DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

Hmm... I get pretty good bass from the front 6x9’s, enough to feel it at mid 20’s volume.

I’d love to be able to put a 10” sub in the truck behind the seat but I think that’s a pipe dream. I don’t want to give up any cab room. I would like to investigate cleaning up the signal so may be a signal processor, but I’m unclear how to implement. I know we have some options with for scan, but I’m not clear on the impact and how to yet and I think we still need a signal processor.

You do...

But it’s not subwoofer depth. If you unplug the sub you realize pretty quick the 6x9 aren’t going all the way down.

I’m coming up with some brain storming for the next round of upgrades!

Stay tuned

smurfslayer said:

Hmm... I get pretty good bass from the front 6x9’s, enough to feel it at mid 20’s volume.

I’d love to be able to put a 10” sub in the truck behind the seat but I think that’s a pipe dream. I don’t want to give up any cab room. I would like to investigate cleaning up the signal so may be a signal processor, but I’m unclear how to implement. I know we have some options with for scan, but I’m not clear on the impact and how to yet and I think we still need a signal processor.

Click to expand...

So I started getting a bunch of the parts that I ordered for the stereo. Started unboxing everything and noticed on the JBL 329 3.5" only, there are (2) ... capacitors? I'm not really even sure. That are included separately with no instructions or indications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtALDEyqm3g

At roughly 3:05 in that video you'll see what i'm talking about. None of the other speakers have them. Can someone give me a quick idiots guide to what they are and what I should do with them.

thinkrevolutionx said:

So I started getting a bunch of the parts that I ordered for the stereo. Started unboxing everything and noticed on the JBL 329 3.5" only, there are (2) ... capacitors? I'm not really even sure. That are included separately with no instructions or indications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtALDEyqm3g

At roughly 3:05 in that video you'll see what i'm talking about. None of the other speakers have them. Can someone give me a quick idiots guide to what they are and what I should do with them.

Click to expand...

All I could find was this, from a product page:

"Crossover: The included capacitors are 1st order crossovers (6 dB/octave); the crossover point is approximately 350 Hz. One capacitor is wired in-line with the positive input of each speaker."

And then this pdf of the instructions:

https://www.jbl.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-masterCatalog_Harman/default/dw8002be08/pdfs/GTO329_OM_EN.pdf

So, they're capacitors that act as a physical crossover to prevent distortion.

Again, I'd be careful with the 2-way in the dash...JMO, based on what others have said/done. I'll be curious to hear what you think of it once it's in.

lawdog said:

All I could find was this, from a product page:

"Crossover: The included capacitors are 1st order crossovers (6 dB/octave); the crossover point is approximately 350 Hz. One capacitor is wired in-line with the positive input of each speaker."

And then this pdf of the instructions:

https://www.jbl.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-masterCatalog_Harman/default/dw8002be08/pdfs/GTO329_OM_EN.pdf

So, they're capacitors that act as a physical crossover to prevent distortion.

Again, I'd be careful with the 2-way in the dash...JMO, based on what others have said/done. I'll be curious to hear what you think of it once it's in.

Click to expand...

Thanks man. So, the cliff notes is I should just solder one of these on to the positive terminal? I just did some googling that says it's not really needed, but as long as it doesn't interfere with the metra harness which I don't see why it would , i'll give it a go.

As far as doing the two way center channel perhaps i'm stubborn, but I just feel more speakers should make for a better sound as a general rule. If it becomes too much for some reason, i'll just pop it out - not too much on the line there outside of a few minutes of my time. I shall report back though, just waiting on a bunch of stuff with varying ship dates to come through including my sound deadening and adapters etc.

Of interesting note.

The sync 3 build 18025 has much better staging. The center channel is not nearly as prominent and there is better separation with more defined A pillar tweeter presence.

On a scale from 1-10 for overall listening pleasure, the stock radio is a 2.

Changing out all the speakers... It’s a 4-5.

I think to get it any better is to get more serious. I initially never considered it, but I’m now reconsidering.

Doing it myself... I think I can make some major upgrades without crossing the $2,000 mark, assuming I do the work myself.

Once I’m done deliberating, if I do decide to do something.... I’ll post a thread with the details... DIY stereo upgrade for under $2500.00. Something like that. Lol

thinkrevolutionx said:

Thanks man. So, the cliff notes is I should just solder one of these on to the positive terminal? I just did some googling that says it's not really needed, but as long as it doesn't interfere with the metra harness which I don't see why it would , i'll give it a go.

As far as doing the two way center channel perhaps i'm stubborn, but I just feel more speakers should make for a better sound as a general rule. If it becomes too much for some reason, i'll just pop it out - not too much on the line there outside of a few minutes of my time. I shall report back though, just waiting on a bunch of stuff with varying ship dates to come through including my sound deadening and adapters etc.

Click to expand...

thinkrevolutionx said:

Thanks man. So, the cliff notes is I should just solder one of these on to the positive terminal? I just did some googling that says it's not really needed, but as long as it doesn't interfere with the metra harness which I don't see why it would , i'll give it a go.

As far as doing the two way center channel perhaps i'm stubborn, but I just feel more speakers should make for a better sound as a general rule. If it becomes too much for some reason, i'll just pop it out - not too much on the line there outside of a few minutes of my time. I shall report back though, just waiting on a bunch of stuff with varying ship dates to come through including my sound deadening and adapters etc.

Click to expand...

I think that's right...I can't remember or did you say...which year/version do you have? On a 2017, you may want the capacitor for sure, and you've got to account for the 8ohm load. On a 2018 B&O, I have been told by installers that the amp/DSP module sends a pre-crossed-over signal to each speaker, so you may not need the capacitor as much. Also, you've got the 4ohm load going to the center instead of 8. If it's not too much hassle, I'd probably wire in the capacitor as a redundancy.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

I hadn't mentioned but I have a 2018 with B&0. I'm just researching if my best bet is to wire the capacitor inline (in which case I have to source connectors) or solder it - but if there's no negatives I might as well just do it, they include it for a reason i'm sure. Plus if I ultimately end up going after market with amp and such, i imagine that in turn will bypass the stock crossover so will have it there regardless.

ok - damn, nearly 11 months later I finally found time to do the easy one LOL

seriously - just one speaker change made a HUGE difference... amazing how the highs are so muddled on the OEM speakers...

If I disconnected the fake engine sound with Forscan, can I just remove the stock amp for the sub and just use the old amp line in to the converter, to the Kenwood amp, to the speaker? It just seems easier to take it out and use that area to mount the line converter and amp on a custom bracket using the stock amp mounting holes. Should be cleaner install without the redundant amp.