Help help!!! 6x9 Upgrade for 2017 Ram 1500 with Alpine

[CanuckRam1313]

Yoooo, this looks great! What box is that???

The shop indicated it was a custom made box for the sub and fitment of the Ram under-seat storage area.

Although, there are several single 10" sub boxes I found on the googler available for the rear under-seat space. Just type in your year, and rear under-seat single 10" sub box for (crew cab, or quad-cab).

Crutchfield on-line also has these single 10" sub boxes, too.

 

[texas law dog]

Can someone please tell me what's the best plug and play options for replacement 6x9 speakers in a 2017 Ram with the Alpine option. I don't want to replace the radio or the Amp I just want better quality 6x9 speakers. I've tried 2 different kind already and they didn't even sound better then the factory speakers. Just in case you were wondering... The first ones I tried were the powerbass OE-692T and then the jbl gx9628. All did not give me any more bass and very little extra highs. Can anyone help with this or is it a lost cause.

sorry I didn't read all the posts but humbly, in order to achieve top quality sound you have to spend the money, you know...get what you pay for, top quality costs much more, from just another avg joe!

 

[Hardracer]

Is agree with everyone here about just changing out the stock stuff for a better sound.
I went all the infinity ref settups....to my ears volume level dropped a bit but the clarity was night and day to where I thought something was wrong with the system....as time went on I started noticing all the different sounds better....dont even notice the volume thing now and tunes I cant play loud as I did before just due to clearing up the diff.stuff.
Got an alpine amp under drivers seat for 2 old a** 10"mtx subs that thump just fine for my needs....really junk for the amp but do thump fine at my level....my case I made an enclosure for under the seat stuffed with poly also.think the pics are in 1 of my posts somewhere from way back.
Pics arent on my tablet but in my phone. I'll search tomm.and post them here if I find them.

Found it...

What have you made for your RAM ?

I know we have a lot of talent here ,and I am curious what have you made/fabricated ! I have seen home built head ache racks , any home built under seat gun racks ? ! I made a simple tire rack as I have 8 tires to store, Summer/Winter and was too cheap to spend 150$ on a factory one lol The...

www.ramforum.com

 

[RLee276]

Can someone please tell me what's the best plug and play options for replacement 6x9 speakers in a 2017 Ram with the Alpine option. I don't want to replace the radio or the Amp I just want better quality 6x9 speakers. I've tried 2 different kind already and they didn't even sound better then the factory speakers. Just in case you were wondering... The first ones I tried were the powerbass OE-692T and then the jbl gx9628. All did not give me any more bass and very little extra highs. Can anyone help with this or is it a lost cause.

I have a 2020 with alpine. I’ve spent almost a grand on speakers and the only ones that really made a bid difference was the the corner dash speakers.
I’ve tried infinity reference, alpine , audio frog , and jlb in front and back doors and the difference is negligible. And then you have to turn the volume higher to make up for it.
If if I could go back in time I wouldn’t replace a door speaker or sub unless it was blown.
I ended up getting a LOC and and amplified 12 inch power bass speaker from crutchfield and shined my back seat up 1.5 inches and the truck jams now.

Anyone who thinks changing a door speaker on the alpine system make a big difference is just having a placebo effect if you know what I mean.
The alpine amp adjust its self and its output based on the volume level to prevent people from blowing their speakers.
I think the alpine sounds good. And with a loc and amped speaker the truck rattles. But if you want more you will need to replace the entire system

 

[One Mile Up]

I’ve spent almost a grand on speakers and the only ones that really made a bid difference was the the corner dash speakers.
I’ve tried infinity reference, alpine , audio frog , and jlb in front and back doors and the difference is negligible...

Anyone who thinks changing a door speaker on the alpine system make a big difference is just having a placebo effect if you know what I mean.
The alpine amp adjust its self and its output based on the volume level to prevent people from blowing their speakers.
I think the alpine sounds good. And with a loc and amped speaker the truck rattles. But if you want more you will need to replace the entire system

This is basically what my installer said -- word for word... LOL

I was thinking the other day that I might actually just end up KEEPING the factory Alpine amp to continue to power the center speaker(s?) and the two speakers that are mounted in the roof in the back of my cab (I have the upgraded 9 speaker setup)... I'd most definitely have to figure out some decent replacement speakers for those areas -- but that shouldn't be too complicated to figure out. I will 100% be upgrading the front door / dash (sticking to 6x9 components) and rear door (sticking with 6x9's) and powering those with my new 5-channel amp...
I have my appt scheduled for the 12th/13th... for my sub upgrade / sound deadening -- can't wait to see what it sounds like! Hopefully it doesn't SUCK!

 

[Hardracer]

Arent there 12"shallow mount subs nowadays that can be squeezed In the back?
I know dam well I could glass up another box to fit a shallow mount(prolly could use what I have now)...I thought about it but really just don't care anymore to mess with it.....I still enjoy reading about what can and shouldn't be done though.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

Arent there 12"shallow mount subs nowadays that can be squeezed In the back?
I know dam well I could glass up another box to fit a shallow mount(prolly could use what I have now)...I thought about it but really just don't care anymore to mess with it.....I still enjoy reading about what can and shouldn't be done though.

Take a look at AudioMobile EVO or GTS subs.
They are specifically engineered for shallow/small enclosure sealed boxes.
Stuff the box with polyfill, too. To trick the sub into thinking it's in a bigger box thus producing better audio quality.
My 10" slams hard and clear in my sealed sub box under the rear passenger seat in the little well.

 

[Atcer2018]

OP has the Alpine system which I believe is a 2ohm system. Using aftermarket 4ohm speakers will be harder to drive than 2 ohm. The 4 ohm speakers won’t be as loud as the 2 ohm at the same amp power output level. The Alpine also has a preset built in DSP so aftermarket speakers won’t get full frequency ranges. It’s a lot easier to upgrade the basic six speaker system.

 

[One Mile Up]

I yanked my factory enclosure out this past weekend to prepare my factory enclosure for the upgraded subwoofer going in this upcoming weekend and I was astonished with the bass (minus the factory sub) that the factory 9 speaker setup still had…

I thought I read somewhere that the sub was running at 8 ohms… not sure about that tho…

 

[Jay_ramble]

Is there a list anywhere that shows what impedance each alpine speaker is? I'm thinking about throwing in some new 6x9s myself

 

[Richard Kim]

OP has the Alpine system which I believe is a 2ohm system. Using aftermarket 4ohm speakers will be harder to drive than 2 ohm. The 4 ohm speakers won’t be as loud as the 2 ohm at the same amp power output level. The Alpine also has a preset built in DSP so aftermarket speakers won’t get full frequency ranges. It’s a lot easier to upgrade the basic six speaker system.

Atcer,

You are absolutely correct in regards to the 2 ohm system. If you put 4 ohm speakers, there will be a volume difference. Everything is controlled by the OEM Alpine system amplifier. The front door speakers are mid bass only. The rear door speakers are full spectrum. I replaced the rear with 2 ohm JBL dedicated 3 way and it did make a huge difference (getting full range). The OEM door speakers have the same 6X9's front and back without a dedicated tweeter (hence the muffled sound). Hope this helps.

 

[regal81455]

Just to add to this thread and give OP ( and others ) some things to think about. Here is how I ended up on my system.

Replaced the factory Alpine HU w/ Pioneer DMH floating screen. Maestro added means no factory functions were lost.
Replaced the front dash speakers with Infinity References.
Replaced the front and rear 6x9s with JBLs - doors were sound deadened at this time as well.
Replaced the ceiling speakers with Massive Audio 2.5"s
Removed the factory sub and replaced it with the JL stealth box.

This is where things get interesting....

The front corners and the four doors are being ran off a AudioControl D6.1200
The subs are being ran off a Kenwood 600w mono thru the AC6.1200. The AC then can control/tune them thru the built in DSP.

I then left the center dash and the ceiling speakers connected to the factory Alpine amp.

For this to happen, I found the correct TYCO plug from Mouser to make a jumper harness so I could maintain the use of the center and ceilings thru the factory amp. Speaker leads were then ran from the AC6.1200 back upfront to where the factory amp is and all were tied into the factory wiring from there with another factory type plug.

Once all was installed and operational; I was able to balance everything first by disconnecting the factory amp speaker plug so I could use the built in DSP in the AC6.1200 to optimize the big six and subs together. Then I re-introduced the factory amp and tuned till it sounded good and blended well at max volume.

This type of install is crazy involved but it's about the only way IMO to really IMPROVE on the factory setup beyond minor gains seen from simply replacing the factory sub with a LOC or pre-amped sub and dash speakers.

BIG sound comes with BIG expense and time.

 

[Atcer2018]

Atcer,

You are absolutely correct in regards to the 2 ohm system. If you put 4 ohm speakers, there will be a volume difference. Everything is controlled by the OEM Alpine system amplifier. The front door speakers are mid bass only. The rear door speakers are full spectrum. I replaced the rear with 2 ohm JBL dedicated 3 way and it did make a huge difference (getting full range). The OEM door speakers have the same 6X9's front and back without a dedicated tweeter (hence the muffled sound). Hope this helps.

Thank you for the feedback. Fortunately I have the basic 6 speaker audio system with the 8.4 radio. On the base system all channels are full spectrum from the factory amp while the dash and front doors use capacitors to block frequencies. I’ve upgraded my base system. The dash has Infinity 3.5 two ways with capacitors. Front doors have Kicker 6X9 poly mid bass woofers and the rear doors have Kicker 6X9 two ways. I use a Kicker Key amp in bi-amp mode to drive the four front speakers and the factory head unit drives the two rear speakers. The base system is so much easier to modify than the Alpine system, new speakers, couple of capacitors, a few feet of wire, sound deadening foam and a T-harness so you don’t have to cut factory wires. A friend has the Alpine system and has forever been upgrading and tweaking while spending a small fortune on it.

 

[skates15]

Thank you for the feedback. Fortunately I have the basic 6 speaker audio system with the 8.4 radio. On the base system all channels are full spectrum from the factory amp while the dash and front doors use capacitors to block frequencies. I’ve upgraded my base system. The dash has Infinity 3.5 two ways with capacitors. Front doors have Kicker 6X9 poly mid bass woofers and the rear doors have Kicker 6X9 two ways. I use a Kicker Key amp in bi-amp mode to drive the four front speakers and the factory head unit drives the two rear speakers. The base system is so much easier to modify than the Alpine system, new speakers, couple of capacitors, a few feet of wire, sound deadening foam and a T-harness so you don’t have to cut factory wires. A friend has the Alpine system and has forever been upgrading and tweaking while spending a small fortune on it.

Good to know. Sounds like your friend could have been me since I have the Alpine 9 speaker system.