Installed JBL GX602 Speakers

[howson]

I read every thread I could find on speakers. The most influential was this one: https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ighlight=GX602

No disrespect to the OP in the other thread, but there are a few things I'm not thrilled with related to the GX602s that I just installed.

1) One of the male connectors on the speaker is about 1/2 the normal size. I got the trailer's female wires connected to both speakers, but it's not a solid connection on that small pin.

2) The screws that attach the speaker to the ceiling go through the cover, (look closely at the picture below) so you have to hold both in place simultaneously. I prefer a snap-on cover or something like the OEM cover that rotates and holds into position once the speaker is installed.

3) It shouldn't be a surprise to me, but the boss is not going to be happy when she sees those black speakers in her ceiling. (I "forgot" to ask permission before installing. Hey! No judging, people...) Something tells me I'll be pulling the speakers right back down and spray painting the covers white.

Sound quality is like judging beauty--what someone thinks is amazing another will think it is just "eh". Are the speakers better? Obviously, yes. I got these for $49 on Amazon (they are "recertified") so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Below are some shots from the installation (starting with the OEM as installed):


After unscrewing the OEM speaker from the ceiling...


The JBL installed.


The JBL from a distance.

[Rapid1]

I don't think it looks that bad at all. Another thing is that you will only marginally change the quality of sound with just speakers. They're still being run by the Furrion, or whatever other cheaper unit is installed. Upgrading the deck will improve things a lot. There are threads here about others that have installed double din car decks in the same hole and play's DVD's. I had one in my old truck. We use our phones for tunes, Sirius or stored on the phone, bluetoothed to the soundbar or Bose sound dock outside. We don't use the Furrion at all in our coach. The only thing we are missing is AM/FM which we rarely, if ever, listen to at home. And judging by other comments here, the reception isn't very good with either since the radio uses the coax connection from the TV antennae.

If I were to change out the Furrion, I would do as you've done with the speakers and get real audio antennae(s).

[howson]

I don't think it looks that bad at all.

The boss saw them last night and growled at me, but so far I haven't been tasked to paint the covers so it's all good.

Removing that Furrion and replacing it is high on my want-to-do list. I am always listening to music, so having something of at least tolerable quality is a must do. I'd like to have something like a NUC (small computer) in that spot in the cabinet with the audio tied into a (small) amplifier. That will be fun to assemble, but too many "got tos" in front of the "want tos".

[TheGuy]

I just put in some JBL gx628 speakers in mine yesterday. I soldered a pigtail with a blade terminal to the new speaker so I could get a solid connection. I also had to tighten all the factory connectors. They just slipped off the old speaker with little/no resistance. Another thing was that the wood backer on the front speaker was off-center from the hole. I had to cut the ceiling a bit to make it fit. [emoji30] At least the speaker hides it. Final issue was that one of them is wired backwards. Can't tell which without removing the radio, but the wire with the stripe was reversed from one speaker to the other.

They look just about like yours and I'm waiting on my wife's grumblings as well, but she hasn't seen them yet.

Sound quality is improved but that Jensen HU is garbage.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[howson]

I just put in some JBL gx628 speakers in mine yesterday. I soldered a pigtail with a blade terminal to the new speaker so I could get a solid connection. I also had to tighten all the factory connectors. They just slipped off the old speaker with little/no resistance. Another thing was that the wood backer on the front speaker was off-center from the hole. I had to cut the ceiling a bit to make it fit. [emoji30] At least the speaker hides it. Final issue was that one of them is wired backwards. Can't tell which without removing the radio, but the wire with the stripe was reversed from one speaker to the other.

They look just about like yours and I'm waiting on my wife's grumblings as well, but she hasn't seen them yet.

Sound quality is improved but that Jensen HU is garbage.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

Replacing the Jensen is also on the mod list. I'd actually like to build a small multimedia PC and install it in that area. Should be a fun project when I get a RounToIt.

[TheGuy]

Replacing the Jensen is also on the mod list. I'd actually like to build a small multimedia PC and install it in that area. Should be a fun project when I get a RounToIt.

Take a look at libreelec and the raspberry pi 3B+. I have one of these I use for retro gaming and am thinking of repurposing it for just that.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[SKI367BHS]

I pulled the stock speakers after my hunting trip because I was super dissapointed in their sound. I ordered a pair of these JBL MS6520B 6" Marine Speakers in white and found the one male connector was 1/2 the size of what i was thinking. A trip to Autozone hooked me up with the mini female connector. I found these new speakers to be deeper and a bit tight as they are taller (between the face and the end of magnet) but not to the point they couldn't be installed. They just compressed the insulation more than I'd like.
After instal I did notice a large improvement, but can also hear the limitations of the head unit. We don't crank it up crazy loud so I don't think this will be an issue.
Now I'll need to do the same thing with the exterior set as those are even worse than the interior set. While hunting we were trying to listen to the election resluts and half the time we couldn't understand what was said. However, it goes in for warranty work so I'll have them look at them and see if they are blown( that's how they sound to me). Maybe they were damaged while it was on the lot or came that way who knows. I'm not sure I want to go the larger speaker and pod route as we don't usually have these up very loud. Just enough to hear it while under the awning.

With that said, even with what we have it is a wicked improvement over our last 5th wheel who's sound bar was about as good as an old 70's hand held single speaker radio, and the exterior speakers in the awning ends never worked. Soooo glad I'm not dealing with that thing anymore!

Not being a stereo/elec wizard, is there a way to put in a couple single channel amps (one for interior and one for exterior) to boost power to the speakers enhancing the sound quality? Not talking like a 200 watt deal, just something small maybe 50 watts or so?