The amp
Speakers
Sub
Howdy All!

I'm planning to replace all my speakers and need some advice. All my speakers are in mint condition, but I want much higher quality. My first concern is how hard or easy it will be to replace the amp. I'm currently considering the Alpine pdx vp 5 channel amp. Will this be an easy swap or will I have to rewire everything? I'm going to keep the factory head unit. Second concern is speaker size? I want to buy focal, one level down from the K2 series, crutchfield recommends 5 3/4 inch with spacers that are included with purchase. Does that sound correct to ya'll? Lastly I am really perplexed on how to upgrade my sub. I don't want a lot of bass or to destroy any single part of my vehicle. Is a high powered shallow 6x9 available that fits without modification or has anyone been able to turn that space into an effective port? I was considering buying a compact powered alpime sub, if so I would go with a 4 channel amp.
There are the products I'm looking at, please help
p.s. what is the wattage on the current amp? would it be better to just upgrade with speakers that push 50 watt RMS and divert the relays from the old sub to a new self amplified sub?
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500PDXV9/Alpine-PDX-V9.html (4x100 1×300)
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_091130AS/Focal-Performance-130AS.html (front and back)
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500PWES8/Alpine-PWE-S8.html

 

Been covered a bunch, so here goes the abridged version:

Very VERY tough to find a 6x9 sub in general, much less one that will fit in a shallow depth. It's possible, but rare.

No idea what the factory amp is rated for, but if you're going to upgrade everything anyway, you might as well just replace the factory amp with an aftermarket, and run everything straight as new, like a new HU, speakers, amp, and a sub. Personally, I'd go with a small 10" sub with a custom corner enclosure, it still gives a good amount of trunk space, but at the same time giving you much more flexibility. But the one you linked would also work too. The only thing will be trying to get a good signal from an amplified feed, into one to be amplified again.

Are you doing all the work yourself, and is there a limit to your abilities when it comes to fabricating things like spacers and such?

 

Ditto, +1 etc....to CharlO reply....lots of threads out there. As a matter of fact there was one old one called Ask me them stereo Question and there have been many in the past few months. Some folks have some serious cash balled up in just their stereo.
One thing to know, if your going to push more power, you'll need to rewire a bit to get the power there. Your dealing with late 90's tech vs todays power systems.
Here's the wiring diagram layout...http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Auto.../jagxj1998.pdf

 

Thanks guys,

I had the same concern about the amplified to amplified. I actually have a nice eclipse 15in aluminum series sub laying around. I had it installed in the floor of my trunk with a protective grill on my last vehicle and used the spare wheel bay as the box and sealed it. I have read a lot of feeds, but I missed the stereo thread. Im not handy so I will be taking this to professionals. Im trying to be as thrifty as possible while keeping as much of the original integrity of the vehicle.

 

I can't remember the size of the factory speakers, but that sounds about right. The spacers are likely for clearance of the goodies behind the door (like the window). I can't remember how much room there is behind the speaker itself, but they're actually mounted right to the door card, so - if the speakers you're buying have a spacer that pushes out too far, the door panel won't physically snap back into place. I don't have any measurements of how deep you can go, but if I think of it and can find one of the threads, I know someone had replaced and might have some info in it. (I'm working so replying on the down-low).

The biggest issue with these cars is the massive firewall and gas tank separating the trunk from the cabin. You really do need to remove the stock 6x9 from the rear shelf to allow at least some of the trunk sound into the cabin. Otherwise it gets really muffled.

 

I replaced all cabin/door speakers w/ Rockford Fosgate P165 6.5" 2-ways, they sound awesome.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...arence-151015/

 

^ This

I'm certain the factory speakers are 6.5", not 5.25"

You have a sub, so you obviously have the premium stereo. I believe the signal from the head unit to the amp is 4 channel (FL, FR, RL, RR), and the amp splits it up internally for the mid and tweeter. Also it takes the sub frequencies from the FL and FR and sends this to the sub as two separate channels, to the two separate voice coils.

You could either bypass your factory amp, and use the headunit 'standard mode' high level outputs, or you could let the factory amp do it's thing and try to run these high level inputs into your new amp. You'll need another amp if you want to keep all of the individual channels though.


What year is your car? This will help determine whether everything is being run through regular wires to the amp, or if it's all being done via the Alpine Ai-net cable.

Wiring diagrams are here: JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Does the amp actually high-pass the signal going to the door speakers then? Maybe only the Alpine system does? My HK sub died, and with the sub removed I can still get very low frequencies going to all the door speakers. It would be nice to have a high-passed signal to the doors to prevent interference with the sub when it's replaced.

 

Not sure, but I would be very surprised if the front mid-bass speaker are high passed.

Page 82 has the diagram for your car
http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Auto.../jagxj1999.pdf

You have 4 channels going into the amp, but 6 speaker feeds coming out for the speakers, plus another two for the sub.
The front channels are split into separate feeds for the tweeter and mid, but the rears are not. Rear feeds must therefore be full range, with the usual capacitor on the tweeter (to stop low frequencies coming through).

I'm not sure whether the fronts have the same arrangement, with two full range signals and a cap on the tweeter, or if the amp splits the frequencies into high and low. I'm assuming it's the latter... but this is still just a guess, until someone can confirm with either a scope, or a pic of a premium tweeter with/without a cap attached.

 

I replaced the front door speakers with the same. Will do the back eventully.

 

Yes, serious bang for the buck with these !

 

He Larney, I'm about to replace my speakers in my 2001 XJR (standard audio system). These Rockford Fosgate P165 come with tweeters (see link below) - are these the same as yours? If so, what did you do with the tweeters?

https://www.ryda.com.au/rockford-fos...onent-speakers

 

Mine were coaxial speakers. It appears you have the component speakers. Mine just mounted in the door. Maybe some one else can guide you in tweeter placement. Good luck.

 

I just replaced all my door speakers last weekend in my Harmon Kardon equipped 1998 XJR with Focal RSE 165’s. Stock amp and head unit and the sound is phenomenal. The 6.5” fit perfect, did need alittle touch of hot glue for the tweeters but other than that it was like a factory install with the Crutchfield supplied harness plugs.

 

I put Focal 6.5 component speakers in two different XJ8s, the midrange speakers just screw right in and the tweeters fit well where the old tweeters were mounted. Some glue may be required and you may need to remove the wire mesh from the plastic door handle backing to fit the new tweeters. If you have the premium sound system with tweeters in the A pillars up front you may be able to fit the new tweeters behind the metal mesh or you may have to remove it and mount the new tweeter, depending on speaker model/brand. For the Focals I removed the mesh on the A pillar and used the mounting surround that came with the speakers.

Also if you have premium sound you have to put the crossovers for the front speakers in the trunk near the amp (I use the old 6 CD changer tray as an amp mount with front crossovers underneath). This is because the A pillar tweeter wires terminate in the trunk in the premium sound system (standard system all speaker leads terminate at the dash head unit). With the standard system where the tweeters are in the door you can put the crossovers in the doors. I removed the 6x9 subs in both cars and put a single 12" sub in the trunk all running off a 1000w 5ch amp. I don't need a ton of punch but it provides plenty for full concert sound. I also recommend Dynomat or equivalent in the doors and behind the rear seat.

I also HIGHLY recommend replacing the head unit. The RCA outputs, improved sound quality, USB and bluetooth are well worth it. By today's standards the old head unit is garbage and difficult to adapt to a modern amp. They make adapters for the steering wheel controls and a handsome single din adapter plate.

 

The factory premium amp has the crossovers built in so if you are only changing the speakers there is no need for using the supplied crossovers.

 

True but I have always removed the factory amp, CD changer and head unit. It is more trouble to adapt and 20 year old tech. You are really limiting your new speakers IMO with the factory setup.

 

While i agree it does limit the speakers utilizing the factory stuff but I cant come to terms with removing the factory head unit. IMHO, nothing aftermarket fits the flow of the car and the Focal components sounds 100x’s better even being pushed by the factory HU and amp.

 

Totally get it, I try to keep everything else as stock as possible, original wheels, headlights, etc. I used a single din kit with the Jaguar leaper and a Pioneer DEH-80 PRS head unit with a large volume knob in place of tiny buttons. I think it looks handsome and not out of place with the added benefit of USB charging and not having to use an fm modulator or cassette adapter which further muddle the sound. I admit I'm ****.

 

I mounted 2 sub-seats amplified by 10 and changed all the speakers in the doors (standar sound system) and mounted a 4-channel amplifier with 45Watt rms the sub are 200watt rms with factory sound radio ok, the problem encountered in the assembly was in radio amplifiers wiring due to ignition under lock and key.