Have absorbed all of the speaker information I have been reading correctly?

[Aberk]

If I buy 2 pairs of component speakers, I can discard the crossovers they come with and wire the tweeters to the 3.5" speaker wires and wire the 6.5" woofer to the 4" speaker wires. Does that sound correct? I know I would have to buy all of the install pieces to accommodate the 6.5 woofer too.

I'm not sure if I want to go that route or to just buy nicer 3.5" speakers and not worry about the 4" speakers.

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[Wet Willys]

Trying to decide the same for myself. I want to upgrade my disappointing Alpine system, one of the soundbar speakers sounds blown (crackles a bit). Not sure if I want to go the 6.5 route and cut the soundbar or not. Also not sure if the soundbar speakers are even worth upgrading unless you install an amp.........

 

[jac04]

I assume that you are talking about the soundbar, where each side has a 3.5" tweeter and a 4" mid-range? If so, that is my understanding : for component speakers, wire the tweeters directly to the 3.5" plugs and the 6.5s directly to the 4" plugs.

I ended up installing new 3.5s in the dash and sound bar, and I thought it made a big difference on my Alpine system. I'm debating the switch to components in the soundbar, but think I'm just going to put in better 4" speakers (Kicker 47KSC404).

 

[Aberk]

I assume that you are talking about the soundbar, where each side has a 3.5" tweeter and a 4" mid-range? If so, that is my understanding : for component speakers, wire the tweeters directly to the 3.5" plugs and the 6.5s directly to the 4" plugs.

I was thinking about the sound bar and the dash/knee panels too. I assumed they were both set up the same way.

 

[jac04]

I was thinking about the sound bar and the dash/knee panels too. I assumed they were both set up the same way.

Ah, gotcha. They might be set up the same way, but I don't know about the dash/knee panel speakers. I don't want to get too involved in tearing the dash apart, so I never looked into the knee panel speakers.

 

[jebiruph]

If I buy 2 pairs of component speakers, I can discard the crossovers they come with and wire the tweeters to the 3.5" speaker wires and wire the 6.5" woofer to the 4" speaker wires. Does that sound correct? I know I would have to buy all of the install pieces to accommodate the 6.5 woofer too.

I'm not sure if I want to go that route or to just buy nicer 3.5" speakers and not worry about the 4" speakers.

It makes a difference whether or not you have the premium amplified system or not. If amplified, then yes. If not amplified, then retain the crossovers and plug into either connector. The Metra adapters reverse the polarity, so you have to fix that regardless.

 

[Aberk]

It makes a difference whether or not you have the premium amplified system or not. If amplified, then yes. If not amplified, then retain the crossovers and plug into either connector. The Metra adapters reverse the polarity, so you have to fix that regardless.

Good point. I do have the upgraded audio.

 

[Kevin_D]

It makes a difference whether or not you have the premium amplified system or not. If amplified, then yes. If not amplified, then retain the crossovers and plug into either connector. The Metra adapters reverse the polarity, so you have to fix that regardless.

Yeah, with the standard audio, the 3½" speakers are just tweeters, and the, "Crossover," (just a capacitor) is built onto the speaker.
I went the upgraded 3½" speaker route, with standard audio, and ended up putting bass blockers on the replacement speakers to keep them from rattling on heavy bass.

Kevin

 

[Radio Guy]

To my ears the 4" (or 3.5" replacement size) speakers in the dash and sound bar are both mid range and tweeters. I have not checked the 6.5" to see what range they cover but I doubt they are just woofers and are probably full range. The only way to tell is to play wide band white noise through the stereo and measure at each speaker terminal with an audio spectrum analyzer.
If I get some time I could make the measurements and post the exact frequency ranges sent to each speaker.

If you could see what a car mfr goes through in the engineering phase of a vehicle to get the sound where it is when we purchase the car you might not casually mess with replacement speakers and other aftermarket changes. The factory guys test and measure frequency response and choose the best speakers for sound and cost for each vehicle while making sure the sound is pleasant and adequate throughout the passenger compartment.

When you pick a random speaker out of a catalog and stick it in the hole its like rolling the dice and you won't know what you got until its done. And for most people you will never know what you got until you measure it with some calibrated test equipment and microphones. You could get away with swapping most speakers out in the 70s and 80s because there was not much going on at the factory for stock car sound systems and most anything sounded better, but not so much today.

The stock JT sound systems are not all that good in my experience, even the premium upgrade because the mounting locations for speakers are compromised at best and its not a quiet luxury vehicle that's going to have the sound system high on the list of customer needs. There is a lot of room for improvement but it should be done with proper research and testing rather than filling a hole with a shiny new mystery speaker.

BTW I changed out the 4" speakers in my JT dash and sound bar with some Kenwood models recommended here and the end result is not worth the money spent in my opinion. Its an improvement but not a great match to the rest of the system and I have to run some radical EQ to make it sound somewhat acceptable.

Yeah, with the standard audio, the 3½" speakers are just tweeters, and the, "Crossover," (just a capacitor) is built onto the speaker.
I went the upgraded 3½" speaker route, with standard audio, and ended up putting bass blockers on the replacement speakers to keep them from rattling on heavy bass.

Kevin

 

[Kevin_D]

The stock JT sound systems are not all that good in my experience, even the premium upgrade because the mounting locations for speakers are compromised at best and its not a quiet luxury vehicle that's going to have the sound system high on the list of customer needs. There is a lot of room for improvement but it should be done with proper research and testing rather than filling a hole with a shiny new mystery speaker.

BTW I changed out the 4" speakers in my JT dash and sound bar with some Kenwood models recommended here and the end result is not worth the money spent in my opinion. Its an improvement but not a great match to the rest of the system and I have to run some radical EQ to make it sound somewhat acceptable.

As I said, I replaced the 3½" speakers with full-range speakers (not the Kenwoods) and the biggest difference I noticed was a much greater presence, which I expected since I was replacing a tweeter with a full-range speaker. For about $100, I'm happy with the results.
Besides, if I'm doing critical listening, I'm not going to do it in a Jeep, anyway.

Kevin

 

[Iamstubb]

If you replace with components, you only get the very highs in the tweeters, and you lose a lot. Those tweeters only play above 1000Hz and up, sometimes higher, so they can't provide very good voice and instrument imaging, which is in the 400-800 Hz range. I have done this in a couple cars. If you are just replacing speakers, use a 3.5" speaker, maybe with bass blockers if needed (usually not). I have found in my FCA cars that the front mids and dash speakers are crossed over playing a single channel, like in the Alpine 6 speaker premium system. Unless you are adding amps, etc., replace the speakers with a quality 3.5" and 6x9" or appropriate size aftermarket and that alone will help a lot. If you end up adding amps and running 6 or more channels, cross them over individually and tailor the crossover frequency, speaker delay, and relative dB to maximize sound quality and imaging. You can get great sound from even mid-range quality aftermarkets like Infinity, JBL, and others if tuned properly.

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