changing speakers will definitely improve the quality of the sound. I like the Polk DB651's from Crutchfield. I have recommended them to other JK owners and they are pleased as well.

For a powered sub, the Infinity Basslink is hard to beat. It's priced right, sounds real good, and comes with a discrete knob that can easily be mounted on the dash. Also available from Crutchfield.

Get a bag of polyfill from a craft store or Wal Mart and stuff your soundbar while you have the speakers out.

 

Greeting from frozen solid southern Ontario...

I just finished my upgrade and am very happy. Budget was tight and the key to it all was that I had to keep the stock deck. When top/doors off season arrives I wanted it to be as stealth as possible.. well until I turned it on...

Here's what I did

1 - removed all the factory speakers and promptly tossed them in the closest garbage can
2 - installed 6.5" mids in the dash, 1" tweeters in the pods (easy remove and replace and at a glance you can't tell they're swapped out)
3- installed 6.5 in co-ax in the sound bar
4 - ran all new wire from under the passenger seat to all 6 new speakers.
5 - grabbed the front L/R factory speaker wires from behind the dash (the FRONT is key as the rear are muted inside the head unit)
6 - ran 4 AWG power and ground to under the passenger seat
7 - installed an Alpine MRX-V70 (5 channel amp) - this amp accepts line level inputs and when used it does not require a trigger/turn on feed from the ignition - under the passenger seat.
8 - ran a nice fat set of 8 AWG speaker wire through to the tail gate
9 - bolted a beauty JL Audio shallow mount 10" in a sealed box to the tailgate (it is still oddly stealth as it blends with all the carpeting/seats so you really need to look for it.
10 - set the gains and done

The system rocks (I only have a soft top) with the top on, and is perfect when the top is down. Lots of full range sound, bass (not ground pounding...unless I want it to), and volume. I listen to so many different types of music and it all plays with ease.

I am considering removing the co-ax from the soundbar, installing straight up mids and then massaging a 3" co-ax into the (former) bolt holes for the hard top.

If you have the time then I say go for it. The factory deck will serve it's purpose very well.

I am not as handy with a wrench as I am with in car electronics/stereos so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Millsy

 

Are the Polk's you mentioned a direct replacement? (No cutting, etc). The Camaro I talked about above had 6.5" Polk DB's. That was 15 years ago, and those speakers were great even back then.

Also, why fill the soundbar? I thought some open space behind speakers was good. For example, a speaker opening from a package shelf into a trunk, or from a door panel into an open door cavity helps the sound resonate (I thought?). Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm definitely not a car-audio guru.

 

That's not entirely correct. Well, let me qualify what I just wrote: RES base unit in my 2007. I replaced the OEM speakers in the front with Kicker JK replacement speakers. Huge improvement in performance. Exactly what the JK should have come stock with. About six months later decided to replace the sound bar speakers. Virtually no improvement because there's really so little audio being pushed up there by the RES unit.

Conclusion: If you're looking for decent, but not spectacular sound, at a very affordable price ($60-70), a pair of Kicker JK replacement speakers in front will do the trick. You won't get much sound from the back, but the overall sound will be way, way better. Not just audiophile ears better. Way, way better to my poor, a quarter century and 4500 hours of flying C-130s ears, better.

Note: I was a crewmember, not the pilot. My seat was right between the wings. Where the prop noise is absolutely the loudest. LOL.

 

He is spot on with that. The front is where all the sound goes. The rears are basically useless.

If you're looking to do it in steps, here is what I would do:

1) Replace the front speakers, And tweeters. I got the kicker DS components that came with the separate tweeters. (The DS line are the same speakers as the kicker speakers you can buy on quadratec and such, but I wanted the component set for the front)
Go ahead and stuff the front pods with polyfill while you've got everything out.

Depending on how good you want your audio to be, I used this time to add new speaker wires and run it to the cubby in the back by the tailgate (this is where I have my marine grade Kicker Amp)

2) Replace the sound bar speakers. The kicker replacements work easiest for these because they have the proper adapter you need to fit it. The DS coaxials I got took some time to find a proper adapter ring to make it fit.
Again, stuff the sound bar full of polyfill. You should have enough from your first bag to do this too.
Again, I used this time to run new speaker wire to the back cubby. I left the stock speaker wire connected for now, but I went ahead and crimped on the connectors to the new speaker wire for once I added an amp.

3) Add an amp and a PAC harness that matches with your head unit

I added a kicker zxm350.4 marine amp. It pushes about 60 watts to each of the kicker speakers which is in line with their rating. The sound quality is phenomenal and it is a marine grade amp so I don't worry much about it in it's location. Had it for about 6 months with no issues yet.

I also used the PAC AOEM-CHR3 to work with my stock bare bones head unit. The sound quality of the OEM radio actually is decent with a good amp powering it. I like to keep the stock radio because it prevents theft and it is pretty darn water water resistant so far. Been rained on quite a bit in my 3 years owning the Jeep.




Many people do much more than these simple steps, and spend much more on their audio setups. But with how much I abuse my jeep, I didn't want to drop a grand into it the radio. My existing setup is VERY loud and still maintains great audio quality. Although I may look at adding a powered sub in the future for a little more oomph.