Premium Alpine 8.4 system with 9 speakers and sub upgrade and questions

[Barty88]

I have seen a bunch of threads and posts about this topic but several are years old and most haven't been replied to in many months, and none answered my questions so I am starting a new one.

I am doing the simple upgrade most mentioned on here with the Infinity speakers and the Pioneer sub.

First question is this.... its an odd number of speakers which are usually sold in pairs. Anyone know where to get one 3.5" Infinity speaker for the center? None on ebay, Crutchfiled lists only one option and its $329 (and not an Infinity). I asked the Crutchfield guy and he said "Its just a manufacturer gimmick, it doesn't make the system sound better once you have upgraded speakers, simply disconnect it".

So... 2nd question obviously is... is that accurate? Anyone else do this? does that even make sense? Would that do anything negative in terms of processing and signal to speakers if this system is 9.1 and you just d/c one.... where would that processing of the sound to the center speaker go? I know in home audio the center speaker is arguably the most important one.

Also9, I head mention at least a couple times a while back on here or other forums there was a fairly simple upgrade to the alpine system that did a decent job of improving its power but I dont think it was a traditional amp. Anyone know what that may be? I may want a little more power but honestly amps are 100% completely over my head in terms of comprehension. I have no idea how they work, what I would need, what to get and worse .... how to go about hooking it up without tearing my truck apart. May just live with the stock Apline, I know its pretty decent for stock.

Lastly, I read another post on Ram head units being able to record songs on the HDD. Is this something these Uconnect Apline 8.4's can do or no? If so, I cant find any info on it.

 

[Outbreak]

I think the key to finding a single speaker is to look on here for someone who did the upgrade and has a speaker lying around. In fact, I have one from my upgrade, but I'm away on business and won't be home for at least a month. Or you could purchase and then sell the extra one on here - I'd bet it would sell fast.

 

[yillbs]

You buy them in pairs. You'll have an extra one. Yay you!

 

[Chief_6.7]

This all depends on what kind of sound your looking for. I hear the pioneer swap out sub is not even worth it. If you really want to make a difference you can swap out door and dash speakers then upgrade to a nicer box with an aftermarket 10” or 12” sub all while keeping your stock head unit

 

[EcoDieselDog]

I changed the two front side speakers for JBL Club3020's a couple of weeks ago, and thought it was a slight improvement. I went ahead and changed the center front speaker this past weekend (with the same model JBL), and I thought it made all the difference. (Don't know if it was just changing that speaker, or maybe because it also made all three front speakers match at 3 ohms??). While I was playing around with it, I tried the system with the center front speaker disconnected and did not like the sound at all.

This is just my opinion - everybody hears things slightly differently!!

 

[rotwiler]

Jbl gx302s sound great and are pretty much identical to infinity's. I had both, just get the ones that say 2ohm, they are actually 2.4 ohm(I tested the gx302s and oem dash speakers) both are 2.4ohm. Center is subjective, I like it enabled, some like no center for better separation, but the center speaker puts out a few more dbl than the side speakers. Maybe try adding the side dash speakers and leave oem center, so you get some sound out of center and the tweeters in the aftermarket will be louder, so even out sound more.

 

[BWL]

In home the centre is important because most of the voices come from where you're watching the screen, but when I listen to music I just run stereo sound as that sounds better to me especially if I'm not in the middle of the set up. In a car you're only listening to audio so the centre isn't really needed. Most of the guys including myself that go high end don't use one. If keeping the factory head unit and amp though it's up to you. I certainly wouldn't remove it in that case. If you do replace it then just get a pair as many here have said above and sell the other one as others here have done or wait for someone else to buy a pair and sell you the spare. To go amplified you'd need something to take the audio signal from the head unit and convert it to RCA. In our trucks it's best to use something like the rockford DSR1 with maestro to sum all signals and send them to the amps because most of the speakers are bandpassed through the head unit. Honestly if you go that way it's a fairly major undertaking to do it right. There are small amps that use speaker level input, but the sound improvement isn't the best IMHO. The early 4th gens I think up to 2012 had a built in HDD, but the 13+ 8.4 units do not. If you're not aware a USB thumb drive loaded with music works well and can be controlled on the screen. At least if somebody steals it you're only out a thumb drive. The other option is Bluetooth through the phone though I do find a lot of lag and doesn't seem to work as well as a USB at least in my case.

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

I installed the center channel speaker and I didnt have one before. Im glad i did.

 

[mtnrider]

I installed the center channel speaker and I didnt have one before. Im glad i did.

I assume you have the 6 speaker system? How did you wire in the center speaker?


.

 

[Bill507]

I assume you have the 6 speaker system? How did you wire in the center speaker?


.

Same question here, I have upgraded to the RA4 NA from RA3 so only 6. But did upgrade to all kickers; Great upgrade!

Sent from my rotary telephone using Tapatalk

 

[JDLonghorn]

I changed the two front side speakers for JBL Club3020's a couple of weeks ago, and thought it was a slight improvement. I went ahead and changed the center front speaker this past weekend (with the same model JBL), and I thought it made all the difference. (Don't know if it was just changing that speaker, or maybe because it also made all three front speakers match at 3 ohms??). While I was playing around with it, I tried the system with the center front speaker disconnected and did not like the sound at all.

This is just my opinion - everybody hears things slightly differently!!

I put the 3020's in all three front spots and found them to be really harsh. I compared them with the factory speakers on my home stereo, doing a side by side instant comparison and the difference is obvious. the 3020's are an improvement for sure. After three weeks of driving I decided to disable only the tweeter on the center speaker which makes it more of a mid range and that seems to have taken some of the edge off.

 

[EcoDieselDog]

I put the 3020's in all three front spots and found them to be really harsh. I compared them with the factory speakers on my home stereo, doing a side by side instant comparison and the difference is obvious. the 3020's are an improvement for sure. After three weeks of driving I decided to disable only the tweeter on the center speaker which makes it more of a mid range and that seems to have taken some of the edge off.

Yeah, everybody's ear is different and probably no two systems sound exactly the same. I've played a couple of dozen songs that I loaded up that are supposed to be great for checking out systems, and I love the sound I'm getting right now. Maybe it does sound harsh to others, but I'm loving it.

 

[TomT]

I've played a couple of dozen songs that I loaded up that are supposed to be great for checking out systems, and I love the sound I'm getting right now. Maybe it does sound harsh to others, but I'm loving it.

This is all that matters.

I’m certain many here would hear my system and say Holy ****. To me, it’s still missing “something”. A case of beer to anyone who can tell me what that something is. LOL

 

[Witch]

If you get a DSP involved it opens up a ton of adjustment.

Being able to tailor the sound to the specific speakers you have the the tonal and positional adjustments changes to the game.

I am convinced it can make any speakers sound the best they can.

Just started playing with mine and it is crazy how much adjustment is available.

Some would say it is too much ,

Best $ 250.00 I have spent on the truck.

If you want to maximize the mid bass response deaden the doors

 

[Barty88]

If you get a DSP involved it opens up a ton of adjustment.

Being able to tailor the sound to the specific speakers you have the the tonal and positional adjustments changes to the game.

I am convinced it can make any speakers sound the best they can.

Just started playing with mine and it is crazy how much adjustment is available.

Some would say it is too much ,

Best $ 250.00 I have spent on the truck.

If you want to maximize the mid bass response deaden the doors

What DSP di dyou get and use?

 

[Barty88]

So... still struggling through this upgrade because I can find no speaker wiring diagram. Crutchfield was on the phone with me for over an hour... the call center at Chrysler/Dodge may as well have been a bag of hammers for all their usefullness. Nothing in the owners manual, nothing on line. I see a couple threads with posts but the picture is so small i cannot make anything out. Specifically stuck right now on the roof wires, dont know which one is positive and which is negative... I am sure I will run into issues all over the truck. Anyone know where I can find out which wire is which? Seems ridiculous in this day and age there are no customer resources for simple issues like this.

 

[adrianp89]

What wires are you looking for?

 

[BWL]

What DSP di dyou get and use?

@Witch and myself both have rockford DSR1s. Mine works well and was in the same price range as just buying a Pac audio unit that would still need a dsp.

 

[mtnrider]

. Specifically stuck right now on the roof wires, dont know which one is positive and which is negative... I am sure I will run into issues all over the truck. Anyone know where I can find out which wire is which? .

I have a PDF of the premium audio system with wire colors? Not sure the rules on uploading it here though?

.

 

[PowrRam]

I asked the Crutchfield guy and he said "Its just a manufacturer gimmick, it doesn't make the system sound better once you have upgraded speakers, simply disconnect it".

So... 2nd question obviously is... is that accurate? Anyone else do this? does that even make sense? Would that do anything negative in terms of processing and signal to speakers if this system is 9.1 and you just d/c one.... where would that processing of the sound to the center speaker go? I know in home audio the center speaker is arguably the most important one.

I don't think disconnecting the center speaker has any negative effects. I presume that signal simply goes to the other two dash speakers.

I had the Alpine 9 speaker system on my 2015 Big Horn. I replaced the corner dash tweeters with Polk speakers. Since it was easy to pull the grill off with a plastic trim pry tool, I tried it a couple days with the center dash speaker connected and then disconnected it and tried it for a couple days. I thought disconnecting it gave better stereo imaging. I didn't think the center speaker brought much to the equation. I ended up leaving it disconnected and had the Surround Sound option set to OFF.

When my lease was almost up I removed the Polk's from the corner dash spots, replaced the stock tweeters there and hooked up the center dash speaker. Yick. Instant de-clarifying of the high notes. Once again I didn't think the center dash speaker added anything of value.

You could do what I did--replace the corner dash speakers and play around with the center stock speaker connected and then disconnected. Only you can decide if you want that space filled with sound.