So, the wife and I both thought that the ML “upgrade” system sounded absolutely horrible at lower volume listening levels (which she uses everyday and I use when she is riding with me, so 80% of the time). My ears were telling me that there was WAY too much mid and high coming from the second row. No matter how we adjusted the sound settings, we could not get it to sound good. The system sounded especially bad when riding in the second row. So, I decided to get rid of the mid speaker in the middle of the rear doors, and add larger, 6.5” speakers, in the bottom of the doors. I used a pair of JBL Stage 1 621 speakers that I found on sale at Sonic Electronics (recommend not ordering from them, but use Crutchfield instead). From Amazon, I ordered a pair of Metra 72-8109 speaker wire connectors, for easy, splice free connection, and a pair of JSP Manufacturing 82-8148 speaker adapter brackets for the speakers to mount into the doors. I also ordered a pair of Install Bay 6 1/2 Inch VXT62 speaker baffles, as I had seen some water splashed inside the door panels when I was figuring all of this out.
The door panel is very easy to remove. You need to pop off the two covers, circled below, and remove three screws. Then, the panel just pops straight off of the door. No pulling upward at the top. All of the pop fasteners face the same direction.
Once the panel is popped loose, there is one screw holding the door lock popper from the inside. Unscrew it, then disconnect the door handle cable, blue main wiring harness and small clip connection for the puddle light at the bottom of the door. Having a stool or other way to support the door panel while accomplishing these steps is helpful. Then the panel, with both speakers built into it, can be removed from the vehicle and set aside. The two factory door speakers are circled below. Make sure ALL ofmthenwhitempopmfasteners come off with the door. If not, then simply pop the off the door and reinstall into the backside of the panel.
There is a plastic speaker place holder in the door, with wires connected into it, but there is no power running through the wires. I believe these wires would have power, if your vehicle was equipped with the standard sound system, but in the ML equipped vehicles, they do not.
After removing the “fake speaker”, I installed the JSP speaker adapter brackets. You will need to break off the inside tabs of the brackets, if you are using 6.5” speakers. They are made to do this, as they can accommodate 5 1/4” or 6 1/2” speakers. I also took advantage of having access to the inside of the door, and placed a little butyl tape on the door skin to help with sound deadening. Though, I’m not sure this is necessary! I also installed the speaker baffles, but cut a circle out of the back, to help with bass response (due to reviews stating that the baffles may cut down on that). That was probably not necessary, either…
I used the Metra adapters to connect the new speakers to the existing power going to the mid speaker in the door. I did not want to splice or add another speaker for fear of burning up the amp, which is around $1500-$1900 to replace, so I effectively deleted the mid speaker and now have a 6.5” speaker, mounted in the lower door, using it’s power. The sound could be better, as I believe the amp has built in crossovers, to limit how much bass is going through that channel, but, the system sounds much more pleasing to the ears, without the insane levels of mid/high emanating from the second row. It sounds much more like it should now!
I had to install the new speakers upside down, as the wire adapters were not quite long enough. This should not affect the sound quality. I plugged the non-powered original lower plug into the mid speaker, just to hold it in place, and plugged the mid speaker’s original connector into the new speaker wiring adapter. Then, connected the door lock pop up, handle cable, main wiring harness and puddle light and reinstalled the door panel.
The system is still missing the addded bass I was looking for out of the second row door speakers, but I am happy with how it came out. This can be done for around $100 and about an hour of your time!
The door panel is very easy to remove. You need to pop off the two covers, circled below, and remove three screws. Then, the panel just pops straight off of the door. No pulling upward at the top. All of the pop fasteners face the same direction.
Once the panel is popped loose, there is one screw holding the door lock popper from the inside. Unscrew it, then disconnect the door handle cable, blue main wiring harness and small clip connection for the puddle light at the bottom of the door. Having a stool or other way to support the door panel while accomplishing these steps is helpful. Then the panel, with both speakers built into it, can be removed from the vehicle and set aside. The two factory door speakers are circled below. Make sure ALL ofmthenwhitempopmfasteners come off with the door. If not, then simply pop the off the door and reinstall into the backside of the panel.
There is a plastic speaker place holder in the door, with wires connected into it, but there is no power running through the wires. I believe these wires would have power, if your vehicle was equipped with the standard sound system, but in the ML equipped vehicles, they do not.
After removing the “fake speaker”, I installed the JSP speaker adapter brackets. You will need to break off the inside tabs of the brackets, if you are using 6.5” speakers. They are made to do this, as they can accommodate 5 1/4” or 6 1/2” speakers. I also took advantage of having access to the inside of the door, and placed a little butyl tape on the door skin to help with sound deadening. Though, I’m not sure this is necessary! I also installed the speaker baffles, but cut a circle out of the back, to help with bass response (due to reviews stating that the baffles may cut down on that). That was probably not necessary, either…
I used the Metra adapters to connect the new speakers to the existing power going to the mid speaker in the door. I did not want to splice or add another speaker for fear of burning up the amp, which is around $1500-$1900 to replace, so I effectively deleted the mid speaker and now have a 6.5” speaker, mounted in the lower door, using it’s power. The sound could be better, as I believe the amp has built in crossovers, to limit how much bass is going through that channel, but, the system sounds much more pleasing to the ears, without the insane levels of mid/high emanating from the second row. It sounds much more like it should now!
I had to install the new speakers upside down, as the wire adapters were not quite long enough. This should not affect the sound quality. I plugged the non-powered original lower plug into the mid speaker, just to hold it in place, and plugged the mid speaker’s original connector into the new speaker wiring adapter. Then, connected the door lock pop up, handle cable, main wiring harness and puddle light and reinstalled the door panel.
The system is still missing the addded bass I was looking for out of the second row door speakers, but I am happy with how it came out. This can be done for around $100 and about an hour of your time!
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