What has been done to upgrade the sound systems? I wish to maintain the factory deck but upgrade the speakers, add an amp and a sub. All this without destroying the originality of the interior. I am also opposed to sitting a massive sub in the trunk; I like the space back there. Any thoughts?

I have an 1994 XJS 2+2

 

The rear speaker position in the XJS is not ideal. YOu can upgrade the rear speakers with 6x9's. I would install them solidly under the window with MDF and speaker box stuffing behind them. Then modify the trim to look stock. A set of 5 or 6" in the front doors mounted solidly to the door with the grill mounted to the door trim to look standard.

I personally like Alpine speakers I have been using them for 30 years and have them in my XJS.

 

I don't like having the stereo on because I need to be able to listen for stuff going wrong :-)

I replaced the factory head unit (my car has lots of non-stock stuff on it anyway, so originality was not important to me, but I understand folks who want to keep it looking stock... I'm like that with my other Jag)

I replaced all of the speakers with infinity reference series. On my convertible I still have the cubby box behind the front seats, not the +2 seating. This box seems to be quite good for audio purposes...... I'm sure you could add a sub in there somehow. Not sure what to do if you have seats though :-(

 

I have a '93 with the rear box as well. Like SARC, I replaced all 4 speakers with 5 1/4 Infinity reference speakers and kept the orignal head unit. The box acts a bit like a sub so I'm pleased with the sound. The speakers took a bit of time to break in. I don't want too much bass so as not to appear like a tool when I stop at a light with the convertible down. I actually picked up one of the Monster (normally avoid Monster stuff) cassette adapters to allow connection of my phone. Pandora streaming sounds pretty good! Not going to win any shows, but I'm happy. I thought about adding a Pioneer DEH-P8400BH, but decided I wanted to keep the stock head unit and spend the $200 on a mesh grill from Mina. Best of luck!

 

Thats pretty funny SARC! However, I am fortuante to have a pretty low milage (37000) and a daily driver '94 XJS 2+2. Changing out the existing speakers is not a concern. What I am hoping to really learn is where and how somebody has implemeted a sub. SInce I have the 2+2 I am not able to utilize the "rear box" for that purpose. I can get creative I guess but would like a few suggestions to get the old brain cells working! WIth the facelift XJS the rear speakers are not situated the same as the others so I can't really modify the panel; at least not without changing the OEM appearance. What else do you guys have for a facelifed 2+2????? There must be a solution.

 

I suppose I could lose the seat. It's useless anyway! It just wouldn't look right though.

 

There is no easy solution for a sub in an XJS without removing the back seat. Anyway I have never been a fan of subwoofers don't have one and never will. Unless you want to rock the car at the lights ditch the sub and install good 6.5 woofers and separate tweeters (known as component). If they are installed correctly the bass will be amazing, tight and clean.

The best system I ever installed and I have installed a lot, was a Nakamichi with 6x9 rears and 6" fronts with separate tweeters - the sound was very clean with a very tight bass. It required manufacturing a new parcel shelf and door mounts out of MDF.

Most installs are NOT done correctly. If you mount speakers they MUST be mounted to something solid MDF is good as it does not ring as much as other woods. Then behind the speaker needs to packed with acoustic dampening wool.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I spent my apprenticeship in the Audio industry and have been playing with it for past 30 years.

 

I'd recommend taking it to a few of those aftermarket radio install places and see what they recommend, or come up with. They might have a good recommendation. You can get a quote at the same time and see if you're interested.

At worst, its a complete waste of time. At best, you might have someone come up with an idea that you wouldn't have come up with yourself!

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate your thoughts. And Warren, I agree with your take on subs. I don't wish to rattle the street lamps, but simply get the full spectrum. Plus, due to the complete originality and overall stellar condition of this XJS, I am also very reluctant to start modifying door panels. However, I may need to move into the component mindset and do just that.

I built a small component system in my son's Miata. However, it was already "cut to fit" by Mazda. I simply added quality speakers and small amplifier. I did add a pair of small, but high quality 6" subs in the rear deck (not possible in my 2+2) which sounded very nice and tight, not the rumble I believe most of us shake our heads at.

What are the thoughts of replacing the rear 6"speakers with 6"subs, replacing the front 6" speakers with a component system (which would require a separate tweeter cut into the panel)? I did recently see a all-in-one "component speaker" by Polk I believe. They claim it's not the old coaxial type. The tweeter is actually adjustable for directional purposes. This would avoid a new hole in the panel; but are they any good? Maybe four of these would be the answer and drop the sub idea.

Thanks again guys. I am just thinking out load now! I think I'll have to spend a few hours researching speaker options again.

 

some thoughts based on my recent efforts to upgrade my system.

If you stick with the stock head unit, I believe a decent mobile audio shop could install some sort of line out converter to get a clean signal out of the stock head unit (bypassing the internal amp) and out to rca cables that would run to an after market amp.

If you go with an aftermarket head unit it's easy to add an amp. The Nakamichi CD400 was one I considered. It's highly rated, a more understated look than some, and option for green illumination.

I didn't want to cut holes in the doors for tweeters, so I went with some decent alpine coaxial speakers (6.5") in the doors. Alpine, JL audio, etc make better coaxials than stock. There are higher-end coaxials or "convertible' speakers" (can be mounted as coax or components) that sound very good and have tweeters that swivel to some degree so you can point them to your seating position. Such as:

Boston Acoustic pro60SE, or their current version. CDT makes a few different ones. DLS UX26. Polk sr6500 (discontinued; might find on ebay). Hybrid Audio Technologies. MB Quart.

I have the rear cubby box rather than rear seats. You might consider bass shakers under the seats if they would fit.

I made a cheap, removable cylindrical sub by taking a 18" length of 6" diameter pvc pipe. Closed one end by Gorilla glueing a round disc of mdf to it. Then glued an mdf ring with 6.5" subwoofer attached to the other end. Covered it in black carpet and it just sits in the cubby box and works great. I can remove it when I need to use the space.

Of course the caveat to all this is a car is not an ideal place for a sound stage, then take the top off and it's even worse. But I'm happy with the upgrades I made.

Good luck.

 

I finished an audio upgrade on my '89 XJS Convertible, first by installing a pair of Pioneer 6.5" in the rear cubby box, in existing box holes, and making the grill hole an inch bigger for the Pioneer grills. Before installing the speakers, I slid a 12" square piece of pink insulation between the wood box and the exterior carpet clad panel, to isolate the sound between the speakers. It added a great dimension to the existing Jag deck, and when I changed out the door speakers for a matching Pioneer set of 6.5's, it truly made the sound, however I really wanted the CD, MP3 and USB stick options of the Pioneer unit. That, plus all my old cassettes were very 80's. While I had the door panels off, I noticed a sweet square hole at the upper front of the door, perfect for a 4" speaker, and possibly using the original Jag grills. Just last week, I bought a set of 4" round speakers, and will be mounting these in the front holes where the door turns in near the dash, but still leaving a space between the two for audio projection.
I've attached a photo of the upper hole suitable for a smaller speaker, and the new 6.5" grill laid over the original Jag grill.

 

Great thoughts and thanks for the pics! I wonder if my '94 would have a similar void in the door? I guess I will have to actually start the process!

And I do wish to maintain the original Jaguar deck. However, if I can place an upgrade without having to modify the dash area I may.

I'll let you know what I find. Thanks again.



Kelly Trumper
1994 6.0 2+2

 

I'd scrap the original Jaguar deck. Nakamichi and Blaupunkt make some nice, understated units that look factory but have all the modern conveniences. Vintage alpine looks right at home too.

Another good spot for subwoofers (without sacrificing trunk space), is the recessed space where the jack goes (right side) and power antenna & ECU (left side).

 

There is nothing wrong with a sub-woofer. Indeed, they are very nice to have. You've just got to pick the right model for your application and cross them appropriately.

If you keep your slopes right, they will increase the accuracy of the system. To keep things flat, just watch the transient response time and back off the high excursion.

There is such a thing a 6.5" sub-woofer. They aren't all big, and there are many that can cross pretty high. Enclosures play a large part in performance, as well.

In short, you just have to know what you are doing. I've had an SQ system over here running Dynaudio 3-way components and arc subs. Clean and proper. I'm moving it all to another car at the moment.

The XJS is getting a vintage PPI A404 and some Focals. I was going to stick with a vintage receiver, and use an outboard EQ, but I bought a CDA117 instead.

You know, it doesn't look terribly out of place.