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Alpine vs Kenwood - very disappointed

Jebiruph

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That probably wouldn’t be an audible difference. That usually just effects the sound waves being reverse of the other speakers sound waves. But if you’re only playing one speaker at a time you shouldn’t notice it. Or atleast I never did.
You're not playing one speaker unless you unplugged the lower dash speaker. It's the out of phase with the lower dash speaker that distorts the sound. I noticed an audible difference when my Infinity dash speakers were out of phase with the factory speakers, it made them sound bright and harsh. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/metra-speaker-harness-polarity.49506/#post-1095940
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HungryHound

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That probably wouldn’t be an audible difference. That usually just effects the sound waves being reverse of the other speakers sound waves. But if you’re only playing one speaker at a time you shouldn’t notice it. Or atleast I never did.
Yep and it's usually only noticeable at lower frequencies when the bass cancels out.
 

TX_Ovrlnd

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Have you tried reversing the wires on the terminals of the one that sounds awful?
 

Bzinsky

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You're not playing one speaker unless you unplugged the lower dash speaker. It's the out of phase with the lower dash speaker that distorts the sound. I noticed an audible difference when my Infinity dash speakers were out of phase with the factory speakers, it made them sound bright and harsh. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/metra-speaker-harness-polarity.49506/#post-1095940
I dont have my jl yet to know where the speakers are

If there are 4 speakers playing in these clips, it could just be that the new kenwoods are less efficient, meaning they will play at lower decibles at the same wattage compared to a more efficient speaker.

sliding the channel left and right would indeed make that difference much more noticable.

also what type of speaker is the lower dash speaker? Is there a tweeter in it?

also what’s up with the distortion on the base notes. Please tell me that was something to do with the recording and my incoming JL is not going to distort like that. I heard it on both the alpine and the kenwood.
 

dragoneggs

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I have a '22 JL Rubicon (2dr) so my sound enclosure is different but...

First, yes check your polarity of your OEM vs aftermarket install along with the rest of your speakers. Here's a cheap and easy way...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MQ55QHL?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Did you play with the equalizer?

I suggest you listen to the system as a whole, adjust your equalizer and fader to suit you.

I installed the Kenwood KFC-X3C in my dash and love them. Much better high frequency response which was what I was looking for... maybe because of a dedicated tweeter.

You do need a little more power to drive them at comparable volume. 4ohm vs. 2ohm. I pushed the fade a little forward.

And then with road noise freedom tops off, there was even a bigger difference. I'm very happy with mine and know that I can drive them harder than the OEMs. Especially if I decide to install an aftermarket amp.
 

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Bzinsky

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I have a '22 JL Rubicon (2dr) so my sound enclosure is different but...

First, yes check your polarity of your OEM vs aftermarket install along with the rest of your speakers. Here's a cheap and easy way...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MQ55QHL?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Did you play with the equalizer?

I suggest you listen to the system as a whole, adjust your equalizer and fader to suit you.

I installed the Kenwood KFC-X3C in my dash and love them. Much better high frequency response which was what I was looking for... maybe because of a dedicated tweeter.

You do need a little more power to drive them at comparable volume. 4ohm vs. 2ohm. I pushed the fade a little forward.

And then with road noise freedom tops off, there was even a bigger difference. I'm very happy with mine and know that I can drive them harder than the OEMs. Especially if I decide to install an aftermarket amp.
the big question is, did you install them in place of alpines or the base speakers?

As for OP. You’re sending the same power to both speakers and as ^he mentioned, the kenwoods need more power to function. So going back and forth with the l/r slider, the kenwoods would be quieter. You could try just turning the volume up when you go to the kenwoods to counter this.

also, the most likely culprit, the jl’s have lower front speakers that are playing at the same time as the upper ones

for example if the oem alpine system has the 3.5inch dash speaker playing say (just wild guess of frequency range) 200hz and up, and then has bigger driver under the dash handling the 75-500hz range, that’s basically in principal, a single full range speaker, and you just installed new and less efficient driver for only the 200hz+ range.

just throwing it out there as a possible reason it sounds that bad.
 

Bzinsky

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I have upgraded a lot of my cars/jeeps to aftermarket speakers which outputs dramatically better sound and range. Well today the Kenwood excelon kfc-x3c 3.5 changed that. To put it bluntly - they suck! I tired it with and without the crossover. I am missing depth, range and the tweeters have minimal output. An example of this is at the beginning of hotel California, the maracas disappear when I switch to the left channel (kenwoods).

Take a listen and let me know your thoughts. Excuse the crappy non-copyright music, not the best representation of the drastic difference but hope you can hear it. Right = Alpine Left = Kenwood
side question, did you record that audio with your phone. Pretty impressive mic
 

calemasters

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I am not an audiophile and I do not listen to music much while I am driving, but I think the uplevel factory Alpine system with subwoofer sounds pretty good.
 

Bzinsky

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Ok did a little more research, here’s the answer.

the oem alpine 3.5” speaker are not very high quality

your kenwoods sound like crap because they are 4ohm and their efficiency rating is only 83db. They are a not a good speaker for a direct replacement without adding an amp. They need more power.

there is the perfect speaker to drop into the oem alpine system though, verified by many forum posts and by me looking at the stats

the infinity REF-3032cfx
91db efficiency (massive difference from the kenwoods you have)
And they are rubber surround and polypropylene cone, so they should be excellent for water resistance.
3ohm, just like factory. These are basically perfect for a drop in speaker replacement using an oem amp.
 

JLUandCJ-7

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Ok did a little more research, here’s the answer.

the oem alpine 3.5” speaker are not very high quality

your kenwoods sound like crap because they are 4ohm and their efficiency rating is only 83db. They are a not a good speaker for a direct replacement without adding an amp. They need more power.

there is the perfect speaker to drop into the oem alpine system though, verified by many forum posts and by me looking at the stats

the infinity REF-3032cfx
91db efficiency (massive difference from the kenwoods you have)
And they are rubber surround and polypropylene cone, so they should be excellent for water resistance.
3ohm, just like factory. These are basically perfect for a drop in speaker replacement using an oem amp.
Agreed. I put the Infinitys in. Made for exceptionally clear highs. Vocals really pop, where they can be slightly muddled in the Alpine 8.4.

The only problem I've heard from folks is that the highs are so sharp it over powers the rest of the system with the top off ( bouncing off the window). I've played with the equalizer in those situations and made it work fine.
 

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1Evil55

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There was a JL Audio speaker that many have used in the dash with great results too.
 

Bzinsky

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Agreed. I put the Infinitys in. Made for exceptionally clear highs. Vocals really pop, where they can be slightly muddled in the Alpine 8.4.

The only problem I've heard from folks is that the highs are so sharp it over powers the rest of the system with the top off ( bouncing off the window). I've played with the equalizer in those situations and made it work fine.
I don’t doubt it makes the system a bit too bright.

thats the downside of modifying oem systems.

yeah the individual speaker is way better, but now the balance is off

personally if I had to chose between basically having no tweeter like the oem system and then having a tweeter but it’s a bit too bright, I’ll take the tweeter

would probably be ideal if you could put some sort of resister inline the speaker wire to tone it down a notch.
 

Terpsmandan

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I started in the dash with a set of Infinty 3032's and 6052 components in the soundbar. The amp is finicky about load and shut the soundbar down. So next I tried a set of Alpine S-S65c components. They were ok but then I sat under them and realized that there was very little sound coming out of the soundbar woofer. Then I tried to install a W4660Nex pioneer hu and the dash speakers started clipping because the HU was sending too much signal to the amp. So i replaced the whole smash with JL Audio 350's in the dash and 650's coax in the soundbar with a 2" driver that @overboosted reccomended. It was better but could not go to 11 when I wanted it. Ended up selling the radio and getting the MB Quart Stage 6 kit with the amps and the amppro. The factory Alpine is not bad but the sound quality really depends on the source. There are some tracks on my Apple palylists that sounded great on the Alpine and some that left you wanting to turn it up to 11 or 12 and it did not exist.
 

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the big question is, did you install them in place of alpines or the base speakers?
Maybe a bigger question is whether the 'stock' OEM premium speakers in my '22 JLR are the same as the optional ones in years past? There is no longer an option for Alpine. With the 8.4in Uconnect system now standard equipment, I assumed they were. Now I am questioning that.
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