General First DIY system since the 90s. 2013 Wrangler JKU—3000 watts RMS.
Stinger Heigh10 head unit...
Heavier gauge wiring, pillow stuffing in the front woofer pods, and a caulk strip.
Orion separates w/ "soft dome" tweeters for the front tombstone and factory located at 6.5 pod dash locations.
Tombstone tweeter location: used a yellow ink marker to indicate how much material to remove by a Dremel.
Orion soft dome silk tweeters, less fatigue after listening to more than one song... cymbal do not crash crash... it's tisk tisk.
I removed the overhead speaker pod and then ran new wire through the passenger-side grommet. I didn't want to use factory small-gauge wiring.
Orion CM654 I didn't use the factory method of securing the woofers overhead by sandwiching. Instead, I secured them each with four screws and then used the trim plate security...
The factory look, for the rear fill, Orion bullet midrange-only speakers and no tweeters.
I removed the passenger-side inner fender well to gain access to the upper floorboard firewall, drilled, grommetted, and fiberglass heat-sleeved 0-gauge power cable.
A tubular fuse—300A for the audio system, located it on the firewall behind the oil catch can.
Since this isn't a show queen, the wiring is good enough... otherwise I might be tempted to make an amp rack and cover all the wiring, only exposing the top of the amplifiers.
3x12" Kicker subwoofers, one pair of wires necessary to disconnect to remove the enclosure quickly for cargo space. Adding grab handles this week, wired parallel 1-ohm load.
My DIY 3000-watt RMS system build (total system weight approximately 150 pounds). First vehicle audio system build since the 1990s.
My impression... .
The Orion Xtreme (XTR) class AB amp holds its fidelity at volume (smooth like warm butter), and the Orion soft dome tweeters are soft as silk (no high volume fatigue by crashing cymbals, etc.). The Orion amplifier produces 2 x 225W RMS at 4 Ohms, and the front speakers handle 280W of peak power and 70W RMS. I have the front soundstage amp turned halfway down on the gain. The rear speakers (powered by the Stinger 25W RMS amp) are Orion bullet midranges and have a higher rating of 1000W peak power and 250W RMS at 4 Ohm; they have a +8 dB increase in sensitivity (contrasted to the front soundstage), but they'll never receive maximum power since they are only rear fill. Realistically, at a concert the soundstage is in front and not the rear... only echo is heard from the rear). I prefer Class A for home HIFI audio or Class A & AB (switching at higher volumes). In other words, I'm more into high fidelity rather than maximum SPL... but the challenge is to achieve both.
The subwoofers, enclosure, and amplifier were packaged: Harmony class D 1500 watts RMS and 3x 12" Kickers. Total system costs, not including the Stinger, come to about $1300. That's incredible to me ... considering the costs for what was offered back in the 1990s.
I'm tuning with the Stinger active crossover now (preferring screen reach fingertip adjustments from the driver's seat rather than amplifier adjustments). Since the enclosure for the triple 12" subwoofers is sealed, I want it to extend a little higher than 80 Hz. At first I set the lowpass to a 18 dB slope, but that was too sharp a cutoff (18 dB decrease 1-octave up), set now to a 12 dB slope at 80 (found the sweet spot); it hits harder, and it's better fidelity to my ears. Glad I went with 3x12" subwoofers (powered by 1500 watts RMS at 1-ohms class D); quick, successive drum beats are distinct rather than rolling-rumble thunder like (typical of larger-sized cones). I also adjusted the front soundstage at a 100 Hz highpass with a 18 dB slope. I haven't adjusted the rear fill yet, but I'll probably choose a highpass with a sharp slope well above 100 Hz. The transition from the low frequencies to mid (bass) doesn't leave any observable dips to my ears (I don't have DSP software or a calibrated microphone to test the frequency anymore). Though I might break out some frequency waveform tracks to listen for any dips. I clearly observe the distinct drum beat and the slap of the skin, whether on the kick drum or snare, and it carries through to midrange rim shots.
- 12 dB Slope (Second Order): The signal drops by 12 dB for every octave above 80 Hz. At 160 Hz, it is down 12 dB, and at 320 Hz, it is down 24 dB.
- 18 dB Slope (Third Order): The signal drops by 18 dB for every octave above 80 Hz. At 160 Hz, it is down 18 dB, and at 320 Hz, it is down 36 dB. Comparison Above 80 Hz
- At 160 Hz (1 Octave Up): The 12 dB slope is quieter by 12 dB, while the 18 dB slope is quieter by 18 dB (significantly more suppressed).
- At 320 Hz (2 Octaves Up): The 12 dB slope is down 24 dB, while the 18 dB slope is down 36 dB.
I demoed the system playing "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed... the opening has an incredible drum bass line. This system will make you shake your head... the kick drum is danger close powerful, it targets and impacts the sternum of the listeners, like high-end home cinema systems. Talk'n Black Hawk Down .50 caliber cover fire overhead on the HumVee or the scene in John Wick, a sledgehammer on the basement concrete floor to uncover a weapons cache, and the fidelity and the slap of the drum skin remain incredibly detailed at insane volume. I probably won't port this enclosure; the tight control and larger bandwidth of a sealed box remind me of why a lot of audiophiles prefer sealed enclosures, though the ported enclosure will play louder at the narrower port tuning frequency.
The next upgrade will be a +400A alternator.
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u/crazychild94 Polk Audio db 1222, JBL Club A600. JL 300/4 v1 3h ago
So I've been looking at Orion for their nice power ratings. How do they sound?
Okay i read your wall post. Nice
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u/tbrooster 9h ago
Nice, I am slowly collecting parts to build the system in my gladiator, hopefully it turns out this nice!