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Stereo acting funky, rears fine - fronts all static

10K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  WJDave 
#1 ·
So I just bought my used 02' Overland and LOVE IT. Stereo was rockin' day 1. Day 2, the front speakers start cracklin' during playback; at pretty much any volume. Rears fine. Day 3, only took about 30 seconds for the front's to crackle again - though they sound okay right out of the gate. Left and right are same; fronts crackle rears fine.

Any thoughts? If it were all four speaks, uniformly, I'd chase a ground or the replace the stereo receiver unit. But only the fronts, after 10 to 15 seconds...... Very strange. Maybe the receiver's channels are junk. Not sure I want to go buy a new stereo to try. Sounds like I'll have to take the speakers out and test them somewhere where I know it's good (like the rear speaker section....).

Jay
 
#3 ·
had this problem in my 2007 and replaced the head unit and speakers... ended up being the amp. I know its not the same equipment, but its the same symptoms.

Good luck... sometimes crap like that takes all kinds of trial/error.
 
#6 ·
Yep...I have. I'm a sucker for Polk speakers, so I pulled the factory ones out and replaced with Polk 6x9 in the front doors, 6.5" in the rear doors, and 3.5" tweeters in the dash. Everything else (head unit, amp, wiring) has remained the same and for my purposes, that's more than enough. Big improvement....
If you find that your front tweeters are shot (common problem) and are looking for factory replacements, I have full set of speakers I'm selling by the pair.
 
#7 ·
Could I ever just buy a beefier amp, (I love the Rockford Fosgates), and plug that in? Oh, that's dumb - there's no way a different amp will have the same plug; right? Hmmm. Seems like a lightweight amp(I just took it out of the Jeep). I think the amp is the problem - right when I turn the stereo on the front speakers work okay, but, 10 seconds later and the right one is crackling big time, left one less. Rears are fine.
 
#8 ·
It's probably the tweeters...they are known for cracking. They sit right where the sun beats on them. Pop the panel out between your dash and the windshield and check them out. They are easy to replace. If you decide you want OEM replacements, I have some. Otherwise, there are a few available that will fit with some modification. I think wjjeeps.com has a write up on it.
 
#9 ·
I was experiencing some issues with my OEM speakers so I replaced them and it was a pretty significant upgrade. My Jeep now sounds way better. Also, I bypassed the factory amp so that my aftermarket head unit was powering the speakers directly. Very noticeable improvement in sound and power levels.
 
#10 ·
What speakers did you go with? Also, when you say you bypassed the factory amp - how did you do that? Does the headunit have it's own amp (it must - something's got to drive the signal to the speakers)?

I took the factory Infinity amp out, took it apart, and it's a cheesy little bugger. I would like to buy something with more 'ooomph' and plug it in, but, obviously it won't just PLUG IN to the existing Jeep wiring harness... Although I did see on ebay a much new Kicker model that was built for Jeep with the same plug adapter/connctors... Any thoughts?
 
#11 ·
I got Sony GTX series speaker (6x9s for the front and 6.5s for back). And yes, the headunit that I'm using has a built in amp 52wx4 so it provides quite a bit more power and about the same quality as the infinity amp. I bypassed it by just matching up the wires and using short 16 gauge wire between the connectors. I can take a picture and post it here if you'd like. A new amp would definitely provide some good kick, but without new speakers too it wouldn't do much.
 
#15 ·
The front 2.5" speakers have a plastic connector; 1 1/4" rectangular shaped. I can't figure out how to disengage so as to take the speaker out and inspect. I guess if getting new ones it won't matter. Hey, how do you figure out which wire is "+" and which is "-"?
 
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