Another dreaded stereo upgrade question...
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JK Newbie
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1
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From: Littleton
Another dreaded stereo upgrade question...
I have been surfing multiple forums for information on this, and while I have found a lot of information, I am not finding specifically what I am looking for. I have seen some very knowledgeable people on here, so I thought I would just ask.
First, a little about my JK. I have a 2012 Wrangler Unlimited with the Infinity system. I have swapped out the stock Infinity Amplifier for one from a Dodge Nitro in order to do away with the limiting of power going to the sound bar, and it sounds pretty good, but could be better. Aside from that, my system is completely stock. I have an Infinity Kappa 60.11cs component set, and an Infinity Kappa 62.11i 2-way speaker set (2-ohm) from a previous vehicle, as well as a JL 8w1v3-4 (4-ohm).
I decided to install them in the JK just to see what it would sound like. The front an rear speakers I had installed with Metra 72-6514 connectors (had not installed the tweets yet), and the Sub I hooked up by splicing into one of the positive and one of the negative wires from each of the two channels. When I was done it sounded like crap, so I took out the sub and put the factory one back in hoping that maybe something l did there was causing the issues. It didn't fix it, so I went back to stock all the way around.
My first thought was to get on here and see if I could figure out what went wrong and try again. The more I thought about it, the more I would rather just get a 5 channel amp and hook it up. I have seen some things on here about using summing devices, etc, but I am not sure I need to do that now that I have swapped out the JK stock amp for the Nitro amp.
My thoughts are to buy a Mopar 16 Pin Amplifier-Radio C2 and wire it directly from the Nitro Amp to the 5 Channel Amp, leaving the original 16 Pin plug hanging since I do not plan to use the factory speaker wire, and running new speaker wire throughout. This would save me cutting into or splicing a bunch of wires in my Jeep. The questions I have are these:
1. Am I overcomplicating this whole thing, and if I am, what would be an easier route?
2. If this sounds logical, then:
2.1 Would I be losing anything by just running the front speaker wires from the 16 pin connector to the 5 channel amp and then using the Infinity crossovers to split the signal to the 60.11cs set since there is no output on the 16 pin connector for the tweeters?
2.2 How would I go about dealing with the 4 wires from the 16 pin connector for the sub since it is for a Dual Coil 2-ohm Sub and I will be running out from the 5 channel amp to a Single Coil 4-ohm Sub?
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have hooked up systems before, but I have always had an aftermarket HU with pre-amp outputs making life much more simple, and I am by no means an experienced installer.
First, a little about my JK. I have a 2012 Wrangler Unlimited with the Infinity system. I have swapped out the stock Infinity Amplifier for one from a Dodge Nitro in order to do away with the limiting of power going to the sound bar, and it sounds pretty good, but could be better. Aside from that, my system is completely stock. I have an Infinity Kappa 60.11cs component set, and an Infinity Kappa 62.11i 2-way speaker set (2-ohm) from a previous vehicle, as well as a JL 8w1v3-4 (4-ohm).
I decided to install them in the JK just to see what it would sound like. The front an rear speakers I had installed with Metra 72-6514 connectors (had not installed the tweets yet), and the Sub I hooked up by splicing into one of the positive and one of the negative wires from each of the two channels. When I was done it sounded like crap, so I took out the sub and put the factory one back in hoping that maybe something l did there was causing the issues. It didn't fix it, so I went back to stock all the way around.
My first thought was to get on here and see if I could figure out what went wrong and try again. The more I thought about it, the more I would rather just get a 5 channel amp and hook it up. I have seen some things on here about using summing devices, etc, but I am not sure I need to do that now that I have swapped out the JK stock amp for the Nitro amp.
My thoughts are to buy a Mopar 16 Pin Amplifier-Radio C2 and wire it directly from the Nitro Amp to the 5 Channel Amp, leaving the original 16 Pin plug hanging since I do not plan to use the factory speaker wire, and running new speaker wire throughout. This would save me cutting into or splicing a bunch of wires in my Jeep. The questions I have are these:
1. Am I overcomplicating this whole thing, and if I am, what would be an easier route?
2. If this sounds logical, then:
2.1 Would I be losing anything by just running the front speaker wires from the 16 pin connector to the 5 channel amp and then using the Infinity crossovers to split the signal to the 60.11cs set since there is no output on the 16 pin connector for the tweeters?
2.2 How would I go about dealing with the 4 wires from the 16 pin connector for the sub since it is for a Dual Coil 2-ohm Sub and I will be running out from the 5 channel amp to a Single Coil 4-ohm Sub?
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have hooked up systems before, but I have always had an aftermarket HU with pre-amp outputs making life much more simple, and I am by no means an experienced installer.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 258
Likes: 0
From: Oak Ridge, NC
I used RCA's to feed both of my amps. My amp for the front and sound bar speakers is mounted in the kickpanel near the factory Infinity amp. I tapped in to the wiring at the factory amp just to send the audio to the front and sound bar speakers. For the sub, I ran new wire.