Hey all,
I've read all the posts on speakers and amps and stereo's and I don't think this has been covered. I have a 96JGC and I want to replace the stereo and speakers. My question is two part:

1) Should I bypass the stock amp or is it a decent amp? (I don't plan on buying an amp anytime soon, don't want loud just crisp)

2) If I get 6 1/2" speakers with tweeters (2way) should I disconnect the in dash tweeters or leave them hooked up?

Thanks!

murph, glad you posted this because i was just gonna. i have a 97 gcl with that infinity gold system. i was looking through crutchfield for some replacements. they say they'll give you harness's to help with hook up. my question is, i was told by an installer at "mickyshorr" here in michigan that to do this without using factory stuff he'd have to replace everthing, thats right, everything. even the speaker wire, and i couldn't use my stock am either. im all confused. hope someone can help "us" :)

my cd player wasn't working, so i gave the radio a little love tap :screwy: we'll now, i have no use of any buttons or volume control. it is now stuck on WJR 760 A.M. tim

You can replace the stereo and speakers using the stock harnesses (you DON'T have to rewire!!). If you go through Crutchfield, you'll even get the stereo and speaker harnesses free. I did mine that way (96 ZJ with Infinity Gold) and it was really easy. I eventually even bypassed the Infinity Gold amp when I installed new (Kenwood) amp and simply tapped into the stock amp wiring harness to reach the door speakers through the existing wiring (I HATE running door wiring - lol). Hope this helps!

thanks az, why did you replace the stock amp? i just wanna be sure that when i do this, all i need to do for now is replace the head unit. then speakers. at this point in time, im not much worried about the quality of sound. just want a radio:) after the raido i will install new speakers.

also, will my new head unit be able to give power to the tweets up front? or will i be hearing a 4 speaker stereo now? again, no biggy if thats the case, just wondering..........thanks for your time.....tim

I have a 95 JGC with the Infinity Gold and replaced the head unit with a Pioneer unit from SoundDomain about 6 months ago. It took about 1.5 hrs, that is with the 1/2hr I wasted scratching my head as to why the unit would not go deeper into the the dash. Duh..... "hey how about removing the spacer screwed into the back". Ok Ok it wasn't too smart of me but the actual job took 1hr.

Anyway, they sent me the headunit, spacer/faceplate for the dash with cd tray underneath & speaker wiring harness adapter. Splice the harness adapter to the headunit wires, plug it in to the car harnes and presto, you have sound. All six speakers and AMP are working fine. The Infintiy Gold Unit is a 1 1/2 unit so that is why you need the special spacer/faceplate. Harness & faceplate were free.

I had a local place also give me the "your speakers won't work, your amp won't work bla bla bla." It's crap, buy it online, give them the details of your vehicle and you are listening to tunes in 60min flat.

Enjoy

^(what 95orvis said...) :-)

I replaced the amp because the new Infinity
speakers I got for the doors were rated for 75W RMS (225W peak). Even though they sounded GREAT with the stock amp (especially compared to the old speakers), I wanted to feed them more power, and also be able to drive a subwoofer. The stock Infinity Gold amp is 180 W (always peak power rating given), so it would only give about 20W-22W RMS or so per speaker. I ended up getting a Kenwood 5-channel amp (KAC-X650D) that has 60Wx4 RMS, plus 200Wx1 (for the sub). Then I got a 10" Infinity Reference sub (1030w, rated at 250W RMS) and mounted it in a Q-Logic custom enclosure. Now the sound REALLY kicks! And I bought everything online, and did everything myself (and I'm NO installer - lol). Check out www.crutchfield.com (http://www.crutchfield.com/) and www.thezeb.com (http://www.thezeb.com/) as good online sources to buy from (besides e-bay). And you can check out my ride at www.cardomain.com/id/azflyingdiver (http://www.cardomain.com/id/azflyingdiver) and other riders at that site too to get some ideas...
Good luck!!

hey thanks for all the input. as for right now i just want a radio, and with your replies i will be able to do so now, i wouldn't mind a stereo like yours, just have no money like that right now (other hobbies) leave me broke:) i do like a nice sounding stereo in a car though. with me getting a head unit first, i will be adding new speakers and such. i have been looking through crutchfield mags and online. again thanks for your help. tim

cool - i know what you mean about being broke :-) it took me MONTHS to put things together, one thing at a time... good luck!

I have a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the infinity gold speakers system in it. I just replaced my head unit with a new JVC head unit and replaced all the speakers. I wired the head unit correctly, but now my front speakers sound really bad, like they are not getting enough power to them. The rear speakers sound perfect. I believe it has something to do with the factory amp. Should i remove this amp or leave it?

If if the front speakers are wired out of phase, it might sound like that. Try reversing the wires for just one speaker...

Oh, and just to make sure, you didn't wire any speakers directly to RCA pre-outs on the head unit?

Otherwise, if after checking to see the speaker wires aren't shorted or crimped anywhere, it just may be the amp (the part that converts high level inputs to low level ones for tha amp).

Sorry for the multiple posts - kept thinking of something else to say!

Good luck...

i'm pretty sure its the amp. What is the easy way to bypass the amp. Do they sale a harness plug to do it?

The easiest way to bypass the amp is to tap into the existing harness (unplug the harness from amp, of course). And without a wiring diagram, the best way to see which wires go to what speakers is to just look at them (on the speaker side) - then you can tap into the righ wires from the wires leading from the head unit. There's no harness to replace the amp harness that I know of...

Really dumb question...I bought my 98 Grand Cherokee 6 mo. ago used (it was wrecked, took me that long to scrounge up all the parts). I knew at the time that the previous owner had taken the HU but I only learned today that they also took the infinity amp. Do I need the amp for a new radio to work, or can I just leave the wires under the back seat and not deal with it till later?

Hey theonlysf, Welcome to AF. Please check the date on the thread before posting; generally only post on something that's within 30 days. If it's older, like this one, please start a new thread -- not only will you avoid messages like this one, but you will also get a better response!

I'm closing this one, please start a new thread with your question.

Thanks