23 JL 8.4 Alpine Audio Question

[paulwodom]

Alright you smarter than I folks. I need some help. Just bought a 23 Wrangler JL with the 8.4” Alpine stereo system. I want to upgrade the dash, knee panel and soundbar speakers. Will the factory amp be ok to power the new speakers or should it get replaced? Is there a was to swap the factory amp and use the factory plugs for the speakers? I plan to add another amp and two 12” subs in the back.

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[Flip]

Alpine makes a great stereo but it depends how many watts the output is, e.g. If its 50 watts per 4 channels and you install (4) 200 watt speakers it would be lacking power to drive the speakers to there capacity. (Under powered) If you install (4) 50 watt speakers it'll be fine. If you're installing (2) 12" subwoofers. Again, verify how many watts the subwoofer is X2 and buy an amplifier with enough power to drive them. The amplifier can be slightly under or over but under is generally not preferred. I would also recommend in-line fuses to the subwoofers.

Light'em up!

 

[AnebuR]

Alright you smarter than I folks. I need some help. Just bought a 23 Wrangler JL with the 8.4” Alpine stereo system. I want to upgrade the dash, knee panel and soundbar speakers. Will the factory amp be ok to power the new speakers or should it get replaced? Is there a was to swap the factory amp and use the factory plugs for the speakers? I plan to add another amp and two 12” subs in the back.

MB Quart makes a drop-in speaker replacement kit. Works fine with the OEM amp.

 

[Flip]

MB Quart makes a drop-in speaker replacement kit. Works fine with the OEM amp.

Did it make a significant difference over the factory speakers? Do you have the link for that?

Thank you

 

[AnebuR]

Did it make a significant difference over the factory speakers? Do you have the link for that?

Thank you

Night and day. The OEM Alpine speakers are shockingly cheap looking. They have paper-thin cones and small magnets. Probably could've gotten better speakers at Radio Shack back in the day. Here's the link: https://mbquart.com/shop/products/mobile/mobile-vehicle-kits/jeep-wrangler-tuned-systems/

 

[Flip]

Night and day. The OEM Alpine speakers are shockingly cheap looking. They have paper-thin cones and small magnets. Probably could've gotten better speakers at Radio Shack back in the day. Here's the link: https://mbquart.com/shop/products/mobile/mobile-vehicle-kits/jeep-wrangler-tuned-systems/

Thank you, I appreciate that. This is something the OP should consider IMO.

 

[Gaiden414]

The magnet difference is just neo vs ferrite, but yes material quality is on the lower side for the stock Alpines.

I replaced just the 3.5" with Kicker KS in the dash and sound bar along with some polyfill and the vocals and highs really perked up. I was even able to keep the EQ flat and have the system sound pretty good.

If you replace the speakers and get metra adapters, be sure to double check the polarity, as some had them swapped.

If it was my Jeep and not the wife's, I would very likely replace the dash and knees (almost the whole dash has to come out to swap them ), add 6.5s to the soundbar with no cut adapters, and either supplement the stock sub with one of the Skar enclosures on the driver side or do 2 of them and replace the stock. Power it all with a multi channel and sub amp as well as a DSP. Then add sound deadening to the chassis, doors, panels, and top.

MBquart makes good stuff, I just personally wouldn't be able to justify the overhead.

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