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Stock audio system hacks?

12K views 29 replies 17 participants last post by  Long Duck Dong 
#1 ·
Just bought a 2016 Wrangler Sport Unlimited and I love everything about it except the audio system. What can i do to cheaply make it better while I save up some money for an aftermarket sound system? I've been messing around with the equalizer which made it better but when I turn up the volume really loud the sound quality still sucks and the speakers sound like they're going to blow. Anything else I can do?
 
#2 ·
not really the stock speakers are paper speakers that look like what I took out of my old 91 chevy truck back in the day. I cant believe any manufacturer would ship a vehicle with such a poor audio system. All you can do is reduce the bass as much as possible to prevent crackle and invest in some polyfill and new speakers asap.
 
#3 ·
Yeah it's actually disappointing how bad it is. Someone said to use pillow stuffing to pack the speakers. Can anyone verify this as a true technique to improve the speakers? If so please explain or post link to a tutorial. I'd really appreciate it. Also, what is polyfill? I keep seeing it all over this forum.
 
#8 ·
Agreed even the head unit stinks as soon as my free XM expires ill be seeking out an upgrade/ replacement. Cant decide if I want to go android or pioneer or ...?
 
#9 ·
Plenty of write ups on this, but yes pollyfill is the go too. Also u can go to Lowe's or home Depot and go to the roofing section and get the flashing tar tape it's like 20 bux a roll, and usually has silver backing, and very sticky. Take out speakers and line the interior of the speaker housings with that and then poly fill. If u wanna get real crazy rip up your carpet and lay it on the floor too. Get some razor blades or descent scissors.

Then develop a budget and rip all the old/"new" crap out. Lots of us have put the 4100nex in for a headunit and put amps to it. Alot of the other guys too have done the KICKER Swap to upgrade(cheaper route).
 
#14 ·
I'm going to buy 2 kicker upgrade sets ($70 each, so $140 total) so that I'll have 4 speakers to upgrade the sound bar and the dash speakers. I am also going to poly fill the kickers so that there is better sound projection. In the future I can replace the stock head unit if I feel it is necessary but I think this is a good solution for now. Any other thoughts?
 
#16 ·
This will give you a noticeable bump up in sound quality but as bad as the stock speakers are, the origin of the signal is just as culpable. Once you've upgraded the head unit, you will really notice your audio come alive even without an amp.

There are a lot of solutions for the head unit out there - it really all depends on your needs. Most bells and whistles weren't required by me so I chose to scale back on them (AVH-X4800BS for $300/shipped) and invest that saved money elsewhere.

Good luck with your upgrades, enjoy the ride!
 
#15 ·
Here's a free "mod". Adjust the fader to run 80% front speakers. You'll have less mud, better clarity. Then, bump treble to +4 and maybe mids to +1. You'll start to be able to hear the instruments.

Now, this does nothing if you want your music up loud but if you stay below that threshold it makes a noticeable improvement in the stock system.
 
#22 ·
Play around with the audio settings on your head unit. It will never sound great as long as you have the stock head unit, that is a huge limiting factor in the sound. I replaced the speakers with Infinity ones, poly filled all the enclosures, done the stock tweeter mod and it still isn't great. It's better than it was though.

For me, I found having bass set around +4, mid -4, treble +2 sounds the best but sound is often subjective so play around with it cranked up and find a setting you like. For whatever reason, turning down the mid's increases bass. Don't ask me why.

I go back and forth wanting a new head unit. Right now, I love being able to park with the roof and doors off and not have to worry about coming back out to a stolen head unit and destroyed dash.

I am going to buy an inline digital-analog converter for my aux input to see if that helps the sound quality any. Like the ones sold for headphones. They can be had pretty cheap.
 
#28 ·
Speakers.

Without a doubt the thing you can change that "colors" your sound more is the speakers. If you're going for quality put some fine separates up front replacing the stock tweeters on top of the dash and the 6.5" mid-woofers in the dash. Leave the rears alone and turn the balance to the front speakers alone.

If you're going for amplitude start up front up also do the ones back aft too.

I advise you to take your music and your ears to your local stereo shop and do some A/B listening swapping different speakers to see what you like best. What I like doesn't matter as you're not listening to my music with my ears ... please yourself! I learned this lesson four decades ago and it served me well.

Understand that putting the speakers into the Jeep will make them sound different than in the store but they'll still have the same basic "voice".

I like "honest" speakers for my progressive rock music which doesn't have a lot of material down below 40 hz but is very rich and complex. That means speakers like Focals sound best to me. But what's popular, what someone else likes, what looks pretty, or what's on sale isn't important - your music and your ears.

You can't please everyone so you might as well please yourself.
 
#30 ·
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