Occam's Razor wins again...
After seeing all the challenges to going to the factory 9 amp, and the fact that nothing is tunable on that...
After trying to live with the volumes on the Nav, Android Auto, and uConnect bursting my eardrums each time starting the Jeep with the JBL 4086A ...
(other than that the JBL was great, but a bit lacking in Sub amplification, so I am hanging on to it in case Stellantis ever solves the volumes issue)...
And, realizing that the Alpine Type R 6x9s and Type R Tweeters sound awesome (I can't comfortable go above 15 on the volume with these)
on the uConnect 4C Nav HD system (maybe it has a bit more amplification than the base radios)...
I sat back and asked myself what the biggest fail on the 6 speaker system (after upgrading the speakers) was - the Bass and Sub Bass.
So, I looked at it just from the perspective of improving the low end, and the issue of the Bass Roll-off.
I already had the factory Sub (Dual Voice Coil @ 2 Ω each) and panel installed from the 1st 2 attempts, so I started there.
I looked at what kind of setup would solve:
1) The Bass Roll-off
2) Drive the factory subs in series or parallel
3) Have some overhead to upgrade either the subs or amp the speakers down the road
4) Potentially retain the ANC (UPDATE 1: I took it on the highway tonight (had to test) I will need to install the PAC ANC-CH01 Factory ANC Module Bypass Harness, I did get feedback from the ANC System at speed. Fortunately it is plug and play...)
5) Work with a potential use of the JBL
The simplest solution I found was the
Kicker 47KEY500-1
It has:
1) Bass restoration
2) Speaker Load circuitry (for the no speaker detected)
3) 1 Ω, 2 Ω, and 4 Ω stable - I can wire the factory DVC in parallel to get 500 watts RMS x 1 at 1 Ω, or in series to get 150 watts RMS x 1 at 4 Ω (in case the 500 watts was too much)
4) DC offset sensing turn-on
5) Adjustable Hi and Lo Pass filters
6) ESS stability
7) Key AI-driven DSP (haven't yet tried this)
8) Is compact, able to mount behind the glove box.
I installed the Kicker this weekend, the 8 ga power and ground were already run, I had the PAC ANC by-pass at the ready, if needed, and I was already familiar with the wiring.
Since the front speakers were already crossed-over with the tweeters, I tapped into the rears - BEFORE the ANC Module (hoping the ANC wouldn't back feed to this point).
Powered it up, gain set at about 30%, minimal boost.
Fantastic sound out of the factory Subwoofers! I was actually quite surprised, after being a bit underwhelmed with running 60 watts to each coil from the JBL, and much better than their output on the factory Alpine system (listened to them stock on another '19 Cherokee), plus I have more control over them.
Played Amazon HD Siouxsie and the Banshees 'Peek-a-Boo' (good deep bass in this)
I could control the output of the Subs just by controlling the Front/Rear Fade on the head, obvious improvement, no distortion.
Good balance maintained front to rear (set at the middle).
None of the ANC horror stories (still need to take it on the highway). (UPDATE 1: I took it on the highway tonight (had to test) I will need to install the PAC ANC-CH01 Factory ANC Module Bypass Harness, I did get feedback from the ANC System at speed. Fortunately it is plug and play...)
No ear-splitting secondary volume issues from the sub systems on start-up.
I'll follow up with a longer term review, but my initial assessment is that
All that is needed to upgrade the uConnect 4C Nav 6 Speaker System with ANC are some great replacement speakers like the Alpine Type R, the Kicker Key Mono Amp, and a Sub!
And it is so much simpler then my previous attempts, hence Occam's Razor - "other things being equal, simpler explanations are generally better than more complex ones"! 😊😎😁😀
UPDATE 1: I took it on the highway tonight (had to test) I will need to install the PAC ANC-CH01 Factory ANC Module Bypass Harness, I did get feedback from the ANC System at speed. Got muddier and muddier, I suppose I could unplug the mics, but the harness is so much easier (especially since I haven't screwed the glove box back in - it is remarkably solid with just the clips) Fortunately the bypass is plug and play...
, next step is with the SGM bypass, AlfaOBD - (newly purchased and licensed).
