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Easy rollbar speaker upgrade for Alpine Premium system

downtroddengoat

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On the adapters discussed above, they do not fit flush and overlap the other portion of the bar. I can see how that would aggravate some people, plus I think it would benefit from some sort of gasket/weatherproofing seal as well.

Also, the Kappa 60CSX speakers don't fit, even with with these adapters. The plastic basket is too big and then connectors add to it to make it too wide to fit deep enough into the existing 4 inch speaker hole. When I have a bit more time, I am going to try and figure out how I can make them fit (a bigger hammer?).
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vh5150

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Like many of you, I was irritated by the distortion in the so-called "premium" Alpine system speakers in the rollbar. It wasn't clear to me if simply swapping out the 4" factory speakers with something bigger would make any difference without a new amp and better speakers all-around, but I figured if the rollbar speakers were distorting so easily with the factory system, upgrading them would be beneficial. I bought Kicker CS series 6x9s for about 110$ along with MB Quart Universal Speaker Mount for JTs for around 60$. I can report that the base if much improved, and there is no more distortion. Well worth 170$. The MB Quart kit even comes with plug and play harnesses, so no splicing or soldering at all.
Is this the model you used? Also, did you notice getting more useable volume without the distortion?

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-Z8JfT...xtyHqflK9z7tQHmqJQRoC8FMQAvD_BwE#&gid=1&pid=1
 

Wet Willys

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Installed the Select Increments rollbar speaker pods today with Infinity Reference component speakers. The pods fit well and look decent. I put butyl mat inside the roll bar, as well as on the underside of the pods. I loosely stuffed the rollbar and the pods both polyfill. The wiring adapters were the correct polarity, so that part was plug and play. The improvement in sound is pretty huge. Much better sound quality and It's much louder at a lower volume setting, no distortion or buzzing. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and it all cost me less than $200. I scored some scratch and dent pods straight from Select Increments. The only blemishes were in places that can't be seen after they're installed. The speakers were open box, and half price from Amazon. They arrived still in sealed factory packaging. Sorry for the crappy pic:

Jeep Gladiator Easy rollbar speaker upgrade for Alpine Premium system IMG_4322
 

cturrisi

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MB Quart also has replacement dash pods. They can accommodate quite a few different 6.5" speakers:

Jeep Gladiator Easy rollbar speaker upgrade for Alpine Premium system IMG_4322


Jeep Gladiator Easy rollbar speaker upgrade for Alpine Premium system IMG_4322


Used more dampener inside and on the outside (they are hidden inside the dash so you can't see the dampener on the outside of these), stuffed with polyfill again, and modified them to house 5.25" mids using aluminum baffles/adapters (personal preference once more, as the volume inside is still limited, and the JL C3 6.5" mids wouldn't fit due to their basket shape/size):

Jeep Gladiator Easy rollbar speaker upgrade for Alpine Premium system IMG_4322
Just curious where you mounted the JL Audio C3 cross over box? Also did you use JL Audio 6.5” speakers in the sound bar and if so, where did you mount the cross over box up there?
 

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Just to add to the speaker upgrade discussion... I installed the MB quart 3.5 in the dash the other day. They are certainly an improvement over OEM.

1. There are actual "highs" in the music now. Cymbols and high frequencies are clear and crisp and it really brings the sound stage forward in the car.
If anyone is familiar with old school mb quart, the tweeters have a classic MB "bright" sound. That may or may not be to your taste.

2. Voices are more clear though not as dramatic improvement as the tweeters made.

3. The plates have the little notch already cut out so the fit was spot on.

I'm doing the MB adapter plate and Kicker cs 6x9 for roll bar next.

Depending on how that sounds, I'll do the door pods after if Im not satisfied. Then the subwoofer using OEM box and mono AMP......If still not happy Ill likely get a 5 channel amp/wave tech signal processor. I wanna keep it looking OEM.
 

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blau iii

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Just to add to the speaker upgrade discussion... I installed the MB quart 3.5 in the dash the other day. They are certainly an improvement over OEM.

1. There are actual "highs" in the music now. Cymbols and high frequencies are clear and crisp and it really brings the sound stage forward in the car.
If anyone is familiar with old school mb quart, the tweeters have a classic MB "bright" sound. That may or may not be to your taste.

2. Voices are more clear though not as dramatic improvement as the tweeters made.

3. The plates have the little notch already cut out so the fit was spot on.

I'm doing the MB adapter plate and Kicker cs 6x9 for roll bar next.

Depending on how that sounds, I'll do the door pods after if Im not satisfied. Then the subwoofer using OEM box and mono AMP......If still not happy Ill likely get a 5 channel amp/wave tech signal processor. I wanna keep it looking OEM.
good luck with the sub. I searched high and low for one that would fit the oem box but struck out. Building a box for two 10’s behind the back seat currently. Going with the kicker comp tr.
 

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good luck with the sub. I searched high and low for one that would fit the oem box but struck out. Building a box for two 10’s behind the back seat currently. Going with the kicker comp tr.
there are plenty of shallow mount 8"s that should fit just fine. There is a thread somewhere here where someone did this upgrade....Ill link If I can find.

This should fit...super shallow depth and plenty power for a decent upgrade.

https://www.amazon.com/Earthquake-S...s=shallow+mount+8&qid=1637112328&sr=8-35&th=1

this one also has me intrigued. only 2.5 mounting depth and can be adjusted

https://www.infinityspeakers.com/on...2b0d/pdfs/Infinity_Reference_Flex_8D & 8S.pdf
 
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Trickster

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I don’t listen to the radio so I took out all the speakers to increase my payload capacity. Now I just sing.😏
 

blau iii

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there are plenty of shallow mount 8"s that should fit just fine. There is a thread somewhere here where someone did this upgrade....Ill link If I can find.

This should fit...super shallow depth and plenty power for a decent upgrade.

https://www.amazon.com/Earthquake-Sound-i82SWS-Shallow-Subwoofers/dp/B003R5NS9U/ref=sr_1_35?keywords=shallow+mount+8&qid=1637112328&sr=8-35&th=1

this one also has me intrigued. only 2.5 mounting depth and can be adjusted

https://www.infinityspeakers.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-masterCatalog_Harman/default/dw69482b0d/pdfs/Infinity_Reference_Flex_8D & 8S.pdf
neither of those look to be much of an upgrade. Maybe the infinity but look at the box opening. It’s a really weird design. More power to you if you can find one. I’ve just been down this path and building a box seemed like the better road.
 

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anyone have issues with the 6x9 not sounding "full" with the MB quart kit. I have the 8.4 system. I know mb quart kit only plugs into one of the plugs on each side of the sound bar which makes me wonder if they are not getting the full signal.
 

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blau iii

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anyone have issues with the 6x9 not sounding "full" with the MB quart kit. I have the 8.4 system. I know mb quart kit only plugs into one of the plugs on each side of the sound bar which makes me wonder if they are not getting the full signal.
I put JL C1 6x9 in there and felt the same. I’m going to add a kicker dsp50x4 to power the soundbar and knee speakers. Going to leave the 3.5 off the alpine amp.
 

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I put JL C1 6x9 in there and felt the same. I’m going to add a kicker dsp50x4 to power the soundbar and knee speakers. Going to leave the 3.5 off the alpine amp.
I ultimately ended up separating the wires for the teeeters from the woofer on the 6 x 9. I connected the wires that were powering the highs in the sound bar directly to the tweeters on the 6 x 9 and made sure they were no longer connected to Terminals on the speaker. This is what made the difference.
From what I can tell, the tweeters are crossed over differently than the woofer on the OEM speakers and subsequently require them to be separated when connecting after market speakers.
 

downtroddengoat

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I remember seeing something about how the wrong wire adapters were included in the 6x9 kits and that new harnesses had to be sent. If I can track it down, will post.
 

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I remember seeing something about how the wrong wire adapters were included in the 6x9 kits and that new harnesses had to be sent. If I can track it down, will post.
I believe inremember that post. The problem with those connectors was the polarity if i remember correct.
 

blau iii

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I ultimately ended up separating the wires for the teeeters from the woofer on the 6 x 9. I connected the wires that were powering the highs in the sound bar directly to the tweeters on the 6 x 9 and made sure they were no longer connected to Terminals on the speaker. This is what made the difference.
From what I can tell, the tweeters are crossed over differently than the woofer on the OEM speakers and subsequently require them to be separated when connecting after market speakers.
I assumed this was the case. I'm just going to wait until I get my 4x50 amp and run new lines. But good info for those that aren't going to add aftermarket power!
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