Heyyy, so i have a 1990 jeep cherokee that i bought from my uncle a while ago. He told me it has a aftermarket sound system, which is probably aftermarket from the early 90's, and anyways it isn't too good.. when i try to turn it up loud it just crackles, or when i have the bass too high it is all fuzzy.

I'm wondering on how i should go about upgrading my system. For the sub i was thinking something compact like the Sony Xplod 12" SVC Subwoofer. It already has a pre-built box and isn't all that big. Would this be a good sub that i can crank up and still get good sound? Also what do i have to do to upgrade all the other speakers? Do i need a seperate amp that goes from the head unit to all of the speakers or can i just run the speakers from the head unit and still get good sound?

And i don't have endless amounts of money im just wanting a entry level sound system that i still can crank up and sound good. Thanks.

 

You shouldnt need a seperate amp for running just speakers. Im still running stock speakers and they sound great. If there crackling and fuzzing, that might be a suggestion on getting new speakers or headunit. I myself in my jeep have a soundstreatm headunit, Bought it off ebay for about $185 looks good and does all the needs. And usually nobody has one. I have 2 kicker comp 15s In the back of my jeep. Sounds good but a buddy of mine is buying them. Then im buying powerbass. There the way to go. But replacing the speakers and headunit change alot of sound cause you can equalize & tune them however you want. Sony isnt a bad sub. I just like to change sounds systems rather then everyone running the walmart subwoofers. Need any help just let me know. Thanks, Hope this helps you.

 

look up the jl 13tw5-3. very thin compact sub. kind of speny at 350 average amongst different websites BUT with the power it desires it sounds phenominal. you could easily make a small box for one of the rear hatch panel pockets or whatever with it. very nice slim sub! you will deffinately be supprised if you hear one. i just bougth an alphasonik 12" sub im going to start a system build once i get everything together. gotta love employee discounts at best buy!

 

depends on exactly how loud you want to listen to your music. most deck can only handle so much power wise, and if you have a decent speaker then it is usually the deck that causes crackling at higher volumes. that said, i run my speakers off a mid level($400) clarion deck and i feel no need for an amp for my speakers.

also, unless you are looking for real booming bass, i would look at a 10" sub and mount it in the cubby hole in the back. cut out the cubby hole, cut a piece of 3/4" mdf to fit, screw it in with foam for rattles and you have a decent sub box that doesn't take up any valuable storage space.

 

You don't have to spend a dime, just adjust the system from the deck first.
Turn the bass all the way down, then the mids and highs up, now if there is a sub in the back then there should be and amp, adjust the amp for best sound.

It should sound much better and you didn't have to spend a dime.

 

Give us info on what specifically is in there, and what your budget for upgrades is and we can probably make some better recommendations.

 

On speaker upgrading: You can always run the speakers off the head unit amp. The only issue you can run into is: if you buy speakers with large magnets on them. You may find that you are turning the head unit volume up very high or they are not loud enough for you. Then they will need their own amp because your head unit doesn't have enough power to drive them. This happened to me a long time ago with some Pioneer components they were rated for 150watts and the 30 watt head unit could get them just loud enough that you could hear the music with the windows down on the highway. After I added an amp, problem solved.

 

classicxj2000: The issue you were experiencing has much less to do with the magnet size than it does with the amount of power a set of passive crossovers suck up and the relative weight of the speaker cones and their effect on the speaker's sensitivity.

cherokeelaredo'90: Again, to make good recommendations here we need to know exactly what you have in your Jeep.

I'd also like to note that in the early 90's there weren't nearly as many crap brands of car audio out there, and it's probable that you may have some very nice equipment. On the other hand it may be crap, we won't know until you tell us exactly what you have.

 

You can still get by with and if the system in your ride is crap.

Even if the brand on something is "Mc nasty" you can still adjust it.

Use your ears, your wallet will thank you.

If all else fails then start looking for pioneer components.

They seem to have the best sound for a decent price range.

 

I get what you're saying BigBear, but until we know what he has we can't give guidance.

For the record, turning the bass down on the HU and then trying to turn the sub up is a recipe for disaster. You are cutting the output at the bass control's center frequency, and no matter how much you fiddle with your sub amp it's going to be hard to replace the missing signal at that frequency. That is unless you know exactly what frequency and slope the bass control is, and your amplifier happens to have the exact same frequency and slope for it's bass boost. It's highly unlikely, and still a really bad way to do it, but that would semi-work.

Also cranking the mid and high will just give you two peaks at those EQ bands. It might sound better to your ears, but it's not going to sound "right"

I'm all for fiddling around with controls, but you've got to know what you're doing.

The correct thing to do is to utilize crossovers to keep the low frequencies out of the door speakers. His head unit might be able to do that, or it might not. He can install simple passive crossovers if it doesn't, or maybe replace the Headunit with a newer budget one. Without a list of the gear in his ride, and his budget, it's pretty hard to tell him what he should or should not do.

I am in no way saying that if he has X-brand he needs to replace it. I'm saying that he shouldn't assume something is crap just because it is from the early 90's.

Again, if I know what he has, I'll know what he CAN and CAN'T do.

 

i was sorta in the same boat as you, aftermarket sound system but i sounded like crap since it was old.
i got together 130$ and went to walmart and picked up these:

4 pioneer 5 1/2 speakers=80$
10'' 1000w pioneer sub=70$
infinity package tweeters- free

hooked them all up and rewired my headunit and they sound 100x better. i still dont have an amp for my sub so it doesnt hit very hard but still sounds nice.

you shouldnt have to have a seperate amp for speakers, my aftermarket headunit puts out 130w and thats plenty of power for my speakers so i would just buy a new headunit along with the speakers and it will make a big difference.

 

Where the hell did you find a 900W head unit?

 

lol no idea why i put 900. it only has 130w

 

Just got a JL Audio 12w7-D3 with super pro bass box from cl for 300. Under powered by a JL Audio 250/1. I have polk dxi650 in front doors. Kicker ks650 in the hatch. And a Memphis PR-4.5 amp for the highs. Have Sony head unit. Purchased all by me with some help from my dad. Plus 2 power caustic tweeters in the from pillars. Btw. The JL w7 slams on only the 250/1

 

Id like to see the tweeters in the pillars. I might think about doing that myself. Could you take a few camera shots of them? Thanks greatly appreciated.