Regular Radio vs 8.4" RADIO AND PREMIUM AUDIO GROUP

[Komesk]

I found Gladiator almost up to my specs but with regular radio.
Is that premium group and 8.4 radio really worth the money?
Is it really a big deal? How bad is regular audio? What would I miss without that upgrade?

Thank you!

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[maxpower220]

Are you trying to compare the 5" or 7" radio to the 8.4"? Navigation is only on the 8.4", so for sure you get that. The Alpine upgrade is "better" speakers and a sub.

When I looked at Sport S, to get the 8.4", the 7.0 upgrade was required first, then the 8.4". The end result was a lot of money for the 8.4". Now, maybe I was doing something wrong on the Jeep website, YMMV.
In the Rubicon, the 7" is standard. So, $1600 seems like a lot to me. I just stayed with the 7.0 and I'm happy with sound quality.

 

[Factoid]

I can’t compare as all I’ve experienced is the 8.4, but I love it and CarPlay.

 

[Murgatroid]

I found Gladiator almost up to my specs but with regular radio.
Is that premium group and 8.4 radio really worth the money?
Is it really a big deal? How bad is regular audio? What would I miss without that upgrade?

Thank you!

Are you buying a vehicle to listen to music or to drive. Any radio, you will be able to hear your music while driving down the road, so what if you are not hearing it at it's best, you are not in the best environment for listening anyway.

 

[Murgatroid]

Are you buying a vehicle to listen to music or to drive. Any radio, you will be able to hear your music while driving down the road, so what if you are not hearing it at it's best, you are not in the best environment for listening anyway.

It was a lot different in my youth when factory sound met a AM/FM with one speaker in the middle of the dash. The new vehicles come with good sound systems, maybe not audiophile quality but who goes to their vehicle to listen to music.

 

[Komesk]

Are you trying to compare the 5" or 7" radio to the 8.4"? .

7 inches one

 

[Komesk]

Are you buying a vehicle to listen to music or to drive. Any radio, you will be able to hear your music while driving down the road, so what if you are not hearing it at it's best, you are not in the best environment for listening anyway.

I want to enjoy my ride at fullest.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I want to enjoy my ride at fullest.

Then get the 8.4" Uconnect with the Alpine audio upgrade. Once you've tried it, you won't be happy with anything less.

 

[jmdwifi]

It's funny and sad. I bought a 2 door jeep this christmas and it had a 7 inch radio. It worked fine and had android auto and CarPlay. I took it back because I needed more room and bought my Gladiator Overland. It has the 8.4 with Nav. I fully believe now having had Toyota and other brands that all factory Nav sucks. When it works, it's fine but with Waze and Google maps, it's not needed. I had a 15 wrangler with Alpine premium plus subwoofer and it kicked ass. It's the only factory stereo I never thought of replacing. This Gladiator with Alpine premium and subwoofer is not like my 15 at all. Guardian sucks as well. This was part of the jeep and I didn't order it but if I was ordering, I would get the 7 inch for now and upgrade later if you want good sound. If features is what you care about, the 8.4 is ok but should be much better.

 

[Renegade]

I’ve got the 8.4 Alpine, and it’s the best stereo I’ve ever had in a Jeep. ApplePlay is awesome- No need to upgrade.

 

[Mikegcny]

I'm working on a cheap 130 speaker upgrade project for my standard system. The standard system sounds decent if you turn off the loudness and eq it to your taste of music.

The premium system at 1200 dollars probably has about 400 dollars worth of speakers and electronics in it. From what I have seen on the JL site, the Alpine system is well engineered for the idiosyncrasies of the Wrangler / Gladiator, but I don't think it's worth the money.

 

[noside85]

get it

 

[spazzyfry123]

Be aware that if you enjoy Apple CarPlay, the display shrinks down to about 5” when using the 7.0” UConnect whereas it stays full screen for the 8.4”. This is my top complaint with my 7.0” and it is not cheap to change out to an 8.4” later. Typical price for a used one is about $1000 for the head unit by itself.

I’m told that Android Auto does not have this problem, however.

I’ve had my Rubicon for about four months now and I intentionally spec’d it to be a bit bare bones. Cold weather, hard top, aux, auto, tow, and tonneau. Not checking the boxes for 8.4 and the LED lights are my only regrets.

 

[Mikegcny]

I’m told that Android Auto does not have this problem, however.

Confirmed. Android does not have this problem. Another reason to stay away from Apple products.

 

[spazzyfry123]

Confirmed. Android does not have this problem. Another reason to stay away from Apple products.

Yep! I’d still be rocking my S8 if work didn’t force Apple on us.

That said, Apple has made the OS update to allow the manufacturers (FCA and whoever the supplier is for the 7.0 - Panasonic?) to manipulate the screen display size. Ball is in their court to make it work as intended, but @JeepCares hasn't acknowledged if anything is being done or ever will be done. JL guys have been raging about it for some time. Super frustrating when your screen display shrinks about 30%

Sorry for the rant. When I was test driving I had plugged in my Android phone without any issues and decided the screen was plenty. Figured the sound was decent enough and ultimately decided against the upgraded radio because of that. We change to Apple and my Jeep gets delivered. Not happy!

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