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Upgrading the Alpine speakers in the JLU Rubicon

atxjlrubi

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I want to get more volume out of the stereo in my Rubicon. The Alpine system is not bad, I just want more volume and a cleaner sound. Anyone look to see if we can possibly squeeze 5 1/4 speakers in the spaces of the 4inch speakers? Would most likely need to make some sort of mounting plat for the tweeters. Just trying to plan this out now may sit on it a bit to see if any good aftermarket options open up. I just don't think the Alpine is going to hold its own with the top and doors off.

Focal ES 100K - 4" and Tweeter - Soundbar
Focal ES 100K - 4" and Tweeter - Tweeter will go where the 3inch speaker is and 4 inch will replace the speaker at the knee area.
JL Audio 10TW3-D4 - I think this will fit in the spot where the alpine sub is.
JL Audio HD Series HD600/4 - To power the focals
JL Audio HD Series HD750/1 Reviews - to power the sub
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$uicide$hift

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I have no clue on what you can make fit but I find the Focal speakers to be very loud and clear yes but they lack warmth to me. While you are looking into an upgraded speaker check out Hertz speakers as well. I find them to have more warmth to their sound over the Focal speaker.
 

tnnjl

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I want to get more volume out of the stereo in my Rubicon. The Alpine system is not bad, I just want more volume and a cleaner sound. Anyone look to see if we can possibly squeeze 5 1/4 speakers in the spaces of the 4inch speakers? Would most likely need to make some sort of mounting plat for the tweeters. Just trying to plan this out now may sit on it a bit to see if any good aftermarket options open up. I just don't think the Alpine is going to hold its own with the top and doors off.

Focal ES 100K - 4" and Tweeter - Soundbar
Focal ES 100K - 4" and Tweeter - Tweeter will go where the 3inch speaker is and 4 inch will replace the speaker at the knee area.
JL Audio 10TW3-D4 - I think this will fit in the spot where the alpine sub is.
JL Audio HD Series HD600/4 - To power the focals
JL Audio HD Series HD750/1 Reviews - to power the sub
Hi,

Were you successfully got all these installed? I am about to do the same; replacing my alpine system with Hertz speakers and JL Audio HD Amps and would like to learn from what you have done. Thanks.
 

Krondor

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I love Dynaudio speakers, but if you upgrade the speakers you may be on a path to re-calibrating everything.

Are you going for SQ or SPL? Is the system capable of bypassing the Alpine adjusted EQ developed for their speakers? How will it impact the noise cancelling parameters? Can noise cancelling be disabled? Can you change the timing, crossover points, etc? Will your new speakers work well in the volumes you will be using? Or are you making new boxes specific to the speakers you are buying? Can you just add more power?

It's fun playing with audio, but the end result may not be what you want unless you research some of the variables.
 

Purity’sPa

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I want to get more volume out of the stereo in my Rubicon. The Alpine system is not bad, I just want more volume and a cleaner sound. Anyone look to see if we can possibly squeeze 5 1/4 speakers in the spaces of the 4inch speakers? Would most likely need to make some sort of mounting plat for the tweeters. Just trying to plan this out now may sit on it a bit to see if any good aftermarket options open up. I just don't think the Alpine is going to hold its own with the top and doors off.

Focal ES 100K - 4" and Tweeter - Soundbar
Focal ES 100K - 4" and Tweeter - Tweeter will go where the 3inch speaker is and 4 inch will replace the speaker at the knee area.
JL Audio 10TW3-D4 - I think this will fit in the spot where the alpine sub is.
JL Audio HD Series HD600/4 - To power the focals
JL Audio HD Series HD750/1 Reviews - to power the sub
I had the following installed in my JL Rubi
Focal ES100K in the front
Focal ES165K2 is in the bar
JL 10W6 in custom box with JL Fix86 and JL MHD900/5 amp

At the same time I had my K40 and dash cam from my last ride also installed.

Honestly I’m not really happy with that finished product. I like that everything is still controlled from the stock unit but the speakers sound too bright and while I can comptrol the amount of bass, the finished product seems to lack any midrange. The system gets loud and the bass hits pretty low but th
E overall sound lacks depth and clarity.

I think the factory speaker locations make upgrading a challenge.

I’ll try and take some pics. Im
 

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Xingpao

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My soundbar has a horrible rattle at certain frequencies, so i will be sound dampening it to see how that works out. The alpine really hates crappy sources like Sirius radio and I need to work on getting more high quality audio files to play through the system.
 

jtp

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I love Dynaudio speakers, but if you upgrade the speakers you may be on a path to re-calibrating everything.

Are you going for SQ or SPL? Is the system capable of bypassing the Alpine adjusted EQ developed for their speakers? How will it impact the noise cancelling parameters? Can noise cancelling be disabled? Can you change the timing, crossover points, etc? Will your new speakers work well in the volumes you will be using? Or are you making new boxes specific to the speakers you are buying? Can you just add more power?

It's fun playing with audio, but the end result may not be what you want unless you research some of the variables.
Your right on the money, If you change one thing you have to change it all so everything works together. This is a dream system.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/custom-audio-install-complete.9609/#post-243531
 

Sierra Nevada

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I had the following installed in my JL Rubi
Focal ES100K in the front
Focal ES165K2 is in the bar
JL 10W6 in custom box with JL Fix86 and JL MHD900/5 amp

At the same time I had my K40 and dash cam from my last ride also installed.

Honestly I’m not really happy with that finished product. I like that everything is still controlled from the stock unit but the speakers sound too bright and while I can comptrol the amount of bass, the finished product seems to lack any midrange. The system gets loud and the bass hits pretty low but th
E overall sound lacks depth and clarity.

I think the factory speaker locations make upgrading a challenge.

I’ll try and take some pics. Im
Have the 8.4 Alpine Premium system on a Red Rubi hardtop, fully loaded. The system is way too bright at default settings with windows closed. My solution to boost mid-range fidelity is to let the larger rear speakers (in the overhead sport bar) dominate the mid-range ... not the smaller front speakers. I'm guessing the front speaker are just too small to generate a decent mid-range fidelity.
I did this by:
1. shifting balance more towards the rear where larger mid-range speakers are located (located in overhead bar).
2. Boost mid range equalizer to +8/10 and bass 4/10. Treble at default.
3. If more "treble" is needed, move the balance one or two clicks towards the front and let the smaller front speakers kick in more high end frequencies.

For windows open equalization is at dead center.

Guessing that a bright system is better when the windows are down so the singer's voice is easily heard amongst all the wind noise.
 
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crazychile

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I don't have any experience with the new JL radios so take this with a grain of salt. Traditionally the Jeep radios (and most factory systems) either suck, or suck for the amount spent.

Adding new speakers and amps to a factory head unit is usually an expensive bad learning experience. If the head unit is crap then you'll only get louder crap, or be able to more clearly hear the crap once you start upgrading your amps and speakers. My recommendation is to start with a new head unit (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, etc) and then work to upgrade speakers and amps from that baseline.

It is possible to get a little better sound from the factory head unit by doing some simple speaker upgrades, but keep your expectations realistic. Don't spend a lot on high end speakers at this point. You won't be able to take advantage of the improvements they offer. Keep the speaker upgrade on the cheap side and you'll be OK. Think speakers in the $80-$120 price range, not several hundred dollars unless you're willing to upgrade the head unit first.
 

Goin2drt

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I might tend to disagree with the head unit comment. I have been to some car shows that the stock head unit was used and WOW it sounded awesome. These companies are figuring out how to get those to work because these days with everything integrated into the head unit, no one wants to replace that. I would rather have ok sound and a factory unit then awesome sound with an after market and losing all the functions.
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