New vehicle...new system....ideas?

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:14 pm

Well, I am semi in the process of selling my car. A few offers so far...nothing serious yet. I will be ordering a 2008 Wrangler Unlimited as soon as I can.

I am stoked about it....I will also be looking for another VW as well....a TDI most likely.

Anyway....for the Jeep, it will be used both as a daily driver until I get another car or it gets too expensive paying tickets for it being illegal to drive on streets....and it will see lots of off-road time....mostly rock-crawling and trail running....no mud for me....maybe a river crossing here and there....

The point is that it will be subjected to the elements. Doors off, top off, etc...heat, dust, wind, water, etc....so I need to pick equipment that will stand up to this kind of abuse....and find a place to put it all. I am guessing aluminum cones, metal tweeters, butyl surrounds, etc...will be the most enduring materials for speakers....RSD? As far as amps go, not sure what direction to turn...small class D jobs I can hide in nooks and crannies and seal off for the most part....marine amps? The sub enclosure will be the fun one. I havent seen the inside too much...not sure what the room under seats is like....or maybe a custom console...

Any ideas?

Post by **bdubs767** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:33 am

Pioneer PRS 880
Alpine PDX 4.150
id say score a pair of the boston Z since they have been discountinued. prob can get a pair cheap
rsd10 sub

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:21 am

Alright, I have the new Jeep in my possession now. And as expected, the stock system sucks nuts....so its going to be one of the first things to get upgraded.

I still want to keep the stock head unit in for security reasons mostly....and it works well for playing CDs and listening to radio...and it has a front panel aux input...so I am looking to get a Rockford 360.2 most likely.

As far as speakers go, I am still thinking something with aluminum cones and aluminum or titanium tweeters are going to be the most weather resistant...yeah? So I have been out of the loop on speakers lately (since my Xtecs are so good).....whats out there that anyone would recommend for this application? I think stock size is 6.5-6.75...separately mounted tweeters....but the roll cage I am planning on adding will cover most of these stock locations, so i might go with a coax mounted for the fronts as well as in the rear soundbar.....and yes i would like to keep all 4 speakers in.....I need to be able to play this loud with the top and doors off and still hear it driving down the road.

And for camping, tailgating, etc...its nice to have more speakers.

I still dont know what amp/amps to go with. Whatever I can find that will fit wherever I need it to go I suppose. I will look at the Alpine PDX series....something small, cool-running, and durable....any ideas here?

I have a BNIB Xtec 10. I also have the ED 6.5" subs.....not sure where or how much room I have to build an enclosure yet...thats on my list of things to do today...go out and scope out my options. I will probably use the 10" if I can fit it in. Otherwise I will do something different.

Any advice would be great. Not sure if anyone else has experience with open top Jeeps and getting good, loud, clean sound.....but thats what Im shooting for...and something that will stand up reasonably well in the heat and cold and moisture on occasion. Thanks.

Post by **mr tibbs** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:31 pm

I don't know if it's a problem where you are, but I would think theft is your biggest problem. I know when I had my old school Landcruiser I didn't bother with a system because I had all sorts of stuff ripped off out of it. I made me a center console out of wood with a sliding top with a lock and that thing got broken into many times. Hell, I even made me spare tops to replace the ones that got broke when people broke into them. There was never anything worth a damn in there, but people just had to break into it to see. You might want to think about that in your install as well.

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:41 pm

I am....thats why I am leaving the stock HU for one...speakers will all be behind stock grilles....amp will be hidden and sub will be hidden....I am thinking of getting the Tuffy sliding drawer for the rear compartment....If so, I can hide an amp in the OEM cargo tray below the floor...and maybe even build the sub box for the Xtec 10 to fit under there too.....

The front mid locations have actual ABS enclosures that come out....I took one out today to look at it. Its pretty big...I will treat it inside and out with some sound deadening obviously. The stock mid is 7" O.D. with 3 mounting tabs.....ideally, I would like to find a speaker that is a direct drop in replacement....but not 100% against drilling and cutting.

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:05 pm

Here is what I have to work with on the fronts. Notice the "step" on the inner right side....its about 2.5" from the face of the enclosure...this will limit how big a basket I can fit in there....

dedlyjedly · Post by **dedlyjedly** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 7:59 pm

the front speaker locations are on the dash, right? never seen one with front speaker locations that big. lucky you. it's been a while since I've worked on a wrangler, and never this specific model. any more pics?

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:15 pm

The mids are on the dash....kind of facing straight forward....the new JK has separate tweeters in pods on the top of the dash.....it should work out pretty good....Ill snap some more pics this week....I started looking for places to put stuff and theres not a lot that isnt in plain sight if I had the tops and doors off.....so Im going to get creative...there is a LOT of room behind the bottom part of the dash.....which might be a cool place to stash an amp.....