as many of you already did, i also want to change the builtin-speakers in my 2007 unlimited sahara, as they just sound crappy - i read most of the posts already but have a specific problem, to which i couldn't find any answer. The problem is, that i live in Germany and can't get any of the recommended aftermarket-speakers here (unless i pay for international shipping - but also that would take far too long)
So i found 3 OHM speakers, that are almost the same as the ones, that are being sold in the US - these ones
Can i use them? the HU is also still the original one (the one that handles MP3 CD's as well, but without navigation). As far as i understood the increase from 2 to 3 OHM would result in a slight reduction of volume, but should not harm the HU or result in a loss of quality -but maybe i am wrong here. Does anyone know that for sure?
An alternative would be to get those 2-OHM speakers (the only reasonable ones you get in germany) - but they are supposed to be not as good in terms of general sound quality. What do you think?
Thanks,
Sven
PS: I originally falsely posted this in the TJ section, so admin - if you read this, yo can safely delete my other post thanks!
I can't tell you if the factory system is 2 ohm, but if it is then 3 ohm is fine. 3 is less load than 2. Depending on the speaker there may or may not be lower volume.
You should match the speaker's impedance to the head unit. If you have a mismatch you will not get full power transferred to the speakers. Some of the signal will reflect back to the head unit as standing waves. Over time this can damage the drivers in your head unit. It is 1 ohm difference but it's still a 50% increase in load impedance. Personally I would match the speakers with the head unit.
Incorrect. It is less load, not more. There are no "waves" that get sent to the speaker, only electric current. There are no drivers in the head, its an amplifier. He's fine with 3ohm, depending on the sensitivity of the speaker he may/may not have a loss of volume.
Provided that the upgrade systems in Europe are the same as they are here, it is a 2 ohm system. The 3 ohm speakers would, in effect, reduce the amp output by a small amount. The fact that the Infinity's are also quite a bit more efficient, means that they should still play louder than stock. Not to mention the large improvement in quality.
I would do the Infinity's and they will be fine. What I don't know for sure is if they will come with the MOPAR mounting adapters that we get here in the US. You will need them or you will need to cut your factory speakers and make them in to a mounting plate.
OK thanks guys - seems like i can more or less safely use the 3 ohms - As i plan to install an additional / external amp anyway at some point later this year, i am not too worried about the HU getting damaged in the long run either.
Are all 4 speakers the same in size/diameter? I really hope, as i just ordered - i just took one of the soundbar ones out as an example, which i also ohm measured (this is why i know, it's also 2 ohms)
Pallyboy is correct. You want the speaker impedance to match the impedence of the output driver in the head. I am an electrical engineer with a Ph.D. If you need some background on my ability to speak as an expert. 3 ohms will likely work, but you will have decreased volume unless the head (or amplifiers) has adaptive driver capabilities. Maximum power transfer occurs when the driver impedence matches the load impedence. You can prove this to yourself by solving ohms law for power and then taking the first derivative, setting it to zero, and solving the equation for resistance.
I don't have a PhD, but in real life, and my experience, an amplifier designed to handle a 2 ohm load can drive anything higher (3,4,5,6,7,8 ohm) and will have no adverse affects to the amplifier or the speaker. The amplifier is not going to overheat or absorb "waves" because of less load.
My comment about speaker not being the same ohms across the freq band is a good example.
Example of a 8 ohm speaker
Why do you feel a 3 ohm load will have a negative effect on his amplifier?
The laws of physics dictate this relationship. Google search "Maximum Power transfer theorem" for an in-depth discussion of the theory behind impedence matching. By the way, thanks for the well reasoned response. Many on the Internet would take offense at having notions challenged. You did not. Well done.
By the way, if you have ever tuned a CB radio antenna to lower the Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) and increase output power, you have used the maximum power transfer theorem. In effect, by tuning the antenna, you are changing its impedence to match the output impedence of the CB Radio.
lol Just love a pissing match. In this system, going from a 2ohm to 3ohm will not affect anything to make it noticeable to the human ear nor will it harm any of the electronics. Now, the real issue is this which I am surprised no one brought it to light.....changing out these OE speakers with ANYTHING else will not make it sound better unless you have a damaged speaker now. The issue is the sound output of the OE radio along with the poor dynamics of the interior of the vehicle. Simply put is that if the OE speakers are fine, swapping them is mostly a waste of money
This is simply NOT true. The head unit and factory amp is not great, but it's not bad either, the speakers are. If you want to read any of the posts in our chain of upgrades, you will find hundreds of positive reviews on speaker replacements. Links in my signature. This is a big improvement.
As for the 2 ohm - 3 ohm argument, we are talking about nominal impedance. As Blue Baby Sound accurately posted, a speakers impedance varies across the frequency range and will NOT cause an issue as this is not a static load. For example, there are dozens of posts of people putting in Polk db651's in Wranglers which are 4 ohms and by the theory presented, these people would all have fried amps by now... It's not happening.
Funny thing is that I promote the impedance matching, for performance reasons...
OMG! what did i start here Guess 5 more posts and we will end up discussing schroedingers cat
@ponchonutty - Are you sure? I mean so many of the guys in this forum just changed the speakers while leaving the HU in place and all of them reported an increase in sound quality. Also the new speakers have integrated tweeters - so even if the system was not originally made for that and the highs form those integrated ones are poor - it's better than no additional highs at all. My experience from the setup in my old car (Volkswagen T3 bus) - the more mid/high speakers you have - the better the sounds gets in general. I had 8 speakers plus a sub and it was just awesome.. Took me quite a while to get it up and running, but now i am tempted to do the same in the Jeep
Well, I am just pointing out what my MECP cert and 25 years of experience has shown me. The biggest gain in better sound in a vehicle usually is netted from swapping out the head unit. When just swapping out speakers is wasn't as pronounced and actually usually ended in bad replacement speakers since the OE radio amplifier is very weak and subject to clipping at high volumes. Car manufactures have tried to compensate by rolling off the bass response the louder the music being played. This is usually very noticeable when you ad a subwoofer to a factory system. This is why I never install a sub/amp to a factory stereo WITHOUT an audio summer like this one AudioControl LC2i 2-channel line output converter for adding amps to your factory system at Crutchfield.com What I have found the easiest way to get a well rounded sounding system is to add a small 8" to 10" woofer to the system and reducing the bass output of the factory stereo
@ponchonutty: you might be right in most/many cases (obviously you are an expert) - however, i *think* things might be different with the specific situation in the wrangler. At least this is, what so many people in the forum wrote. They exchanged the speakers from factory to aftermarket ones - and the result was great in all threads i read.. Also i had the same experience in my past car (Volkswagen T3) - i threw out the factory speakers and got ok-quality aftermarket ones - attached them to an amp, which i attached to the standard HU - and the outcome was awesome. Of course i had to tweak the settings (knobs, option switches, etc) of the amp and the radio for quite a while, until i had the best result - but it worked.
Well that could be the actual results since I am a TJ newbie lol. The biggest flaw I have seen so far with the stock system (mine has the infinity speakers with subwoofer in console) is that they have cheap paper cones. I would expect if you replaced these speakers with a poly cone or other more "rough environment" ready it would be better. Couple that with a 2 or 3 way speaker that's 2ohm and the system would sound a little louder and possibly better.
A few of us have spent the last 6 months working on optimizing the Alpine and Infinity upgrade systems on our JK/JKU's. We have experimented with various speakers and subwoofers to get the best possible results.
The tweeter mod has had a huge impact on the performance of the audio system. The Infinity 6.5's have been compared to a number of other 6.5's and came out ahead.
RubiconSS put in a variety of subwoofers to come up with the Pioneer which is also a great fit.
So in the end, we have solid research in this platform which allows us to give solid advice on modifying the JK audio system.
In my other car I did what ponchonutty mentioned..used the Audio Control LC2i with Precision Power mono 450watt amp running a pair of 8's. It thumps! Several people have asked what size 10 or 12's I'm running. If replacing the sub with the pioneer that I have coming doesn't satisfy my craving for some bass, I'll do the same with my Jeep.
If you are looking for "thump" you are going to have to add power. The Pioneer sounds great on rock, jazz, county and classical... but it doesn't do rap.
Hmm, although I am a HUGE fan of Pioneer's headunits, I think you may find their subs and/or amps fall short of expectations especially from your list of home audio components. For price, I love to sell PowerBass. Simply put, there's no way to beat them for the price. Only issue I have found is they are whored out on the net pretty hard. Fosgate makes some seriously great shallow mount subs.
Hey Guys. I have been reading every thread I can find on upgrading my JK's audio system. So far 90% of what I have read is about upgrading the Infinity/ Alpine Premium systems. Its all good stuff and I have learned alot. Unfortunately, my JK has the non-premium system with no sub. I have decided to use an AC LC7i to tap into the factory H/U and send that signal to a 5 channel amp to power fronts, rears, and a sub. The main issue I cant get my mind around is wiring the LC7i to the factory speakers. I have been told to tap into the front L/R 6.5's and connect that to the #1 input on the LC7i, then tap the front tweeters and connect to LC7i #2 input. The reasoning for this is the soundbar speakers have a reduced bass signal from the highly restrictive head unit. My questioning is as follows...
1) Will using the soundbar speakers to feed the #2 LC7i input, instead of the tweeters, have any adverse effect? Will the LC7i not overcome the reduced signal for the factory H/U and make it a full range signal again?
2) My system being non-premium, with no factory amplification other than the head unit, will the front stage 6.5" driver and the tweeter not be on the same circuit, either series or parallel, to end up with the 2 ohm load the H/U see's? If this is the case, I wont be able to use the driver and tweeter as separate signals.
Hope this makes sense and I'm not suffering from "paralysis from analysis"
Thanks in advance my Jeeple!
Around $120-150 at Crutchfield or other online retailers. I found one on ebay open box for $80.
It's a "power pack" amplifier.
Super small. You could keep it in your pocket - mount it behind radio in dash.
Fast install. Splices into 15 amp power in the dash - no need to run fused power from battery through firewall.
Designed to use with factory head units, supplies 45 watts to 4 channels at 4 ohms.
I like that when I hide my new speakers behind OEM grilles, my amp will be hidden in the dash behind the factory radio.
I'll have mine next week along with some new speakers. Probably won't hook up until after Christmas, but I'll report my observations and opinions.
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