Rich164

Here is a highly positive review of my stereo upgrade from crutchfield.

I installed the retro sound Newport head unit because I like the original classic look and don't need cd since it has Bluetooth. I put the Polk marine 6.5 inch speakers in the doors and rear roof. I also put the sound ordnance 8" self-powered subwoofer on the cargo area floor.

700 cost. Sound is awesome and more than enough stereo for a mid-40s guy like me.

Retro sound is over priced for the options but I like the stock look since hopefully thieves will be less attracted. Speakers were direct fit on back and drilled screw holes in front. Subwoofer is awesome for being so small and flat, about size of a shirt box.

cbs_24

I've never seen that HU before, but I really like it. If it were $100 cheaper and was SiriusXM compatible I would definitely consider it, but its way too much money for what it is.

andrewmp6

http://www.retrosound.com/ is there website.I have seen them before i like the idea but im cheap as hell.

cbs_24

Post some pics Rich. I'm interested in seeing it installed.

macgyver35

I won't say I like a "classic" look, necessarily. But I will say that I don't like the over-the-top futuristic, flashing, cluttered, messiness that could describe many modern head units.

In years past, I always appreciated Blaupunkt for their more minimalist design aesthetic, while still delivering the features. I work in IT, so I love my gadgets, but I like them to be intuitively designed, well laid out, and have a good UI. I always had great luck with their head units. Then, they left the US market for a few years and you couldn't easily get their stuff. But within the last year and a half or so, they're back.

I went with the Blaupunkt Toronto 420 BT head unit. It works well, has TONS of sound adjustment capability (variable sub-out gain and cross-over frequency, treble/mid/bass/x-bass, cross-over frequencies on treble and mid, source volume memory, etc.). It also has Bluetooth, 3.5mm aux input, USB input, and SD card support (where I store my MP3s.). It links up fine with my Lumia 920 and Lumia 1020 Windows Phones, streams Spotify from the phone very well, and utilizes all the in-built call/text voice-prompt features of my phones. I mainly just use the FM radio and stream my Spotify playlists form my phone. The phone is easier to manage and navigate than pretty much any in-built interface on any head unit anyway.

Overall, for the price, it's hard top find much fault with it. It's clean looking and understated. The white and blue (with a touch of red) lights on the front work pretty well with the white, blue, and red light of the '01 TJ gauge cluster I swapped in to my XJ. The only minor quibbles I have are:

The two rotary ***** are a bit small for my huge bear paws and could use a more defined detent.

The built-in mic for the speakerphone doesn't work well in the noisy environment of a Cherokee, and you'll want to get the optional external mike if you plan on using that feature much.

I wish it had a dedicated button to switch directly to Bluetooth mode, rather than having to cycle through using the source button.





I also used the Polk 6.5" db651 speakers. I had great luck with them in my old TJ, and being marine rated I have a bit more faith in their long-term durability. The Blaupunkt pushes all four speakers very well. I often get compliments on how good it sounds. I also have a Dual XPE2700 400 watt amp hooked to it, pushing an 8" Pioneer low-profile sub in a custom enclosure I made for the rear cubby. The picture shows the original 6.5" Kicker CompVT I had in there, which was swapped later for the Pioneer. I'm not going to win any SPL and sound quality contests, but it plays very clear and loud without distortion. I installed many car stereos in my youth for myself and others, have designed and built home theater rooms for clients when I was a custom home builder, and have high-end home audio equipment. So, to my more practiced ear, I happy with how it all sounds given what a crappy acoustic environment the XJ is. I'm going to re-do teh sub cubby out of fiberglass at some point and fine tune it for the sub, and more FatMat will be going in when I replace the carpet to help keep outside noise on the outside.





https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/re...nstall-133158/

Rich164

Macgyver, any tips on optimizing the sound of my setup? I'm a stereo newb. It sounds great but the subwoofer causes some vibration even at not so loud levels. I called crutchfield about various settings, bass mid treble freq phase etc, but the guy just kept saying oh it's a matter of personal preference without helping any

mschi772

www.Sounddeadenershowdown.com. It really doesn't require as much Dynamat, Fatmat, [insert other CLD here] as most people use, and layering that stuff everywhere is just a big waste of money. Vibration dampeners like those will get rid of a significant amount of rattles and resonances. If you want to block outside noise, you'll have to continue reading at that link about CCF and MLV.

macgyver35

FatMat on the floor, roof, and inside the door panels will help, if you want to go the effort and expense. The nice thing is that even when you're not using the stereo, it will help keep the cabin quiet. Other guys have had some luck when using the various "rear cubby" sub boxes that have been made stuffing the area between the back of the sub box and outer rear quarter panels with fiberglass insulation. Others have sprayed rubberized undercoating on the inside of the rear panel sheet metal, or used that expanding spray foam. I'll tell you that the foam breaks down within a couple of years, though. Especially if you live in a hot climate.

This is more gut instinct than quantifiable fact, but based on threads I've read and my own personal experience, it seems that the guys that have a cubby or side sub box tend to suffer from less unwanted noise than guys who have a box on the floor.

I know with the 8" Pioneer I have, even at pretty high volume, I don't have much in the way of ancillary noise. But my cubby box is only attached to the interior plastic panel and is designed to "float" a bit, so it doesn't easily transfer vibration to the sheet metal of the Jeep.

As far as optimizing the sound in general...

Start by taking your sub out oif teh equation. Turn the amp power off or whatever. Then start fine tuning the sound of just your other speakers. Tweak the treble and bass (and midrange if your head unit supports that) until you get them to where it sounds the way you want, and you can play them at pretty high volume without the bass either causing distortion in the speakers or causing the door panels to vibrate in a noisy fashion. I usually recommend, for the 6.5" speakers most people use, to have 100Hz Bass blockers installed on the door and rear soundbar speakers, but this isn't absolutely necessary.

Once you have the main speakers dialed in, bring the sub back into the equation by restoring power to it. Then, you want to slowly adjust the gain, starting at the lowest setting, until you get a volume that generally matches what the other speakers are putting out (you will likely have to listen to many different kinds of songs to dial in this step), and try to go for a pretty balanced sound where the sub nicely fills in the low end and gives you the thump that the other speakers can't provide. Once that is done, start adjusting the sub's low-pass crossover point (if it has one, and usually starting at the middle of its range) to where the transition of sound from what the sub puts out to what the other speakers put out transitions nicely. A test tone track can help a lot with this. There are free MP3 test tracks you can download online.

Keep in mind that the sub's gain and crossover points may also be able to be fine tuned through your head unit, if your head unit has those features (many don't). If yours does, when you go to make those two adjustments for the sub through your head unit, make sure to have the gain on your amp turned up almost all the way, and either set the low-pass crossover to the highest frequency setting, or turn it off completely if that is an option. Then make you adjustments through the head unit.

Sound is VERY subjective to each listener, so there are no "perfect" settings anyone can tell you, but the above steps, done in that order, will get you a long way toward having your system dialed in. Also, the XJ is a terrible acoustic environment, and in just about any car, the dynamics change based on movement of the car, speed, outside noises, etc. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to get it "just right", because as soon as you do the environment will change.

I've put in a lot of car stereo systems. I also designed and built custom home theater rooms for clients when I was a home builder. I also use this same basic method when dialing in my own home equipment consisting of Athena Technologies speakers, Harman Kardon amp, and a home theater PC handling all the media and signal transfer. The process I described will get you 95% of the way there pretty quickly, and then you can tweak from there.

Rich164

Thanks Macgyver!!

prdgyair

i have also put in a lot of stereo's in my time, and macG is right on all fronts. Tune the way he says and it'll turn out fine, providing you have quality equipment.
I just wanted to throw something in mine that i could hear, so i actually have 2 6" pyle "subs" and a sound ordinance amp. the sound quality is a far cry from the typical soundstream,/jl/jbl equipment i usually use.
I had a complete blaupunkt system from the factory in my old car and it was awesome!
I'm usually down for big bass over SQ, so 12" subs were usually my norm. but as i've gotten older i've gone from 2 12's, to 1 12, to 2 8's, to 2 6's i'll probably blow the 6's and put in a 10" jl.. i like my bass, but macG's stuff always has better SQ than mine