Plan for Audio Upgrade

[JMooring]

Receiver - Pioneer AVIC-D3
Front Speakers - JL Audio VR650-CXi
Rear Speakers - JL Audio VR525-CXi
Amplifier - JL Audio 300/4v2

The AVIC-D3 will be custom-fitted just as another member of these forums has done. My main concern is the size of the front speakers. Should I bother going with the 6.5" speakers if the factory grills are only 5.25"? Will it degrade the quality of sound coming from the 6.5"s? Also, am I right assuming that JL Audio is one of the premier car audio manufacturers? Are their amps of equal quality?

 

[streetpirate]

jl is an ok brand, question about front speakers is unclear. are you mounting to door sheetmetal and putting door panel over speakers? if so, dont.

 

[Beej]

Hmm. First time I've disagreed with Mr. Pirate. I don't think it will make any real difference having the speakers larger than the stockers. The 6.5's will fit into the stock location with some minor massaging, but I think the improvement over the stock speakers will be so dramatic that you won't notice any problems with the size differential...

 

[djblade311]

are you mounting to door sheetmetal and putting door panel over speakers? if so, dont.

Why not? Worked perfectly fine for me. If you are concerned with door panel rattling, buy the foam rings and install around the speaker

The big thing to consider on the front speakers to make sure the speaker depth is not too big otherwise your window will smack the magnet unless you get spacers.

 

[jbmoose]

JL is fine. I put in Kenwood Excelon components, but when I do it again this fall, I'm gonna pony up for MB Quart

cut sheetmetal for movable tweeters

finished

crossover mount

rear finished

rear crossovers

That's what I did. Do the extra work for components. It's worth it.

 

[jeepboy381]

Well everyone says the factory size is a 5-1/4 and I think that is wrong. The speaker itself might be 5-1/4 but the mounts seem to be more like 6-1/2. I have a 97 cherokee with Infinty Kappa Components and they are 6-1/2, they mount perfectly in the factory location with no modification needed. I also have a 2000 cherokee with MB Quart Premium 5-1/4 compnent speakers, they were to small to fit in the factory location so I mounted them to the plastic door panal. It really does not matter how you do it, if you want them concealed mount them in the factory location. If you want the speakers visible cut out the door panal and mount them to it. My 5-1/4's fit perefectly on the plastic bulge on the door panal. I will post pictures when I get home.
What year XJ do you have?

 

[JMooring]

i've got a 2000 sport. jbmoose did a nice job with his setup, it looks exactly like what i want to do. what brand would you guys recommend? i was under the impression that JL was one of the better brands, but everyone seems to have a different opinion. what do you guys think?

 

[jbmoose]

Thanks. And like I said previously, go the extra mile for components. They sound a helluva lot better.

 

[jeepboy381]

Well here are my pictures, the fronts are 5-1/4 and the rears are 6-1/2's.

MB Quart Premium 5-1/4 components

Front crossovers mounted under front seats. Held in place with Velcro for easy removal to change tweeter level. They are not visible unless the seat is all the forward or backward.

Rears are 6-1/2 infinty Kappas. Crossovers are mounted in headliner.

Good luck with whatever you decide! Buy your stuff online at the right store and it will cost half as much and still have a warrenty!! jbmoose, nice job with your stereo install it looks good! I buy lots of my stuff from www.ikesound.com, I have never had any problems or failures with anything I have bought from them.

 

[Beej]

I've got 6.5" in the front doors and 6x9's in the rear doors. I had 6x8's back there originally, but I blew them since they were crap. Those with the sub and all is thumpy and clean. I chose Pioneer because their cheap stuff is better than most cheap stuff and I don't care if it get stolen...

 

[Krazors001]

I put Alpine Type R 5.25s in all four locations and think I should have gone with 6.5s as the speakers are tiny for the holes. Also, had to pull the plastic ring off of my factory speakers to make a spacer to clear the glass in the down position

 

[streetpirate]

I think the difference may come in model year. my door panels are cardboard covered in foam and vinyl, and the factory speaker grill only had a 3in or so hole behind it, and the factory grill was about 3" X 4".

I had to cut some meat out of the panels to A. fit the speaker behind it and B not have the speaker mostly shrouded.

i ended up with having the speaker mounted on top of the cardboard backing, (secured to the door sheetmetal behind it) with the foam and vinyl cut to fit nicely around the speaker.

i dont think my factory door speaker holes would come anywhere near fitting a 6.5 speaker. all stock holes in door were perfect for 5.25,

 

[roxj]

i wouldnt mount the mids to the door panel your sound quality and midbass will suffer greatly. i would also mount the tweeters higher. mounting them above the stock mid range location would direct your sound stage to the level of your seat cushion. i would also deaden the doors with edead, dynamat, or similar material. i will post picks of my junk later today so you can see my set up.

 

[jeepboy381]

Mounting the speaker to the door panel will make no difernce in sound at all. I talked to many car audio shops and they said it is all personal opinion on what to mount them to. Also it is not suggested to have your tweaters mounted away from your mids, it will make the phasing between the tweater and mid different since they will be traveling different lengths to reach your ear. I have 2 Jeeps with the tweaters mounted on the windshield pillar, and one Jeep with them mounted near the mids. I like them much better by the mid range. I am not sure if you can tell by the picture in my previous post but even though the tweeters are mounted near the mids they are still angled upwards twords your ears so they are not putting sound into the seat. I will post a picture of the speakers in my 87 XJ, it has the cardboard/foam door covers and was cut to fit 6-1/2's very nicely!

 

[roxj]

there is a big difference between the 97 + panel and the 96 - panel. the newer style panel is all plastic and if used as a mounting location will push the mid out away from the door. if mounted like that you wont get any kind of seal and your midbass will sound like mush. as far as the tweeter location goes and sq it all depends on the listner. in the locations i have used my sound stage is centered and there is no noticable seperation in the components.

tweeter location also angled toward the center of the dash but you cant tell from the pic

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6.5 mid with 2 layers of edead on the door and 1 layer on the back of the panel

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[Alademuerte]

6.5 mid with 2 layers of edead on the door and 1 layer on the back of the panel

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How do you like the eDead?

 

[roxj]

i like it, its cheaper and easier to aply than dynamat( the only other material i have had experience with) you dont need to apply heat to get it to adhere to the surface and you can layer it with no problem. it is also very pliable and easy to cut. i would definitely use it again.

 

[Alademuerte]

i like it, its cheaper and easier to aply than dynamat( the only other material i have had experience with) you dont need to apply heat to get it to adhere to the surface and you can layer it with no problem. it is also very pliable and easy to cut. i would definitely use it again.

That's what I like to hear, that you have experience with Dynamat and you like it better.

You said you put 1 layer on the inside panel? Is that the door panel itself?

I did a temporary thing a while back, got some like rubber vibration dampener squares from the car audio section of wal-mart and put them around my front speakers.
Kinda lame, but whatever.
Where did you get the eDead from?

 

[Beej]

That eDead stuff is pretty good, there are other products that work just as well too. My only beef with it is the cost. I did mine with SR500 ( http://www.silentrunning.us/html/sr_500.html ), which is a little messier, but way cheaper. A gallon goes a long way, I was surprised, and the difference is un-freaking-believable. My Jeep's quieter than a Lexus.

For general sound deadening comparisons, check out this guys comparison page:

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

 

[roxj]

yes i put on the back of the door panel. i got it direct from elemental designs

http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/index.php