power wire for the amp from the battery to under the front seat where the amp will be. Work was slow going since it was 40 degrees out and a very light rain, and my garage is currently occupied by a '98 BMW M3 that's in pieces, two motorcycles, and storing boxes from moving my dad out of his house and into assisted living.

Chose to go through the driver side, went very easy and had no problems routing the wire through the wiring channel under the hood, as shown in the pics. I'm going to kick back by the fire now with a beer and celebrate my small successes. Weather looks to be in the mid-50's tomorrow, so I'll be able to dig into the dash and get some big work done!

Wire channel from battery over to driver side, perfect fit!
IMG_8602.JPG


Driver Side:
IMG_8603.JPG


Added wire loom:
IMG_8604.JPG

Fuse holder installed, wire finished. I use wire ferrules and heat shrink for most connections. Clean and works great.
IMG_8605.JPG
 
OP
OP
Gonz

Gonz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andy
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
53
Reaction score
44
Location
St Paul
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLU
Occupation
Gym Owner
Power wire runs along driver side trim, under driver seat, through the bottom of the center console, and out under passenger seat for amp.

Yes, I vacuumed once I had the seat pulled back.
IMG_8606.JPG
Wire under carpet, see red wire heading under center console.
IMG_8609.JPG


And out where the amp goes.
IMG_8608.JPG
Sponsored

 
 



Top