Speaker swap

[Discount Dave]

This answers the original question about what to use in the sound bar:

great info!!!

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[Jeepmonster]

For the dash (top), I installed the Kenwood KFC-X3C speakers. Those really brought out the highs. I bought from Crutchfield, so they provided Metra adapters, which I cut and soldered directly to the speaker terminals. It made the connections less bulky.

I went with the Alpine SPV-65-JLT in the soundbar. Pricey, but they sound great (both treble and bass response).
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-do-to-your-gladiator-today.23705/post-634243

Edit 2-13-2021: I may have accidentally reversed the polarity, so I swapped the black and white leads. As expected, made no difference.

 

[Lucifer]

For the dash (top), I installed the Kenwood KFC-X3C speakers. Those really brought out the highs. I bought from Crutchfield, so they provided Metra adapters, which I cut and soldered directly to the speaker terminals. It made the connections less bulky.

I went with the Alpine SPV-65-JLT in the soundbar. Pricey, but they sound great (both treble and bass response).
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-do-to-your-gladiator-today.23705/post-634243

I did the same thing with the dash speakers and the 3 1/2 inch speakers for the sound bar. I did kicker 150 watts for the 4 inch speakers in the sound bar. all ordered from Critchfield and they provided the wiring harnesses. i also ordered from them the trim tools to get the covers off in the dash. i know i'll be able to use them again. everything together was under 250 dollars. to add some deadening i put some pollyfill in the sound bar. keeps all the sound coming out of the speakers and not bouncing around in the hollow sound bar

 

[Jeepmonster]

I did the same thing with the dash speakers and the 3 1/2 inch speakers for the sound bar. I did kicker 150 watts for the 4 inch speakers in the sound bar. all ordered from Critchfield and they provided the wiring harnesses. i also ordered from them the trim tools to get the covers off in the dash. i know i'll be able to use them again. everything together was under 250 dollars. to add some deadening i put some pollyfill in the sound bar. keeps all the sound coming out of the speakers and not bouncing around in the hollow sound bar

Darn, I didn't see the 4" Kicker speakers. Otherwise, I may have considered those. I'm still contemplating the knee speakers. I heard they are a bit of a bear to remove, especially the driver's side. If I'm doing all the work to get to those, I'm not sure if I should replace them with 4" replacements or change them out for 6.5" speakers (with new Metra enclosures). Are you planning to change the knee speakers? I'm sure new speakers will be an improvement, but I'm just not sure if I want to invest the time. I'm still waiting on the ASUB-CH41 (on backorder) to add a small subwoofer (Alpine PWE-S8).

 

[Snzzbry_Ovrlnd]

Call me lazy, but I didn't read every post on the thread. Did someone mention RF speakers for swaps?

 

[Lucifer]

Darn, I didn't see the 4" Kicker speakers. Otherwise, I may have considered those. I'm still contemplating the knee speakers. I heard they are a bit of a bear to remove, especially the driver's side. If I'm doing all the work to get to those, I'm not sure if I should replace them with 4" replacements or change them out for 6.5" speakers (with new Metra enclosures). Are you planning to change the knee speakers? I'm sure new speakers will be an improvement, but I'm just not sure if I want to invest the time. I'm still waiting on the ASUB-CH41 (on backorder) to add a small subwoofer (Alpine PWE-S8).

Not even thinking about it. the videos I've seen make the job look horrible, plus i don't think i would put larger speakers in that are bigger than the others. i think the sound would be un-even. I went with the 4 inch kickers because of other videos i saw and they sounds good. was just rocking down the road earlier. They sound good on 10 but they don't seem to really kick in until about 18-20, then it's night and day difference

 

[ShastaJT6]

For the dash (top), I installed the Kenwood KFC-X3C speakers. Those really brought out the highs. I bought from Crutchfield, so they provided Metra adapters, which I cut and soldered directly to the speaker terminals. It made the connections less bulky.

I went with the Alpine SPV-65-JLT in the soundbar. Pricey, but they sound great (both treble and bass response).
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-do-to-your-gladiator-today.23705/post-634243

Thats a really cool idea. Replacing the Tweeter with an actual speaker and tweeter assembly. I think im gonna have to do this too. The Tweeters that came with the alpine kit were nice but I think this would be the icing on the cake.

 

[saintpauljeff]

not sure if I like the Kenwood KFC-X3C speakers better than the Mopar Kicker ones, so I won't make a choice today (especially since the Kenwoods are OOS until March @ Crutchfield)

I'm in no hurry; I'm putting these on the list to do once we thaw out from winter

 

[Lucifer]

not sure if I like the Kenwood KFC-X3C speakers better than the Mopar Kicker ones, so I won't make a choice today (especially since the Kenwoods are OOS until March @ Crutchfield)

I'm in no hurry; I'm putting these on the list to do once we thaw out from winter

I thought the same thing at first, but glad i did them. Sounds so much better now

 

[JeepRealtor]

Can anyone confirm if a 4” driver will fit on the top of the dash? I’m considering going 3-way full active up front (tweeters on A-Pillar, 4” on dash, 6.5” mods on bottom of dash) thanks!

 

[Lucifer]

i know the wiring harness i got for the 4 inch speakers in the sound bar are different from the 3 inch.

 

[Kevin_D]

The 3½" speakers take the Metra 72-7902 harness adapter.
I suspect the 4" speakers use a Metra 72-6514 adapter, but I haven't been in the soundbar (yet.)

Kevin

 

[Lucifer]

I will tell everyone one thing, don't lose a screw for the sound bar speaker covers. I'm going though hell trying to get one. I went to the dealership, it can not be ordered from them. So i called corporate and so far it has been two weeks of emails with no resolve yet. You would think they could get me one from the manufacturing floor, nope. Still waiting. If anyone has a spare one i'll paypal you to send it to me. I mean this is ridiculous. I bought a 60+ thousand dollar truck and they can't find me one screw.

 

[XraytecH]

Just finished installing my Alpines in the Soundbar. Sounds good and looks good.

Now how the hell am I going to upgrade the knee panels. The passenger side is no problem, it's the driver side. Any ideas out side of completely dismantling EVERYTHING?

 

[jebiruph]

I thought they were checking to see which was the true positive and negative ? Isnt that the whole point of polarity?

It's not really about true positive and true negative, it's about all the speakers being connected the same so they are all pushing in and out at the same time. When I first installed the Infinity speakers in my dash, the mid range sounded terrible, that's when I saw the wiring was reversed by the Metra adapters. Switching the Metra wires fixed the problem.

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