Upgrade Alpine sub & speakers

[Midnight Storm]

The stereo in my 16 sport is pretty decent, but I still want a little more oomf!
The stock sub is a bit weak so what have you guys swapped it out for. Looking for easy install and not a bank breaker.
I might consider doing higher end mids and tweets too. Please give your input there too!

Pics are always awesome!!!

I tried liking the general stereo upgrade thread, but it was kinda all over the place.

If there’s a better thread for me can you please send a link to it?

 

[TomT]

If you search for Alpine you can probably find a few threads here. Be aware that the Alpine system uses 2 ohm drivers and is a little finicky about having a load on each channel.

If you decide to do a full system then there are other options for that.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Yes, check some of the latest threads. One of the first mods I did was swap in a real subwoofer/amp combo. Affordable and entry level install, the 5/8” MDF prefab boxes are adequate for modest power levels. <1000 RMS

 

[Midnight Storm]

Nice! What combo did you go for?

Yes, check some of the latest threads. One of the first mods I did was swap in a real subwoofer/amp combo. Affordable and entry level install, the 5/8” MDF prefab boxes are adequate for modest power levels. <1000 RMS

 

[Tim Garceau]

JL Audio 12TW3 and Boston GTR passive radiator powered by a Rockford R500x1D. Pretty tedious to shoehorn them into the eBay box, 10s are ideal with the airspace available to keep your rear seats.

 

[Midnight Storm]

That look to be about perfect!

 

[TomT]

Do you have a budget you’re working within? How much more bass are you looking for compared to the factory?

 

[rotwiler]

If your keeping the stock alpine Amp for mids and highs, get the jbl Gx302 3.5 inch speakers for dash, $50 a pair and sound great. Also they are same ohm as your stock 3.5s. Doors, I would do the jbl or infinity, 2 ohm ones, think many specs say 3ohm but they are actually 2.4ohm like stock. Front doors, leave it alone, do the front 3.5s, rear doors then decide in front doors. If you add a sub, you will not care about the front doors as much since no highs come out of front doors. Sub box and Amp, that's your decision, lots of options, I would go with a foxbox or if higher end, net audio. And what helped my truck alot was sound deadening the doors and a layer of closed cell foam to stop rattle. I wouldn't go with much different than the jbl302 up on dash unless you are ditching stock amp. The jbl302s sound crystal clear even full volume and are perfect for the alpine Amp. Rear doors the better jbl 6x9s add a tweeter, missing front stock speakers(they are just a full range cone, no seperate tweeter). The rear doors adding the 6x9 balances out the sound from the dash since the highs are much better with the 302s. Infinity makes a 3.5 too think it's the 3022, but I have both and both sound identical, look almost identical and price is within like $2. I see the infinitys and the jbl Gx302 all the time open box on Amazon for like $25 a pair, will need 3 if keeping center.

 

[Midnight Storm]

Do you have a budget you’re working within? How much more bass are you looking for compared to the factory?

I’m not looking for a massive complex system. Just a bit more of a sub and crisper highs. I just ordered infinity 3.5 dash speakers and I will likely get matching 6x9’s front and rear. I really want a single 10 sub and a little amp to drive it. Hoping for as plug and play as possible.
If I can then use my stick amp to drive the dash and or rear 6x9’s that would be
Ideal, but I don’t know how to make any of his happen!!

 

[Midnight Storm]

If your keeping the stock alpine Amp for mids and highs, get the jbl Gx302 3.5 inch speakers for dash, $50 a pair and sound great. Also they are same ohm as your stock 3.5s. Doors, I would do the jbl or infinity, 2 ohm ones, think many specs say 3ohm but they are actually 2.4ohm like stock. Front doors, leave it alone, do the front 3.5s, rear doors then decide in front doors. If you add a sub, you will not care about the front doors as much since no highs come out of front doors. Sub box and Amp, that's your decision, lots of options, I would go with a foxbox or if higher end, net audio. And what helped my truck alot was sound deadening the doors and a layer of closed cell foam to stop rattle. I wouldn't go with much different than the jbl302 up on dash unless you are ditching stock amp. The jbl302s sound crystal clear even full volume and are perfect for the alpine Amp. Rear doors the better jbl 6x9s add a tweeter, missing front stock speakers(they are just a full range cone, no seperate tweeter). The rear doors adding the 6x9 balances out the sound from the dash since the highs are much better with the 302s. Infinity makes a 3.5 too think it's the 3022, but I have both and both sound identical, look almost identical and price is within like $2. I see the infinitys and the jbl Gx302 all the time open box on Amazon for like $25 a pair, will need 3 if keeping center.

For some reason I missed this post and bought infinity 3022 dash speakers. I’m sure (hope) very similar performance to the jl’s!

 

[Midnight Storm]

Budget for sub and amp is about $500.

 

[Tim Garceau]

For some reason I missed this post and bought infinity 3022 dash speakers. I’m sure (hope) very similar performance to the jl’s!

You’ll need them once you upgrade the low end, the tweeter will certainly brighten up your top frequency range reflecting off the windshield/dash.

For $500 I would recommend one or two alpine type S 10” in a prefab box with a class d amp between 500-1000 RMS.

 

[Midnight Storm]

You’ll need them once you upgrade the low end, the tweeter will certainly brighten up your top frequency range reflecting off the windshield/dash.

For $500 I would recommend one or two alpine type S 10” in a prefab box with a class d amp between 500-1000 RMS.

View attachment 164985

What did you do with the center front? Leave it, remove it, or upgrade it?!

 

[Tim Garceau]

What did you do with the center front? Leave it, remove it, or upgrade it?!

Left it for now as I use the phone/Nav enough, eventually I’ll swap it out with someone who only needed 1 as they’re typically sold in a pair.

 

[Midnight Storm]

Thanks! I’m getting some great info here. I may pull the trigger on a sound stream 650w class d and then a box with a 10” sub. What else do I need, and how do I wire it up?

 

[rotwiler]

For some reason I missed this post and bought infinity 3022 dash speakers. I’m sure (hope) very similar performance to the jl’s!

If they are the 3022cfx your good, both the jbl Gx302 and 3022cfx sound the same, I have both. I found open box speakers and used it for center, that's why I have both the jbls and infinity. Everyone who listened to my stereo seemed to like the center in there. Amp, I bought a Rockville db14 1,000 watts rms cea Amp for the subs, was like 120 with wiring kit. Only because I was doing a budget setup, but the Amp has been great for the past year. I bought a fiberglass box a member here made, basically he just charged me shipping. Hardest part for me was getting a good signal without rolloff for the subs, I tried loc, audiocontrol lc2i, ax-dsp, finally found a Amp pro ch-41 for under $160 open box, it made the bass sound great finally. All depends what you want, I see Polk Audio $50 300 watt rms amps, a single box with a sub that works in airspace, it really all depends on how much bass you want. Will need power wire(prob a 2g kit would be fine) fuse that matches Amp fuse at battery, run power wire back to Amp, there's a plug on firewall you can run power wire. Find good ground under back seat, you will prob need to raise back seat. Depending how to get signal, will make difference on bass and rolloff. If you can find a Amp pro ch41 for like $150 open box I would get it, or if you want to go super budget, buy a sub that fits in the factory sub box like a shallow Pioneer people use here, get something like that $50 Polk Amp to power it, that's if you just want some better bass but not shake the truck. Look through posts, there are many posts on this here. Don't get 6x9s for front doors, they are only bass/mid, no highs come out of doors, but rear 6x9 sound better(get jbl 3ohm). If you add some sound deadening to doors and a layer of thin closed cell foam, you will get better bass and much less rattle. Worst case, just buy sheets of closed cell foam and line back of door, rattles get annoying and I found sheets of closed cell foam for like $25 a box, self stick(is like thick scuba suite material).

 

[Midnight Storm]

If they are the 3022cfx your good, both the jbl Gx302 and 3022cfx sound the same, I have both. I found open box speakers and used it for center, that's why I have both the jbls and infinity. Everyone who listened to my stereo seemed to like the center in there. Amp, I bought a Rockville db14 1,000 watts rms cea Amp for the subs, was like 120 with wiring kit. Only because I was doing a budget setup, but the Amp has been great for the past year. I bought a fiberglass box a member here made, basically he just charged me shipping. Hardest part for me was getting a good signal without rolloff for the subs, I tried loc, audiocontrol lc2i, ax-dsp, finally found a Amp pro ch-41 for under $160 open box, it made the bass sound great finally. All depends what you want, I see Polk Audio $50 300 watt rms amps, a single box with a sub that works in airspace, it really all depends on how much bass you want. Will need power wire(prob a 2g kit would be fine) fuse that matches Amp fuse at battery, run power wire back to Amp, there's a plug on firewall you can run power wire. Find good ground under back seat, you will prob need to raise back seat. Depending how to get signal, will make difference on bass and rolloff. If you can find a Amp pro ch41 for like $150 open box I would get it, or if you want to go super budget, buy a sub that fits in the factory sub box like a shallow Pioneer people use here, get something like that $50 Polk Amp to power it, that's if you just want some better bass but not shake the truck. Look through posts, there are many posts on this here. Don't get 6x9s for front doors, they are only bass/mid, no highs come out of doors, but rear 6x9 sound better(get jbl 3ohm). If you add some sound deadening to doors and a layer of thin closed cell foam, you will get better bass and much less rattle. Worst case, just buy sheets of closed cell foam and line back of door, rattles get annoying and I found sheets of closed cell foam for like $25 a box, self stick(is like thick scuba suite material).

Great post!

Yes I got the cfx’s

As for my bass, I might just go with the shallow pioneer and a little amp as suggested I just want a bit more boom than the stock sub/amp has.

I totally understand the front doors are less important than the rears and dash, but maybe getting a set of components 6 1/2’s might add a little bit there? Can the separate tweeter be used in the headliner?

Also, just to throw it out there, does anyone in Victoria bc want to go halters on a pair of Jbl’s or infinity 3 1/2’s for the center dash speaker?

Cheers!

 

[Midnight Storm]

Another question (I can’t promise it’ll be the last)
Do I want a 4ohm or 2ohm sub?

 

[TomT]

Actually, the front doors (properly sealed) can give you lots of bass with the right drivers. My doors are crossed at 50Hz but I spent quite a bit more than most here.

A high quality 6x9 midbass (Audiofrog, Hybrid Audio, Image Dynamics) will give you solid punch and get low enough that you may not need a sub. Unless, of course, you listen to rap or electronic music with lots of bass.

 

[TomT]

Another question (I can’t promise it’ll be the last)
Do I want a 4ohm or 2ohm sub?

It generally depends on your amp and what it is happy pushing. Two ohms is usually fine if you’re using a single channel amp (or one channel of a five channel).

If you are planning to bridge two amp channels together, make sure the amp is rated to push 2 ohms bridged. Many are not and only support a 4 ohm load.