Kicker speaker upgrade in the roll bar

[rharr]

I like the the idea of those sound bar speakers but will a stock 7" stereo have enough beans to push them? or should I just stick to my stock setup?

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[WerkHaus912]

You can't expect the crappy OEM amp to magically output MORE power, definitely not 30w per channel more power. Get rid of the crappy oem stuff and do it right. Expecting aftermarket speakers that require 10x the rms wattage to perform AT ALL on 3 watts is absurd. Remove the OEM sub, and mount an amp on the back wall. Those 6.5" knee and soundbar speakers will outperform the stock sub when amped and tuned properly.

You wouldn't buy a civic, then expect it to tow a boat and still get 35mpg.

LoL that’s funny because back home in Florida where I’m from, I know a dude who had a Civic DX hatchback that towed a jon boat behind it. Not sure what his MPG was but he did it faithfully to get to ponds all over.

As for the 6.5 knee panel speakers, the issue was the sound quality even with the volume at low to mid level. Lesson learned thinking the factory amp would be able to push more but I guess not. Taking that dash apart a 2nd time to put back 4” speakers was wasn’t as bad the 2nd time but it wasn’t something I was expecting to do. If I do it again it’ll right and you’re the first person to mention removing the sub all together in lieu of the 6.5”s. If that’s the case definitely not going to stick with the KS series if I’m going to with a better aftermarket amp.

 

[BSW520!]

You will definitely want to install aftermarket amplifiers and better speakers regardless of brand. With properly prepping your sound bar ( sound deadening and poly fill) and do the same with your knee pods and amplifying it setting it up correctly on the amp crossovers or run a dsp it can will sound 100% better. I run Ks components in knees, KS 6.75 in the sound bar and KS 3.5 in the dash off of a cxa360.4 amp and factory 12” uconnect with amp pro module and it is plenty loud and clear especially for a daily driver. I could have spent a lot more on high end sql components but I would still be putting them in a plastic and fiberglass cabin. So for me it was a great balance.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

You will definitely want to install aftermarket amplifiers and better speakers regardless of brand. With properly prepping your sound bar ( sound deadening and poly fill) and do the same with your knee pods and amplifying it setting it up correctly on the amp crossovers or run a dsp it can will sound 100% better. I run Ks components in knees, KS 6.75 in the sound bar and KS 3.5 in the dash off of a cxa360.4 amp and factory 12” uconnect with amp pro module and it is plenty loud and clear especially for a daily driver. I could have spent a lot more on high end sql components but I would still be putting them in a plastic and fiberglass cabin. So for me it was a great balance.

How does it sounds with the doors off on the highway? Do you have/want a sub? And I'm assuming those are the ksc model speakers?

 

[BSW520!]

How does it sounds with the doors off on the highway? Do you have/want a sub? And I'm assuming those are the ksc model speakers?

No problem hearing it with top doors off in the wifes gladiator (I haven’t had mine off yet) but hers had same setup before I pulled it out before trade in.
I had the single 10” sub with Fox acoustics box in hers, I have the dual 10” version in mine. Yes KSC line of speakers.
I have the stuff I pulled out of hers for sale. Pictures of mine below.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

That shiii looks clean man! Love the bass knob location, would do the same possibly in mine. Since you used components AND 3.5s in the dash, how was tuning the front/rear since the 3.5s are rated a bit lower than the 6.5/6.75s on wattage and ohms (either 2 or 8ohm front and 4ohm rear being amped on the same amp)?

I only ask because I'm not aware of an amp that can operate on different impedance (ohms) per stage/channel. And running the knees and dash speakers on the front channels means either series/parallel wiring, while the rear don't.

How did you mix the 3.5s with the component tweeters in the dash at the amp and how does it sound vs not using the tweeters? Part of me thinks it helps fill any gaps in frequencies reverbed off the windshield, another part of me thinks it will muddy up the stage.

As for the subs, did you test the difference between the single/dual 12" setup in the JT? Ever tried a downfiring sub in the JT? What rms are they handling (single vs dual) and what is the sound difference, both doors on/off and doors/top off on the highway?


Sorry for bombarding, this is good info and someone here has done it and willing to share

 

[BSW520!]

That shiii looks clean man! Love the bass knob location, would do the same possibly in mine. Since you used components AND 3.5s in the dash, how was tuning the front/rear since the 3.5s are rated a bit lower than the 6.5/6.75s on wattage and ohms (either 2 or 8ohm front and 4ohm rear being amped on the same amp)?

I only ask because I'm not aware of an amp that can operate on different impedance (ohms) per stage/channel. And running the knees and dash speakers on the front channels means either series/parallel wiring, while the rear don't.

How did you mix the 3.5s with the component tweeters in the dash at the amp and how does it sound vs not using the tweeters? Part of me thinks it helps fill any gaps in frequencies reverbed off the windshield, another part of me thinks it will muddy up the stage.

As for the subs, did you test the difference between the single/dual 12" setup in the JT? Ever tried a downfiring sub in the JT? What rms are they handling (single vs dual) and what is the sound difference, both doors on/off and doors/top off on the highway?


Sorry for bombarding, this is good info and someone here has done it and willing to share

No problem with the questions.
I will try and answer the best I can.

I am running the lower knee speakers and the dash off of channels 1 & 2 parallel @2 ohms. And the rear sound bar which has 6.75 coaxial on channel 3 & 4@ 4 ohms . The cxa360.4 has no problems doesn’t get hot no issues.

I contemplated 3 way components but decided to try it this way with the 3.5 Ks coaxial running a passive crossover ( bass blockers) to filter out unwanted lows to them while keeping good mids going to the knee 6.5 component mids. Plus running just a tweeter up top with low downward angle of the mids in the knee makes the imaging awkward.
The tweeter placement was played around with, lower dash, a-pillar etc. I finalized my decision after down low was still awkward to my ears, a pillar more direct facing to bright. Was i concerned about weird imaging.. yes, but this seemed to be a good blend and no issues.

I figured if I didn’t like it I would do a 3 way component set.

For the subs in my wifes I had the single 10 box with same sundown audio subwoofer rated 750 rms with kicker 800.1 running 2 ohm 600 rms. The single 10 box is also up firing.
In my gladiator I have the two 10” sundown subs up firing rated same 750rms each on kicker 1200.1 . The single was plenty loud and I could have stayed with that setup in mine but wanted to try the dual 10”s . It is more than I needed honestly.
I have had down firing setups in other trucks and like them, but with the seat bottoms down , it sub loads them and makes a remarkable difference in output.
With doors off or open and seat bottoms down it flat out boogie’s.
Very rarely do I listen above volume 10-12 . With the wifes old gladiator everything open tops off 70mph at volume 14 and can not hear the wind.

If I don’t sale all the stuff I pulled out of her gladiator I will most likely be doing a similar install on her wrangler as the alpine system is seriously lacking compared to what she had.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

1) I am running the lower knee speakers and the dash off of channels 1 & 2 parallel @2 ohms. And the rear sound bar which has 6.75 coaxial on channel 3 & 4@ 4 ohms . The cxa360.4 has no problems doesn’t get hot no issues.

2) I contemplated 3 way components but decided to try it this way with the 3.5 Ks coaxial running a passive crossover ( bass blockers) to filter out unwanted lows to them while keeping good mids going to the knee 6.5 component mids. Plus running just a tweeter up top with low downward angle of the mids in the knee makes the imaging awkward.
The tweeter placement was played around with, lower dash, a-pillar etc. I finalized my decision after down low was still awkward to my ears, a pillar more direct facing to bright. Was i concerned about weird imaging.. yes, but this seemed to be a good blend and no issues.

I figured if I didn’t like it I would do a 3 way component set.

3) For the subs in my wifes I had the single 10 box with same sundown audio subwoofer rated 750 rms with kicker 800.1 running 2 ohm 600 rms. The single 10 box is also up firing.
In my gladiator I have the two 10” sundown subs up firing rated same 750rms each on kicker 1200.1 . The single was plenty loud and I could have stayed with that setup in mine but wanted to try the dual 10”s . It is more than I needed honestly.
4) I have had down firing setups in other trucks and like them, but with the seat bottoms down , it sub loads them and makes a remarkable difference in output.
With doors off or open and seat bottoms down it flat out boogie’s.
5) Very rarely do I listen above volume 10-12 . With the wifes old gladiator everything open tops off 70mph at volume 14 and can not hear the wind.

6) If I don’t sale all the stuff I pulled out of her gladiator I will most likely be doing a similar install on her wrangler as the alpine system is seriously lacking compared to what she had.

1) I would contact Kicker to verify that won't either burn out the amp or the speakers. When I talked to them yesterday I asked about this exact thing, they said it isn't advisable and could damage the amp/speakers if wired 2/4ohm on a standard amp (including their cxa360.4, which they initially recommended). That's why I'm going to use their LX1300.7, it has 4 separate amps internally that can be mixed with whatever ohm load you want, and they designed it so "amp 3" can power tweeters/our dash speakers and set their own filters (bass blockers).

2) Good to know about the imaging efforts. I figured this would become a thing to overcome, but nothing I'd be worried about or putting off the upgrade either.

3) Sounds like what I figured, and hoped, would be the case for these smaller cabs: less bass needed for similar output vs a car/SUV. I generally run a single 12" at 450-600rms with good results, glad to hear a single 10" at 500+rms will be plenty.

4) Can you clarify what you mean when the seats were down when using the downfiring subs? Was output better or worse with down vs up firing with seats down? I've heard down firing makes them SLAM in the gladiator compared to upfiring.

5) THIS sounds like what I'm looking for on my own JT.

6) What's for sale? You can PM me if you want to prevent hijacking much more or violating sales rules.

 

[BSW520!]

1) I would contact Kicker to verify that won't either burn out the amp or the speakers. When I talked to them yesterday I asked about this exact thing, they said it isn't advisable and could damage the amp/speakers if wired 2/4ohm on a standard amp (including their cxa360.4, which they initially recommended). That's why I'm going to use their LX1300.7, it has 4 separate amps internally that can be mixed with whatever ohm load you want, and they designed it so "amp 3" can power tweeters/our dash speakers and set their own filters (bass blockers).

2) Good to know about the imaging efforts. I figured this would become a thing to overcome, but nothing I'd be worried about or putting off the upgrade either.

3) Sounds like what I figured, and hoped, would be the case for these smaller cabs: less bass needed for similar output vs a car/SUV. I generally run a single 12" at 450-600rms with good results, glad to hear a single 10" at 500+rms will be plenty.

4) Can you clarify what you mean when the seats were down when using the downfiring subs? Was output better or worse with down vs up firing with seats down? I've heard down firing makes them SLAM in the gladiator compared to upfiring.

5) THIS sounds like what I'm looking for on my own JT.

6) What's for sale? You can PM me if you want to prevent hijacking much more or violating sales rules.

I Dm you

 

[Zachanadandy]

1) I would contact Kicker to verify that won't either burn out the amp or the speakers. When I talked to them yesterday I asked about this exact thing, they said it isn't advisable and could damage the amp/speakers if wired 2/4ohm on a standard amp (including their cxa360.4, which they initially recommended). That's why I'm going to use their LX1300.7, it has 4 separate amps internally that can be mixed with whatever ohm load you want, and they designed it so "amp 3" can power tweeters/our dash speakers and set their own filters (bass blockers).

2) Good to know about the imaging efforts. I figured this would become a thing to overcome, but nothing I'd be worried about or putting off the upgrade either.

3) Sounds like what I figured, and hoped, would be the case for these smaller cabs: less bass needed for similar output vs a car/SUV. I generally run a single 12" at 450-600rms with good results, glad to hear a single 10" at 500+rms will be plenty.

4) Can you clarify what you mean when the seats were down when using the downfiring subs? Was output better or worse with down vs up firing with seats down? I've heard down firing makes them SLAM in the gladiator compared to upfiring.

5) THIS sounds like what I'm looking for on my own JT.

6) What's for sale? You can PM me if you want to prevent hijacking much more or violating sales rules.

Most 4ch amps can be run in 3 channel mode, bridging 2 channels to run a sub and running the other 2 in stereo to a pair of speakers. Bridging and running a single channel to a 4 ohm load is the same as running stereo at 2 ohms. Every system running a 3 channel setup is effectively doing exactly what he's doing with 2 channels seeing 4 ohm loads and the other 2 seeing 2 ohms. Not sure how or why it would damage the amp or the speakers unless the 2 ohm output was too high for the speakers.

 

[Y-Guy]

I'm waiting on the Audio Uprising kit for my Jeep right now. It's been sitting at a UPS hub 20 miles away for the last 5 days but they won't deliver it to me because of "weather". Sigh....

I'm really curious what you think. I read through all the reviews, paying attention to the critical ones. When I see so many 5 stars it really makes me wonder how real they are knowing bots are real and many companies seem to have no problem with it.

 

[4-Low]

I'm really curious what you think. I read through all the reviews, paying attention to the critical ones. When I see so many 5 stars it really makes me wonder how real they are knowing bots are real and many companies seem to have no problem with it.

So, my Jeep has the base system. NOT the Alpine system. That's critical because it means my speakers are 8 ohm and I have no subwoofer.

With that being said, the Audio Uprising front soundstage upgrade opened up the sound some. It added a small amount of additional base and punch. It added more depth to the sound, more range I guess. The overall volume decreased slightly because these AU speakers are 7 ohm. But it's still pretty loud. I do think it sounds better. Is it night and day different? No. Can I tell there's definitely a difference? Yes.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

When this part of my build comes along, I’m going to be looking at Polk Audio MM speakers and some mini amps for behind rear drivers seat. Probably something by MTX. Always loved Polk Audio. Wish I could find the SR series still but haven’t had any luck. Polyfill and sound deadening go a long way to ensure the sounds go in the right direction. Not that a Gladiator has a great sound stage to begin with but focusing the sound out from the cone helps tremendously.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

Most 4ch amps can be run in 3 channel mode, bridging 2 channels to run a sub and running the other 2 in stereo to a pair of speakers. Bridging and running a single channel to a 4 ohm load is the same as running stereo at 2 ohms. Every system running a 3 channel setup is effectively doing exactly what he's doing with 2 channels seeing 4 ohm loads and the other 2 seeing 2 ohms. Not sure how or why it would damage the amp or the speakers unless the 2 ohm output was too high for the speakers.

I actually asked Kicker about this when I called, because I too remember that some amps will allow bridging, but normally that means going from a 4ch to a 2ch as seen here
"Power:
(@14.4V, <1%THD+N) 4Ω Stereo 65W x 4 Power
(@14.4V, <1%THD+N) 2Ω Stereo 90W x 4 Power
(@14.4V, <1%THD+N) 4Ω Bridged 180W x 2 Lowest Rated Impedance (Amp 1 & 2) 2Ω Stereo / 4Ω Bridged"

Notice how you CAN run EITHER 4ch@2ohm OR 4ch@4ohm OR 2ch@2ohm OR 2ch@4ohm, but not 4ch@ 2ohm AND 4ohm simultaneously. Kicker confirmed (with their amps anyways) that only their LX1300.7 is designed for a split speaker setup and why they have a 3rd full range speaker/tweeter amp at a lower rms output while working at a different load, similar to how the sub channel/amp can run at 1ohm while speakers are at 2/4ohm (speaker amps 1/2 at same load).

So CAN you run them at different loads, apparently. Should you, or is the amp designed to...according to Kicker for their amps, generally NO. Maybe I'll call during the week and double check, because I've been misinformed before

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

When this part of my build comes along, I’m going to be looking at Polk Audio MM speakers and some mini amps for behind rear drivers seat. Probably something by MTX. Always loved Polk Audio. Wish I could find the SR series still but haven’t had any luck. Polyfill and sound deadening go a long way to ensure the sounds go in the right direction. Not that a Gladiator has a great sound stage to begin with but focusing the sound out from the cone helps tremendously.

I've actually been reading that members who use acoustic dampening materials in the JT don't really notice much difference in outside noise reduction compared to sealing off any leaky spots (some say there's a spot below the windshield near the door that makes a good difference, others suggest headliners instead) and the weight added mixed with the cost of materials, I personally don't think it's worth the effort, especially if you actually get your truck dirty/wet on a trail/in the weather.
- And this is coming from a guy who normally would suggest dampening materials (albeit the lower cost stuff works almost as good as the "here's a finger" expensive), and used it in a rally car to reduce rock sounds during a stage.

Polyfill on the other hand is something I ALWAYS recommend, in proper quantity. It not only smooths the frequency rolloff but also can help improve driver response and handling. Just don't over stuff the enclosures.

If you're using mini amps, make sure to use a quality EQ or DSP. Preferably one that allows full tuning: HPF. LPF, Subsonic, Q Factor, Time/Alignment, etc...as more setting can be daunting to some, but really allows that personal touch for your own ears. Most mini amps don't have good adjustments, if any other than gain or maybe basic HPF adjustment.

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