Upgrading the original speakers from the Suzuki Jimny

Upgrading the original speakers from the Suzuki Jimny

By Daniel
- Updated 6 years ago
Posted in:
12 comments

If you have a Suzuki Jimny up to 2011 (or later) you probably noticed the very bad sound quality of the original sound system. The bad quality is not from the receiver/player but from the low-end Sanyo speakers included on the car. This tutorial will teach you how to replace the frontal speakers by a pair of better quality ones.


To preserve the original factory warranty this installation will not alter the electric cables, the car body or the holes for fixation.


I recommend also the Installation of the rear speakers on the Suzuki Jimny, it will take you two more hours but the results won't disappoint you.

Choosing the best sound speakers for the replacement

Since we don't want to change the original characteristics of the vehicle, there are not many options available for the speakers. The original mount has a very limited short space and shares most of it with cables form other systems of the car.


The original speaker is Sanyo with 4 inch diameter, 10W of RMS power (max of 25W) and 4 ohm resistance. The original player is a Clarion unit is limited to 14W RMS per channel (max 30W). If you want to expand the original Clarion capabilities please check this article.


When chosing the new speakers I recommend to look for parts with the closest power rates from the CD player. If a lower power speaker is selected you'll notice a lot of distortion on higher volumes. If a speaker with high power (for example 100W RMS) is used the player will not have enought power to move the cone leading to a very low volume play.


On my Jimny I used a Selenium brand 4 inch 3-way speaker model 4TR5A. Each one of the speakers from the kit have 25W of RMS power (max 50W), very close to the capacity of the Clarion player. A 0,75 mm² cable is OK for this rated power.

Materials

  • 10mm Wrench
  • Phillips screwdriver
  • Soldering iron (you can also use female terminals)
  • Electric tape
  • Plier (to close the terminals)
  • Solder
  • 4 male terminals 5mm wide (see pictures)
  • 2 pieces of 0,75mm² sound cable with 20cm of length
  • Pair of 4 inch speakers with 4 Ohms of resistance

Step by Step of the installation

Wire diagram
Wiring diagram from Suzuki. Later I noticed that the colors of the left and right side are inverted on the car assembly. IMPORTANT! Many Jimny owners reported that in their cars the positive wire is the one without the black stripe (opposite of this diagram). I recommend you to double check that.

 

Materials for installation
Material needed. The amount of male terminals needed is 4.

 

Welding the sound cable on the speakers.
Welding the sound cable on the speakers. Be careful with the wire polarity. 20cm of cable is more than enought. Less cable is better when you are dealing with sound.

 

Terminals
Fix the terminals using the plier. To archive a better finish I also applied some solder.

 

Jimny plastic door finish
On the vehicle, before removing the speaker cover you'll need to take of the plastic door finish. Just pull it up using your bare hands. You don't need to take out all this part, just the front ending.
The pice that holds the speaker cover on place is not a screw.
The piece that holds the speaker cover on place is not a screw. To detach it just turn the philips 90° and then pull out.
There are no internal clips on the speaker cover. Be carefull with the fragile assembly fittings giving more attention to the one shown on the picture.
There are no internal clips on the speaker cover. Be careful with the fragile assembly fittings giving more attention to the one shown on the picture.

 

Original Jimny Speaker
Original installation. You can notice the restricted space. The speaker divides the installation hole with other electrical system cables. The screws requires a 10mm wrench.

 

After unscrewing the speaker it's possible to take a look at the original (non-standard) plug. The positive wire is the one with a black stripe.
After unscrewing the speaker it's possible to take a look at the original (non-standard) plug. The positive wire is the one with a black stripe.

 

Details from the original Suzuki Jimny speaker.
Details from the original speaker. Notice that are no no indications of the positive and negative poles.

 

Comparison between the original and the new speakers. You may need to enlarge the diameter of the hole on the speaker for the OEM screw.
Comparison between the original and the new speakers. You may need to enlarge the diameter of the hole on the speaker for the OEM screw.

 

Plug the terminals into the OEM connector. Pay attention to the polarity. Some electric tape can help to avoid short circuits.
Plug the terminals into the OEM connector. Pay attention to the polarity. Some electric tape can help to avoid short circuits.

 

Final installation. On this application I just fixed the speaker from the side without need of drilling a larger diameter hole.
Final installation. On this application I just fixed the speaker from the side without need of drilling a larger diameter hole.

Comments

Submitted by Erwin on Tue, 02/28/2023 Permalink

On this application I just fixed the speaker from the side without need of drilling a larger diameter hole.

That actually works? Won't it get loose in the long run?

Submitted by ANDRE G JEDYN on Wed, 11/29/2017 Permalink

Segui o procedimento à risca e ficou ótimo! Os alto falantes que vieram instalados originalmente no meu Jimny eram ainda mais simplórios que os Sanyo que estavam instalados no seu. Curioso que a polaridade deles era o contrário da dos Sanyo, em relação ao encaixe. O som das caixas Selenium é infinitmente superior. Sofri um pouco para elas caberem no espaço, que é realmente muito pequeno. E no final do "serviço" cometi a mancada de derrubar um dos parafusos dentro do espaço onde vai a caixa. Este parafuso agora jaz para sempre em algum canto obscuro do meu Jimny.

O tutorial está excelente! Muito obrigado!!

Muito bom o trabalho.

Ajudou muito para desmontar.Não tive que ficar imaginando como as peças estavam presas.

Parabéns!

Não sei se serve de referência, mas eu arranquei a placa de terminais (branca) e soldei o cabo do falante nele. Aí não há necessidade de terminais.

Claro que o falante original fica inutilizável.

( a fixação do JBL Class 4020 possibilita a utilização dos pontos originais de fixação)

 

Submitted by Jorge Bonfim on Sun, 11/05/2017 Permalink

Texto redigido de forma  a facilitar a compreensão e execução. Segui o passo a passo e não tive dificuldades. Obrigado por compartilhar do conhecimento.

Submitted by Kloppix on Sat, 08/19/2017 Permalink

Thank you. I bought a new Jimny a couple months ago and I installed the 4 speakers following your tutorials. There are however some changes in the newer models.

- The Blade Terminals are not 4.8mm but 6.3mm for front and 2.8mm for rear.

- The original Speaker doesn't show the brand, just a serial. Luckily the polarity is shown  (http://imgur.com/a/qPRXX ) As you can see, is the opposite of yours. Marcos’ wiring is right.

A tip: The speakers are too small to have a decent bass output. It’s just physics. If you don’t want to buy an amp, please consider a powered under-seat Subwoofer.

Hi Sir.

A very good day to you. I am from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

Your details of the Suzuki Jimmy and upgrading of the speakers came up in my search for I am having great difficulties finding out certain specifics so that I can choose the correct speakers.



I you able to help me with the following questions?

Regarding the front speakers of the Jimmy.

A) the front speakers, by your article. I gather the diameter of cutout hole is 10 cm? What is the mounting depth?

B) what is the correct cut hole size front speakers?

Regarding the back speakers of the Jimmy.

A) what is the mounting depth?

B) what is the cut hole size?



I wish to install this system into my 2017 Jimmy which I have not yet got I am collecting it October 5 from the dealership. But I am preparing that a company installs the system before I collect my Jimmy from the dealership, but the problem is that no one seems to know the correct mounting depth and cut hole sizes.

The system I wish to install.

-Front speakers-Pioneer TS-G1 033i (cut out hole size 106 mm), (mounting depth 43 mm) can this speaker fit?

-Rear speakers-pioneer TS-R1350S (cut out hole size 121 mm), (mounting depth 47 mm) can this speaker fit?



The amplifier GM-D9601.

The sub woofer TS-WX70DA



Do you think these all can work together the audio system that comes in the Jimmy is (DEH-X6800D AB)?

I would kindly appreciate your assistance. It would be greatly appreciated.

I bought some Pioneer TS-G1033i too. I didn’t need to drill as the holes and included screws matched perfectly. For some reason there are only 2 screw holes for the front Speakers, though.

As the rear speakers, a 5’’(hard to find) can barely fit but a 5 1/4’’ (13cm) will probably not fit without some cutting. That’s why I just played safe and use TS-G1033i both front and back.

I don’t have an amp. My radio’s output (22W x 4) is close to the speakers’ nominal power (30W) so I don’t think need it. The radio is a JVC KD-X341BT. The active sub is a small TS-WX120A.

Submitted by Marcos on Wed, 07/12/2017 Permalink

The wiring diagram of the Suzuki is not correct. Also, you are inverting the polarity of the speaker. That's no big deal if you put them inverted (they will be in relative phase), but things can get complicated if you put 4 speaker. Most probably they will end inverted. Based on my Suzuki Jimny, double checked by me, this is the correct wiring:

 

Read this as follows: Channel (cable color in a standard ISO connection) -> Cable color in the Jimny

Rear Right + (Violet) ---> Green

Rear Right - (Violet-Black) ---> Green-Black

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Front Right + (Grey) ---> Blue

Front Right - (Grey-Black) ---> Blue-Black

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Front Left + (White) ---> Red-Green

Front Left - (White-Black) ---> Black-Red

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rear Left + (Green) ---> Grey

Rear Left - (Green-Black) ---> Grey-Black

 

There are also some adapters sold ready, and common for Suzuki / Alfa / Fiat / Lancia / Ford / Nissan / Vauxhall...

Also, I recommend putting some quality plastic washer between the speaker and the car chassis to prevent vibration.

 

In any case, let me give you a big thanks for your fantastic explanation!.

You are not the first one to note that. Another user mentioned this inversion last year.

This diagram in this page came from the original Suzuki Jimny (2002) manual and according to the tests in my car was correct. Apparently not all Jimnys follow the same color coding.


I will add a comment in the article text to note that.