So the factory front speakers in my Jeep are very loud, and pretty crisp to my non-audiophile ears. The rears sound about half the volume and very muffled. My Wrangler is a base model 2007, with the RES headunit. No Subwoofer.
I've read a lot of threads and I've heard about the hardtop models getting the sound muffled when the wiring harness is disconnected and running a jumper wire fixes it.
However, my Jeep is a soft top, and has never had a hardtop. I don't have any hardtop wiring installed. The rear speakers are literally half the volume of the fronts. I can fade the speakers from mid to front with no change in sound. From mid to rear the sound drops off drastically.
I've read a lot about the 77KICK10 upgrade and picked up a pair cheap on Ebay a few days ago. I installed them in my soundbar today hoping for some kind of miracle from all the good press I've read. However after installing one speaker I played a song (which I also played before changing anything to see if I could hear a difference) and fading left to right only slightly changed the tone and didn't affect the poor volume at all. In fact the factory speakers seemed to have better treble and the Kickers had slightly better but still terrible bass. Neither has a good midsection sound.
I'm convinced there is some kind of filter or block on the rear channel making it sound muffled. I might move the 77KICK10's to the front and see if they offer better sound at full power, but the fronts seem pretty decent to me already.
Has anyone else had an issue like this in a soft top equipped Jeep? Just to reiterate, I don't have a hardtop wiring harness, or any of the defroster or wiper controls for a hardtop so there is no harness for me to jumper.
I'm frustrated that the rears sound so poor compared to the front speakers.
kept reading threads after I posted this and apparently it's normal. I'll try to listen to another JK stereo the next time I run into one of my friends. I ended up moving the balance to about 70% rear and the sound is even now, but at a lower max volume.
77KICK10's have the factory connector prewired, so they are foolproof on the polarity. But even if the polarity was backwards, it wouldn't make a huge difference on soft top.
I have a 2015 JK soft top that had the base level sound system, and I did not have that volume problem with either the factory or aftermarket Kicker speakers. I have read on these forums that they attenuate the volume and bass going to the soundbar on the premium sound systems, but I didn't think they did that on the non-amp base level sound systems. Very strange.
You may end up installing an aftermarket head unit. My new Kenwood kicks!
Thanks guys. My Jeep is an early 07 so who really knows. They have changed a lot of things over the years. I still haven't had a chance to listen to someone else's factory system but I don't really know anyone with an older JK either, only newer ones. It's been like this for 3 years that I've owned it and I always assumed it was normal but then reading on here made me think something was wrong. I've kinda convinced myself its normal again. An aftermarket headunit would most likely make the sound better in the rear, but I don't really want to change out the headunit. I leave it topless and doorless a lot and don't want anyone to have a reason to take a closer look inside.
i replied to this post because i had the same issue with my rear speakers. but it's a little different for me......98 Sport, i changed the stock hu for a Pioneer with new kicker speakers in the dash and soundbar. i power all 4 speaker via a 4 channel amp. when i hooked it all up the rear speakers were muffled, had sound but really muffled. i took one out and hooked it up to a front speaker location and it sounded great. I called Crutchfield where i purchased all the audio from and spoke to a tech. He knew immediately what was causing this. The Pioneer HU has rca outs for a subwoofer, in the settings menu on the head unit i had to go in and change the rear out signal from sub/rear to rear/rear and it fixed it. You have the stock stereo which i'm assuming does not have a setting internally like that. try and hook a rear speaker up to a front location and see if it sounds any better, you should notice a big difference or none at all which i would say maybe you got some bad speakers.....good luck, let us know how you make out.
I just spent an hour or so swapping the Kickers from the rear to the front. The Kickers definitely make a better improvement in the front speakers. They have punchier bass but the treble is definitely not as loud. Though it is cleaner. Prior to installing the kickers I could only go to about 27 or 28 on the factory speakers before it sounded extremely muddy and distorted. Now I can max out the volume and doesn't sound as loud, but there is no distortion at all. For the $60 I paid for the speakers they are a decent upgrade but I know it doesn't compare to a real stereo setup with a new headunit.
unfortunately, without a aftermarket amp and subwoofer installed, you won't get a lot of bass. My stock stereo in my jeep was garbage, couldn't hear it hardly with the top up! i bought a pioneer hu, a 4 channel sound ordnance amp, kicker speakers in the dash and soundbar and installed it all myself. Crutchfield throws in some extras for free like a amp wiring kit, some speaker connectors and brackets. Their tech support is really good too, i spent about 350 dollars and while i don't have a sub installed, the music i listen to is mostly rock, alternative, 80's........i don't need a thumper for bass. You should check out Crutchfield and get yourself a sound system, they'll help you set it up so your head unit, amp, speakers and subwoofer are all compatible and will get you good sound for your money. Good luck.
Yeah I wasn't expecting it to thump or anything. The Kickers are decent for what they are: a nice factory style upgrade. It gets plenty loud as it is, I can hear it with the top and doors off easily.
Espo...you have it backwards.....it seems the factory soft top models have lowered volume rear soundbar speakers...presumably to avoid being too loud when topless....
Factory hard top models have "normal" volume to those speakers...except when they remove the hard top, which is when sensing the top is off(disconnected) some see a drop in volume to those rear speakers...for some folks it works to install the jumper to bring them back up to normal level....
Im on the same boat as you...09 factory soft top (now running a hard top) and find the difference in volume on the rear speakers pathetic...I replaced those with Infinities and the quality of the sound improved, but the volume level is still way down compared to the fronts....
I have looked at solutions(other than tearing everyting out and go full boat aftermarket system) and have not found something viable.....
I read a post of someone tracking down the wires that get jumpered by the hard top folks up to under the dash (where soft toppers can find them), and jumpering there did not work.....so for now it seem an easy solution to the rear lower volume is not available....
I currently run the stereo faded -3 towards the rear to kind of get a more normal balance...
Later!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Jeep Wrangler Forum
9M posts
468K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Jeep Wrangler owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about reviews, performance, trail riding, gear, suspension, tires, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, for all JL, JT, JK, TJ, YJ, and CJ models!