[KyleD31]

For some reason when I turn up my music the vocals get distorted. I have new door speakers in each door that aren't blown. Does anyone know what the problem could be? I think it might be a bad head unit

[thrashard340]

What head unit and speakers? Are you running an amp. Your speakers may be grossly underpowered.

[KyleD31]

I have the stock head unit. No amp. Two 150 watt boss speakers in front and two 150 watt kenwoods on back

[rdnck_8]

Sorry, just saw your new post as I hit reply. Since you don't have an Amp I would say your way underpowered. The RMS on the speakers is probably 50 to 70 watts and a stock head unit will be lucky to do 20. Best fix would be an amp but a new head unit will help.

[KyleD31]

If I turn the bass up it distorts it a lot. And if the bass is down then it's better, it still distorts but at a higher volume. Its mainly vocals but the music sounds kinda bad too I think

[KyleD31]

I'll get a new head unit soon then. Thanks! And the rms on the boss is 150 (according to the box) but the kenwood's box says 160 peak

[rdnck_8]

If the RMS is 150 then you may want an amp too, but start with the head unit, that should be good enough to get an idea if it will work for you. When I got my JK a few months ago, I put my head unit in and blew the stock speakers same day. So I replaced all the stock's with 4 new Kickers, found they were fine in town but down the highway with the top down and doors off they didn't cut it so I had to add an amp.

When you go to get the head unit, check out www.crutchfield.com, they have decent deals and usually give you the install bracket and wire harness for free.

[KyleD31]

I was going to get my speakers from crutchfield but I got them for my birthday from idk where. But I'll look for a head unit. Thanks! And I have a 4/3/2 amp but it's broken :\

[ShowroomShine]

Throw the Boss speakers away and put in some quality units.

As everyone has said you need to drive the speakers with more power. You dont need an amp to get clear vocals, just a good quality head unit. Pioneer is what I like.

[peytonimor7]

A new head unit will NOT solve your problem, you'll be wasting your money. The numbers you posted are more than likely peak numbers so the RMS is probably about 50-75 as stated above. No head unit out there pumps out those kind of numbers. I've never seen speakers (not subs) with an RMS of 150 but you definitely need an amp for them. Depending on your budget, you'll want a nice, compact (since it's a Jeep, but a ZJ has a good bit of room) amp pushing 50 or more RMS.

Alpine amp, 50x4 RMS

Rockford Fosgate amp (More expensive, and larger, but you'll get some real clean power out of this one, RF always makes good amps. This would be great if your speakers were 2 ohm [they probably aren't] but this also lets you run a sub and two front channels if you wish)

Rockford Fosgate amp 2 (I own this one, about the size of a VHS tape and it pushes out 75+ RMSx4, but is only 4 ohm stable, so not very versatile)

And if you really wanna have a mean system, this Alpine amp will let you run 4 speakers at 75RMS + a 300RMS sub channel, but it comes at a price...

EDIT: Yes a new head unit will do some good, but at the most they only push out about 22RMS. An amp is what you really need for your speakers to not clip, but a new head unit will make hooking up an amp easier, and yes it will make your music sound clearer, but an amp will really do that for you.

[musicpuppy]

Originally Posted by rdnck_8

Sorry, just saw your new post as I hit reply. Since you don't have an Amp I would say your way underpowered. The RMS on the speakers is probably 50 to 70 watts and a stock head unit will be lucky to do 20. Best fix would be an amp but a new head unit will help.

I agree with Redneck, your speakers are over powering the head unit,get an amp, and it will go away, but if you wanna get rid of those speakers, I'll take em. lol

[KyleD31]

Alright. I have two extra kenwoods that I can switch with the boss. That way I have all 4 kenwoods. I'll try to find a nice amp and then a head unit. Thanks!

[KyleD31]

One thing I forgot to mention is that the head unit in using now plays cassettes. So I bout something at a dollar store that plugs into my iPod. So I play my iPod through a cassette. I think that effects sound quality as well.

[rdnck_8]

Originally Posted by KyleD31

One thing I forgot to mention is that the head unit in using now plays cassettes. So I bout something at a dollar store that plugs into my iPod. So I play my iPod through a cassette. I think that effects sound quality as well.

That would mess with the quality. Does it do it when listening to the radio? Try playing with the volume on the IPod, I know when I have my phone hooked up thru AUX I have to turn the phones volume down real low or I get a bit of distortion.

[ShowroomShine]

Originally Posted by peytonimor7

A new head unit will NOT solve your problem, you'll be wasting your money.

I disagree. Although I am normally the person pushing FOR people to amp their mids/highs, in some cases its simply not feasible. A good quality headunit with high pass crossovers can drive properly setup speakers above roadnoise without clipping and distorting.

I have a Pioneer headunit in mine, high pass crossovers run around 100hz and Polk speakers all the way around in my TJ. I can drive the speakers past the roadnoise with the top and doors off, without perceivable distortion or clipping. In fact at the volume level I have at highway speeds, if I play that same volume level sitting still its amazing what the little Pioneer will do with these efficient Polks.

You dont have to have an amp to get quality sound and a headunit and speakers properly setup WILL solve the problem. Is an amp a better way to go? If you have the ability to setup the amp correctly or the money to pay a shop to do it. Setting up a mid/high amp correctly is not an easy task.