Year to year alpine changes?

[skeptacular]

Not an upgrade thread.

On another forum someone is considering getting a new Colorado/Canyon or a Gladiator. Having gone from a Colorado to a JLUR I gave my 2 cents with the note that I have a JLUR not a JT. One comment I made is even without a subwoofer the optional upgraded Bose stereo in the Colorado sounded a little better and more clear than the Alpine system in my JLUR. Another member there drives a JT with the Alpine system and his father has a Colorado with Bose. According to him the Alpine system sounds far better than the Bose, not even close. I have tried messing with the equalizer and fader. I stream all my music using a wireless android auto adapter, same one I used on my Colorado.

I don't have my Colorado for a side by side comparison, but I remember being slightly disappointed in the sound of the JL. The Alpine sounds good to me, but not fantastic and not as good/clear/clean as the Colorado. Reasons I can think of for the difference in our experiences:

My JLUR is a 2018 and JTs didn't come out until 2020 model year. Maybe there is a year to year or JL to JT difference?
Perhaps something is wrong with my system, blown speaker maybe? This is what he is suggesting.
Maybe the PO upgraded the speakers in my Colorado or the speakers in his JT (although I think he may have bought new).
Something else?

My Jeep is at the dealership getting the "Service Axle Locker system" issue fixed (CarMax is paying), hopefully get it back today. I might ask them if I can listen to a system with Alpine stereo. I'll also try using the balance and fader to more isolate speakers to see if any sound blown.

Sponsored

 

[AFD]

I've heard a few modern-day Bose premium systems that to my ears, sound quite a bit better and much cleaner/clearer than my Alpine premium system. Biggest difference between them being stock tweeters up front, but a lack of subwoofer in the back. I've had others here disagree with that opinion (Aldo, iirc), so grain of salt and everything. Once I changed the upper dash speakers, I'd say they're both comparable.

Are you using a streaming service or local files with Android Auto? Imo, some services like Pandora sound like absolute crap with the low-bitrate stream. SiriusXM radio is about the same.

 

[skeptacular]

Funny thing, both my Colorado and my JLUR came with stubby antennas and normal radio sounds like complete garbage. I use iHeart to stream local stations. If I want to listen to a specific song or artist I'll use Youtube Music (have a subscription). While it's possible I'm losing some quality through that, it's the same physical dongle and the same streaming services for both vehicles.

 

[AFD]

Funny thing, both my Colorado and my JLUR came with stubby antennas and normal radio sounds like complete garbage. I use iHeart to stream local stations. If I want to listen to a specific song or artist I'll use Youtube Music (have a subscription). While it's possible I'm losing some quality through that, it's the same physical dongle and the same streaming services for both vehicles.

Youtube Music should have decent quality for a lot of songs, but I'm not sure about iHeart's quality. Just know that I can clearly hear the compression artifacts while listening to both SiriusXM live radio and Pandora streaming. Direct wire connection sounds maybe a bit better than bluetooth and about the same as wireless Android Auto, but some services' streams sound like trash no matter how it reaches the Alpine/uConnect system. Which is kinda weird, since Pandora usually sounds pretty good when I listen through my PC instead of the app.

Stubby antennas can easily impact your terrestrial radio reception (AM/FM). Might not effect your sound quality much, depending upon your distance to the towers, but I've noticed missing channels and poor reception when I switched my last vehicle's 7" antenna to a 3" stubby. Dropping your stock JL antenna (33" iirc) to something that short would probably have the same effect.

 

[Mike_Hawk]

Something to consider, the Alpine subwoofer is IP66 waterproof.

 

[Apples491]

You're missing the third element in every audio discussion, the person listening. Every person has a slightly different capacity to hear music, as well as preferences on what they want to hear from the system. Some people want the bass thumping, others prefer crystal clear highs. Some people went to a few too many rock concerts in their 20s and can't hear anything above a mid tone.

I don't get into audio quality discussions for this reason. You will never get a non subjective answer.

 

[skeptacular]

Youtube Music should have decent quality for a lot of songs, but I'm not sure about iHeart's quality. Just know that I can clearly hear the compression artifacts while listening to both SiriusXM live radio and Pandora streaming. Direct wire connection sounds maybe a bit better than bluetooth and about the same as wireless Android Auto, but some services' streams sound like trash no matter how it reaches the Alpine/uConnect system. Which is kinda weird, since Pandora usually sounds pretty good when I listen through my PC instead of the app.

All true, but I was using the same physical devices streaming from the same sources using the same apps.

Stubby antennas can easily impact your terrestrial radio reception (AM/FM). Might not effect your sound quality much, depending upon your distance to the towers, but I've noticed missing channels and poor reception when I switched my last vehicle's 7" antenna to a 3" stubby. Dropping your stock JL antenna (33" iirc) to something that short would probably have the same effect.

The stubby antenna made the radio in my Colorado sound so bad I started using the iHeart app - worlds better. I find the same is true in the JLUR. At least I assume it's due to antennas.

You're missing the third element in every audio discussion, the person listening. Every person has a slightly different capacity to hear music, as well as preferences on what they want to hear from the system. Some people want the bass thumping, others prefer crystal clear highs. Some people went to a few too many rock concerts in their 20s and can't hear anything above a mid tone.

I don't get into audio quality discussions for this reason. You will never get a non subjective answer.

Once in a while I'll get a wild hair and go for the loud bass thumping, but for the most part I just want clean clear sounds at a low to mid volume.

 

[AFD]

All true, but I was using the same physical devices streaming from the same sources using the same apps.

Ahh, I gotcha now. There's a noticeable difference in sound quality between your JL and your Colorado using the same adapter, same phone and same streaming service. Think I was misunderstanding and yeah, that shouldn't be the issue at all then.

Comparing the JL's Alpine system to a Bose system with actual front tweeters, think the only way you're going to be able to improve clarity is to either boost the highs on the EQ up quite a bit, maybe fade forward a little or replace the crappy upper dash speakers with something that has actual tweeters to properly reproduce the higher frequencies. Also, in the uConnect audio settings, there's a setting for road noise compensation and setting this from off to level 1 actually helps a bit when listening at lower to medium volume levels. Audibly, it sounds similar to a "loudness" button on the older stereos, so you might need to readjust your EQ bands after enabling that if it's a little too "punchy".

And I can also see how someone would think the Alpine system sounded better than Bose (and vice-versa). Imo, all the factory Bose systems I've heard were really lacking in the lower-mid and low-end, while the Alpine goes a bit overboard with the bass. And conversely, the Bose are all crystal clear in the upper-end, where the Alpine sounds a bit dull and muddy (or even harsh, if trying to boost the high EQ too much).

Just my 2¢ and sure, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and sometimes they're shitty ?

 

[skeptacular]

I'll look for the road noise setting, that's a new one to me. It's not that I hate the sound, it's just when someone is implying it should be much better than it is I have to ask questions.

Anyway, since nobody has chimed in about year to year or JL to JT differences in the Alpine system (and google didn't find any before I started this thread), I'll assume my '18 JLUR should sound pretty much the same as a '21ish JT.

Sponsored