All Known Speaker Enclosure / Pod & Adapter Options

[Negreac]

So I had been collecting info on the different speaker enclosure, pod and adapter options for the TJ I have come across over the years and thought it might be helpful to share here for those looking at audio upgrades. Below is 40 of the various known options (both current and past) with links and a photo of each.

Would be curious to hear from those who have experience with any of these solutions or if there are any other ones I missed (besides custom built enclosures) let me know.

DASH SPEAKERS:

Select Increments Dash-Pods - Closed for 5.25" 2-Way Speakers

3D Printed 5.25" Front Speaker Pod - Closed for 5.25" 2-Way Speakers

3D Printed 6.5" Front Speaker Pod - Closed for 6.5" 2-Way Speakers

3D Printed 4'x6" Front Speaker Pod - Closed for 4'x6" 2-Way Speakers

Electroplated Front Speaker Adapter - Open for 5.25" 2-Way Speakers

3D Printed 5.25" Front Speaker Adapter (Also on Thingiverse) - Open for 5.25" 2-Way Speakers

3D Printed Front Speaker Adapters - Multiple open versions of adapter plates for various speaker sizes

3D Printed Component Speaker Adapter (Link to buy on ETSY directly instead of printing) - Closed or Open for 4" Components (tweeter angled toward occupants)

KICK PANEL SPEAKERS:

Select Increments Mod-Pods - Closed for 5.25" 2-Way Speakers

Q-Logic Q-Forms Kick Panel Enclosures - Open for 6.5" or 5.25" Components (cut driver hole yourself so can install smaller driver if necessary)

SSV Works Front Speaker Pods - Closed for 6.5" 2-Way Speakers (Discontinued so somewhat rare)

OVERHEAD SPEAKERS:

3D Printed Adapter ring to Change OEM Sound Bar to 6.5" Speakers (Link to buy on ETSY directly instead of printing) - Closed for 6.5" 2-Way Speakers (note that many 6.5" speakers may not require an adapter ring at all but this requires no modification to the OEM sound bar)

3D Printed Spacer Ring to Change OEM Sound Bar to 6.5" Speakers - Closed for 6.5" 2-Way Speakers (note all this does is take up the gap in the OEM 5.25" speaker recessed area to make mounting a 6.5" speaker easier)

Vertically Driven Products 6 Speaker Overhead Soundbar (alternate 2-way version) - Closed for 6" Components Plus Two 2" Mid Range Speakers. Also available in a dual 6" 2-way speaker version (similar to OEM)

Vertically Driven Products Overhead Sound Pods (alternate 2-way version) - Closed in Both 6.5" 2-Way Variant or 6" Components Variants

DS18 Overhead Bar System - Closed for Four 6.5" 2-Way and Two 4" Speakers

TJ American SoundBar - Closed for Four 8" Drivers and up to Four Tweeters

3d Printed Overhead Pods - Closed for 6.5" 2-Way Speakers (Model could be modified for other speaker sizes before printing)

Select Increments Sky-Pod - Closed for 4" 2-Way Speakers

TAG Overhead Sound Vault - Open for One 6.5" Speaker two 2.5" Speakers and Two Tweeters (Includes lockable storage but discontinued and rare)

Bestop Overhead Console - Two Tweeters at front of Console (Discontinued and very rare, may have only been made with their glass top kit limited info available)

Custom Overhead Enclosure - Unknown cu. ft. for any speaker configuration (can be customized to your liking)

REAR SPEAKERS:

Vertically Driven Products Sound Wedge (alternate 2-way version) - Closed in Both 6.5" 2-Way Variant or 6" Components Variant (Rugged Ridge offers the same product HERE)

Select Increments Opti-Pods - Closed for 6.5" or 6.75" 2-Way Speakers (includes rear cup holders)

Tuffy Lockbox Speaker & Storage Set - Open for "4 to 5 inch speaker" (includes lockable storage)

Select Increments Quad-Pod - Sealed .50 cu. ft. for 6.5" 2-Way & 8" Subwoofer (comes in set of 2 discontinued so somewhat rare)

SUBWOOFER(S):

Select Increments Stealth-Pod - Sealed 0.70 cu. ft. for 10" Rear Firing Subwoofer (can easily be removed)

Select Increments Sono-Pod - Sealed 0.73 cu. ft. for 10" Down Firing Subwoofer (can easily be removed)

Q-Logic Q Customs Subwoofer Enclosure - Sealed 0.65 cu. ft. for 10" Rear Firing Subwoofer (can easily be removed)

MTX Thunder from Sub Box - Sealed 1.48 cu. ft. for Dual 10" Down Firing Subwoofers (can easily be removed)

DS18 Tailgate Loudspeaker Enclosure (alternate version with only two 10" subwoofers) - Sealed 0.85 cu. ft. for Two 10" Forward Firing Subwoofers and Two 3" speakers/tweeters

SSV Works 10" Center Console Subwoofer Enclosure - Sealed unknown cu. ft. for 10" Side Firing Subwoofer (Only compatible with the 2001+ 2-piece center consoles, discontinued so somewhat rare)

Mopar Sound Deck - Sealed unknown cu. ft. for 8" Front Firing Subwoofer and Two Tweeters (easily removable and doubles as lockable storage but somewhat rare)

Custom Enclosure in Rear Bench Seat - Sealed or ported ~0.87 cu. ft. for, Single 8"/10"/12" or Dual 8" Down Firing Subwoofers (can be customized to your liking)

Custom Under Rear Seat - Sealed or ported Unknown cu. ft. for, Single 8"/10"/12" or Dual 8" Up Firing Subwoofers (can be customized to your liking)

Custom Ported 12" Enclosure behind Rear Bench Seat - Ported unknown cu. ft. for 12" Forward Firing Subwoofers (can be customized to your liking)

Custom Sealed 15" Enclosure behind Rear Bench Seat - Sealed unknown cu. ft. for 15" Forward Firing Subwoofers (can be customized to your liking)

Custom Ported Dual 12" Enclosure for Rear of Vehicle - Ported unknown cu. ft. for Dual 12" Down Firing Subwoofers (Unclear whether this will fit behind rears seat or is designed to replace it can be customized to your liking)

OTHER PODS:

Valicar Alu-Pods - Closed for Tweeters (Can be mounted in multiple locations)

Select Increments Versa Pods - Closed for 4" 2-Way Speakers and can be mounted in multiple different locations (A-pillar, Roll Bar, Rear Fender Well, Under Rear Seat, etc.)

 

[User4574]

Nice comprehensive list, but fyi some of your links are off. I didn't check them all, but the link for the 6.5 3D printed takes to the 4x6 link and the Stealth Pod also goes to their dash pods.

 

[Negreac]

Nice comprehensive list, but fyi some of your links are off. I didn't check them all, but the link for the 6.5 3D printed takes to the 4x6 link and the Stealth Pod also goes to their dash pods.

Thanks, just rechecked all the links and looks like it was just those 2. Have fixed them.

 

[User4574]

Thanks, just rechecked all the links and looks like it was just those 2. Have fixed them.

Figures it would be the ones I clicked on.

 

[Negreac]

I updated the list to add a few more of the 3d printable options. Some are available for purchase on Etsy but for any others if you don't have a 3D printer I have had great experience using https://www.treatstock.com/ to outsource 3D printing parts at very reasonable prices.

 

[PG.]

I did the select increments in the dash and added a sound bar with I think 6.25. Both Polk audio speakers and a decent enough head unit with built in amplifier. Sounds great to me.

 

[Negreac]

Added volumes (cu. ft.) for each of the subwoofer enclosures.

 

[Negreac]

So the general consensus in the car audio world is that for the best audio quality you should have the speakers as close to ear level and equidistance from the listener. Also in car audio you generally want the speakers as far from the listener as possible to minimize the impact of the difference in distance left to right as passengers obviously do not sit in the center of the vehicle. Subwoofer placement is far less important especially in a Jeep (see video testing orientation/location in a 2 door JK).

Given these general principles it seems the best possible option for sound quality is to do 4" 2-Way dash mount Versa Pods for the fronts and any of the many 6.5" 2-Way cage mount pods on the upper rear roll bar, matching the distance to the driver/passengers ears. The 6.5" 2-ways should also cover down to ~40-50hz so if the subwoofer is removed you could still retain decent bass response.

For the subwoofer most of the options listed would be fine but one key consideration is the sealed box volume. Many of the smaller options above are very undersized volume wise for most of the 10" subwoofers on the market so it is key to match the appropriate subwoofer. Of course you can help by using polyfill which is the equivalent to ~20% more volume

Generally though to hit the lowest possible frequencies (humans can hear down to as low as 12hz) you need the cone to be as large as possible. Only problem here is 12"+ subwoofers typically require a large amount of box volume to operate effectively (~1.3 cu ft or more). Of course you could always build a custom box that takes up all of your trunk space (like the MTX option at just under 1.5 cu ft.) but a more reasonable trade off would be to find a subwoofer with a great low frequency response that only requires a 0.5-1.0 Cu. Ft of sealed volume. Something like the 13.5" JL Audio 13TW5v2-4 would be ideal as it is optimized for ~0.8 cu. ft. while still having a response down to 20hz. Of course there are also much more reasonably priced similar shallow mount 12" & 10" options that reach down to 22-25hz, principle is the same though, maximize response for minimum volume.

Diagram showing ideal speaker locations for reference:

 

[Negreac]

Added 2 more 3D printed options for the dash that include a 5.25" pod and 6.5" pod. Seems I reached the 20 image limit for single post and deleting some images to combine to a single image didn't seem to work since it is still counting deleted images/attachments against the 20 image limits. So for now I guess I will link to IMGUR posts unless @Chris or someone can help me resolve the glitch thinking there is still 20 images attached.

 

[chili_pepper]

Seems I reached the 20 image limit for single post and deleting some images to combine to a single image didn't seem to work since it is still counting deleted images/attachments against the 20 image limits.

You likely deleted them from your message composition, but did you delete them from the actual message? Make sure you remove them from down below when in composition or editing mode. It counts all attached images whether you use them in your post or not.

 

[Chris]

Added 2 more 3D printed options for the dash that include a 5.25" pod and 6.5" pod. Seems I reached the 20 image limit for single post and deleting some images to combine to a single image didn't seem to work since it is still counting deleted images/attachments against the 20 image limits. So for now I guess I will link to IMGUR posts unless @Chris or someone can help me resolve the glitch thinking there is still 20 images attached.

Were you able to resolve it? I agree with @chili_pepper and what he is saying above.

The IMGUR images work for now, but the problem is always coming back to this thread 10 years from now in which case a lot of those third party image hosting platforms (i.e. Photobucket) lead to lots of broken images.

Let me know if the issue is resolved or not. Super helpful thread by the way!

 

[Negreac]

Were you able to resolve it? I agree with @chili_pepper and what he is saying above.

The IMGUR images work for now, but the problem is always coming back to this thread 10 years from now in which case a lot of those third party image hosting platforms (i.e. Photobucket) lead to lots of broken images.

Let me know if the issue is resolved or not. Super helpful thread by the way!

That is what I had thought at first, but did actually delete the attachments, not just the images in the body and still had the issue. Going back I actually counted the images attached (and used in the message body) and there is over 30 which is strange since supposedly the limit is 20. Guess you guys must have recently changed the limit to 20 or for some reason when I created the original post it didn't care how many images I attached.

 

[Chris]

That is what I had thought at first, but did actually delete the attachments, not just the images in the body and still had the issue. Going back I actually counted the images attached (and used in the message body) and there is over 30 which is strange since supposedly the limit is 20. Guess you guys must have recently changed the limit to 20 or for some reason when I created the original post it didn't care how many images I attached.

I just changed it to 40. It was at 20.

 

[Negreac]

I just changed it to 40. It was at 20.

Thanks, just fixed so all the images are attached.

 

[Chris]

Thanks, just fixed so all the images are attached.

Awesome, glad that's sorted out! Great write-up!

 

[LJ-MXer]

Any opinions or feedback on the

Select Increments Opti-Pods - Closed for 6.5" or 6.75" 2-Way Speakers (includes rear cup holders)
With the 6.75 Kicker sub and amp combination?

 

[CecilBDemento]

Thanks for the thread OP. I was in awe by the 6.5 dash pods. I'm redoing the system in my 97 TJ. I've got a Tuffy center console with the sub option that I'm trying to maximize. I've got the OEM sub enclosure which nests snugly, but only allows the Kicker 6.75 sub from crutchfield. Option 2; modifying the basic OEM (milk jug) console insert to accommodate a 8" or 10" sub. Option 3; utilizing a 3d printed sub enclosure as seen below, but modified for fitment. Has anyone used a 3d printed subwoofer version as pictured? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

 

[k1n3k]

Thanks for the thread OP. I was in awe by the 6.5 dash pods. I'm redoing the system in my 97 TJ. I've got a Tuffy center console with the sub option that I'm trying to maximize. I've got the OEM sub enclosure which nests snugly, but only allows the Kicker 6.75 sub from crutchfield. Option 2; modifying the basic OEM (milk jug) console insert to accommodate a 8" or 10" sub. Option 3; utilizing a 3d printed sub enclosure as seen below, but modified for fitment. Has anyone used a 3d printed subwoofer version as pictured? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

View attachment 648708

If thats the enclosure done by Hexibase, he does some excellent work. It will take some engineering to make his sub fit in the console, and will require the same speaker, same coupling chamber volume, same vent dimensions, same radii.... you get the point. Changing anything changes how well it works drastically, even the speaker used. But 3d printing speaker boxes is excellent. I'm working on some full range front pods that use Dayton Audio speakers and passive radiators. Hoping to hit down to 30Hz with them.


I 3d printed these enclosures he designed and they sound absolutely fantastic and have way better bass than a speaker that size should! They replaced the Polk T15 bookshelf speakers we had on our media PC.

Don't mind the crappy print quality, the light make it look worse than it is, and the printer was not the best.

 

[Negreac]

Added 4 more custom enclosure designs with links to the 3D models. 3 are rear seat subwoofer boxes and 1 is an overhead sound bar.

 

[Negreac]

Added @JMT under rear seat sub box. Total count is up to 40 now so if I decide expand any further (more custom or under front seat options) will need to host pics again externally or get permissions to increase pic attachment.