OverlandZJ

I asked for and received a new headunit for Xmas, my ZJ OEM radio lost it's CD and lighted text..

I wanted Bluetooth, and the ability to store my music on phone. Previously it was CD's or playlists I had on my Ipod in glovebox. Ipod was stolen by local junkie and the headunit went with the old rig. That setup was the extent of my audio knowledge..

Here's the headunit.. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-2u8Bp54...H-X6800BS.html

I don't need a super loud system, no amps or sub's.. nothing to rattle body panels. I just want to pair this headunit up to a set of speakers that will sound clear and crisp.. and not breakup when I turn the volume up a bit.

I'd appreciate some suggestions on 4 speakers that pair well and don't cost a fortune. Suggestions?

Also, while I have your attention. I have an Android phone, Galaxy S5 that I wont be upgrading any time soon. I don't want to bump up to unlimited data or use data as Spotify would need correct? Anyone recommend a free program to allow downloading and streaming of my music?

I'm an old dude.. and barely understand this as is. Please keep suggestions simple and clear to understand such.

cliffy

I use Amazon prime and my kindle. Had to remove the Ted Nugent though I caught myself driving like a lunatic. Amazon prime costs 99.00 a year but I also use it for tv and the free two day shipping.

PNWjeeper

Free Spotify requires internet access through wifi (not something you'll easily come by in a moving vehicle lol) or cellular data. The premium Spotify you can download a playlist which gives you to ability to play them offline. I drive A LOT for work and only listen to free Spotify, between that and maps and the occasional video I get about 1.5-2 gb of data a month on an average month, just checking my current data usage puts me at 2.9 gb for a month and a half. I'm not sure what the monthly cost for premium is I checked it out originally and remember it was like a ridiculous $12.99 a month, but they have a deal right now for .99ยข a month for three months.

As for your speaker setup I've got no real informative input other then I bought a pioneer head unit, dual speakers in the front and rear, and a dual amp to power a pioneer sub and have absolutely no issues with it after 5 years. At least not with the speakers themselves the head unit is starting to go but it's nothing serious.
One final tid bit, I may be wrong here so someone please correct me if I am, but an amp isn't just for subs. For what I understand it's like an audio relay, electrical signals go into and are relayed out to the speakers for less sound quality loss. However the sound quality is only as good as your head unit, can't except the $80 unit at the auto parts store to provide a Boise sound quality just because of an amp.

Fred/N0AZZ

I use the "Free Spotify" as well have about 275 songs on my current playlist,

WyoCherokee

your s5 should have a SD Card Slot. Since you had an Ipod, i would assume you had all of your songs on your computer/ Itunes. Load those songs onto the SD Card, and use your phone as your media player. I do that as well as use my Sirius XM portable unit. As for a head unit....Kenwood makes great units. There is no need for a Amp or Sub. I ran just a Kenwood head unit and basic speakers and had absolutelly no issue with sound or quality. Dont believe the amp hype.

PNWjeeper

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying you need an amp, just trying to inform. I'm no audiophile as long as the speaker isn't blown and rattling it sounds good to me lol.

WyoCherokee

Allot of sound issues comes from poor grounds, crappy 20 year old stock speaker wiring, lack of deadening/insulation, poor head unit adjustment, and bad connections. By taking care of Fresh wiring, soldered connections, a good ground and new speakers go a long ways. Ive seen it all to often, especially living in a WyoTech Town, kids get a 20 year old sound system and i its crappy due to afformentioned problems, slap an amp and subs in to it thinking thats the issue, and do nothing to address the real issue and end up burning out wiring, speakers, or worse catching the vehicle on fire due to overloaded circuits.

PNWjeeper

Totally makes sense, thank you for giving me my next project idea. New speaker wire and grounds for me, hopefully before catching fire.

BlueRidgeMark

Agreed with all of the above. Unless you like nothing but bass, you don't need an amp.

If you like actual music, spending billions on a car stereo system for a 20 year old vehicle is pretty much a waste. Put in some decent speakers, make sure your connections are good (grounds!!!!), and you'll be fine.

As for which speakers, take a hike back to the link you provided and ask Crutchfield to recommend some. They have all the info on what fits what vehicle, and you can usually look it up right on the website. Worst case, call them. They aren't hard sell at all. Good people to do business with.

And yes, your S5 does have an SD card slot. I know because that was my last phone. Here's where to find it.

Turbo X_J

Insulation.
Fiberglass, Dynamat, whatever. The more you can prohibit outside noise from entering your space, the better the sound to your ears. As well, it's hard to beat XM for variety.

94zj318

I'm running a nice Kenwood unit it my '02 WJ... it's the Kenwood KDC-BT758HD (they don't make that anymore but make an improved model called the KDC-BT765HD). It's got HD Radio, the ability to put in SiriusXM if you want it, and it has full Bluetooth capabilities (speakerphone, streaming of music, and voice control via Siri, S Voice, or Google Now). Plus you can change the color of the display and buttons to match your dash, or to whatever you want (I have the medium green setting to match my dash lights).

The only thing about the Kenwood is that the Bluetooth audio is only set from the factory to come out the front speakers, so you have to go into the settings menu to change it to come out all speakers (easy change, but it took me awhile to figure it out, almost made me think I wired something up wrong).

Crutchfield will give you all of the wiring harnesses and mounting kits you'll need (you'll be able to retain the stock amp if you have it under the rear seat by hooking the blue wires on the harnesses together), and you're only able to put a Single DIN (2" tall) radio in the ZJ (not a Double DIN or 4") unless you do major modifications, which include hacking out the HVAC vents below the radio. If you don't want to do that, a Single DIN radio will work just fine.

Finally, if you have em, the steering wheel radio controls won't work right away with an aftermarket radio unless you buy the adapter that enables them with an aftermarket radio... if you don't find yourself using em it's not worth the extra $$$, as most aftermarket radios come with remotes.

For speakers, pretty much anything sounds better than the stock speakers, and you'll want to go with 6.5" or 6.75" speakers for the front and rear doors... dash tweeters, if you have em, are 2.75". For the door speakers, you'll have to re-drill the factory screw holes, but you won't have to cut into the speaker wires if you purchase from a place like Crutchfield that gives you free adapters that snap onto the factory connectors, and then crimp onto the speaker terminals. For the dash tweeters, you'll have to splice the speaker wiring and also make some sort of bracket to hold aftermarket tweeters in place. I had 2 sets of cheap Pioneer 6.5" speakers in my old ZJ in all of the doors (standard system, not with dash tweeters), and they were $40 a pair at Best Buy and worked well for what I used em for. But I wish I would've had more bass out of em (aluminum cones produce the most bass, dome tweeters (NOT piezo tweeters) produce crisp high notes. The Alpine SPE Series from Best Buy is what I have in my WJ now, and they are good for what I paid ($80/pair, they're cheaper now), so I'd recommend the SPE-6050's for your application.

Good luck with your upgrade!

-Vince

investinwaffles

I personally always install a 4-channel amp for SQ.
I don't even have a Subwoofer right now but its not like the bass hits hard or anything.


Anyways, as long as you get a set of speakers that is designed to run off a built-in amplifier (15-20 watts per channel) you should be good.
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Pioneer makes good lower-priced speakers, as does kicker. I really like the Kicker "Marine tolerant" speakers that can withstand a bit if water if you wheel your rig. If not, pioneer probably has better sound quality.

Also, I would recommend
1. Use Crimp connections over solder (a good wire crimper is like $10)
2. Buy a sound deadening kit and do the front two doors. Huge difference in road noise, but admittedly the biggest improvement on my rig was when I did the floors/trans tunnel and firewall. Haven't done the roof yet but will some day

freegdr

Cant beat Kicker Speakers. From one old dude to another amps do not need to be massive or played window rattling loud to be enjoyed. I run a mini amp set right in my glovebox . The difference in listening pleasure was well worth the extra dollars...http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...C1410&_sacat=0

94zj318

Yeah, Kicker's good, so is Alpine. For HU's (Head Units) I always go with Kenwood or Sony (or JVC, which is owned by Kenwood)... all very good brands. NEVER go for the cheapie no-name one at Walmart (Dual, for example). Bought one originally for my old ZJ since it cost 40 bucks and I couldn't get any sound output out of it despite it being wired correctly and double checked by a car audio expert... it actually started to get hot to the touch and smoke. Immediately took it back saying it is a fire hazard and got a Sony at Best Buy that I spent 80 bucks on. In fact, I still have the Sony since selling my old ZJ.

PNWjeeper

I do agree with avoiding the bottom of the barrel, like dual, if you can.
That being said when I purchased my dual components, 6 years ago, the plan was to get rid of the rattle from the blown out cardboard speakers that were in my jeep and use the dual stuff until it wore out and upgrade to something better. Well I'm still waiting for that to happen, lol.