Wow, it's been a while...I'm kinda surprised my account is still active. It's been a while since I've been able to keep up on the car audio scene, due mainly to financial constraints, and the fact that aside from going through a couple head units my system just wouldn't die, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

That having been said, I traded my car and sold my old system and picked up a slightly used '08 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara, with the MyGig head unit and 7 speaker Infinity sound system. While it sounds decent enough for a stock system, it still leaves something to be desired. It has an 8" sub that doesn't do bad, but it seems like the majority of the bass you hear is coming from the front 6.5" speakers, and you don't notice the sub so much until you get the lower notes.

The amp in the system is apparently fairly decent, the details on it are here: http://www.jk-forum.com/showpost.php?p=371213&postcount=12

What I'm thinking is that I'd like to keep the stock amp and upgrade the front and soundbar speakers, keep the stock 8" sub to fill in the midbass, and then hopfully I can cram a shallow mount 10" in a downfiring ported box under the rear seats to get the real low notes and give the whole system some more kick.

I'd really like to hear what you guys think, particularly about fitting a ported 10 under the rear seats, as well as working around the stock system as it is. I'm also looking for suggestions for a shallow mount 10" sub, an amp to push it, and 6.5" speakers rated around 50 watts RMS.

Thanks for the input.

Jay

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Just call me Cap'n Coustic

Nobody?

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Just call me Cap'n Coustic

It's always better to eliminate as many speakers as you can. simple is better.

the fact that most of your bass is coming from the front speakers is what SQ guys strive for. it's a good thing for keeping your sound stage forward. The overhead bar in your jeep, while a convenient location, really brings your attention to behind and above your head since those speakers are righ behind your head.

from an SQ guy stand point, ditch the soundbar speakers.

Keeping the stock head unit an amp I'd reccomend putting in a very efficient good component set like Focal 165V.1's . leave the sound bar speakers alone. Just fad a few notches to the front.

Adding a sub to that system doesn't work out as planned because of the factory amps crossover points. Subsonic filter at around 30hz and low pass at around 60hz. It will work, but changing the head unit would help alot. Or getting a bass resorer like an Epicenter.

For shallow subs, Pioneer, Kenwood and JL make them as well as few other companies.

hope it helps.
Cheers
Donald

Ahh, finally a little input!

First off, where did you find the crossover specs for the sub? Did you find them in that post I mentioned earlier, or somewhere else? I've been going nuts trying to find this info to see if it's even a worthwhile idea.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I'd be adding another amp to power the new sub, even if I get rid of the stock one.

From what I understand of the system (and I'm far from completely understanding it all) is that the amp's crossover may be controlled by the CAN-Bus? Which would mean I could grab a high level input from in between the head unit and the CAN-Bus to acquire an unmodified signal for the sub (I think)

As for the rest of the speakers...I'm not sure. I'm leaning more towards replacing just the front speakers and just leaving the soundbar speakers as they are. I think I may have forgot to mention that the amp is 'crippled' from the get go with the gain on the soundbar speakers turned down. With it set up this way, to (sorta) get the bass I want I actually have to fade a few notches to the rear, and then turn the overall volume up a bit to get a little more from the sub and keep from overworking the front speakers, which kinda sound like they're taking a beating. The soundbar speakers, maybe due to location, or maybe because they're just mids and don't produce much high end sound, don't actually pull the soundstage back as I would have expected.

Thanks for the input!

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Just call me Cap'n Coustic

The crossover points are guesstimated. but they are definately band-passed to a pretty limited range. Getting signal right from the head unit still leaves you with that nasty subsonic filter, but it should work beter.

I not so sure on CANbus controlling the crossover points in the amp, I think they are preset at the factory and have not yet heard of any way to adjust them.

Are you sure about the subsonic filter or are you just guessing on that too? The reason I ask is because I've seen a number of people who have added a sub (usually after removing the stock one) with good results. It doesn't make much sense to me to have a subsonic filter on the head unit, otherwise there would be no way to properly add a sub without replacing the head unit.

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Just call me Cap'n Coustic

I'm 100% certain that is you hook up a su to it you will not be getting any deep bass. it's all designed to protect the tiny sub that they put in there from the factory.

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Professional Installer/ Soon to be shop owner.

Still makes no sense. Where are you getting your information from? I'd like to research this a little more myself. A lot of other people have added aftermarket subs and amps to this system with no problems with losing sub-bass.

Everything I've seen (which I admit isn't tons) indicates that the crossover is either in the CANbus or amp itself, not the head unit. As long as you get your signal before the CANbus/amp you should be okay as far as I can tell.

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Just call me Cap'n Coustic

then grab your signal before the amp.

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Professional Installer/ Soon to be shop owner.