Sucky speakers on my '99 Sport

I've had my '99 Cherokee Sport since March and have put on 9,000 miles, a lift kit, and many extras. I feel I know this Jeep very well as I have been under it more times in the last 4 months than my wife. Here's what I have noticed just this past week.

My stock speakers suck and I want to know if any of you have the same problem. I drive 70 miles a day listening to AM radio (usually via mp3 downloads of Coast to Coast AM) and occasionally a mild CD (the Fray, Counting Crows, Coldplay, etc). No problems with sound from that.

However, tuning to FM stereo lately has been somewhat of a bummer. Crappy sound quality. Raspy, over modulated sound is common. How can a CD sound good and all radio channels suck so bad?

Is this an antenna problem, or do I simply have poor quality speakers on my beloved XJ? Anyone else experience this?

-- '99 Cherokee Sport (Project Old Blue)
RE 3.5" lift
31" BFG's
Hitches front and rear
Warn skids
Conn Ferr rack on top
Dirt and mud on the bottom

if its only on FM then chances are its just an antennae problem. pull the deck and see if the antennae jack has pulled out from the back of the deck.

here is my personal opinion on stock systems. they suck. no stock system has ever been able to outperform even the most basic aftermarket system. you can always have a shitty cd player. but you should never have shitty speakers. even if you have the best cd player. you will never get quality sound of of paper stock speakers. get something in your price range. talk to your local stereo shops and see what they sell and go from there.

My 99 was doing the same thing. Cd's, AM and an MP3 player in the aux port all sounded fine, but FM was intermittant at best.

I replaced the connector going into the back of the radio on the antenna coax and it sounds just fine now.

I'd say you have an antenna problem.

unless the signal is full of white noise and static, it's just the fact that radio comes in at a lower quality then mp3s, and cds in most cases.

i only listen to my ipod and cds. radio sucks. but you have to replace your stock speakers, i pulled mine out and my uncle gave me a pair from a z06 vette. 100watt pioneers with tweeters on the top. they sound great.but i had to MAKE them fit.


whatever you do, make sure everything is mounted stiff or any bass will make it sound bad. but yes, pull out your stock speakers please.

I'm going to agree with the antenna thing. I ripped apart my dash a while back and I mut have tugged on the antenna cable or something, it wasn't disconnected, it just wasn't on snugly. Sometimes it worked just fine until I hit a bump, then...THUD. Shitty radio. After tearing it apart again, I just went around check everyrhing I could find. As soon as I checked the antenna lead, I knew it was the culprit. It was just close enough to touch the connector and bounce off every other bump.

I gotta agree with Boxil about the speakers as well. Factory speakers (Unless a premium system) cost anywhere from 2 to 4 dollars. Pretty good actually for the first little bit, after that... it all gets distorted. Even if you run an 80 dollar Wal-Mart deck, aftermarket speakers will sound worlds better. So will the factory deck.

I am by no means an audiophile (Subs? Why? My Jeep rattles enough thank you...) but I converted to a decent set of speakers after riding around with a similarly minded buddy.

Lucky for you, your jeep is a 99. Pre-96' had the rear speakers in the hatch, below the rear seats. Not the smartest move for audio freaks. Unless you are transporting "Live cargo" in your trunk...

Take the factory speakers and glue them to a bowl for holding screws. After a year or two, that's all they are good for. Not heavy screws though...

Thanks, Jeeple, that is all very good advice. I will check my connections this weekend and if necessary, I'll start my search for better speaks.

What a great forum.

Pre 96's also had speakers in the soundbar above the cargo area. That's better. Although the speakers in the hatch might be nice for a tailgate party!

My 95's rear speakers suck. Actually all of the speakers suck, but the soundbar speakers are all blown and rattle/sound like crap if there's a bit more bass than usual.....

Gotta replace them. Got a nice head unit - now need to accompany it with some wunedbar speakers!

I replaced the head unit in my 97 XJ SE with an $80 Awai unit from Crutchfield's a couple of years ago. I wanted something cheap that no one would want to steal, since I park my Jeep in remote locations when I go canoeing and such. I still had the stock door speakers, but they sounded better with the new head unit. Then I replaced the speakers with Infinity Reference 6012si, the shallow-mount version. These sound awesome. You can get a pair for less than $100. They barely fit behind the door trim panels. The soundstage is suprisingly excellent. It sounds like the band is on my dash. I want to put a sub under the passenger seat eventually, but there's no hurry.

As far as the radio goes, I experience the same thing in both my cars. I have much more expensive gear in my daily driver Honda, and radio still doesn't sound nearly as good as other sources. In fact, it sounds like crap after I've been listening to cds. Traditional radio is dynamically compressed and cuts off frequencies above 15KHz. I don't know about satellite radio. So, if your antenna isn't at fault, there's probably nothing else you can do.

jesterbomb said:

Factory speakers (Unless a premium system) cost anywhere from 2 to 4 dollars.

Click to expand...

Mine came from the factory with the Infinity sound system and had paper-cone speakers but they were Infinity-branded. I seem to recall seeing the same thing in the junkyard on earlier XJs with the Jensen sound package.

In any event, the $35/pair Wal-Mart special Pioneers I replaced them with were a huge improvement, especially with the stock head unit in place.