98 XJ Infinity Premium Sound Components

The drivers door speaker blew out on our 98 XJ with the Infinity premium sound package. Since the wife loves to play CDs at full blast it's amazing it lasted 5 years.

I also have a Jensen KDC 9520 head unit that is supposed to be a plug in replacement for the stock Chrysler head unit. I'd like to replace the stock unit with it since the Jensen will play burned CDs, the stock unit wont. Does anyone have experience with putting in this unit and know if it's a direct plug-in?

So with the 100 watt amplifier the stock premium sound package has, I'm wondering what effect putting the Jensen unit which is 4x35 watts. Does anyone know what the stock head unit power is? If the Jensen is a higher watt head unit does that mean the output to the speakers will be higher also - I might need to go to a higher watt speaker system.

Does anyone know what the watt rating on the stock in-door woofer's and the rear headliner speakers are?

Any recommendation for replacements fo the in-door units and the headliner units in the back would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bruce

I don't know how the factory unit is wired, but most head units send output to an amp through separate pre-amp outputs (RCA jacks), and by-pass the internal amplifier entirely. Which means the power rating of the Jensen should be irrelevent. Dunno if it's the same one, but my brother successfully installed a Jensen in his wife's Dodge van. He's not noted for electronic wizardry, so if he can do it -- you can do it.

One of THE best tips I can offer you is to choose speakers that are rated at least 20% above the outputs you plan to connect them to (remember this for future planning) and if you replace one, try to replace all of them before you lose the rest.

Eagle is correct - most aftermarket head units now have at least one set of "preamp outs" which are line-level outputs to go directly into an amplifier, and are typically RCA jacks.

As far as connexion, go to your local electronics house and drop about $20 or so on the adapter harness for aftermarket stereos - it will allow you to make all the connections from the aftermarket "universal" harness to an adapter that will plug right in and save you some cutting and at least one serious migraine. A good harness (Scoshe makes the ones I use) will have instructions for hookup with it, and I have yet to catch them out - yes, I verify. "Noviry v proviry." We trust but we also verify.

Beyond that, you should find the job to be fairly simple. I've done more than a few sound systems in my day, and a little planning up front can save hours of work.

BTW - I found it relatively easy to stick 6x9's in the liftgate - took about 30 minutes with a Dremel and a marker. Something else to think about...

5-90

I'd definately say if you feel like spending the $$$ get another set of Infinitys. They're awesome speakers with the right amount of power to them. You might be able to get the same model of speaker if you can get the numbers off the back of the old ones, that is if they still make that model.

Im not sure about that stock amp though. Sometimes the manufacturers wire things pretty wierd. Had a real hard time once with a friend of mines head unit with a stock amp involved in an Eclipse before.

Your best bet though is Crutchfield. They're awesome they have great prices and they include installation instructions, the install kit and harness(head unit, and speaker harnesses - the good kind, specific for the type of head unit and vehicle) for free. If you buy it at the store it's usually a good $15 or more extra for just the head unit harness. Most likely though it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If you're gonna go all out and get all 4 new speakers and such make sure you get some nice 3-ways. Also if you're looking to add more they have the kickpanel enclosures too. You so you can add an extra set on the driver and passenger sides.

forget the Jensen... I went through 3 units (overheating after playing for a while caused a stutter) and I dumped it in favour of a JVC which performs better then the Sony Xplode I had in there before (Sony was CD.. Jensen was CD with MP3 and JVC is CD with MP3 as well )

Kejtar

Thanks for all the input, this is great! I did have the overheating problem on the first Jensen KDC 9520 in our truck and took it back for another one. The one I have now has been working fine for about 2 years, although it was mounted in the open under the dash. Being enclosed in the Jeep might be a different story, but I think I'll try it.

I guess my next step will be to pull out the old speakers to be sure what I have. The shop manual says the door panel speakers are 5-1/4" woofers. I think the rear sound bar ones are 6-1/2 "coaxial", I dont know if that means 2 way or 3 way.

I've looked at the Crutchfield site pretty closely and find the component speakers but they have the crossovers that I don't think I want since I don't want to modify anything, just put in new speakers. They show a 5-1/4" Infinity Reference speaker but I don't find a 6-1/2" Infinity speaker for the rear. The do say that putting in a smaller good quality speaker is suggested.

I think I'll e-mail Crutchfield after I'm sure what speakers I have and get their recommendation.

What do you think about putting 2 or 3 ways in the door panel rather than just the woofer since there are the 1" tweeters in the window. So far I haven't found a simple 5-1/4" woofer only. And it sounds like you recommend a 3 way for the rear sound bar.

I'll let you know what Crutchfield says, I'm sure a lot of 98 and later XJ people would like to know what a direct replacement is that fits without any modifications.

Bruce

My '98 FSM provides a lot of info regarding the XJ sound system, but unfortunately, does not delve into the details of its component ratings. Another point I'm not sure if you were aware of, is that with your sound system, you do have an amplifier. It's located under the rear seat (driver's side). There's a carpet "flap" that you can lift up to access it....

Ivan

bbolander said:

I guess my next step will be to pull out the old speakers to be sure what I have. The shop manual says the door panel speakers are 5-1/4" woofers. I think the rear sound bar ones are 6-1/2 "coaxial", I dont know if that means 2 way or 3 way.

Click to expand...

Coaxial is 2-way. 3-way would be tri-axial.

Are you sure on those sizes? My understanding from both factory literature and Crutchfield was that from 97 on the door speakers are 6-1/2" and the rear speakers are 5-1/4". The Infinity system also gets tweeters in the front doors, up in that little triangular trim piece at the front of the window glass.

As far as those crossovers go if they're built in there should be no problem at all. They're somthing you want to have anyway. It'll make them sound better, and last longer without being blown out. If they're not the built in type they might be the easy plug in kind. You'd want to double check that though. If they're not and it's still under warrenty or something i wouldnt put them in. Also though in that case you'd want to take it easier on them as the signal frequencies are all going to be mixed when they hit the speaker.

I pulled the rear overhead and front door speakers. The rear grille came of easily just using my hands. The door panel comes off by removing the four screws and getting a tool (I used my Craftsman pull-n-pry bar with masking tape on it to protect the paint, it worked great) and beginning from the bottom unsnap the door panel fasteners and lifting the panel out of the groove by the window. Then you unplug the door and window wiring plugs and unsnap and remove the two door latch rods. When putting the door panel back on I had to pound it down gently to get it back into the groove by the window.

The rear speaker has two torx T-20 mounting screws. It measures 5-1/2" OD on the front side, screw centers are 6-1/2". The speaker measures 2-3/8" deep from the front face. It's a 2-way speaker. The wiring connector has two wires coming to it and two green wires and two black wires, each feeding the two cones. There is no indication of the brand or wattage, just Chrysler Infinity and the numbers 56008756, 5590, 36670 and a paper tag 37701.

The front speaker has two phillips mounting screws. It measures 5-1/2" OD on the front side, screw centers are 6". The speaker measures 2-3/8 deep from the front face. It's a woofer only. The wiring connector snaps right onto the speaker tabs. There is no indication of the brand or wattage, and the numbers are 56008750AC, 36670 and a paper tag 33701. The speaker has a foam gasket on the back side against the door, and a half-moon foam pad on the rear of the magnet, apparantly to keep it from contacting a brace just behind the magnet in the door.

If anyone has a way to decipher what the Chrysler numbers mean as far as wattage that would be nice.

I have pictures but I don't see a way to post them here. I'd be happy to e-mail them to anyone who wants them.

So it looks like I'm needing to look for 5-1/4" speakers for both front and rear and decide whether I should use a 2 or 3 way on the front and in back. Or try and find a woofer only.

I think a simple way to make the connection on the rear speakers is to just melt the original connector wiring at the speaker tabs on the original speakers and re-solder them to the new speaker tabs. I guess you might need an adapter to connect to the door speaker since it clips right on the original speaker.

With the stock 100 watt amplifier, what wattage should I get for the speakers to keep the wife from blowing them out when she's rocking out?

Thanks for your input.

Bruce

I bought a pair of Infinity Reference 5002i for the rear (2-way) after I read somewhere that you should keep with the 2-way there in this system. My previous post said the original speaker screw centers in the rear are 6-1/2" which is wrong. I must have misread my tape because the centers are 5-1/2", exactly the same as the new Infinities, so they will fit in perfectly. I noticed on the new Infinities the center cones are at an angle, so I think it's important to install them so the center cone points forward rather than down. The cutout diameter in the headliner is 4-3/4".

I bought an Infinity Reference 5000cs component set with the 1" tweeter and 5-1/4" woofer. I'm going to open the door again and re-check the dimensions again to see if the original screw centers I measured are correct since I'd said 6" and I'll post them along with the door cutout dimension. The new Infinity 5000cs woofer screw centers are 5-1/2", same as the rear speakers.

The new front woofer has two wire prongs on the positive and two wire prongs on the negative but the Infinity manual doesn't say anything about that, so that's confusing.

I'm concerned about whether to install the new Infinity crossover for the front speakers. It seems there had to be a crossover somewhere already in the Jeep wiring for the original tweeter and woofer to work correctly. Or can the crossover be internal to the woofer?

Anyone have any comments on whether the original Jeep wiring or woofer has a crossover for the front? I'll snoop around when I have it open and let you know if I find anything.

Thanks again for your help,
Bruce

I checked the existing door speaker setup again. The distance between mounting screws for the original woofers is 6", and the new Infinity distance is 5-1/2". The cutout opening is 4-7/8" so the new Infinity woofers will fit but two new mounting holes will have to be drilled. The original wiring connecter to the woofer is the same as the connector to the rear speakers.

The tweeter is a different story. It's deeper than the original tweeter that is held in place by clips integral to the tweeter cover. The wiring connector to the tweeter is different than the ones for the speakers. None of the new tweeter mounts work well in the original location, it would probably have to be mounted on the door panel.

The original tweeter is labeled 101390N, 97-43, 4 ohms. It has a tiny resistor looking thing attached to the back that's labeled NNIC BENN, 3.3 Mfd, 6.3 WV.

I'll cover the crossover in a new post.

Bruce

The new Infinity crossover board is labeled RX03-B. Starting from the speaker in side and the adjacent woofer side, there is a coil labeled 0.22mH, a resister looking thing labeled 100V, 10 uf (mfd?), BIPOLAR, and a square white bar thing labeled 5W 2ohmJ, BAR 0. On the tweeter side and the adjacent -3dB reduced tweeter output level terminal there is a coil labeled 0.15mH, a white square bar thing labeled 5! 2ohmJ, BAR 0 and a resister looking think labeled 100V, 5.4 uf (mfd?), BIPOLAR.

The only place to mount the crossover would be inside the door near the woofer with velcro on the back.

So I'm going to leave in the existing tweeters and install the new woofer. If the tweeters blow, then I'll have to either cut in the new tweeters in the door panel or find smaller tweeters.

There's no room to tie in the crossover by the amp, that wiring is pretty tight.

Any comments?

Bruce

I think your plan will work; the existing tweeters should work for a while. The only difference between the old ones and the new ones (my guess) is that the new ones can extend to a lower frequency and are smoother, and maybe have a higher power handling. The new crossover should work with the old tweeters too. The difference between them and the old one are better components, configuration and better rolloff; like 12dB I'm guessing?

As for mounting the crossover; get it as far away from the woofer as possible; it is very possible to cause interference with close proximity. But keeping them in the door panel should still work.

Hope everything sounds alright.

Actually I was thinking about just putting in the new woofers and leaving the crossover out. It worked without one before.

Is that a bad idea?

Bruce

If they're not built into the speakers then i guess just leave them out. There might be a factory one built into the system. Maybe somewhere closer to the tweeter in the dash? Give em' a light volume run in for a bit and see how they sound.

I've found an audio forum on jeeps unlimited that's pretty good. Many posts there on the WJ and TJ say that the stock Infinity system has a crossover built into the amp and not to install the crossover. I'll try leaving the crossover out.

Bruce

Correction on the 98 XJ stock amp. Learned on the other forum that if there were a crossover in the amp there would be separate wires to the tweeter and the door speakers. The wiring diagram in my shop manual only has one wire that splits to the tweeter and woofer. The other forum also said that in an XJ the only thing in the stock system is a resistor at the tweeter, which I can see looking at the tweeter.

I'd like to find a triangular panel piece that doesn't have the Infinity tweeter mount in it, just a flat one that I could surface mount the tweeters on.

Does anyone know if the Cherokees that didn't have the Infinity premium sound system have a flat panel that I could use, or did they all have the tweeter mount configuration. Or would a flat triangular panel from another year work?

Thanks,
Bruce

I think I solved the new tweeter mounting problem. I ordered flat mirror covers that don't have the stock infinity bulge and will surface mount the tweeters there. They were $34 each from the Jeep dealer. You order the ones for the 2 or 4 speaker system, not the 6 speaker system which is what I have.

I'm going to use the new crossover and velcro it inside the door since now I know there is no crossover in the stock amp. The resistor in the stock tweeter just reduces the power to the tweeter since it is fed in parallel to the woofer in the stock system.

Just waiting for the speaker harnesses from Crutchfield and the mirror covers. I'll let you all know how it works out. I didn't want a mega system. Hopefully this will be a better than stock system that people can use when a the stock speaker goes out.

By the way, the Jeep dealer told me I had to stay with infinity products (meaning theirs) or the system won't work. This must be a national Chrysler parts sales pitch!

I'm going to stay with the stock head unit for a while.

Thanks to everyone for the input,
Bruce