The sound system seemed like a fun place to start! What I first intended as a minor upgrade to the existing OEM stereo turned into a full install while remaining as factory looking as possible. Nothing factory will remain!
For starters, I don't listen to the AM/FM radio anymore so I removed the antenna. I'll be placing armor over the hole later.
For the 4 speakers, I first went with Polk DB522. These are marine certified which probably isn't a huge benefit considering the speaker placement, but having a worry-free sound system when the trails get wet is comforting.
The fronts are mounted in Select Increments Dash-Pods. I installed these same pods previously in my wife's khaki TJ and there was a noticeable improvement to the sound with them. Since I am rewiring my speakers with heavier gauge speaker wire, I placed a weatherpack connector in the back of each pod for easy future removal. For the front speakers, I ran 16ga wire. The pods have plenty of clearance with my cage's A pillar.
For the roll cage speaker pods up top, I poly filled the pods and ran new speaker wires through a cut in the existing boots along with a weatherpack connector on each. The factory grills fit over top with some notching to the Polk speakers:
The ends have all been crimped and heatshrinked. Due to the longer runs for the rear, I used 14ga wire.
The sub in the console I upgraded to a Kicker CompRT 43CWRT672 which is also water resistant. A little cutting of the back of the box was required to get it to sit flush but nothing major. The factory amp was removed and sound deadening placed to cover the hole to seal the backside. The entire box was then poly filled. The sub is wired with 12ga wire.
All of these speakers and sub could be run as-is by the factory radio and amp — which is a good option if you're looking for a basic upgrade that can be built upon later (Crutchfield makes it easy by including wiring harness adapters too). But I can be a real audio junkie at times so I wanted big power with high quality to really drive the speakers and get the most out of them. I am also unhappy with the sound in my wife's khaki TJ with the same speakers and figured that an amp would make the difference. This means I wanted an amp with high RMS, low THD, and high signal to noise ratio. There are cheaper lower quality alternatives out there that would be better than none, but the amps are something that can move between stereos and speakers. So I opted to cry once.
I started with an Alpine S-A55V 5 channel speaker thinking that one unit that could handle the 4 speakers and subwoofer would be easier to wire. However, it's BIG. With some finesse, it fits under the steering column but in a panic situation I felt that it would be too close to the brake pedal and may delay reaction time. It also fit under the seats, but those areas can get wet. The other place it fit was inside the glovebox but that reduced storage too much for my liking.
I sent that amp back and ordered up an Alpine KTA-30FW 4 channel Tough Power Pack and a KTA-30MW mono channel for the subwoofer. These things are each about half the size of the big one and have even more power! They are also IP66 water resistant which means it's one less thing to worry about while Jeeping (again, due to the mounting location I'm not super concerned with them getting submerged but more concerned about humidity getting to them over time).
One is stuffed behind the stereo location:
(I promise my wiring routing is cleaner than it appears in this picture.)
And the other is under the steering column on a 1/4" sheet of UHMW:
For wiring, I will be bringing a single 4ga wire in from the battery (once I figure out exactly where the battery is going) and tie it into a 4 fuse distribution block from Blue Sea Systems. Each amp runs off a 10ga wire from there. The other 2 fuses will be used for the heated seats and gauges. It really helps clean up the wiring a bit.
The fuse blocks offered by many audio companies (such as Crutchfield and Sonic) use a set screw style retainer for the wires. In my opinion, this is a bad idea for any car and especially for a Jeep where there can be a lot of vibration and water in the engine bay. A loose battery lead can cause a preventable fire. Crimping is the best way to terminate the wires. Adhesive lined heatshrink tubing can be placed on the ends to provide strain relief and keep them free from the elements and oxygen.
Because the amplifiers will be grounding through the body/chassis, once I start wiring under the hood, I will be upgrading the ground strap that goes between the battery and body of the Jeep from the factory 6ga to 4ga. This will help reduce resistance and voltage drop.
Finally, I did what I was most hesitant to do. I replaced the factory stereo with an Alpine iLX-W650 head unit. This unit has nearly none of the things I hate about screens in cars. You can turn it off, it has a mute button, it has a dimmer, the screen isn't too complicated, and the startup up sequence is on the shorter side. I'm not going to say it's perfect, but it's the best I can find for my uses and doesn't annoy me too much.
This head unit is shallow at under 3" deep so the amp can fit behind it.
Aside from bluetooth streaming music, the screen allows for Android Auto so I can have Google Maps directions pulled up while driving across the country to trails. Google Assistant also works for voice commands. I have a panel mount USB connector on the way and I'll post once I have it installed.
I purchased all of the audio equipment from Crutchfield at their listed prices and I highly recommend them. I'm not sponsored by them (in fact, no part of my build is sponsored). Why I bring this up is because installing car audio isn't entirely plug and play like a new drill is. Crutchfield knows this and has a tech support phone number where they will help you out with your install between the various pieces (have a question where a wire goes? Don't know how to adjust the dials? Call them up!). They also allow for returns if something doesn't work for you like the first big amp I tried. This is one case where price shopping to save a few bucks wasn't worth it for me.
