01 XJR with the Alpine system, though I suspect the answer is the same regardless.

I have some coaxial 6.5" speakers to install in the front doors, I installed them once before but removed them as the sound was too shrill. Come to realize that duh, I never disconnected the factory tweeters. I'd like to give them another shot and see if I like them, so does anyone have a handy guide to disconnect the OEM tweeters in the A pillars? Do I have to remove the trim panel and then just remove the tweeter or is there a crossover in the door panel...or are they directly wired to the amp perhapns?

Thanks!

 

I don't remember if there are crossovers in the doors, but since you intend to try the new speakers again, you could just check while you're installing them. If there is a crossover in there, bypass it and connect the wires directly to the new speaker. If there is no crossover, the A pillar trim pops off easily, and you can disconnect the tweeters there. I probably wouldn't remove the tweeters themselves, just disconnect them, so you don't lose track of them if you ever want to go back.

 

Thanks!

The more I think about it, I bet there is no crossover since I connected the new speakers and got a lot of output from both the new speaker's tweeter and the a-pillar tweeter. I bet the wires are all full range and they all run back to the amp harness in the trunk...or the tweeter is just spliced off the woofer and when I put the new speakers in I may have altered the impedance of the circuit, hence the lousy sound.

 

I do know that the Alpine systems are VERY particular about what speakers they work with.
There are a ton of prior postings on that.

 

From the "XJ Series Sedan 2001 Electrical Guide”:

 

You, sir, are a treasure!

So looking at the diagram its kind of weird the way its wired up, the front tweeters are on their own channel off the amp but the rear tweeters are spliced off the rear door speakers line. It looks like there is a splice on the front door speakers as well, I presume just a small resistive load to keep the impedance the same as the rears.

I still wouldn't be surprised if every one of those lines is full range, including the sub. Easy enough to experiment with I suppose, but this really helps! Thanks!

 

When I did mine on an XJR and XJ8 I took everything out except the wiring. The premium system, which Alpine is, all speaker wires terminate at the amp in the trunk. On the standard system they terminate at head unit. You are correct in the front has separate tweeter and mid lines and the rear merely splice off at the door. In my case I put the crossover in the trunk for the front speakers and the crossover in the door for the rear speakers. I found working with the existing head unit was a headache and it was 20 years old and had a relatively weak output. Your problem may lie there especially if the 6.5s you are installing have completely different capacities from the factory speakers. Might be easier and you will get better overall sound with a new head unit, amp and speakers.

 

Finally got around to fiddling with this last night, got the tweeters disconnected and remounted the RF coaxial speakers. What a difference in the bass response! So I guess the factory tweeters were affecting the impedance of the circuit after all. Good to know.

Sound quality is lousy though without those high mounted tweeters, even with the fader set more toward the front, I get so much more imaging from the back seat OEM speakers now.

I'll likely eventually throw in the towel and just replace everything, but for now on a limited budget, its fun to play around and see what trouble I can stir up for myself.

 

Sound quality would seem to be a paramount decision. Jaguar engineers were keen on that
particular aspect of the Alpine system even if they did not make it easy to alter.

 

^
^^
I would concur that Jaguar to my ear always had a really good sound system going back to my first ‘87 Series 3 VDP.

Given their theft prevention efforts from adding radio codes to using removable faceplates it would seem at least one side of the after market pipeline agreed with them.

They might not quite be able to rattle their neighbours windows with their own windows and sun roofs closed like some of the multi-thousand watt after market woofers out there but for me they provide a lovely balance between the driving experience and the listening experience.

Granted my XJR has the premium factory system which probably proves there is always room to improve - which is what you’re looking to do - but that doesn’t mean the factory starting point is lousy.

 

I didn't say the factory system was lousy at all. I said the front imaging is lousy after disconnecting the factory tweeters. I get good quality, more full range sound out of the front now, but all the stereo effect and the bulk of the voices is now coming out of the back seat, which is a weird feeling.

I think all X308 XJRs have the premium sound system, either HK for early cars or Alpine for later cars. They were nice, high end systems in their day...I just like to tinker some and would like something better sounding to my ears with more features like Android Auto and integrated bluetooth, maybe mass storage so i can just dump all my music in there and not be streaming, which I dislike.

 

^
Sorry - I didn't mean to imply something different than what you intended...

 

No worries Ken, its all good. I just didn't want a misunderstanding.

Have a great day!

 

I remember the days when it a big deal to put big amplifiers, sub woofers and reverb in our cars.
I remember one friend who had a system that would shake buildings when he drove next to them.
True, that was a different day, and he is now 60% deaf, but that was the ambition for the time.
Of course back then, we did not appreciate the finer nuances of a better listening experience.