Speaker replacement upgrade

[Go Outside]

As for modifying your speaker grills, I was referring to the speakers by your knees.
If you want to know how much difference those tweeter brackets will make, you can pop off the tweeter grills and unscrew the tweeters in about 5 minutes. Turn them on their side and have a listen.

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[Chris2183]

As for modifying your speaker grills, I was referring to the speakers by your knees.
If you want to know how much difference those tweeter brackets will make, you can pop off the tweeter grills and unscrew the tweeters in about 5 minutes. Turn them on their side and have a listen.

Ahh sorry, when you said dash I immediately thought of the tweeters and not the knee panels. But I do not believe the shop modified any of the grills.

 

[jdhunt0]

Not that I’m aware of, I had a shop install them and there was no mention of any modifications made to the grills.

I am curious as to how much of an improvement these will make when they finally come out though.
https://tlcautotruck.com/jeep-wrangler-jl-dash-speaker-pods/

Those look interesting. Is the back going to be completely open?

 

[Chris2183]

Those look interesting. Is the back going to be completely open?

I’m not sure. I just saw a small blurb on CarStereoChick’s blog and have been waiting to see real world reviews once they are released.

 

[Robbnva]

For me the upgrade was worth it. The sound quality is a significant improvement over stock and once I add an AmpPro and amp I will get the little bit of extra volume that Im after.


I am running Hybrid Audio Technologies Mirus V MV61-2/C components up front Mirus V MV41-2 four inch speakers in the soundbar.


Speakers are tough to recommend as listening is highly subjective and can vary greatly between people. For me, I found a local Morel dealer as I heard great things about the entire line. In the listening room I ended up favoring an Audison speaker over the higher end Morels and favored the Hybrid Audio over the mid and lower tier Morels. You may have an entirely different experience in that same room , all of them sounded good but all had differences and ultimately the Hybrid Audios were the most pleasing to me.

Thanks. I’m thinking about getting the adapter to put 6.5s in the sound bar also. The sound bar is kind of a joke right now.

 

[Robbnva]

In case anyone is interested, I ordered the SSVWorks 6.5" roll bar adapter a few weeks ago. I contacted the company's customer service department and they anticipate shipping the units out the first week of January.

EDIT: I just looked at the site and they updated it to reflect shipments January 6th.

Ever get these? I’m thinking about doing this.

 

[cm88_bruins]

Ever get these? I’m thinking about doing this.

I did receive them but I’ve had to travel for work a bunch and haven’t had the time to try them out yet. Once I do I’ll update

 

[carstereochick]

Hey everyone. So we've been doing a lot of stereo upgrades in these vehicles and made some more tweaks to our own and I just wanted to share what we've learned so far.

• The Metra JP-1014 pods make a HUGE difference, now we have some mid bass back. Not sure why some say they had to modify their dash? We haven't had to in any install yet. Maybe depends on speaker choice.
• For a little while we switched our amp back to our old PDXV9 and the JL Twk-88. The PDXV9 so much more power (they are underrated, they come with a certificate of tested power and are usually 120x4 RMS plus 550x1 RMS).
• SSV Works starting shipping their adapters for the rears, that's on the agenda for this week (pics attached showing instructions and modification)
• Lastly - for true audiophiles, you're going to want to change the head unit. John put in the Alpine X409-WRA-JL late last night. Wow. So much more detail and definition and SO much smoother (he took out the Twk-88, that's going to go in my 2013 BMW 135i at some point).

I ordered one in November and it finally came in this week. I suggested to my husband John he put it in for sound quality purposes. That's because a couple weeks ago I had to swap cars with him and drove our JLU into work. Keep in mind we have the same Morel Hybrid speakers, same Alpine PDXV9 amp and similar subs. I have the 2014 JK 2-door with a stealth box using a JL Audio 10W1V3 and he has the two JL Stealth boxes using the JL Audio 10TW1's. Only real difference is I have an aftermarket Kenwood (older DMX7704s) and he is using the PAC AP4-CH41R2 and JL Audio Twk-88. I concluded within about 30 seconds that my car sounded much better with my aftermarket head unit. Later on that day I had a client scheduled to come in because he wasn't sure if he wanted to change the head unit is his truck or do the PAC pre-amp adapter with or without DSP so I let him hear John's JLU with the Twk-88 set to driver position and with a flat (no DSP) setting and then I let him see/listen to my JK. He also concluded my Jeep sounded better with the $350 head unit, but appreciated not wanting to change the stock stereo and decided either way he went, it would be a huge upgrade over the OEM "premium" system that he had in his Tundra. He's going with the PAC pre-amp in his vehicle.

At this point I would say the PAC Pre-amp adapter is still the way to go for people that don't want to change their head unit. It reminds me of what a Pioneer AVH-W4500NEX or AVIC series head unit sounds like. In my opinion, the pre-amp and DAC is still way better/cleaner than the stock radio, but it's not nearly as smooth or nuanced as the Alpine X409-WRA-JL or my Kenwood DMX7704s. Since I do this stuff every day, I get a chance to learn the differences between head units sound quality and this stuff changes every year and I often find it changes within a brands line up (the higher end Pioneer's sound better for example than their more entry level DMH series and a Kenwood DMX7706 sounds nearly identical the Alpine's made in Korea iLX-W650, which is very different in sound quality from Alpine's made in Thailand single din CDE-172BT).

We had the factory 8.4" navigation radio. The X409-WRA-JL is a very involved install, I expect to charge around 6 hours labor to put one in. John sort of ran out of time last night while installing it so he still has to figure out why the reverse camera isn't working (switches over, but black screen), steering wheel controls/factory volume knob in-op, no climate display or warning chimes (like park distance or blind spot). He's thinking he just needs to reset and reflash the maestro or grab different CAN lines (it's weird it has some vehicle info, but not all). I'll do a full write up/blog post on it in the next week or two. But from a sound quality perspective, it's a night and day difference.

 

[jdhunt0]

Thanks for the update, I am not a fan of the factory head unit and the Alpine is so much $$$$. I have decided to just hold off on any audio upgrades until the price drops.

 

[jeeplaw]

@carstereochick is there a different DAC and eq in the X409 versus stock 8.4?

 

[carstereochick]

@carstereochick is there a different DAC and eq in the X409 versus stock 8.4?

Yes. When you use the PAC pre-amp adapter's RCA pre-amp output, you are using the DAC in the PAC part (not the stock head unit). It's taking the digital signal from the stock radio and converting it to analog where you can then go to your amp or DSP or combination thereof. If you are going optical out from the AP4-CH41R2 using the APA-TOS1 into your DSP, then you are just using the DAC in your DSP. We tried that too. Plus there is another in the amp too technically. Alpine head unit DAC cleaner, more detailed, more separation and much smoother.

 

[carstereochick]

Thanks for the update, I am not a fan of the factory head unit and the Alpine is so much $$$$. I have decided to just hold off on any audio upgrades until the price drops.

I would think eventually someone, Metra or iDatalink will sell the camera adapter that is included with this kit so you can use the new Metra double din dash kit and install something like the DMX7706s. That's really the only part you're missing is the camera adapter. That and I would think Alpine will release a cheaper non navigation version of this at some point, an i409 version.

 

[jdhunt0]

I would think eventually someone, Metra or iDatalink will sell the camera adapter that is included with this kit so you can use the new Metra double din dash kit and install something like the DMX7706s. That's really the only part you're missing is the camera adapter. That and I would think Alpine will release a cheaper non navigation version of this at some point, an i409 version.

Non-nav would be fine with me. Something under the $1500 price point is what I am hoping for.

If you don't use the Alpine and instead use a "regular" headunit, how to you access all of the other functions the stock radio controls?

 

[carstereochick]

Non-nav would be fine with me. Something under the $1500 price point is what I am hoping for.

If you don't use the Alpine and instead use a "regular" headunit, how to you access all of the other functions the stock radio controls?

iDatalink Maestro RR and HRN-RR-CH3. Retains steering wheel controls, climate display, access to vehicle settings, vehicle info, etc. Has to be a head unit that is shallow without a CD player (like Kenwood DMX7706s for example) and has to be iDatalink Maestro compatible.

 

[jdhunt0]

iDatalink Maestro RR and HRN-RR-CH3. Retains steering wheel controls, climate display, access to vehicle settings, vehicle info, etc. Has to be a head unit that is shallow without a CD player (like Kenwood DMX7706s for example) and has to be iDatalink Maestro compatible.

I worked in mobile electronics in the early 2000s, things have changed a lot. I did not know this was possible. So you are saying with the Maestro I will be able to control all the functions for the stock headunit on the new one? Do you have a video of this?

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