JandS
Well-Known Member
You could spend $5,000 on a higher end system...and it wouldn't sound much better.I agree the wrangler is not the best design for an audiophile pleasing system, but I was hoping for better....
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You could spend $5,000 on a higher end system...and it wouldn't sound much better.I agree the wrangler is not the best design for an audiophile pleasing system, but I was hoping for better....
I agree! My BMW has the Harmon upgrade..fantastic. My few Lexus had the Mark Levinson..unimpressed.I didn't pay any attention to speaker count but I imagine under the covers are a midwoofer and a very small tweeter.
As for Bose, I've never actually been a Bose fan, I just knew ordering the upgrade in my ZR2 was going to be better than the base system and I didn't want to do an upgrade myself. It works well. My 2012 Mini I had was Harmon Kardon, much nicer system.
The reason I'm not a Bose fan is a LONG time ago I repaired them in a shop while I was in school. The speakers inside the expensive looking boxes were, shall we say, less than expected. I really like small speakers when they are done well, I build them for my home systems, but Bose speakers are mostly psychoacoustics and great advertising. Amar Bose was a genius at lots of things, including making money.
That being said, their noise cancelling headphones are the exception, I don't think many competing models are better, just my opinion.
Bottom line, the factory upgrade in most cases is worth it if only from the custom fit speakers and integrated wiring standpoint.
Side note, I've listened to the Mark Levinson upgrade in a BIG Lexus and I was very UN-impressed. And Mark Levinson HiFi gear is way top of the line.
ThxAlright so I'll give my thorough review here on my alpine 2021 system. I would say that I am a low tier audiophile. I don't go as far as a dedicated DAC with resistor tuning and $5000 headphones in order to assurance proper stage and instrument placement etc. However, music is a large part of my life, and I have a very specific sound that I like to achieve. I've built many car audio systems, as well as had many factory sound upgraded systems.
I actually don't agree with much of what has been posted in this thread. For instance, my subaru legacy had the harmon kardon sound system. I think it sounded bad. Not 1980 Ford ripped paper cone speaker horrible, but definitely not what I consider premium. Zero bass, very low max volume. Mids and highs were ok, nothing special. Ripped out the system and went with a pioneer 13 band eq head unit, focal speakers and a 10 inch sub. 100% improvement over stock. The JL alpine system sounds much better than that vehicles factory system.
Bose. I had a bose system in my 2002 corvette Z06. That system actually sounded fantastic. Likely had to do with the tiny insulated cabin. Great bass, clean mids and highs. On the flip side, I do not like their noise canceling headphones at all. I purchased the NC700s for $400. While I liked the features and the build quality felt good, the sound was terrible. Non-existant bass. Very tinny sounding. I returned them for a set of Bowers and Wilcons. Side note for anybody in the market for some noise canceling cans, check out B&W, they arent usually included in the conversation about noise canceling cans, but they are worth checking out. If you want to see them in person, best buy has them over with the HiFi home theatre stuff, not with the headphones.
Anyway, that was long and drug out but here we go. The apline system is okay, maybe slightly better than okay. The max volume is decent, though personally I'd like to see it go about 20% louder. I like my music unnecessarily loud though. The bass is very present, but also not tight and crisp. If you listen to primarily rap, you should find this sub to sound pretty good. Dip into the metal genre with double bass etc, and things muddy up quickly. Mids and highs are actually pretty decent. Sound is fairly well defined, and clean even at max volume. My biggest complaint is midbass. It doesn't exist, especially at higher volumes. I like crisp punchy midbass. For this reason, I will likely start slowly upgrading this system.
Sorry for the book, hopefully it helps.
OK, a question for those with the Alpine upgrade. I believe the Alpine upgrade was/is described as having 9 speakers. I would assume 4 pairs plus the sub. I have the pair on the dash and a pair on the roll bar and the big sub and that's it. Are they counting more than one speaker per speaker cover? Thanks
It goes in series with the plus terminal on the tweeter.