Help Building a Sound Quality System!

[thex2]

Background: 15 years ago, I had a 1997 Chevy Tahoe with 2x JL Audio 15" W3's powered by 2x JL Audio 500/1 amps and then 4x MB Quarts (don't remember the model, but they were high quality speakers) in the doors, powered by a JL Audio 300/4. The head unit was an Eclipse CD-8506 and I had an Alpine Equalizer. The system was installed by a professional and it sounded great. I heard a lot of other systems and none sounded as high quality as mine.

Currently, I'm looking to reproduce that system in my current 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. There's talk about how a lot of people have poor sounding systems because they didn't know what they were doing when they installed it or they didn't tune it properly after. Can somebody point me in the right direction with some links that contain good information for somebody that's a novice on car audio?

I've got a 12" JL Audio w7 in an HO Wedge box, with a JL Audio 1000 watt amplifier and some random capacitor that I'd like to install in my 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I'd like to replace the front door speakers (unplug the rears - do I really need them?), head unit and add an equalizer all at the same time, but don't really know where to start on determining which equipment best pairs with what I already have. What size wire to purchase that'll be able to feed the amps the power they need, etc...

Is there any guide out there that'll help me get going on this? I'm aiming for high sound-quality. Budget-wise, $5k sounds reasonable but if I need to go over, I'm not opposed.

Anything helps, thanks!

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

So first things first. No capacitor. Upgrade your starting battery to a nice AGM battery and do the big 3 upgrade.

0 gauge ofc kit for your JL 1000.1

4 gauge kit for your 4 channel

Are you able to do a 3 way setup like doors, midrange, midbass and tweeter which requires some fiberglass installation methods or are you restricted to just factory locations?

Dont get any equalizers. A good head unit will have way better equalizer than any stand alone EQ out there. IF you want to go advanced, there's digital sound processors which have 31 bands of EQ per channel.

 

[thex2]

I already have an upgraded AGM battery - Optima Yellow Top. So I think I'm good there. I'll try to sell the capacitor to gain some funds back.

So for the doors, I'm not opposed to doing some custom fiber glass if it still looks factory from within the cabin. Also, I'd need a link to the youtubes for how to properly fiberglass the setup.

Oh man, I really liked my EQ though because it allowed me to have 6 different custom presets for different types of music that were at an easy access quick 1-button push. Also, I'm pretty sure I still have my Eclipse 8506-8 and my Alpine EQ... which I believe is an ERA-G320 (will check when I get home).

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I already have an upgraded AGM battery - Optima Yellow Top. So I think I'm good there. I'll try to sell the capacitor to gain some funds back.
So for the doors, I'm not opposed to doing some custom fiber glass if it still looks factory from within the cabin. Also, I'd need a link to the youtubes for how to properly fiberglass the setup.

Oh man, I really liked my EQ though because it allowed me to have 6 different custom presets for different types of music that were at an easy access quick 1-button push. Also, I'm pretty sure I still have my Eclipse 8506-8 and my Alpine EQ... which I believe is an ERA-G320 (will check when I get home).

with a proper setup you wont even need to play with any EQ at all. Thats just a sign of a flawed setup if you need constant EQ tweaking.

You can do a 3 way morel/focal or hertz mille setup along with a Sony RSX-GS9 and a nice big 2 channel amp if you want to keep things simple.

You can do the DSP route which would account for vehicle acoustics and time align each driver for the optimum sound stage but this is not something a beginner/intermediate or a run of the mill car audio shop can handle.

 

[thex2]

with a proper setup you wont even need to play with any EQ at all. Thats just a sign of a flawed setup if you need constant EQ tweaking.
You can do a 3 way morel/focal or hertz mille setup along with a Sony RSX-GS9 and a nice big 2 channel amp if you want to keep things simple.

You can do the DSP route which would account for vehicle acoustics and time align each driver for the optimum sound stage but this is not something a beginner/intermediate or a run of the mill car audio shop can handle.

I wouldn't say it was constant EQ tweaking, but when I switched from Dave Matthews to Nelly, it helped switching.
Simple sounds nice. I'm not going to be advanced enough at this point to time align each driver.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I wouldn't say it was constant EQ tweaking, but when I switched from Dave Matthews to Nelly, it helped switching.
Simple sounds nice. I'm not going to be advanced enough at this point to time align each driver.

its mainly the crossovers and slopes and individual driver EQ that will give you the most trouble. Time aligning is extremely simple, the sony can do that as well. So just look up some 3 way components and a big 2 channel amp and that should be all you need. Should be under 5k after install and custom work easy.

A properly tuned setup will sound just as good on dave matthews as it would on nelly. Only thing you need to adjust is the bass.

 

[thex2]

Great to hear. I'm thinking I'll get a JL Audio 300/4 for my door speakers. That way, if I ever decide to add rears, it'll be simple. What door speakers would you recommend? Any good reads that you could recommend on the 3 way components would be helpful since I don't know where to start.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Great to hear. I'm thinking I'll get a JL Audio 300/4 for my door speakers. That way, if I ever decide to add rears, it'll be simple. What door speakers would you recommend? Any good reads that you could recommend on the 3 way components would be helpful since I don't know where to start.

uhm no 300/4 thats puny power. You'll need a lot more than that to get proper detail and clarity out of a 3 way set. You'll want at least 200 watts per channel in a big 2 channel for the set. Its not for loudness its mainly headroom for dynamics when the music calls upon it. Along with efficiency.

Some general list of 3 ways

hertz mille balanced sound out of the bunch

morel virtus warmer sound out of the bunch

focal K2 brighter sound out of the bunch.

All are still really good and overall balanced though. its nothing drastic

install will look like this with midbass in the doors. you'll need to sound treat your doors too

 

[thehardknoxlife 10+ year member]

Go to DIYMA and ask your questions there, most of the guys there only suggest stuff they have had experience with instead of people saying "x" is good when they have never heard them. People around here aren't the brightest when it comes to SQ. All they care about is loundness.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Go to DIYMA and ask your questions there, most of the guys there only suggest stuff they have had experience with instead of people saying "x" is good when they have never heard them. People around here aren't the brightest when it comes to SQ. All they care about is loundness.

thats old info bro. A lot of SQ cats on here as well. Soo many hipsters at diyma trying to choose home audio drivers and forcing it to work in a car environment leading to them never being happy and swapping speakers every other week fking idiotic. Some of the drivers they recommend are pretty garbage imo, bought into that ****, no matter how much positioning, tuning, sound absorption etc... other drivers i've used are still superior at a cheaper price..

 

[k5james 10+ year member]

thats old info bro. A lot of SQ cats on here as well. Soo many hipsters at diyma trying to choose home audio drivers and forcing it to work in a car environment leading to them never being happy and swapping speakers every other week fking idiotic. Some of the drivers they recommend are pretty garbage imo, bought into that ****, no matter how much positioning, tuning, sound absorption etc... other drivers i've used are still superior at a cheaper price..

I disagree man, there's still a ton of great info there that can save you a ton of money. It's actually gone the opposite way from what you're saying. It used to be all about getting the best sound at the cheapest price now everything is Mosconi, Illusion, Audison, etc...

What garbage drivers have people recommended to you there?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I disagree man, there's still a ton of great info there that can save you a ton of money. It's actually gone the opposite way from what you're saying. It used to be all about getting the best sound at the cheapest price now everything is Mosconi, Illusion, Audison, etc...
What garbage drivers have people recommended to you there?

not really garbage but for the price you pay.... others drivers can achieve way better results. Mainly some sb acoustic, some vifa (not the xt 25s the neo ones) and a few other tweets. So far my german silk massive ckx tweets (or massive CT2) still outshine all of them. All were on axis as well. Off axis they sound like pure trash. On axis with hours of EQ and tuning and different positioning and absorbtion still yields inferior results. In comparison with the sets i listed, those drivers sound great, proper sound stage, clarity no harshness, full bodied sound on or off axis. Arc audio black 3 way comps are Bad*ss too Along with some gladden comps i've heard.

You need a certain natural Frequency response that works better in a car environment. All of the tweets that i said were bad in vehicles worked WAY better in home theatre with no reflections or cabin/engine/road noise. While car audio drivers sound horrible in home theater.

 

[k5james 10+ year member]

not really garbage but for the price you pay.... others drivers can achieve way better results. Mainly some sb acoustic, some vifa (not the xt 25s the neo ones) and a few other tweets. So far my german silk massive ckx tweets (or massive CT2) still outshine all of them. All were on axis as well. Off axis they sound like pure trash. In comparison with the sets i listed, those drivers sound great, proper sound stage, clarity no harshness, full bodied sound on or off axis. Arc audio black 3 way comps are ****** too Along with some gladden comps i've heard.

I disagree on the SB stuff. I love the SB based NVX XSPTW tweets I have in my VW. The mid from that NVX X series set is great too. I've used the SB version in another build. We all know the Arc Black series components were based on the same set as well and those are pretty well regarded.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I disagree on the SB stuff. I love the SB based NVX XSPTW tweets I have in my VW. The mid from that NVX X series set is great too. I've used the SB version in another build. We all know the Arc Black series components were based on the same set as well and those are pretty well regarded.

i got the sb acoustics neo. they would be alright if i hadn't heard how much more top end detail and sparkle my massive tweets have. SB acoustics sounds like a wet towel over it in comparison. They need a little attenuation in the 5-8khz range but after that its basically perfect. Can be crossed over low as well with a lot of power on them without even coming close to smelling or blowing.

 

[k5james 10+ year member]

Yeah, the SB29 is basically the same as the XSPTW. I'll have to give those massives a try sometime. I never really had a chance to hear their stuff in person.