2000 Jeep Cherokee needs your help. Return my Cfield order?

[metzroth]

First of all, I just want to say thanks to everyone here for contributing to this site, I found some great information, much of which led me to post this thread.

January of this year I bought my jeep cherokee and the sound system has been bugging me since then. The factory head unit does not put out sound to the left side unless I hit a bump... cool huh? The 40w RMS Sony 5.25"s that the previous owner installed are probably better than stock but deliver no bass and they get distorted easily at higher volumes.

Last week I placed an order with crutchfield.

I ordered a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X494 head unit, 2 sets of speaker baffles (one set for the front one set for the rear) and a pair of Infinity Reference 6022si 6.5"s. What I want to know is, will I be happy with the infinity reference speakers I ordered, or would I be better off returning them for something else? I paid $59.99 for the pair and I have no problem buying from somewhere else (i.e. eBay). Also, is there a better deck for the money? I used a $20 coupon which brought me down to $159 on the H/U which is how I justified purchasing through Crutchfield vs. eBay or the like, but then I bought speakers and baffles which probably got me back to throwing money out the window. Another question is, are the baffles I bought necessary and will I see any advantage from them if they are not absolutely necessary?

I figure I can ship everything back for a refund and it will only cost me $7 for shipping. Their return policy is as good as their customer service which means I only absorb the $7 for return shipping since I received free shipping on the order. I hate to do this to a company, but I feel like I was misled somewhat in my purchase. I asked him if there was a better H/U in my price range that met my requirements (up to $200, Iphone compatibility, good sound, 2-3 preamps) and he told me that this was probably the best. I asked him for a 6.5" speaker that would deliver atleast DECENT bass until I could afford to purchase a sub and an amp and he said they would.

I did some research and found that the H/U is not necessarily the best choice for my budget, I could have moved up in the Excelon line and purchased a better H/U within my budget. Also, I read that the speakers (Infinity Reference 6022si) he recommended deliver little to no bass.

Any advice would be awesome. I spent roughly $230 at crutchfield on the H/U, speakers, and baffles. Lets say I have $250 to spend and I want a H/U and 6.5s or if I would benefit more from spending the full $250 on the H/U than that is fine too. $250 is flexible but I'd like to keep it around there.

Within the next 6 mos. or so, I plan to replace my rear Sony speakers (5.25") and shortly after I'd like to install a 10" sub. Maybe that will help to provide the best advice?

I will say that I am tempted to install everything tomorrow if I don't have anyone advise against it. The only requirements I have for the H/U is I want it to be compatible with my IPhone and I like the idea of a USB port on the front, but I don't necessarily have to have the USB port.

I don't want it to sound like all I care about is bass, but it is important. I listen to a variety of genres from bluegrass to rap to rock, etc. so I want a versatile system.

Thanks in advance!

Mike

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[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

I would step up into a Kenwood eXcelon x-693 or the likes. Which can be had for ~150 online. More features, iPod, 3 4V pre's.

As far as bass from speakers, adding more power can bring them to life. a common reason speakers do not deliver low end is lack of power. a small amp could provide enough without costing too much. I'll let someone else comment further on the speaker dilemma as I am not familiar with most infinity products. Though i will state that 60$ for a pair will not open up a tremendous amount of options.

Try woofersetc dot com for some decent deals. Also e-bay is popular.

Best of luck.

 

[metzroth]

Thanks for your input! I will plan on returning everything then and starting from scratch. Atleast another week with the crap factory head unit i suppose //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif I'm sure the end result will be worth it though. $60 is not my limit on my speakers. I'd like to stay around $250 for everything. If the H/U is $150 then I can spend around $100 on speakers, install kit, amp, etc. I just want the most out of my budget. The sony 5.25"s aren't unbearable, but having sound cut in and out is. It's to the point where I no longer listen to music because the sound cuts in and out so often. When I am not listening to music in my vehicle, something isn't right. IF I put the full 40W RMS to the sony speakers, they might sound better, maybe I should just spend my budget on a H/U?

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

Most H/U's wont give more that ~22 rms per channel. Even the higher end ones. And if the cutting in/out is a major concern, maybe attempt to find/fix the problem to start. Sounds to me like a loose wire that only touches when you hit a bump. Could possibly be a simple fix. I'd check behind the deck and in the doors. If it is indeed the deck, i believe you will be happy in a KDC x-693.

As far as the rest is concerned, i am a big fan if doing things in steps to save money in the long run. So possibly, try to fix, if not fixeable then deck, then amp, then speaks. Just my .02 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[metzroth]

I actually already isolated the problem to the outputs on the factory H/U. I went through troubleshooting from the speakers back. Ends up the H/U is not putting out any power. I did some more reading and I'm still not sure the x494 isn't plenty for what I need. Especially if 22w RMS is about on par with everything else. It seems that it will have good sound. It's fairly inexpensive, and I don't really need bluetooth or a 5 line display or any of that other fancy stuff. I want music to play and sound good. It won't be hard to impress me as far as good sound. I do think that I will keep the deck, I feel the price on it was fair especially with the install kit. I still wonder if the speaker baffles are necessary/beneficial. Any input on that? As far as the amp idea, what amplifier should I get/is there one that would still keep me within my budget if I return everything except for my deck? ($100 for the amp would be what I would have left) I have no experience WHATSOEVER with amplifiers, be it installing, configuring, etc. How hard is it to install one? Do I run RCAs from the preamps in the back of my H/U to the amp and then run my factory wires to the speakers? I'm sure this is all stuff I can find by searching so if that is what your answer is to these questions that is completely understandable. I appreciate your responses, they definitely got me thinking about what I really need out of my H/U. I think the x494 will do just fine for me. The Infinity speakers, maybe not. I think I will just see how everything sounds after a new H/U and go from there. Still open to advice about the rest of the process though! If I run 50wx4channel to 40w RMS speakers would everything be alright as long as I don't get stupid with volume?

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

50x4 to 40rms speakers would be fine as long as you are responsible with the gain knob.

The steps goes H/U outs to amp via RCA's. Then speaker wire from the amp to the speakers.

And as far as power and grounds for it. You run power wire (usually 4 gauge or thicker) from battery positive to the amp's power input. Then same thickness power wire from the amp's ground input to bare metal on the chassis (short as possible with wire length)

for a small amp you could get away with a 8 gauge install kit. though the thicker the wire, the more room you have for upgrades, etc.

I have a 2 channel amp for sale. if you are interested, you can pm me about it.

night.

 

[metzroth]

Awesome. The doesn't sound too dificult. Tomorrow I still get to install something! I'm sure the sound will be better with just the new H/U, not to mention I won't have to listen to only what is played on the radio anymore. Any other inexpensive modifications that can be made? I started doing a little reading on sound deadening and it got me curious. Without a massive amount of bass is all of that really necessary/beneficial?

As far as rattles go, I've been eliminating them for the past 2 months. Jeeps are notorious for having tons of weird noises. I've got it down to 1 now and I know what it is thankfully.

 

[metzroth]

To clarify, I still don't know why the drivers side speakers occasionally come back on when I hit bumps. Maybe there is a short inside the factory head unit that is closing occasionally when i hit bumps.

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

deadening helps eliminate rattles, roadnoise, and also can help increase midbass if used to seal the holes in the door. It can be beneficial.

 

[Highs on bass]

the wiring problem could also be in the actual line from the speaker to the headunit, if when you hook up the other cd player, you should have some bare wires, for all the speaker leads power ground etc that go to a plug into the back of the new headunit, and you will also have matching wires that come with the factory hook up kit. I suggest using the manual with the head unit to find the color wires going to each speaker, *(usually the white is the front left , gray are front right, purple back left, and green back right...) and take a 9 volt battery and short the positive and negative wires of each speaker one at a time You will hear a pop if the wires are good, It may be a short in the wire itself, and the bump moves the short and the wires are free'd to play music. If the speaker doesn't pop, then there is a problem in the speaker wire itself going from the dash to the speaker, If they all pop, then it was just a problem with the Head unit. As for now the baffles just depend did you buy a speaker ring? or a foam little cup like thing? because i've found that under any kind of serious power, that foam cups will move in and out just as a speaker, and at times will get ****** into the back plate of the speaker, where there is a small hole in the bottom of the speaker for cooling the coils. and will cause them to be unable to breath,

I would suggest in the process of installing the headunit, to either try the 9 volt battery trick, or you could buy a digital multi-meter and on each speaker wire check the ohm load, *(should all be 4 ohm loads) and if each speaker line reads 4 ohm's give or take say .3 to .4 ohm's up or down you are fine. because if the headunit wasn't playing to one side normally, it really shouldn't play at all. being that you hit bumps, I think there is a problem in the actual speaker wire, maybe even at the factory harness. so checking the speakers while you have designated lines as to which wire goes to which, I would test them. and make sure, that each speaker is properly connected, because even the best of headunits wont make a non connected speaker sound good lol

 

[metzroth]

The wires are good, I did make sure to check that. I actually reversed the speaker wires and then the right side did not work and the left side did. Switched back and the left side did not work. So, all speakers work, all wires are good, but the H/U is not powering the drivers side. As far as baffles, they are the foam cup type. Should I just send them back if they can cause these problems? No one has commented on the Infinity Reference 6022si 6.5s. Anyone have any experience with these speakers?

 

[Highs on bass]

I have used the speakers, They have great upper range in both voices and highs, The bass isn't as strong as others, however down the road when/if you amp them it makes up for it and then some. The speakers have great clarity to them, and will hold good sound for a very long time even under abuse. I would keep them and if the bass isn't enough for you, amp them down the road. *also said you would be putting a small sub in time as well. so the bass you get here will be covered up by the sub anyhow.. so mids and highs is what you really want in the end result as well.

as for the baffles, if you hook the speakers up, and turn the radio on loud, and the bass is kicking the back side of the baffle around making it move in and out and making it compress like you were breathing in and out into a paper bag, you could do one of two things, either send them back, Or you could do as i've done in the past, and that was to take and get some fiberglass resin, and mix the hardner in with it, and lightly soak the baffles in fiberglass resin so it becomes quite hard, and acts like a sub box. worked out well every time i've ever done it. if needed, i'd do it for ya lol, you ship em here and back lol. but thats a last ditch effort, most times the speaker wont have the cone movement to cause the baffle to do that. just watch the baffles before you put the door skin's back on.

 

[metzroth]

Well, I love the speakers and the head unit so I'm going to keep it all. The speakers are super clear and I agree that both the mids and highs are amazing. I plan to get a sub installed within the next 2 mos. or so. I still have two speakers to replace in the rear and haven't decided what to do with them as of yet. The rears are 5.25s. As for the baffles I don't think it's worth sending them back considering the baffles cost less than $7 for each pair and to ship them back will be $7. Is there any advantage to installing them?

The bass is much better than i expected after reading several reviews.

For the sub It is going to be somewhat difficult to find something decent I think(not that I really know what I'm talking about when it comes to subs). I'll post a link the box I want to use and maybe someone can read through the info on the box and suggest a sub for it? I also need suggestions for an amp. I really want an amp that will drive whatever sub I decide on + my 6.5s and my 5.25s. I know I have seen 5 channel amps before, but the other side of that is that I need it to fit under my rear seat. Cherokees **** for adding anything aftermarket in the interior. I have wires ran for the CB I'm installing (required for trails) but I cant decide WHERE to install it. Anywhere I put it, it will annoy me.

So, my initial questions have been answered...on to the new ones.

-What sub for the enclosure at the link below?

-What 5.25s for the rear?

-What amp to run everything that will fit under my rear seat?

Also, if anyone has anything for sale that would fit the bill for any of the items I've asked about, feel free to PM me.

84-01 Jeep Cherokee Cargo Stealth Enclosure