Any Polk installers done sr6500s in 97-01 Cherokee?

Greg Peters

I am wanting to upgrade my db650s with sr6500s in factory door locations in a 98 Cherokee. I noticed Crutchfield is now selling the sr6500s, but calls them a 6 3/4 " speaker (and says they don't fit my car). Sounddomain suggests they won't fit as well. The db650s I have installed were described by Crutchfield as a "don't fit" for the Cherokee as well.

Based on Polk dimensions, the srs should fit, possibly with enlarging the cutout diameter in the inner door by 5/8" or so. The srs are 9/16" deeper than the db650 when flush mounted as well (and I remember having some room to play with, depth-wise).

On advice from others in the forum, I plan to initially mount the srs coaxially. The main problem I see is that the db650s I currently have installed in this manner cause the factory plastic door panel to deflect a bit- the tweeter on the speaker presses outwards against the plastic grill in the door panel. This may be why these speakers are described as not fitting, though the problem is slight.

I sent an email to Polk customer service a few weeks back, to find out the dimensions of the sr6500s when set up as a coaxial, more specifically- the distance between mounting flange on back of woofer to edge of tweeter, but have not heard back from anyone. I do not have a sr6500 to measure against my existing speaker to determine fit problems before buying.

If anyone has installed the srs in a 97-01 Cherokee, or even can give the distance tweeter protrudes from the woofer when set up as a coax, your input would be appreciated.

neomagus00

i can't give you an exact number, but from what i remember at polkfest, they're honkers... mac and a few others have sets, i'm sure one of them is mounted coaxially by a person willing to measure...

Thom

Greg Peters wrote:

On advice from others in the forum, I plan to initially mount the srs coaxially. The main problem I see is that the db650s I currently have installed in this manner cause the factory plastic door panel to deflect a bit- the tweeter on the speaker presses outwards against the plastic grill in the door panel. This may be why these speakers are described as not fitting, though the problem is slight.

That would be enough for Crutchfield to say they don't fit. If the db650 tweeter touches your door, I don't think there's any way you'll get the SR6500 mounted coax in there. I'd say that even if you can make the mid fit you'll have to mount the tweeter elsewhere. And if the 6500 mid is too big, the SR5250 will be at dealers anytime now.

cam5860

It's no big deal! It's called being creative. I had the same problem in my truck. All I done was cut the plastic grill out of the door panel and used the grill that comes with speaker.

MacLeod

cam5860 wrote:

It's no big deal! It's called being creative. I had the same problem in my truck. All I done was cut the plastic grill out of the door panel and used the grill that comes with speaker.

That would work fine unless you dont want to cut holes in your car or if its a leased vehicle.

You could always mount the tweeters in the A pillars. Youd have to cut a 2" hole in each pillar but A pillars are pretty easy to find in good condition in your local junkyard so it wouldnt be much of a problem to replace them if you so desire.

Greg Peters

MacLeod wrote:

That would work fine unless you dont want to cut holes in your car or if its a leased vehicle.

That's kinda where I'm coming from. The srs represent a pretty big investment to let go with the car come trade-in time. The a-pillers is probably where they'd end up if I were to go with sr6500s for sure. I appreciate all the input though. The main draws for installing the srs coaxially would be stealth, and the "point source" factor, because having the tweeters 20" or better from the mids becomes less than ideal the greater the distance.

The main motivation for putting in the sr6500s is to improve SQ by a huge margin, and I don't know if installing mmc6500s would be as drastic an improvement over my db650s as the srs would be. With the Momos, I could probably accomodate the tweeters (angled surface mount) on the sail panels due to their smaller size.

I hate to say it, but I was shopping around online and revisited other possible choices as well, such as Boston Acoustics Z6 and Pro components (for cost comparable to the srs), as well as Focal, MB Quart etc. as there are more online retailers as of late starting to ship to Canada. I've had Quarts in the past, and heard various Focals, but none of these back to back with Polk's srs.

All things considered, the sr6500s are still my first choice, so I will try to go to "plan B" with them.

It was surprising to hear that the srs are so much bigger when mounted coaxially, but I'm glad I asked, as there are no measurements available for them mounted that way anywhere in print.

Thanks to all.

brettw22

Are they leasing an 01 cherokee? I thought they typically only went back a year or two at the most on a lease........

neomagus00

i vote for the SRs (naturally), but i urge you to strike the boston stuff from your list - they are NOTHING compared to the SRs (anyone at polkfest can confirm this). the others i've never heard, so can't help you there.

Greg Peters

brettw22 wrote:

Are they leasing an 01 cherokee? I thought they typically only went back a year or two at the most on a lease........

No, it's not a lease, but if I were to sell it with "holes of shame" on the inside of the car (after removing my srs) the car would then be worth about 8 bucks wholesale .

The factory locations are not the best for modification- the holes in the inner door don't exactly line up with the grills in the plastic door panels, and the door panels go for $400-500 used up here if I cut them up.

Now that I know they won't fit mounted as coax, I can probably live with buying used a-pillers from the scrap yard. I'll probably pick up replacement panels to play with before springing for the sr6500s, so I can see how much room there is behind them (depth) in the scrap car I pull them out of while I'm at it.

Come to think of it, I could have bought a car more suited to aftermarket audio, but its been a pretty good car and is still in really good shape, so I'd like to leave it as uncut as possible. The $0 car payments leave more room for audio too.

brettw22

Just who in the hell do you think you are to be trying to plan out your purchases in a logical, cost effective manner.......surely not one of us.......:D

KevinLWhitaker

Yea, you're supposed to lust over these speakers for a good long while, figure out how to hide the purchase from the wife/significant other or how to explain it when she finds out (you see honey, I was going to buy you some new jewelry but I thought you like these speakers much better!) and say damn the torpedos I will find a way to make these speakers fit this vehicle. If you don't spend a few hours/days trying to make speakers work in your vehicle and end up with bloody knuckles you are not a true car audiophile.

I have found this process results in a much more satisfying sound than buying a speaker that is a drop in replacement for your vehicle. Besides, think of all the hours you will spend tuning your system, trying to get the sound just right.

Kevin

audiobliss

Man, you're contemplating getting rid of a Cherokee?! I hope I never have to part with mine.

Greg Peters

audiobliss wrote:

Man, you're contemplating getting rid of a Cherokee?! I hope I never have to part with mine.

Well, if it was a red one, I could never part with it.

Its not that I want to get rid of mine, but eventually the wife will trick me into car payments again- I know it- and I'll want the srs to come with (naturally), leaving those "holes of shame" all over a perfectly good used car. Hopefully thats a few years away at least. A shiny new Infinity/Acura/Caddy would go along way towards easing the pain, though.

MacLeod

I wish theyd never stopped making the Cherokee. It was 10 times the rig the new Liberty is.

If they were still making them back in 2002 I likely wouldve bought one instead of my beloved Dodge Ram!

Greg Peters

KevinLWhitaker wrote:

Yea, you're supposed to lust over these speakers for a good long while, figure out how to hide the purchase from the wife/significant other or how to explain it when she finds out (you see honey, I was going to buy you some new jewelry but I thought you like these speakers much better!) and say damn the torpedos I will find a way to make these speakers fit this vehicle. If you don't spend a few hours/days trying to make speakers work in your vehicle and end up with bloody knuckles you are not a true car audiophile.

I usually use a different (and more expensive) brand of psychology on the Mrs.-

I turn her loose with cash at an outlet mall, and then catch her on the guilt rebound after she's has a chance to tally the grand total. "You only want to spend $750 on your speakers? You'd better grab those, and that amp too! I feel so bad with everything I've got..."

I'm lucky she has a tin ear, and that she has never really noticed all the old upgraded equipment laying around in closets. Some guys at work even helped me get rid of some evidence. If I had to provide a grand total, my hobby would have to slow down to every second outlet mall binge.

As far as lusting over the srs, I've been doing that since the announcement on the website that they were coming, and seeing Mac's in-progress install photos didn't help either. And for info, my Jeep has tasted blood with almost every new component .

MacLeod

I just pout. The wife makes more money than I do and eventually she feels guilty and lets me buy toys.

Like now I need an EQ so Im walking around the house all the time like this ->

Eventually, she'll give in.

Greg Peters

MacLeod wrote:

I wish theyd never stopped making the Cherokee. It was 10 times the rig the new Liberty is.

If they were still making them back in 2002 I likely wouldve bought one instead of my beloved Dodge Ram!

I rented one for a week a year or so ago.

I found it had a totally different power band- less torquey feeling in the bottom end, and the engine seemed to be working harder at speed while sucking the same amount of gas... 3.7L V6 vs 4.0 inline 6.

Squeaks and rattles were worse in a four month old Liberty (less than 3000 mi.) than in a 4 1/2 year old Cherokee with 85 thou. on the clock. The chassis felt pretty loose in comparison too. When I showed up at work in the Liberty, I had to explain several times that "no, I didn't really buy a girl's Jeep"- to buddy with his Cummins-powered, warmed-over Ram.

The factory sound system was so-so, mids in front doors, tweeters on dash, paper whizzer cones (?) in rear doors. The Liberty would respond better to srs as a front stage though...

Greg Peters

MacLeod wrote:

Like now I need an EQ so Im walking around the house all the time like this ->

Did you happen to see the AudioControl stuff at http://www.woofersetc.com/ ?

MacLeod

Yeah and Ive got my eye on this one. For $250, its cheaper than I can find it on Ebay. I hate to admit it but I think Im going to go against my own rules and buy unauthorized. These things are nearly $500 retail and thats just way too much.

The one Id really like to have, the Alpine H701, is $750 retail.

Greg Peters

MacLeod wrote:

Yeah and Ive got my eye on this one. For $250, its cheaper than I can find it on Ebay. I hate to admit it but I think Im going to go against my own rules and buy unauthorized. These things are nearly $500 retail and thats just way too much.

The one Id really like to have, the Alpine H701, is $750 retail.

That would be the one to get. I've considered it, and don't really need the extra x-over in the EQX model.

I was snooping around in Washington State (where I believe AudioControl is made) and after asking around at a couple of shops, it doesn't seem like the manufacturer is that exclusive about who can retail their product.

audiobliss

Haha. I know what ya mean 'bout them red Jeeps. They're something!

I really don't like the new Liberty; as you said, it's a girl's Jeep, lol. It's the V6 Mustang of Jeeps.

I really don't understand why the stopped making the Cherokee. It's a great vehicle, very solid and reliable, and very capable off-road. And evertime you're on the road for 5 minutes, you see at least 7 of them, so they were very popular. Makes NO sense to me.

Greg Peters

audiobliss wrote:

I really don't understand why the stopped making the Cherokee.

They didn't stop making them- our friends in Australia and England can buy a brand new for '06 Cherokee (but it looks exactly like a Liberty). I can't say how sales figures are, however.

http://www.easier.com/view/News/Motoring/Chrysler/article-32720.html
Chrysler News | Jeep launches 2006 Cherokee with the ultimate on-road traction system

They just stopped making the good ones .

Greg Peters

Good news- got the SR6500s.

Bad news- they don't even come close to fitting, and the only way to pull it off would be to build some custom door pods (or convert to power windows $$$).

The SRs are too deep for the doors of the Cherokee (max. 2 3/8" of depth), so I built two custom MDF ring spacers to take care of that issue.The spacers were made to minimum thickness to clear window in down position and maximum that would fit between inner door and door panel.


The SRs just cleared with the custom spacer for installation behind factory grill, required the inner door opening to be enlarged from 5" to 5 5/8", but resulted in the speaker surround being tight up against the factory grill on door panel. This would have prevented speaker excursion, possibly damaged the speaker, and would have sounded like crap. I considered mounting two crescent-shaped pieces of styrofoam above speakers to deflect door panel outward above speaker for more clearance, but even that caused the window crank to rub hard on the factory speaker grill in the door. Additional inner door surgery would have caused more depth issues.

I couldn't have just cut out the speaker grills in the door panels and used the supplied grill, because they stick out too far and would interfere with the window cranks by a big margin. Short of sourcing power window regulators, harness, and PW/PL door panels, custom door pods would have been the only alternative...but would still have caused issues with the window cranks and have required taking out a good chunk of inner door to clear the magnets in an alternate location. Q-Form kick panels were not an option- not enough clearance on driver's side by clutch pedal.

As much as I hate to say it, it looks like I'll have to go with SR5250s in the doors- less mid bass extension (but should be pretty much a drop-in situation). Close, but not close enough .

1996blackmax

What about cutting the door panel and covering it with some cloth?

MacLeod

I wouldnt worry too much about the 5250's. I too prefer 6.5's but would have no problem if I had to run the 5250's instead.

Thom

Is there any chance of bumping the window track back a bit? We've done it in Honda's and Wrx's before when we needed just a bit more clearance. Some cars have it easy- you can unbolt the window track at the bottom and use a longer bolt with a spacer. It might not be that easy in your car, but it's worth looking into. If not, the 5250 sounds very good, don't worry.

exalted512

exactly, take the bolt off, stuff some washers in there and bolt it back. Works on most cars
-Cody

Greg Peters

Thom wrote:

Is there any chance of bumping the window track back a bit? We've done it in Honda's and Wrx's before when we needed just a bit more clearance. Some cars have it easy- you can unbolt the window track at the bottom and use a longer bolt with a spacer. It might not be that easy in your car, but it's worth looking into. If not, the 5250 sounds very good, don't worry.

I did try that first. I was very determined to make the SR6500s work.

The window track bolts to the inner door panel about mid-door, but the leading edge of the window track (closest to the door hinges) also has a guide hanging down that is spot welded to both the inner door skin and the anti-intrusion bar that runs the width of each door.

To adjust the track without adjusting the guide caused the window to bind. I tried bending the spot-welded guide outwards as well (below its mounting point) to compensate for the window track, and it bent allright- just not in the way I envisioned.

The only way I could have made this work would have been to go full custom door panel or door pod, which would have been out of place in an otherwise bone-stock Jeep.

The door panel (plastic) is actually very thin material, and I was even considering going after them with a heat gun and re-shaping the speaker grill area from behind with a fab'ed buck of some kind, but even distorting the panel a little bit by hand caused the window winder handle to rub. A custom cloth grill would have been nice, but with something structural behind it to protect the speaker it would still rub- tolerances are that close.

If someone with a similar '97-'01 Cherokee wants to install the SR6500s, it would take less modification in a Jeep with power windows, as the winder interference would not be an issue. It would require a 1/4" spacer with a protruding lip near the top edge (to keep the door panel off the speaker surround) OR use of the supplied grills. To add insult to injury, the speaker cut-outs in the inner door don't really line up with the grill in the door panel, so when you enlarge the holes from 5" to 5 5/8" you have to enlarge them upwards from bottom of cut-out.

I picked up the SR5250s today. While I'm sure the top end will sound great, I am betting I'll have to say goodbye to any kind of mid-bass up front from the 5 1/4" mids.

I usually have my db650s crossed over around 63hz to 80hz with good output (depending on the source music). The SR6500s in the tested graph play very well below that nominal crossover point, but I haven't seen anything from Polk or elsewhere for the response of the SR5250s other than the advertised 60hz-30khz. I suspect that output near the 60hz end of the spectrum will be rather low, but I'll post as to how these work out after break-in.

Greg Peters

The SR5250s are in. The tweeters sound great right out of the box, but I'll have to reserve judgement on the mids until they've got some hours on them.

Midbass and even lower midrange is less than spectacular, but if these are anything like the other Polk drivers I've had, they'll loosen up some with several hours of playing time. For now, I do miss punchy midbass up front, but do find that these blend OK with my sub.

Quite the different experience from trying to install the SR6500s. I had to use two layers of Dynamat (and then some) to bulk up the factory 5" speaker opening so as to have the flange of the 5250 seal against the inner door. The supplied gaskets will help some as well.

A Signature Reference three-way set using the tweeters, 5 1/4 mid and the 6 1/2 mid bass (as Thom suggested) would really be something in the right car- mine just isn't it (unfortunately ).

I'll have an Alpine MRD-M605 on the way soon, and if the right deal came along on last year's Alpine MRPT220 (for rear fill), I'll try to biamp the SR5250s and see what that does for them.

MacLeod

Bi-amping is the only way to go. Youll notice a huge improvement when you bi-amp and after you get them dialed in.

Trust me, they will liven up over the next couple of weeks. It takes em a bit to break in and for you to get them tweaked just right to your listening preferences but once you do, youll love em.

1996blackmax

Bi-amping (not going active) gives you more control, but if you already have a very good passive crossover it may not really make a difference.