95 YJ sound help?

cheri did pass the time by typing:

Anything from mild to insane. I suggest stopping buy a local stereo store (not bestbuy). One that does IASCA competition audio and ask for the bragbook. That will have all sorts of ideas.

First think of what you want to listen to. And remember that high volume destroys your hearing. A process that is not reversable and only gets worse with age.

More reading at my site. Follow the supercharger link for better stereo pics. (dunno why I haven't done a better write-up where it actually belongs) :/

Here's what I did. It's loud enough to annoy the neighbors, but sounds great, and didn't cost that much.

First, leave the front speakers in. They are a pain to replace, plus they actually sound pretty nice when you replace the stereo.

Ok. The Cd player.... It should be cheap enough that it doesn't kill you if you have it stolen. I went with a 40 watt per channel CD Player made by Jensen. It cost probably $120. You can get them at WalMart or Best Buy. It has a removable faceplate. Plus Jensons have a great warranty. If it breaks outside of the warranty period (or you lose the faceplate - which I did), they will send you a new model for $20.

Then I got suface mount 3-way Jenson speakers that sit on top of the wheel wells. These cost $80 for the pair, and they are water proof. They bolt into the wheel well, so they aren't that easy to steal, but only cost $80 so if they did get stolen I wouldn't cry.

The sub woofers. I went with a premade box with speakers already in it. Similar to the ones sold at WalMart but they are water proof. I got mine at Bj's Wholesale club for $50 (speakers included with the box). The sub woofers are 8 inchers, with nice bass sound. To protect the box from being stolen, I put a muffler clamp ($1) in the top of the box and pad locked ($3) the clamp to the rear seat selt belt anchor. The box fits perfect behind the rear seat.

For the amp, I went with a 100 watt amp, that I got from Caldors when they were around. I got it on closeout for $20. You can get similar ones at Walmart for $50. The amp I have hidden in the console. Not in the main part of the console, but in the hidden compartment under the cup holder. The console is made by BesTop, it runs $60. If you don't have such a console, you can hide the amp inside of the subwoofer box.

I set it up with a power switch (for the amp) on the dash board. This way I can turn the amp off, and unlock the subwoofer box and remove the box for more storage space when needed. The switch is needed to cut power to the amp, so if the speaker wires touch when the box is out, it doesn't short out the system.

It's a loud enough system to annoy the neighbors, and to hear on the highway with a soft top. It didn't break the bank, so it's not a big deal if it gets stolen. It sounds really good. It's mainly water proof. It's theft resistant (for the most part).

Only once did anyone try to steal any part of the set up. It was when I was in college (SUNY Albany). Some jerk broke the back window, and tried to steal the subwoofer box. I have no locks on the jeep, so why did he/she have to break the back window? They couldn't get the sub box out, cause it is pad locked in. So he/she stole my parking permit, and I got a ticket. Figures.

If you have any questions e-mail me. And if you need any pictures to better understand what I did, I can e-mail them to you.

-Mark

Thanks Mark, this is exactly what I was looking for.. something that I can hear with the top down, without breaking the bank!

I'll email you at your address below tonight, I'd love to see some pictures, and get some more advice...

Cheri