GreaseMonkey17

When I bought my XJ I thought it would be fantastic that it had new kicker speakers . However , they suck. The stock speakers in my s10 sound better . Soooo I'm asking for suggestions . Apparently they're 5.25's front and rear . Not looking to break the bank but I like to listen to music and right now it sounds like I'm rocking out on an old AM radio.

94zj318

Do you have a factory radio or aftermarket? The factory radios put out no more than 15 watts per channel, and aftermarket speakers are usually rated higher. If you have a factory radio, go ahead and replace it with an aftermarket, or if you DO have an aftermarket radio, add a 4-channel amplifier to give the aftermarket speakers the power they need.

GreaseMonkey17

Aftermarket CD player also new . It's a kenwood KDC mp245. Scratch that appears new but must not be .

freegdr

Bingo.....

GreaseMonkey17

Any you suggest on the cheap ?

94zj318

Depends on what you're looking for, I just wouldn't go for something off-brand, or something from Walmart that's not name-brand... I bought an off-brand radio at Walmart for $40 for my old ZJ, and all I could get it to do when it was wired up was light up... it actually got hot and started to smoke, so I unplugged it real quick, took it back to Walmart, and went to Best Buy to get a Sony for $80 that served me well for the few years I owned the Jeep (still have the radio somewhere).

I'd suggest going to Crutchfield, as they'll provide the necessary installation bits for FREE (wiring harness adapter that'll wire color-for-color to the wiring harness that comes with the aftermarket radio, and then plugs into the black and gray factory plugs that originally plugged into the back of the factory radio, and the dash kit (a simple plastic piece that has screw holes that line up with the factory screw holes in the dash and bolts up using the factory screws, and also fills the large gap that was originally filled by the factory radio, as the factory radio is DIN-and-a-Half sized, and the aftermarket radio will be Single-DIN sized). The only thing you'll have to do is splice the factory radio's ground connection (a metal spade hooked to a metal thing that sticks out off of the factory radio) into the ground connection on the wiring harness that comes with your aftermarket radio, as the aftermarket wiring harness does NOT provide its own grounding connection. You'll pay $15-$20 in addition to the radio for the install parts at Walmart, Best Buy, etc., so that's what you'll save when you get the radio from Crutchfield. That and fast, free, next-day shipping.

You'll need the wiring harness if you don't want to cut into the factory wiring and/or figure out which colors from the factory wiring match up with the wires on the wiring harness that comes with your aftermarket radio.

You'll want to shop for a SINGLE-DIN aftermarket radio, as nothing else will fit into the dash of the Jeep. You CAN make a Double-DIN aftermarket radio fit, but you'll have to modify the dash, and likely, the factory radio WON'T be able to be reinstalled if you ever sell the Jeep and want to take your aftermarket radio with you.

To get to the stock radio, you'll just need to pull straight out (just grab and pull firmly... it's just held in with clips) on the whole plastic bezel that surrounds the factory radio and HVAC (A/C and heater) controls and also contains the HVAC (A/C and heater) vents, and then you'll just unbolt the factory radio by removing two (2) bolts (I think 7mm or 10mm), pull it out of the dash, disconnect the black and gray wiring harnesses and grounding connection and A/M-F/M antenna from the back of the factory radio, and that's all there is to it (Jeep really makes it easy for us looking to upgrade our factory audio systems).

Good luck, I hope this helps.

-Vince

GreaseMonkey17

I should of clarified before , I've installed a few stereo systems back when I was in high school but it was always subwoofers no speakers and everything has changed as far as what the local companies push since I've been out .

freegdr

Ya got cheap now. JVC works well...https://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDR...tp=72286&avf=Y

Da Hotbox

My JVC unit is 5 years old and still pretty nice. You def need to get a 4 channel amp to push the speakers to their potential, but as far as sound quality I wasn't happy with my kickers either...I've got some infinity reference 5.25" im pretty happy with for rear fill, but I had to upgrade to some 6.75" pioneer components up front to get the midbass I was looking for. Both sets were under 100 each...as far as amps I'd suggest Rockford or pioneer on the cheap end. If your going for sound quality you want to make sure the amp has a thd of <1.

TrailerTrash

did they fit in the doors without any trouble?

Da Hotbox

I actually did a write-up (https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f89/6-...4-door-232512/) when I upgraded! Depends on features....I've got manual windows and the smokers vent so maybe not with full size fronts.

I coated the mounting location in Noico(80mil.) and had to drill some pilot holes but it mounted up easily enough. Manual window lever scraped the beauty plate of the speakers so I just took a grinder to them and removed a portion...they work fine for me.

TrailerTrash

Awesome thanks!