Rational approach to Upgrading Alpine System?

[4a4c55]

My Sahara has the Alpine system, and I'm kind of disappointed with it. My main complaint is that the sound seems like it's coming from behind me rather than in front of or around me; and the audio doesn't seem particularly well-defined or focused. The bass from is either non existent or too much.

I guess the first thing I'm going to do is check for any damaged or disconnected speakers; and then play with the audio settings some more. (The vehicle is used, so who knows what its true history is!)

There are lots of threads here about all sorts of different upgrades; packaged speaker kits like the Terr Acoustics stuff; individual speakers that drop in, mod kits with new back boxes or brackets, and so on. These are super-puzzling to me for a few reasons. Some are technical: the noise floor is at least 60 db, since it's a Jeep. How can anyone expect any kind of audio quality? And the Jeep is quite flexible -- seats up or down? a ton of camping gear or just passengers? -- so the acoustics of the "room" are highly varied. How can the system compensate for that?

There are tons of threads in this forum about different equipment. There's any number of speakers, some people add power amplifiers. Lots of post say they notice a big difference, but precious few explain exactly what changed. I don't feel motivated to spend a ton of money -- how am I going to overcome that noise floor? It's a losing battle. But it seems like the sound could be at least a little better, right? Even if I buy some upgraded speakers, I'm still in for at least $400. And there's no way to try before I buy.

How do people get through these purchases? What's a good upgrade to solve the problem I observe?

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[m3reno]

I changed out the corner speakers up front and also the sound bar speakers with the Select Increments which come with speakers and pods designed to work with the Alpine system.

 

[mrtm1970]

First…try playing with the Audio settings. Fade to front 1 click from center makes a huge difference. Also bass setting to almost highest helps.

I got the Terra Acoustic front dash speakers are a great improvement from stock Alpine. It also helped the sound come from the front better as well.

Also how you play your music makes a huge difference. I play through CarPlay with my IPhone for my music with Apple C lightning cable in Input 1 in front dash (I am ok with the cable coming out of the dash to my phone). It is MUCH better than Bluetoothing your music.

 

[BXFXJeep]

I pretty much only use a USB stick with mp3s, seems fine to me, not the greatest but sure beats the non Alpine system by a mile, the source might be the issue as some suggested.

 

[4a4c55]

I got the Terra Acoustic front dash speakers are a great improvement from stock Alpine. It also helped the sound come from the front better as well.

The TA system gets very mixed reviews. The price is quite high, and the company seems very ... I don't know -- maybe snotty? Pretentious? The waiting list, plus the tone of the website, it's just too off-putting to me. (And yeah, I guess that's the opposite of rational.)

Also how you play your music makes a huge difference.

I'm playing MP3 files (160kbps or 192kbps bitrate) from a USB stick.

 

[4a4c55]

I pretty much only use a USB stick with mp3s, seems fine to me, not the greatest but sure beats the non Alpine system by a mile, the source might be the issue as some suggested.

Sorry, you lost me -- you're saying that a USB stick is better than the non-Alpine system?

I am playing from a USB stick, tho, so I'm not sure that's the problem.

 

[BXFXJeep]

No I meant the only source I use the a USB Stick.

I had the non Alpine in a 2015 JK Sahara it seriously sucked.

 

[Petaur]

My Sahara has the Alpine system, and I'm kind of disappointed with it. My main complaint is that the sound seems like it's coming from behind me rather than in front of or around me; and the audio doesn't seem particularly well-defined or focused. The bass from is either non existent or too much.

I've had almost the same experience, but I've only had my Jeep for a couple days. Though to me the sound is coming from the opposite direction, it sounds like it's only coming from in front with nothing behind.

 

[BXFXJeep]

I've had almost the same experience, but I've only had my Jeep for a couple days. Though to me the sound is coming from the opposite direction, it sounds like it's only coming from in front with nothing behind.

Use the fader to decrease the front a bit, so the rear increases. Front seems louder and drowns out the rear somewhat.

 

[ArmyRN]

I am not a stereo expert, but here's my take on it. Oh, and I have a 23 JLU Willys XR 2.0T with the Alpine system.

No matter what's driving the sound, ultimately the sound comes out of the speakers. I'd rather have a low budget system with really good speakers vs. a really high end system with cheap or poor speakers. Ultimately you're listening to what the speakers are capable of.

The Alpine system is an upgraded system, but some of the speakers seem cheap. Start with upgrading the 3.5" speakers on top of the dash and the overhead soundbar with some better 3.5" speakers (Crutchfield is your friend here) and go from there. They're easy to get to, and easy to replace. And adjust the fade and balance and everything else to your liking. You might have to experiment some to get it how you like it.

It is one thing to listen to your Jeep's stereo system sitting in your driveway with the engine off vs. going down the highway at 70 mph with all the engine and road and wind noise. How do I say this... don't have overly high expectations for living room quality sound while driving your Jeep. Don't spend a ton of money on it unless you've comfortably got it to spend.

I've got the Hot Heads headliner with the sound assassin straps, but that's about the extent of my sound proofing. I replaced the dash top 3.5" speakers with some Kenwood Excelon speakers (about $80/pair). Haven't replaced the 3.5" ones in the overhead soundbar (may or may not do those as I think it sounds pretty good right now). Again, road noise and wind noise may cancel out some of those expensive upgrades (for possibly small returns sound improvement wise) shops want to sell you.

My opinion anyways....

 

[AFD]

Was initially quite disappointed by the premium Alpine system in my 2-door, mostly for the same reasons you mentioned. Even with the smaller sub, the bulk of the sound was clearly coming from behind my ears and the sub and rear soundbar seemed to overwhelm the sound coming from the fronts. And likewise, the fronts were dull and muddy, lacking clarity in the upper frequencies, which is due to the system not having discrete tweeters to handle that range (still think it's dumb that a "premium" system doesn't include front tweeters).

Got some satisfaction after messing with the EQ for a long time and fading the rear toward the front by +1 or +2 lowered the sub volume a bit and helped balance everything out. Still wasn't pleased with the dull fronts and installed the Terra Acoustics set, which completely solved that complaint for me. Compared to other car audio speakers I've purchased, their set absolutely isn't worth the money they're charging, but it does sound pretty good and addressed the issue I had with not having discreet, separate tweeters (upper midbass improved a bit too, but the change wasn't quite as noticeable). The addition of tweeters finally gave my ears the impression of a higher soundstage coming from the front of the vehicle, as it should, with the rear only providing a neutral fill of sound that lacked the same upper clarity. A cheaper set of coaxials would probably be an improvement as well, but I think true tweeter + midbass separates like the TA set is the better solution for that location (they allow returns if you aren't happy with the change).

The last thing that helped a little with the overpowering volume from the sub was moving my Freedom Panel storage bag from the backseat to the back, so it sat directly on top of the sub. I absolutely love loud bass and used to rock dual 12" subs for many years, but the little oval sub just overpowered the rest of the system with an unnaturally boomy bass and a poorly designed source unit that had no level control for the subwoofer itself (fading forward helps, but too far forward and the rear fill from the soundbar becomes too quiet).

Still really wish I had a sub-level control (and a parametric EQ and some time-alignment and some crossover control), but otherwise, I'm mostly happy with how it sounds now, which imo is 110% how it should've came from the factory. It still doesn't compare to most properly tuned aftermarket systems, but without getting the bug to start spending thousands on audio gear again, it's "good enough" for only spending a few hundred bucks.

 

[Petaur]

Use the fader to decrease the front a bit, so the rear increases. Front seems louder and drowns out the rear somewhat.

Yup, that's what I did. Think I reverted it though, wanted to give the "stock" setup some time to really determine if I don't like it or if it's just different.

 

[Mx5red]

I am not a stereo expert, but here's my take on it. Oh, and I have a 23 JLU Willys XR 2.0T with the Alpine system.

No matter what's driving the sound, ultimately the sound comes out of the speakers. I'd rather have a low budget system with really good speakers vs. a really high end system with cheap or poor speakers. Ultimately you're listening to what the speakers are capable of.

I respectfully disagree with this. I’d rather have a well amplified system pushing mediocre speakers than a weak (stock alpine) amp pushing good speakers. Usually the better the speakers, the larger the magnets and the more power needed to drive them adequately. If you don’t have enough power, they sound really flat.
The stock alpine system is weird in that it it distributes sound to each channel differently so it’s effectively “tuned” to its own setup. It’s just not powerful or premium enough for some people.
If you swap out speakers, it may not play well with that setup. Most of the options people reference are high efficiency models that sound good without a lot of power. If you expect more, then you need a better amplifier, which unfortunately requires some kind of add on to the alpine stereo like a PAC or DSR-1.

 

[Tank2112]

Terra Acoustic in upper dash, set fader to one notch towards front (T/A's are slightly higher ohms speaker than factory 3", so will play a little lower volume).
For more bass..... JL Audio vehicle specific sub with JL Audio Vxi mono amp with built in dsp.

 

[ArmyRN]

There's a saying in the auto world "Speed costs money - how fast do you want to go?". There's probably a similar saying in the auto stereo world "(high quality) sound costs money - how nice do you want it to sound?".

The OP wasn't interested in spending a lot of money. I know I've got some hearing loss in certain ranges from too many years in the Army. To me (a non automotive stereo expert who has done a lot of stereo unit and speaker replacements over the years) a speaker upgrade is usually the simplest and best bang for the buck.

Those TA speakers to replace the ones in the upper dash corners if I remember right were over $200 with mixed reviews (with quite a few of the comments related to cost/benefit ratio). The Kenwoods I got were around $80/pair. Crutchfield has other 3.5" replacement speakers (pick your poison) all of which are an improvement over the factory speakers. I get mine from Crutchfield because of price, selection, and they include wiring harness adapters so it is plug and play.

All these other options folks are talking about (subs and amps and such), how much do they cost and how difficult is the installation?

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