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Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system

Liberty0rDeath

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So you would recommend having 6.5" coax speakers(woofer along with the built in tweeter) in the bar and not your larger speaker with that little tweeter?
The bigger speaker is a 6.5”. I know @Varilux bridged both his wires in the soundbar and for ease of install that’s one way to go. For sound I can’t imagine it being too different than mine but I haven’t been around one to compare. To be fair I’m not an audiophile and I’m half deaf from my time in the marine corps (debatable on the deafness it could just be useful selective hearing).
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Liberty0rDeath

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Thank you, once I opened the bracket, seeing it had no sleve on it and it was wire spaghetti, I got scared, I had to use a second screw driver to pry it a little. I had a panic attack, thinking of the forum, Don’t use passenger side grommet to get wires through firewall!
I got the wire run under my drivers seat.

wire tuck.jpg
Looks goods! The hard part is done it looks like. I’m curious to see how the rest goes and how the sub fits under the seat. Do you have a link to the sub you are using? I want to compare those dimensions to the one I want to buy
 

JeepKindaGuy

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The bigger speaker is a 6.5”. I know @Varilux bridged both his wires in the soundbar and for ease of install that’s one way to go. For sound I can’t imagine it being too different than mine but I haven’t been around one to compare. To be fair I’m not an audiophile and I’m half deaf from my time in the marine corps (debatable on the deafness it could just be useful selective hearing).
I was only asking based off of your comment from post #71 here - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...mp-upgrade-to-basic-system.51309/post-1160841

Was just double checking because that seems like less work to me, and wanted to clarify to save me some time lol! Most people I read say the bar is mainly filler. Sting mentioned it in another thread post #1 about not going to crazy in the bar - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/adding-an-aftermarket-amp-s.6568/.
 

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Liberty0rDeath

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I was only asking based off of your comment from post #71 here - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...mp-upgrade-to-basic-system.51309/post-1160841

Was just double checking because that seems like less work to me, and wanted to clarify to save me some time lol! Most people I read say the bar is mainly filler. Sting mentioned it in another thread post #1 about not going to crazy in the bar - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/adding-an-aftermarket-amp-s.6568/.
Yes, I think if I did all over I’d save the time (the components were not any more difficult than cutting two more holes and splicing two more wires. My headache was getting the crossovers to not rattle in the soundbar!), but like I said I haven’t been around another Jeep to truly compare whether my setup or your intended set up is the more preferred method.

I think it’s all relative when you consider the major upgrade is going from a 4” non amplified speaker to a 6.5” amplified speaker.
 

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TJJL19

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I took the kicker sub out of the box,went outside with it, to see how it would fit and it started to rain,oh well best laid plans of mice and men!
Looking at the box I noticed it will work with ESS, I didn't know that was a thing?

Kicker.jpg
 

TJJL19

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Varilux,when you ran your power wire, to the 445u amp, did you use 14 or 10 gauge wire?
I have to run a cable from my 4 gauge power wire to the 445u, I found out that the power cable in the original kit was 10 gauge, but the plug in conector on the wire harness is 14 gauge, so I'm wondering if I should run a 10 gauge or 14 gauge?
 
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Varilux

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TJJL19 said:
Varilux,when you ran your power wire, to the 445u amp, did you use 14 or 10 gauge wire?
I have to run a cable from my 4 gauge power wire to the 445u, I found out that the power cable in the original kit was 10 gauge, but the plug in conector on the wire harness is 14 gauge, so I'm wondering if I should run a 10 gauge or 14 gauge?
I used 12 gauge. As I recall, I did some calculation of the distance of the run and the amps, and came out to 14 gauge being just barely sufficient, and I usually go one gauge up for peace of mind- so I landed at 12 gauge. If the distance from where you are tying into your 4 gauge wire to the amp is pretty small, 14 gauge will be just fine. I made my harness 6' long (which I'm not using anyway, because the amp is above the glove box, but I wanted some flexibility to put it under the seat if I decided to do so), so I went with 12. Had it only been a 12-24," I would have went with 14 gauge.

PS- Nice looking sub- your 180W / 10" sub is going to produce quite a bit more thump than my 125W / 8".
 

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Just took a break and wanted to update. I had a brian fart, thought I should put the back seat down, after I ran the wires, DA! it was close!

Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system just enough 1


Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system just enough 2


Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system kicker 1 fit


Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system kicker 2 fit


Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system kicker wire 1


Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system wire run
 

TJJL19

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Took all day, but the stereo is in,had to take my dogs for a ride and they like it!
Colton dixion's Miracles sounds great,alot of stero image in the song.
The kickers really needed the boast in power.
 
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Liberty0rDeath

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Took all day, but the stereo is in,had to take my dogs for a ride and they like it!
Colton dixion's Miracles sounds great,alot of stero image in the song.
The kickers really needed the boast in power.
Mine(the one I want to order) is slightly smaller, in that it’s not bigger at least. Any words of wisdom for mounting under the seat?
 

TJJL19

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Mine(the one I want to order) is slightly smaller, in that it’s not bigger at least. Any words of wisdom for mounting under the seat?
The JL has a lot less room, under the seat, then my JK had,the 10 sub is a real tight fit, with the JL.
I didn;t take into account the wire for the base ramote, on the first fit, because of this, the 10 inch base sticks out a little more, into the leg room of the back seat.
If you leave your back seats up and carry a lot of passengers, it might cause a problem.
I was thinking of, taking out the back seat vent, I don't know if that will give me more room under the drivers seat. I was beat up from the 97 degree heat, I just stopped, with a little slop,left to take care of
If you go with the 8 inch kicker, from what I read, it's longer 13 7/8 vs 10 inch 12 3/8.
are you using the wire harness from Alpine?

final wire.jpg


no room.jpg
 

Liberty0rDeath

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The JL has a lot less room, under the seat, then my JK had,the 10 sub is a real tight fit, with the JL.
I didn;t take into account the wire for the base ramote, on the first fit, because of this, the 10 inch base sticks out a little more, into the leg room of the back seat.
If you leave your back seats up and carry a lot of passengers, it might cause a problem.
I was thinking of, taking out the back seat vent, I don't know if that will give me more room under the drivers seat. I was beat up from the 97 degree heat, I just stopped, with a little slop,left to take care of
If you go with the 8 inch kicker, from what I read, it's longer 13 7/8 vs 10 inch 12 3/8.
are you using the wire harness from Alpine?

final wire.jpg


no room.jpg
Yes I already have replaced everything else in place and per @Varilux I plan on taping into the wires preamp and running those from the passenger seat to the drivers seat for the powered sub. Looks like the sub I want to use is just slightly smaller than that kicker one. Just curious is the wiring was difficult with the seat rails and the vent. Here is the sub I’m thinking of using:

https://www.amazon.com/Cerwin-Power...=1593878678&sprefix=cerwin+vega+powere&sr=8-8
 
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Varilux

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TJJL19 said:
I was thinking of, taking out the back seat vent, I don't know if that will give me more room under the drivers seat.
I deleted the rear seat vent when I installed my sub under the passenger seat (it was a no brainer for me, because I have a two door and the rear seat is removed until I trade it back in). If you go that route, you might want to stuff some fiberfill in the vent opening that is left once you remove the section that goes under the seat (you don't want to be pumping heat over your sub's amp during the winter).
 

TJJL19

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well guys I'm going to call this brian fart two. I really wanted to make it easy to adjust the sub amp, so that is one of the reasons I turned it that way in my pictures,the fit wasn't the best for the wires.
I pulled it out and turned it 180, no problem with the wires fitting now and there's foot room for the back seat.

Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system room to move


Jeep Wrangler JL Plug and Play amp upgrade to basic system turned sub
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