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Accidental audio improvement with dash speakers and Alpine system

RSK

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You could buy that dash adapter and put the Infinity speakers in it.
The Infinity speakers are $70. I wonder how the sound will balance going from OEM mid-range to a two way?
I’ll try the JL’s $75 on Amazon first (on order) and see if there is a big improvement over the stock Alpine Premium dash speakers. If not, I’ll send back the JL’s and try the Infinity next.
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Rico1111

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Do any of you guys remember in the JK you used to be able to trick the audio into believing the hard top was still on? (somehow when you would unplug from harness and remove the hardtop the audio output would be cut and lowered!) There was a hack of seating a u clip into the plug so that the vehicle believed the hard top was on and no loss of audio output...I tried searching it but nothing found. I had done it on a rubicon I had owned in 2012 and it really did make a big difference in sound, not sure if it is the same on the JL.
 

CouchPotato

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The Infinity 3032cfx are $45 at Crutchfield until tomorrow.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R3032CM/Infinity-Reference-REF-3032cfx.html

I didn't care for the way they sounded as drop-in replacements to the factory speakers but others seem to like them.

I am quite impressed by the JL C2-350X. The only thing I have in the soundbar right now is a single pair of C2-350X as rear fill and they hold their own pretty well. I don't know how well they would work on the factory amp though since I think they are fairly low sensitivity compared to the Infinitys. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison in my case since I was listening to the Infinitys up front on the factory amp vs. the JLs in the soundbar on an aftermarket amp.
 

StrikeZ

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The Infinity 3032cfx are $45 at Crutchfield until tomorrow.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R3032CM/Infinity-Reference-REF-3032cfx.html

I didn't care for the way they sounded as drop-in replacements to the factory speakers but others seem to like them.

I am quite impressed by the JL C2-350X. The only thing I have in the soundbar right now is a single pair of C2-350X as rear fill and they hold their own pretty well. I don't know how well they would work on the factory amp though since I think they are fairly low sensitivity compared to the Infinitys. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison in my case since I was listening to the Infinitys up front on the factory amp vs. the JLs in the soundbar on an aftermarket amp.
Yesterday I saw that price and I purchased 2 pair of the Infinities, I’m switching out the roll bar tweeters and dash midrange. I expect a more dynamic sound. It’s tough to get hi-fi in a Jeep. So the switch to 2 ways should narrow the spectrum but enhance overall sound.
 

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I’ll try the JL’s $75 on Amazon first (on order) and see if there is a big improvement over the stock Alpine Premium dash speakers. If not, I’ll send back the JL’s and try the Infinity next.
Ultimately I ended up trying/buying both the JL Audio C2 350x & Infinity 3022CFX 3.5’s. First of all, both sound much better than the stock Alpine Premium (muddy sounding) 3.5” dash speakers. I did a side by side and full swap comparison several times. With bass blockers & without. Both speakers sounded very good and much improved over stock. I had my wife (she has a JK and her stereo is currently superior) also participate in the listening test. The JL’s had more bass or less highs/mids. The Infinity had more highs/mids with crisp clear vocals and less bass. With the balance of bass already in the back soundbar and the subwoofer on the Jeep, we both agreed the Infinity speakers balanced out the sound better with the much needed highs/mids. The 600Hz bass blockers popped when initially powering them on each speaker type. Without the base blockers, no popping on powering either speaker. I think the Infinity already has a base blocker capacitor soldered on each speaker as well.

Dont get me wrong, the JL’s sounded very good too and I might put the JL’s in the soundbar to replace the tweeter component. Each speaker brand sounded good and you couldn’t go wrong by upgrading over stock. It’s more of a listener preference i think in wanting either more bass or more mid/highs to balance the sounds.

To make things much easier, buy the Metra 72-7902 wiring harness adapter if replacing the 3.5” dash speakers. Easy slide on connection and full swap out in less than 10 minutes.

Here is the link for the wiring harness on the 3.5” size:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Metra-72-7902-Car-Audio-Speaker-Wire-Harness/267510000
 
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RSK

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Ultimately I ended up trying/buying both the JL Audio C2 350x & Infinity 3022CFX 3.5’s. First of all, both sound much better than the stock Alpine Premium (muddy sounding) 3.5” dash speakers. I did a side by side and full swap comparison several times. With bass blockers & without. Both speakers sounded very good and much improved over stock. I had my wife (she has a JK and her stereo is currently superior) also participate in the listening test. The JL’s had more bass or less highs/mids. The Infinity had more highs/mids with crisp clear vocals and less bass. With the balance of bass already in the back soundbar and the subwoofer on the Jeep, we both agreed the Infinity speakers balanced out the sound better with the much needed highs/mids. The 600Hz bass blockers popped when initially powering them on each speaker type. Without the base blockers, no popping on powering either speaker. I think the Infinity already has a base blocker capacitor soldered on each speaker as well.

Dont get me wrong, the JL’s sounded very good too and I might put the JL’s in the soundbar to replace the tweeter component. Each speaker brand sounded good and you couldn’t go wrong by upgrading over stock. It’s more of a listener preference i think in wanting either more bass or more mid/highs to balance the sounds.

To make things much easier, buy the Metra 72-7902 wiring harness adapter if replacing the 3.5” dash speakers. Easy slide on connection and full swap out in less than 10 minutes.

Here is the link for the wiring harness on the 3.5” size:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Metra-72-7902-Car-Audio-Speaker-Wire-Harness/267510000
Update: I did go ahead and install the JL Audio 3.5” in the soundbar and glad I did. I’m convinced any Alpine Premium (8.4 with 9 speakers) replacement is a big improvement. My dash speakers sound much better with the Infinity 3.5” and now the soundbar sounds better with the JL Audio 3.5”. Why? Because the Alpines are low quality IMO and look about like they sound, cheap.

See pictures below comparing the magnets.
1) Alpine
2) Infinity
3) JLAudio

E9124A72-F29A-4F50-AEE9-9495FDFB84FD.jpeg


EDAE3A17-01DD-4C1C-B6FF-B4878AA96976.jpeg


The other picture is the JL Audio 3.5” in the soundbar. Note: Credit to my daughter for holding the flashlight and learning the basics of maintenance stuff.

67921E93-1219-4BD1-980D-3719D9C2145E.jpeg


No wonder the Alpine’s sound so bad & muddy, there isn’t much there. I plan to keep my 8.4 head, but plan to replace all Alpine speakers from what I’ve seen so far.

Now I’m on the fence if I want to replace the remaining 4” speakers (2 in the soundbar and 2 in the dash knee area) with Morel 4” or use the new adapter pods coming out to house 6.5” in both areas.

If anyone has upgraded to 6.5” from 4”, please share your opinion and listening experience. Thx!
 
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tlmacson

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did y
Update: I did go ahead and install the JL Audio 3.5” in the soundbar and glad I did. I’m convinced any Alpine Premium (8.4 with 9 speakers) replacement is a big improvement. My dash speakers sound much better with the Infinity 3.5” and now the soundbar sounds better with the JL Audio 3.5”. Why? Because the Alpines are low quality IMO and look about like they sound, cheap.

See pictures below comparing the magnets.
1) Alpine
2) Infinity
3) JLAudio

E9124A72-F29A-4F50-AEE9-9495FDFB84FD.jpeg


EDAE3A17-01DD-4C1C-B6FF-B4878AA96976.jpeg


The other picture is the JL Audio 3.5” in the soundbar. Note: Credit to my daughter for holding the flashlight and learning the basics of maintenance stuff.

67921E93-1219-4BD1-980D-3719D9C2145E.jpeg


No wonder the Alpine’s sound so bad & muddy, there isn’t much there. I plan to keep my 8.4 head, but plan to replace all Alpine speakers from what I’ve seen so far.

Now I’m on the fence if I want to replace the remaining 4” speakers (2 in the soundbar and 2 in the dash knee area) with Morel 4” or use the new adapter pods coming out to house 6.5” in both areas.

If anyone has upgraded to 6.5” from 4”, please share your opinion and listening experience. Thx!

Did you have to do anything special, eg. cutting, to fit the JL's into the soundbar? Also, how did you wire them?
 

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Now I’m on the fence if I want to replace the remaining 4” speakers (2 in the soundbar and 2 in the dash knee area) with Morel 4” or use the new adapter pods coming out to house 6.5” in both areas.
What adaptor pods are you speaking of?

I saw the dash ones but nothing else...

Thanks for do this leg work my ears will be thanking you some time in the near future
 

RSK

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did y



Did you have to do anything special, eg. cutting, to fit the JL's into the soundbar? Also, how did you wire them?

Nothing special in cutting anything. I did have to slightly bend the Infinity bracket ends with some needle nose pliers to make the screw holes line up. I saw were some snip them, but a slight bend worked for me. JL’s in the soundbar were tight and have to finagle the wire, but they do fit and take up the compartment. The screw holes for them lined up fine.

For me the dash and soundbar 3.5” speakers take this adapter pair:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Metra-72-7902-Car-Audio-Speaker-Wire-Harness/267510000

And for what I understand, the larger speakers need this adapter:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-Pair-o...and-Dodge-Vehicles-4-Total-Adapters/127235218

They just slide-on or snap, real easy.
 
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RSK

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What adaptor pods are you speaking of?

I saw the dash ones but nothing else...

Thanks for do this leg work my ears will be thanking you some time in the near future
These for the 3.5” dash, but not out yet. Still watching, but think they will be a big help directing the sound toward the driver.
https://tlcautotruck.com/jeep-wrangler-jl-dash-speaker-pods/

These 6.5” for the soundbar. I pre-ordered the adapter and think they ship next month.
https://www.ssvworks.com/product/Jeep-Wrangler-JL-and+JT-overhead-soundbar-6.5in-speaker-adapter

These 6.5” for the knee speakers, but they have to be ordered though a metra dealer and can’t be ordered directly through metra.
http://metraonline.com/part/JP-1014

Haven’t decided if I want to tackle the knee speakers and disassemble the dash to get in there.
 

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StrikeZ

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Nothing special in cutting anything. I did have to slightly bend the Infinity bracket ends with some needle nose pliers to make the screw holes line up. I saw were some snip them, but a slight bend worked for me. JL’s in the soundbar were tight and have to finagle the wire, but they do fit and take up the compartment. The screw holes for them lined up fine.

For me the dash and soundbar 3.5” speakers take this adapter pair:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Metra-72-7902-Car-Audio-Speaker-Wire-Harness/267510000

And for what I understand, the larger speakers need this adapter:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-Pair-o...and-Dodge-Vehicles-4-Total-Adapters/127235218

They just slide-on or snap, real easy.
My Infinity speakers came from Crutchfield with the adapters. I could not get the 3.5” to fit in the sound bar, need to drill holes, I may just send them back.
 

RSK

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My Infinity speakers came from Crutchfield with the adapters. I could not get the 3.5” to fit in the sound bar, need to drill holes, I may just send them back.
Try the dash top and see how they sound. That’s where I put the Infinity speakers, never tried the SB for those. If you like them, slightly bend the mounting bracket on each side upward and they screw right in.
 

StrikeZ

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Try the dash top and see how they sound. That’s where I put the Infinity speakers, never tried the SB for those. If you like them, slightly bend the mounting bracket on each side upward and they screw right in.
I had no problem putting the Infinity’s in the dash corners. Big difference in sound. The fidelity of the Alpine is top notch, but in the Wrangler, too much is lost. It would normally be a bad idea to replace silk dome tweeters with two-ways. The Wrangler is just too noisy for Alpines fine fidelity system.
I may look for another option for the sound bar tweets. I’m not keen on drilling and speed clipping the Infinity’s into the sound bar.
 

RSK

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I had no problem putting the Infinity’s in the dash corners. Big difference in sound. The fidelity of the Alpine is top notch, but in the Wrangler, too much is lost. It would normally be a bad idea to replace silk dome tweeters with two-ways. The Wrangler is just too noisy for Alpines fine fidelity system.
I may look for another option for the sound bar tweets. I’m not keen on drilling and speed clipping the Infinity’s into the sound bar.
Completely understood StrikeZ. I’m nervous about cutting in the 6.5” adapter and adding the 6.5”speakers into the SB, If going that route. Plus, spending all that money/time on the 6.5” swap and the soundbar not sound all that much better would be pretty disappointing. I was thinking about trying the morel 4” in the SB first, but the screw pattern is 4 vs 2 screws in different spots. Too bad we all paid so much money to buy a new Jeep, then have to change out the speakers to improve the listening quality. My wife’s JK with the Alpine Premium stock OEM system and 6.5” speakers sound great with no modifications.

I hate to be a malcontent, but It’s really all trial and error and try again I guess to get what we want out of the listening pleasure. Especially with the top or doors off.
 

StrikeZ

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Completely understood StrikeZ. I’m nervous about cutting in the 6.5” adapter and adding the 6.5”speakers into the SB, If going that route. Plus, spending all that money/time on the 6.5” swap and the soundbar not sound all that much better would be pretty disappointing. I was thinking about trying the morel 4” in the SB first, but the screw pattern is 4 vs 2 screws in different spots. Too bad we all paid so much money to buy a new Jeep, then have to change out the speakers to improve the listening quality. My wife’s JK with the Alpine Premium stock OEM system and 6.5” speakers sound great with no modifications.

I hate to be a malcontent, but It’s really all trial and error and try again I guess to get what we want out of the listening pleasure. Especially with the top or doors off.
The Alpine system is an excellent system. It is just too intricate for the Wrangler. Getting good sound with top or doors off is not practical. So going loud is the better option.
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