Audio System Mystery! *PICS*

[MacTavish]

Hey guys, I've decided to re-post this in the modified tech discussion because it was out of place in its original OEM thread.

I just recently bought a:

- 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport
- 4WD. 4.0 Liter. 6 cylinder engine.
- np231 transfer case.

The PO (previous owner) had installed a 3rd party sound system, but removed most of it when he put the car up for sale. In addition to what was left in the car, it looks like the PO had installed an amp, back seat subs, and two side mounted speakers. These are all gone now though. This is what I have left to work with as I try to reassemble a working audio system.

This "power capacitator" was lying underneath the back seat. It isn't attached to anything. What upgrade requires a capacitator? Did he have really huge subs in here?

These pics show the linkage running from the cabin, under the hood, and connecting to the battery. The big red wire was installed by the PO.

Ok. Now for the speakers.

I removed the door panels and the rear speaker caps and they all have this speaker inside:

I don't know 100% if these are stock or not. Up in the ceiling there were these cords hanging free. They wern't attached to anything:

These two thin cords attach to some thin metal flaps on the speaker back and I assume thats all thats needed to power them? However, the other end isn't attached to anything. And I can't figure out where they go. Here is a pic of the other end:

Then there is this cable just hanging free in the ceiling and it doesn't look like attaches anywhere on the speakers I have. Leftovers from the stock speakers? Here's a pic:

So I'm a little stumped on how to procede. I have never done any wiring before, except in building PCs. I don't have an ohm meter either, which I may need to just bite the bullet on and buy. Anyways, this is my situation in summary:

- Both the rear speakers and front speakers are identical "Pioneer 225W TS-D160r"
- The rear speakers are not hooked up at all. After attaching the cords on the speakers I cannot find any cords to attach the other end to.
- When I turn my radio on, The front driver side speaker works and the rear and passenger side ones do NOT.
- I also do NOT have an Ohm meter.

*cry*

Anyway, all advice/comments are welcome as usual. Thanks again!

Mac

 

[r33pwrd]

To make sure all your speakers are in phase, unhook the speaker you want to test at the amp (both wires preferably). Using a 1.5 volt battery (any size), touch the positive terminal of the battery to the positive wire going to the speaker, then do the same for the negative wire. Have a friend look at the speaker. If the speaker pops out, the polarity is correct. If the speaker pops in, the speaker is hooked up backwards (out of phase). To fix this, simply reverse the wires when hooking the speaker back to the amplifier. A word of caution here: DO NOT hold the battery power to the speaker for more than 1 second, all you want to do is to see if it pops in or out. You will damage the speaker if you hold constant power to it. Do not use a higher voltage. Also, do not try this test on tweeters, you could fry the voice coils. If there are crossovers with capacitors along the line, this test will not work (capacitors block DC voltage). Bypass the caps momentarily.

 

[MacTavish]

Hrm... and if I don't have access to an amp?

 

[Jamescad04]

OK I'm going to try and answer all your questions but its difficult to do without seeing everything in person.

First of all the capasitor is for a big subs with big amps, something that pushes a lot of sound. Its used to eliminate power draw (when your sub pumps and the lights dim out)

As far as those speakers go they are definitely not stock they are aftermarket and I'm assuming everything else as far as the stereo goes is aftermarket too.

For the speaker wire not being attached to anything the po probably had them piggybacked off other speakers.Those 2 plug are what powers the speakers but they need to run either to an amp or back to the stereo.

The plug that's in the ceiling is a stock speaker connection. If you cut the plug off of it you can use it to connect to aftermarket speakers.

 

[Jamescad04]

Is there a head unit? If so what is connected to the back of it? If you can give a model number for the head unit that will help also.

 

[Wallyman]

Yes the Capacitor is there to smooth out the power draw when the subs "hit" to keep lights from dimming, etc... you PROBABLY dont need it anymore since you dont seem to be a big stereo person. The wires dangling from nowhere probably went to remotely mounted tweeters, (little speakers for high end freqs)
Unless you want another amp and big system in the Jeep, you can remove that power cable totally, with the Capacitor. Problem being that the wires to all your speakers may very well be totally rerouted. They most likley used RCA cables to the amp from the head unit, which would leave the stock wires intact. you may need to enlist the help of a stereo nut to get you back to where you want to be.Those look like good speakers you have but they need some amplification to run well. No head unit i know of would run them and sound good. This project needs some hands on assistance.

 

[Jamescad04]

If you were closer I would love to get my hands on a project like this. I have been looking for someone who wants to build an insane sound system in there vehicle. I think it would be a lot of fun. Most everyone I know just runs a bunch of speakers a sub or two.

 

[katuah]

If I'm reading correctly, the speaker-wires-to-nowhere were probably attached to an amp. Assuming the amp(s) was (were?) under the back seat, you should find a whole set of loose speaker wire ends dangling there. Some would have been for the sub(s), others will probably run up to the rear speakers and maybe the front door speakers. Yes, it only takes two wires stuck on the little metal thingys to power up & play each speaker ;-) .

The clearish insert in the big red battery wire is a fuse holder, and is a darn good idea to have with sensitive equipment. You can buy new fuses at car audio stores or online.

The blue wire looks like a power tap for the sub amp with the capacitor added in-line. If there's only that power tap for one amp, given that you obviously have speakers that also required amping, it was probably a multi-channel amp. If you have more than one power tap back there, the PO probably had a dedicated sub amp AND a separate 2-channel or 4-channel amp for the other speakers. Determining this will help you decide how to re-hook everything.

You ought to be able to re-use all that wiring for the speakers by simply adding an amp in the appropriate spot and attaching it to your head unit. As Wallyman said, PO likely had RCA cables from the head unit to the amp, but another possibility is that he tapped into the original speaker lines, probably for the rear speakers. Some amps will accept line-level inputs like that, although the sound isn't as clean. You can probably tell which is the case just by looking a bit .

You could have a damn nice system for not much cash or effort with all this wiring already done for you. I would not waste my time trying to take this back to "stock" as you would probably have to do a bunch of wire-tracking and stuff to get the stock wire working again. I can't imagine he was using a stock head unit with that much custom stuff, either, so you might have to pull the dash panel and rewire the front harness, too. Yuck, I hate pulling that panel.

I recommend contacting a tech advisor at Crutchfield (www.crutchfield.com) and discussing what you want to do and your budget. They do excellent customer service and have very competitive prices. I've bought stuff from them for years.

 

[katuah]

One more thing: if you buy new speakers, check what's called tweeter protrusion if you intend to put them in behind the front door panels without cutting holes. Sometimes Crutchfield advisors will forget to check this. I guess some of the older XJs had removable speaker covers in the front too? but not my 98, it has the grille integrated with the door panel. I have the Infinity 6022si shallow speakers, they fit well and sound great.