Easy rollbar speaker upgrade for Alpine Premium system

[GUJeeper]

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.

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[ritojr]

Good to know! I just swapped out all 4 3.5" speakers for now so seeing what that does for an improvement first. This would be my next step

 

[Labswine]

Never noticed any distortion in mine but, then again, I guess I'm not turning it up to 11 every time (Movie reference: 'This is Spinal Tap'... "Our speakers are louder than everyone else's, theirs only goes to 10. Ours goes to 11!!!" )

 

[GUJeeper]

Never noticed any distortion in mine but, then again, I guess I'm not turning it up to 11 every time (Movie reference: 'This is Spinal Tap'... "Our speakers are louder than everyone else's, theirs only goes to 10. Ours goes to 11!!!" )

Part of my problem is my source, I believe. Sirus/XM sounds very different than my radio or music streamed from iphone, and the Sta radio is what I use most often.

 

[MDPensFan]

Were all of the speakers plug and play? I’m not an audiophile, but I can deal with a cheap, easy upgrade.

 

[Wet Willys]

This is the one that you have to cut the rollbar for right?

 

[Gren71]

Part of my problem is my source, I believe. Sirus/XM sounds very different than my radio or music streamed from iphone, and the Sta radio is what I use most often.

I noticed this and just assumed it was FCA intentionally throttling the sound from anything other than the xm.

 

[Garemlin]

Part of my problem is my source, I believe. Sirus/XM sounds very different than my radio or music streamed from iphone, and the Sta radio is what I use most often.

Sirius sounds like crap due to being so overly compressed. Even Spotify on the highest quality setting doesn't sound the greatest. I really miss the ability to play CDs.

 

[blau iii]

Did you leave one of the sets of leads unplugged? Which one did you put to the new speaker? Any issues with speaker polarity?

I'm planning to do the MB bracket and some JL C1 6x9. I have 3.5" JL C2 being delivered for the dash, then was going to do the soundbar, then, at some point the knee pod conversion.

 

[Wet Willys]

This is the one that you have to cut the rollbar for right?

I just looked it up and answered my own question.....it is.

What are the thoughts on this vs running a 6.5" and tweeter component set using this adapter:

https://www.morris4x4center.com/jljt-pods-18-21-jeep-wrangler-jl-enclosures-only-pair-1.html

Is the sound better from component speakers vs 2 or 3 way coaxial?

 

[dcmdon]

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.

Can you provide model numbers or links?

Thanks,

Don

 

[dcmdon]

Sirius sounds like crap due to being so overly compressed. Even Spotify on the highest quality setting doesn't sound the greatest. I really miss the ability to play CDs.

I do too.

There are ways to help this.

1) rip your CDs using a lossless compression technology.
a. Then save the CDs on your phone
b. then upload them to something like Google Music or Amazon music and stream them with your phone.

2) Subscribe to a music service that provides music using lossless compression.

3) If the Jeep has an RCA jack input (school me on this please) grab a portable CD player off eBay and use it in the jeep.

 

[chithead]

Did this to our soundbar as well - but used 6.5" mids instead of 6x9" speakers because of how small the soundbar enclosures are (personal preference here, 6x9" speakers would be much easier to install with this kit):

Removed the soundbar to make installation easier:

The MB Quart adapter plates and new grille compared to the stock setup:

After cutting the opening larger, applied a bit of dampener:

Used polyfill to stuff the enclosure, fabricated 6x9" to 6.5" adapter baffles out of some scrap aluminum, and plugged in the MB Quart adapter:

After all adapters and speaker were installed:

 

[chithead]

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

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):

 

[piroman683]

One thing I’ve noticed is the stock 5” system carry’s great bass at low volumes and covers a huge frequency range that I didn’t expect. However, anything past 9 on volume and roll bar speakers are exceeding their capacity. To fix this I picked up an Alphasonik 8” sub that fits easily under the rear seat (200w RMS) and used a class d amp to power it. For signal I just used basic high level/ low level inputs and spliced that off my front speakers. Was able to turn the base on the 5” head unit to -4, and used the sub and amp to drive all low frequencies. After a little tuning I was able to crank the whole system to max volume with no distortion. The sub, amp, inputs, and wiring ran me $300 total.

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