new tweeters and sub to swap out JBL crap

[wolvergram1]

Hi, first of all, love the forum and feel fortunate to have stumbled on it. I'm a new owner of a black 2004 SLE convertible w/ NAV. I can't believe how crappy the "premium JBL" system sounds. I scoured the forums not finding exact info i need, and felt like I needed to post (hopefully I'm not doubling up). I want to swap out all the speakers for aftermarket, and although I'm a noob to installing, I'm going to try it on my own. I want to keep the Head Unit and amp.

1. I have 1" infinity component tweeters I can yank outta my other car to replace the dash speakers. I'm wondering if its a bad idea however and if I should just buy new same size midrange/highs for a easy replacement.

2. For the sub, I'd like to just swap out the existing 8" in the enclosure (don't wanna build a new box). I'm wondering if it's possible to add an small dedicated sub amp or is the current juice good to go. Keep in mind that I'm keeping the Head Unit and Factory amp.

I think I know what to do for the rest of the speakers, 6 1/2's, no more 6x9 paper.

Any help would be most appreciated.

[DatSRBoi]

If you thing the JBL is bad, try listening to a regular factory speaker off the hondas.. WEEEE now thats underpowered.

[Sebas007]

I'm really sastified with my JBL 6-disc system...I'll shortly swap to the '07 version soon (MP3-capability) !!

sorry I know it isn't helping you out.

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

Well when I got my car, I thought the sound from my Gen1's JBL was as good.. Until luck came to me in the form of blown speakers, and even Pioneers blew that out of the water!

If you thing the JBL is bad, try listening to a regular factory speaker off the hondas.. WEEEE now thats underpowered.

HAHA couldn't agree more; my dad had a Civic as commuter once, and even my laptop speakers got it beat (but then again it has built-in Altec Lansing speakers [hp dv8210us] ).

[MCOjerry]

It's possible that the previous owner blew them.

[SolaraBlue]

im really happy with my gen1's jbl speakers.
drove a friends 7-series last night. THAT has a nice factory sound system.
caddys do too.

[woa_its_j3ff]

yep that factory JBLs to me aren't that bad. until I blew the rear speakers so right now i Just have the jbl fronts/tweeters and the MTX subs in the back.

solarablue is right, the 7 series have some really good sound systems. Harmon Kardon i think.

[wolvergram1]

Sorry to nitpick, but the replies are starting to take an unhelpful direction. Please only reply if you have input or direction for the 2 questions I asked originally about TWEETERS and SUB about the JBL Gen 2 Solara, not honda or BMW. I think others who are looking for a slight upgrade to the JBL Nav system would find it useful.

[MCOjerry]

YES SIR.

[ClassySolaraGuy]

1. I have 1" infinity component tweeters I can yank outta my other car to replace the dash speakers. I'm wondering if its a bad idea however and if I should just buy new same size midrange/highs for a easy replacement.

IMO, I would sell them & buy a nice component set & have everything match. Do you plan to upgrade the system at all?

2. For the sub, I'd like to just swap out the existing 8" in the enclosure (don't wanna build a new box). I'm wondering if it's possible to add an small dedicated sub amp or is the current juice good to go. Keep in mind that I'm keeping the Head Unit and Factory amp.

You need AV hookups to connect an amp that connects to the sub. The stock JBL head unit does not have them. You could hook up the (+) & (-) on the sub to your stock system but I would imagine it sound like sh*t.

[PXLpainter]

Geez - all you Gen 1 and Coupe owners aren't really helping here at all!

I don't have the Nav, but do have the "Premium JBL" system in my '06 Convertible.

It's okay but definitely could be a lot better. I'm a musician so I'm pretty picky about sound quality.

I'm fairly partial to Polk Audio products for a rich sound - which it totally lacking with any JBL setup - and have been looking into replacing all the speakers in my car with those and maybe adding an amp as well. I like the OEM HU and will most likely keep that and just upgrade the speakers.

I know Circuit City carries a couple of the Polk Audio speakers, but I'll probably buy mine online and get a pro elsewhere to do the install for me.

By the way - Welcome to SG - go post a quick note in the Introductions forum and say hi when you get a chance. Best of luck in your search - hope you can get more useful feedback from Gen 2 owners here as well...

[wolvergram1]

thanks PXLpainter, I'm in the same boat as you. The sound is not cool at all for my standards. I'm totally not interested in replacing the HU (even if i should), I like the way it looks and works.

Does anybody know if I can add a 600x5 Amp to my factory nav HU to power all aftermarket speakers? Will I lose my nav and wheel audio controls - if so I'll probably stick with the factory amp and new speakers. also, can a Eclipse BEC106 camera be added to the factory nav HU?

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

Well, if you want an OEM look and feel for your nav with the quality behind aftermarket parts, Eclipse is the way to go. In fact, the normal [non-JBL] CD players and Eclipse are made by the same company (Fujitsu-Ten), and the layout is almost the same as OEM, even down to the wiring of the radio where you won't need a wiring harness in most cases.

[funboy102]

thanks PXLpainter, I'm in the same boat as you. The sound is not cool at all for my standards. I'm totally not interested in replacing the HU (even if i should), I like the way it looks and works.

Does anybody know if I can add a 600x5 Amp to my factory nav HU to power all aftermarket speakers? Will I lose my nav and wheel audio controls - if so I'll probably stick with the factory amp and new speakers. also, can a Eclipse BEC106 camera be added to the factory nav HU?

In order to add that 600x5 amp to your factory HU, it's quite easy. All audio amplifier need 4 inputs. Power, ground, remote lead, and audio signal (most of the time RCA inputs). Power, ground, and remote lead is taken care of (that is... if you had previous experience with car audio and you know what you're doing). The audio signal is the tricky part. The stock HU will not have any RCA outputs so that you can plug directly into the amps. What you're gonna have to do is buy a "high to low level converter" What it does is take your factory speaker wires, and convert the signal to RCA wires, so that you can plug it into your amplifier. This
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-3lDC0QER7Z ... ?i=142SLC4
is exactly like something you would be looking for. For $20, that's not a bad deal. It's only for 4 channel however. If you want the 5th channel (i'm assuming for a subwoofer?) you would have to get one more, if you look around, there might be a one channel one. After you hook all these inputs into your amp, you will then be able to use the amplified sound from your amp to power new more powerful (and clearer) speakers to your heart's content.

NO you will not lose navigation. haha, what the hell does navigation have to do with audio outputs? NOTHING. And will you lose steering wheel control? NO, you're not changing anything inputing into the head unit, only the stuff coming out. Get it? You can definitely approach this project and hook up that amplifier.

Back-up camera? I think this has been discuss on the forum before, forgot the answer though. Search more, or maybe another Gen 2 guy can help you out.

Hope I helped you a great deal

[wolvergram1]

EXACTLY what I was looking for. I'm assuming the converter puts out a clean signal. Thanks man.