Sound improvement with polyfill

[Ericd1994]

I thought I would post some info for other members. I’ve been Into the sq car audio scene for some time now and have done a few builds. I put some hertz 87.3 dieci coaxials in the dash and in the soundbar as I thought the stock alpine system was lacking quite a bit. These have the highest sensitivity of any of the 3.5’s. This helped and I was pleased with the upgrade for the money. I was looking at what others have done and have seen people putting polyfill in the stock alpine enclosure, soundbar, and dash. I thought I would give it a shot since it probably wouldn’t make it worse. This was fairly easy and only took about 1.5 hours and that included me throwing some sound deadening behind the stock enclosure. The polyfill was a huge improvement. The bass is tighter and punchy. The mid range also improved and helped with the soundstage. Anyone on a budget looking to upgrade their system, the polyfill is definitely worth the time spent.

I don’t want to get to much into the sound and physics, but just something to look out for when choosing a speaker to play off a factory system. Sensitivity plays a big part. For instance the jl audio c2-350 has a rating of 83db 1w/1m while the hertz 87.3 is at 92db. (Not sure if 1w/1m or 2.83v/1m). 3 db gain is equivalent to doubling the power. That being said, any of 3.5” will be an upgrade over the factory alpine system.

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[LooselyHeldPlans]

We need a write up and links to the full. Thanks!!

 

[JINO]

I haven't touched the audio in my JL, yet.
The factory stereo with the sub, isn't too terrible.

My JK, I had a Kenwood dmx9906s, hertz 4 channel, hertz 3 way components, and audiofrog mids and tweeter. Sub was a kicker Q series L7 in a sealed 1.35 cf box.

I stuffed as much as I could for the sound bar and subwoofer box. It made it sound softer, but in a good way, hard to explain.
I also used some sound deafening pads where I could. Mostly under the carpet and some in the doors. Couldn't afford to gut it out and do it properly, but it helped. My km3s were loud, so I could tell there was an improvement.

For my JL, when I can, I'm planning a 3 way system with audiofrogs, dsp, and audiofrog sub. I saw them tuning an audiofrog system, it is very complex and expensive, but wow it sounded amazing, rivaling some high end home stereos.

Kef is making some speakers for a car, I'm hoping they make some for all cars, I love my Kefs at home.

 

[Ericd1994]

I haven't touched the audio in my JL, yet.
The factory stereo with the sub, isn't too terrible.

My JK, I had a Kenwood dmx9906s, hertz 4 channel, hertz 3 way components, and audiofrog mids and tweeter. Sub was a kicker Q series L7 in a sealed 1.35 cf box.

I stuffed as much as I could for the sound bar and subwoofer box. It made it sound softer, but in a good way, hard to explain.
I also used some sound deafening pads where I could. Mostly under the carpet and some in the doors. Couldn't afford to gut it out and do it properly, but it helped. My km3s were loud, so I could tell there was an improvement.

For my JL, when I can, I'm planning a 3 way system with audiofrogs, dsp, and audiofrog sub. I saw them tuning an audiofrog system, it is very complex and expensive, but wow it sounded amazing, rivaling some high end home stereos.

Kef is making some speakers for a car, I'm hoping they make some for all cars, I love my Kefs at home.

I’ve been saying I will get to a full 2 or 3 way active build in the JL but I haven’t gotten around to it. I’m still finishing up a 3 way build in my F150. I went down a rabbit hole and came across a few posts on polyfill in the JL. I had all the stuff in my garage already so I just went for it. My next project will be sound deadening.

 

[JINO]

I’ve been saying I will get to a full 2 or 3 way active build in the JL but I haven’t gotten around to it. I’m still finishing up a 3 way build in my F150. I went down a rabbit hole and came across a few posts on polyfill in the JL. I had all the stuff in my garage already so I just went for it. My next project will be sound deadening.

Yeah I'm procrastinating the idea of doing audio. Like I need to spend even more money on the jeep haha!
Saw a post where this person buys a 2 way speaker to replace the one on top of the dash.
It adds a tweeter that JLs lack. Everyone says the sound is noticeably improved, I think it's around $250 or so. Might go that option. My wife has a damaged ear drum, so adding my kicker q L7 is out of the question.

 

[AFD]

Yeah I'm procrastinating the idea of doing audio. Like I need to spend even more money on the jeep haha!
Saw a post where this person buys a 2 way speaker to replace the one on top of the dash.
It adds a tweeter that JLs lack. Everyone says the sound is noticeably improved, I think it's around $250 or so. Might go that option. My wife has a damaged ear drum, so adding my kicker q L7 is out of the question.

I'm still immensely enjoying mine every day. Not that they're the best speakers I've ever heard or anything, but the improvement over the stock dash speakers (w/Alpine system) is just such a difference to my ears. Think any 3.5" set with tweeters would've been an improvement.

I still need to tame the overly boomy bass from my little 2-door floor sub, so Poly-Fil might be a good idea if that particular unit can be taken apart.

 

[bugnuker]

I thought I would post some info for other members. I’ve been Into the sq car audio scene for some time now and have done a few builds. I put some hertz 87.3 dieci coaxials in the dash and in the soundbar as I thought the stock alpine system was lacking quite a bit. These have the highest sensitivity of any of the 3.5’s. This helped and I was pleased with the upgrade for the money. I was looking at what others have done and have seen people putting polyfill in the stock alpine enclosure, soundbar, and dash. I thought I would give it a shot since it probably wouldn’t make it worse. This was fairly easy and only took about 1.5 hours and that included me throwing some sound deadening behind the stock enclosure. The polyfill was a huge improvement. The bass is tighter and punchy. The mid range also improved and helped with the soundstage. Anyone on a budget looking to upgrade their system, the polyfill is definitely worth the time spent.

I don’t want to get to much into the sound and physics, but just something to look out for when choosing a speaker to play off a factory system. Sensitivity plays a big part. For instance the jl audio c2-350 has a rating of 83db 1w/1m while the hertz 87.3 is at 92db. (Not sure if 1w/1m or 2.83v/1m). 3 db is equivalent to doubling the power. That being said, any of 3.5” will be an upgrade over the factory alpine system.

Do you have links to what you bought? My 2024 alpine system just blew the passenger speaker in the sound bar. Disappointed. It sounded great until that speaker blew. So now either I find new speakers or fight the dealership and it will probably just blow again I guess.

 

[Ericd1994]

Do you have links to what you bought? My 2024 alpine system just blew the passenger speaker in the sound bar. Disappointed. It sounded great until that speaker blew. So now either I find new speakers or fight the dealership and it will probably just blow again I guess.

You can use any polyfill. I bought mine from a fabric store a few years back. Sound deadening is optional. I plan on doing the entire vehicle at some point, so it saved me time later down the road.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_301DCX873/Hertz-DCX-87-3.html
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120726514/Metra-72-6514-Speaker-Wiring-Harness.html?tp=3097

 

[Ericd1994]

Yeah I'm procrastinating the idea of doing audio. Like I need to spend even more money on the jeep haha!
Saw a post where this person buys a 2 way speaker to replace the one on top of the dash.
It adds a tweeter that JLs lack. Everyone says the sound is noticeably improved, I think it's around $250 or so. Might go that option. My wife has a damaged ear drum, so adding my kicker q L7 is out of the question.

A 3.5” coaxial makes a huge difference. The factory alpine is a full range driver if I remember correctly, no tweeter. Hertz, kenwood, jl, kicker all make a 3.5”. Probably the best 3.5” available is by illusion audio c3x or audio dynamics ps343. I wouldn’t run these without an amp and dsp though.

 

[JINO]

A 3.5” coaxial makes a huge difference. The factory alpine is a full range driver if I remember correctly, no tweeter. Hertz, kenwood, jl, kicker all make a 3.5”. Probably the best 3.5” available is by illusion audio c3x or audio dynamics ps343. I wouldn’t run these without an amp and dsp though.

I'm not a fan of coaxials. Prefer separate components. They sound better to me.

 

[Ericd1994]

I'm not a fan of coaxials. Prefer separate components. They sound better to me.

Yes, a component would be preferred in most situations. The audio dynamics point source would be a good choice though in terms of simplicity over a 3 way. Smaller tweeter generally does better off axis

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