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Speaker Upgrade and New Subwoofer - Advice Needed

7K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  JDrew 
#1 · (Edited)
Season’s Greetings Everyone!

I just picked up an early Christmas present for my family; a snow white Laredo J It’s got the E group (power driver’s seat) and Uconnect.

I want to upgrade the speakers and add a compact powered subwoofer. I have some questions as I’ve never worked on an audio sound system before and could use some advice to build my confidence. My wife is not happy about tearing apart our brand new GC, but I told her WE can do this!

  1. What’s the level of effort taking off the door panels?
  2. Are speaker mounting hole patterns standard? I mean, it’s a simple take out the old and put in the new, right?
  3. Where would be a good location for the powered subwoofer? 9.5 W, 3.5 H, 14 D. There looks to be enough room maybe under one of the front seats (haven’t measured). I don’t think under the rear seats is an option as it appears they lower too far when folded.
  4. The subwoofer connects to the battery, I take it the battery under the passenger seat, and not the posts in the engine compartment?
  5. Where do I actually make the connection for the subwoofer to the audio system? Do I need to connect to the head unit?
Here’s the suggested components from Crutchfield; please let me know if you think they will be a good upgrade:


Sound Ordnance™ B-8PT
120-watt compact powered subwoofer
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-gBHostMvxZa/p_777B8PT/Sound-Ordnance-B-8PT.html#details-tab

Boston Acoustics SE95
6"x9" 2-way car speakers[/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR]
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_065SE95/Boston-Acoustics-SE95.html?tp=91&offerId=65135

Boston Acoustics SE65RC
6-3/4" 2-way car speakers
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_065SE65RC/Boston-Acoustics-SE65RC.html?search=speaker_mounts&tp=94&nvpair=FFBrand%7cBoston+Acoustics


Thank You!!!
 
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#2 ·
if you are not planning on running a 4 channel amplifier to power the door speakers the bostons are nice and should be able to handle the stock amps output. I thought that all four door speakers were 6x9s though so not sure why they recommended 6 1/2s ?! The powered subwoofer will not be very loud but if you just want to add a little umph to the system it should be fine! Where do you plan on putting the sub? Under a seat or in the back?
 
#3 ·
The power wire can be connected directly to the battery or to the post under the hood whichever you prefer to run the wire to my guess the battery would be easiest but i havent done mine yet so cant speak from personal experience! In order to get signal to the powered sub you will need to purchase a PAC line output converter and that will connect via speaker wire (left and right doesnt matter front or back) BEFORE the factory amplifier. You dont want to hook up and get signal for RCAs after the amplifier. You need to find the factory amplifier first. I havent went looking for it but its probably in one of the kickpanels up front or behind the glovebox im sure someone will chime in and confirm the location of it. Either way it sucks we have a stock amplifier!!!
 
#5 ·
Yeah ive seen some guys on here put stuff under the passenger seat which i think is a HORRIBLE idea! If you place a sub or amp under that seat then you cant have full access to the battery! Granted i plane on doing a lot of aftermarket stereo stuff and want to have full access to my battery at any given time! But to each their own....i think it would sound better and more "full" if you put it under the back seat near the center as possible. If you put it under one of the front seats i think you will have an offset sound and you will have a lot of bass on one side of the vehicle and not the other even better reason to put in under the drivers seat bc in the end thats where you want to hear it from right? Good luck and kep us posted on how it turns out! We all love pics too!!
 
#6 ·
Bass is non-directional, and placing it under one of the seats will not effect the sound. However, I'm not sure the unit will fit under either of the seats and still allow for the seat to be adjusted front to back fully.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Been on the line with Crutchfield tech support sorting things out and learning a lot :)

I measured under the non-powered passenger seat, and it looks like it should fit. Lots of room under there and the flat sub height is only 3.25 inches.

Now I just have to wait for the components to get here.

Anybody removed the door panels?
 
#15 ·
Another thought, if you want to mount it under the driver's seat, would be to see if you can mount the power seat components on top of the bracket rather than underneath it.
 
#12 ·
I'm planning to velcro the flat sub to the battery compartment access panel and remove it when I need to get to the battery, which hopefully isn't too often.

My first choice (under the driver's seat) won't work due to the power seat hardware.

The only other place available (without putting it in the cargo area) is the storage area where the sub normally goes. But that would require more modification than I want to do at this point.
 
#17 ·
The Bostons will be nice. For the price they are great. They will work with the stock amps but really do well with extra power. The sub is pretty worthless next to stock. If you want to upgrade the bass get a JL stealthbox and amp. Cost about 800 but worth it. I would do this and leave stock speakers alone over doing the bostons and the junky sub. The bass makes all the difference in the sound and should be where you put the most money. And not to boom the neighborhood either. It makes the difference even at normal speaking volumes. Just my 2 cents but I was a pro installer at a top shop for 3 years. Good luck.
 
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