Alpine stereo upgrade???

[AnonStu]

Now that I have my truck I’m glad I didn’t upgrade the stereo. The stock system sounds decent enough to me. Speakers get enough bass and fills the cab nicely. Stock speakers have come a long way......or I’m just old!! Lol

I agree. I have the stock system and I don’t feel any need to upgrade. I think the head unit is an abomination but the speakers and amplification seem just fine.

 

[Fireman48]

The HK system I have is absolute trash but then again my last car audio system retailed around 15k and the one I have waiting for this car is going to be about the same. I wouldn’t pay $500 for the alpine upgrade. Spend a little more and go on a forum and pic up used equipment that is 100 times better.

You may want to go back and have the HK software update completed. I absolutely love my HK system in mine.

 

[dano66]

Love the Alpine.

 

[canadiankodiak700]

i specificly looked for a truck with basic 6 speaker system. the sound quality from factory amplified systems is garbage, and the little things they do to "fool your ears" into thinking it sounds great.... asyou turn your volume up, it actually starts to roll off your bass to prevent clipping. introducing noise into the audio stream to conceal road and cabin noise picked up by the "active noise cancellation" mics....

no thanks,
pull it and build a decent sound system with the money you saved

 

[troutspinner]

i specificly looked for a truck with basic 6 speaker system. the sound quality from factory amplified systems is garbage, and the little things they do to "fool your ears" into thinking it sounds great.... asyou turn your volume up, it actually starts to roll off your bass to prevent clipping. introducing noise into the audio stream to conceal road and cabin noise picked up by the "active noise cancellation" mics....

no thanks,
pull it and build a decent sound system with the money you saved

I did the same thing when I bought my 2014 and upgraded everything myself. It sounded phenomenal. Fast forward to buying my 2019, I spent the $500 for the Alpine knowing that it would "hold me over" until I get the itch again. To my surprise, after a year, I still don't have the itch, the Alpine is holding up well, even sounding better now that it is broken in. Not better than my 2014 mind you, just better than initial impressions.

 

[michael harpe]

@rdubs20 I had the alpine system in my 18 power wagon. The boomy bass is because only mid-bass is run to the doors. The midrange and highs are all run to the dash and ceiling speakers. I liked the stereo when the windows were up. But when they were down and the sunroof was open I felt the base overwhelmed the vocals and mids.

So I went with the alpine pxe850s which is a 12 channel amp 25 watts x 12 rms) and a digital signal processor all in one.

Then I added a crossfire C5 800.4 (100 x 4 @ 4 ohm RMS) to run the doors, and a crossfire C5 1000.1 to run the 2 12” dvc C3 subs in a fox acoustics box. I lost the folding flat floor, but I have ram boxes and a truck bed.

Anyways, I had to upgrade the door speakers as the 100 watts per channel shorted the door speakers. I went with kicker KS series 3 way 6x9’s and just because kicker KS 3.5” for the dash. I plan on replacing the center and ceiling speakers with 3.5 kickers at some point.

I’m 38 and still love listening to music loud when the windows are rolled down.

The biggest and best upgrade without changing speakers would at least be the alpine signal processor since you have more control over the equalizer. It is a 31 band equalizer.

Everyone’s needs are different. Kenwood also makes a 6 channel amp/dsp but it puts out 75 watts per channel at 4 ohm so you will end up overloading the speakers. (I went with the kenwood first and the amp died. Don’t know if it’s cause of the same problem that killed the first crossfire (had to swap the amp out since it was stuck in protect mode even after I changed the 2.5 ohm factory speakers to 4 ohm kickers) or if it was cause it was a factory refurbished unit from crutchfield. Either way, keep in mind the stock speakers on the alpine are 2 ohm-2.5 ohm. Crutchfield says 3 ohm speakers are acceptable replacements.


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[sstumpf]

I've built custom stereos in my last 3 trucks, but kinda out growing that.

On my new to me 14 ram I have the upgraded alpine system and love how it sounds. All I need now.


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[madweazl]

I've been pretty happy with the Alpine but there is a pretty big difference in sound quality between our '13 1500 and '16 2500 (the 2500 sounding better). Were there any differences between the two? If not, I'll have to dig into the 1500 and see what may or may not be working properly (was never impressed with its sound quality but didn't have another to compare it to until recently).