Help understanding ohm for speaker replacement

[Luna B]

Have a 2024 Jeep Wrangler JL with factory speakers currently (w/o Alpine). Looking to replace the sound bar.

Is there risk to switching from the 8-Ohm that are currently in there to 4-Ohm Kickers (46CSC44)? I've seen a lot of Jeep owners replacing using these, but my husband who is more knowledgeable than me seems to think otherwise.

Will the additional power draw kill my amp?

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[Nukem]

Have a 2024 Jeep Wrangler JL with factory speakers currently (w/o Alpine). Looking to replace the sound bar.

Is there risk to switching from the 8-Ohm that are currently in there to 4-Ohm Kickers (46CSC44)? I've seen a lot of Jeep owners replacing using these, but my husband who is more knowledgeable than me seems to think otherwise.

Will the additional power draw kill my amp?

Yes there is. Using a speaker with a lower impedance will cause the amplifier to run hotter. The transistors will be in danger of overheating and may catch fire or just burnout.

 

[Luna B]

@Nukum069 Understood. Thanks for your help!

That is crazy that Crutchfield recommends and sells these. I’m glad my husband stopped me before I potentially blew my system.

I looked last night and didn’t see any 8 ohm speakers available on their website so perhaps stuck with what I have? I wish I’d known that going into this. I thought changing out the crappy factory speakers would be no problem! Ah well, such is life.

If anyone happens upon this with a similar experience (for me I’m in 2024 Wrangler with Uconnect5) and knows where to find 8 ohm speakers, please let me know! It seems really weird to think that I simply cannot upgrade as I’ve seen many threads with people putting Kickers in their Jeeps - maybe it’s just this year and model that specially uses 8 ohm.

 

[Dusty Dude]

I haven’t looked into this at all, but consider wiring two speakers in series. This way, you get the 8 ohms you need. I don’t know if you would have room for the extra set of speakers…but it could be an option.

 

[Luna B]

Thanks for the idea. We definitely did consider it but there is no room that we could see for that, not even thinking outside the box!

 

[R3TRO]

TBH the soundbar speakers don't make that much of a difference. I'd replace the dash ones first. Very easy to do an most noticeable improvement in sound. Problem is I'm not sure about the '24 as they changed the dash and soundbar design?!

IF nothing changed on the '24 you can change BOTH the dash and the soundbar speakers with these Kickers which are plug-in and play. Super easy to do. They basically replace the tweeter/mid-bass. Says they are for Dodge Dart, but totally fit with zero modification in a '20 Willys.

Amazon link: Kickers

Also see this thread, I'm post #2 for pics: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-jl-sport-speaker-upgrade.59185/#post-1272952

 

[lashlee]

Yes there is. Using a speaker with a lower impedance will cause the amplifier to run hotter. The transistors will be in danger of overheating and may catch fire or just burnout.

That's a little excessive...

The nominal impedance is what is listed on the back of the speaker. Going from an 8 ohm to a 4 ohm will allow the amp to run a little warmer, but no where near overheating or catching fire. If that were the case you would be reading about under dash fires all over the forums from people replacing the speakers.

In my opinion, the main issue you'll have is that your speakers that are replaced will be a little louder than the speakers that haven't been replaced. You can use the fade function of the OEM radio to balance out the sound.

 

[Heimkehr]

TBH the soundbar speakers don't make that much of a difference. I'd replace the dash ones first. Very easy to do an most noticeable improvement in sound.

This.

I too replaced the OEM dash-top speakers only, choosing the well-regarded Infinity Reference speakers sold by Crutchfield. The improvement in sound was considerable.

 

[Luna B]

Hi guys! Thanks so much for your help!

@R3TRO I couldn’t agree with you more and in fact had the front speakers installed with some Kickers - huge difference. The problem is that only one set of speakers (roll bar tweeters) has ohm listed at all and @ 8 ohm. The other two sets I pulled out don’t. With my lacking knowledge it just seemed very dodgy to take the chance without asking others who have experience so thats why I’m here. My husband (who knows a heck of a lot more than me but still not super confident in car audio!) suggested I remove them until we figure it out so I’ve done so.

I cannot find any information online for the impedance rating in the 24 wrangler. I even went as far as to contact Mopar directly and was given a dead end there too.

@lashlee appreciate your response. As I mentioned above, two of the speakers I pulled don’t even have the ohm listed so I’m not sure what to do besides assume they are all 8 ohm. I have to agree with what you’re saying, I feel rather bewildered by the whole thing, but seeing as I already am having a ton of issues with my uconnect system I’d hate to screw anything up and have the dealership refuse to fix it (it’s faulty as heck and needs to be replaced - 6 weeks of hell so far trying to get them to help out there).

 

[lashlee]

@Luna B There is a lot of information available on the forums, most of it will be great!! Some of it on the other hand needs to be avoided. I also understand your husband's hesitation, and as long as he has a digital multimeter he can figure out what impedance any speaker is (in your case they all should be 8 ohm). If he has one he can set the meter to read Ohm's and touch the probes to each terminal on the speaker (it doesn't matter which one, just as long as you touch both).

As for the difference, think of it this way: 8 ohm speakers are like a 33" tire. 4 ohm speakers are like a 35" tire. The 35" tire is a little bigger so you will sacrifice a slight amount of MPG's but you get a slightly taller ride height and the motor may need some additional effort to make them move. Both tires move the Jeep, it's mainly a matter of opinion of what is better. Jeep feels you need 33's, most people go bigger!

Most aftermarket speakers will be 4 ohm. They absolutely will work with your OEM system and shouldn't cause any problems when you change to them. The upside of 4 ohm speakers is that they will play a little louder than what is in there from the factory. Like I mentioned earlier, when you only replace one pair of speakers, the replaced set will play slightly louder than the originals that weren't swapped.

As to why Jeep chose to use 8 ohm speakers is a bigger mystery. Typically most OEM's farm out the stereo setup to audio companies (like Alpine, or JBL (Harman International), Panasonic, Pioneer, etc...) will choose components as an entire system and sell it to Jeep for one price. Typically the OEM will have no idea about why they chose those individual pieces, you would have to talk to the audio engineer that designed it. Typically the OEM's will choose based on cost (considering they are typically buying a huge amount to outfit all of their cars), and what you have in your hand is the cheapest thing Jeep could put in there. When the engineer is tuning the system, he might use some filters (crossovers) to protect the speakers or use other audio tricks to make it sound "good" (like an EQ or swapping the nominal polarity of a pair of speakers).

Hopefully this isn't too much information, but maybe give you information for when you continue your journey for a better sound. I have designed and installed systems for decades in various cars and there are many aspects that go into each and every one of them.

 

[WILLY24]

Lots of good info here!

Just swapped out all speakers but the kick panel, the 24's kick panel is a bit of a hassle (passenger side) to get apart and I've not seen to many good instructions yet on how to do it. Swapped the 3.5" dash speakers with the Infiniti's others have used in this thread. They're substantially louder than OE. And clearer.

The 3.5" rears are Kenwood Excelon's, not sure why Crutchfield wouldn't offer the Infiniti's for the rear too but whatever. I used some 4" Kicker 2 way speakers to replace the mids but the bass is about the same if not a little less than factory. I just ordered some Infinity 4" mids and also some off brand 4" "woofers" to see what they'll do. Not too sure about using polyfill, I used it on the right side of the rear and didn't notice a difference. I'll use it to wrap around the little OE speaker wire harness-aftermarket but won't be stuffing the crevice's per se.

I'll likely be adding that 10" compact powered Kicker I've seen around the interwebs. Bass is severely lacking especially when using the satellite radio. This is my first ever Wrangler, the sound system rumors are true .

 

[Obviousbicycleco]

That's a little excessive...

The nominal impedance is what is listed on the back of the speaker. Going from an 8 ohm to a 4 ohm will allow the amp to run a little warmer, but no where near overheating or catching fire. If that were the case you would be reading about under dash fires all over the forums from people replacing the speakers.

In my opinion, the main issue you'll have is that your speakers that are replaced will be a little louder than the speakers that haven't been replaced. You can use the fade function of the OEM radio to balance out the sound.

I hate to break it to you, but the head unit with 100% certainty will over heat if played at near full volume for approximately 35-40 minutes. I have the exact Kicker replacement speakers the author is speaking about and the head unit will come up with a prompt at that time that states “Amplifier too hot. Adjusting volume.” At that point it’s done for about 5-6 minutes before the sound will turn back on. This is for the reason of the 4ohm producing more power, in turn heating up the unit; further exacerbated in the winter with the heat on or when it’s hot with top off.

I solved the issue by buying and installing the Alpine WRA-i509. It now sounds way better than before and never over heats. If you’re wanting to keep the original head unit, you may be able to find 8ohm coaxial speakers. I like my Kicker bundle, however the front 3.5” dash speakers are not worth the money in the bundle. While louder, they are extremely sharp. I am going to swap out my dash speakers with Terra Acoustics 8ohm setup and will do a write up when done.

Unless you have rear passengers, I wouldn’t splurge for the soundbar replacements either if I had to do it over again.

 

[Heimkehr]

IF nothing changed on the '24 you can change BOTH the dash and the soundbar speakers with these Kickers which are plug-in and play. Super easy to do. They basically replace the tweeter/mid-bass. Says they are for Dodge Dart, but totally fit with zero modification in a '20 Willys.

Amazon link: Kickers

Do the Amazon-sourced speakers linked above include the necessary harness (wiring/plug), or can you reuse the stock stuff already in the soundbar when installing the speakers? Thanks.

 

[R3TRO]

Do the Amazon-sourced speakers linked above include the necessary harness (wiring/plug), or can you reuse the stock stuff already in the soundbar when installing the speakers? Thanks.

Plug in and play. It's a Mopar part that already has the correct harness at the end. Again, I'm assuming nothing has changed since the '20 model.

 

[Jebiruph]

Have a 2024 Jeep Wrangler JL with factory speakers currently (w/o Alpine). Looking to replace the sound bar.

Is there risk to switching from the 8-Ohm that are currently in there to 4-Ohm Kickers (46CSC44)? I've seen a lot of Jeep owners replacing using these, but my husband who is more knowledgeable than me seems to think otherwise.

Will the additional power draw kill my amp?

Assuming the 2024 speakers are similar to the previous years, there is an 8 Ohm tweeter wired in parallel to a 4 Ohm mid range for a combined resistance of 2.67 Ohms. But the since the tweeter's capacitor blocks the lower frequencies, those lower frequencies see only the 4 Ohms of mid range. If you replace the tweeter with a 4 Ohm tweeter, the combined resistance drops from 2.67 to 2 Ohms with the tweeter blocked lower frequencies still seeing the 4 Ohms of the mid range.

I would expect the majority of the audio signal power to exist in the lower frequency ranges, so there would not be a change in the resistance seen by most of the power out of the amp.

Instead of replacing a factory tweeter with a tweeter/mid range coax and leaving the factory mid range in place for a 1 tweeter and 2 mid range setup, why not remove both factory speakers and replace them single coax, effectively replacing a tweeter and mid range with a tweeter and mid range. Why leave an inferior factory mid range installed that will rob power from the upgraded speaker? Unless you think the factory mid range has a lower frequency response then the replacement.

If you are bored, here's the write up of the upgrading of my system. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/base-system-speaker-upgrade.75015/post-1562924

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