Lower dash speakers with factory Alpine amp - PnP upgrades? Infinity REF-6532ex

[Average Oregonian]

I will be paying a buddy's local stereo shop to do some misc work on my truck next week (mainly installing the interior dash panel and switch for the optional 110v bed outlet), and I plan to have them do some actual stereo work at the same time to avoid doubling-up on labor and time in the future.

Has anyone tried this specific speaker? I know the Infinity's are popular for the upper dash corner, and I plan to use the 3.5's up there, but I did not find any feedback regading the lower guys. I would be pairing them with the Metra adapter pods and harnesses. I searched both here and JL forums, but please feel free to flame me if I've overlooked the obvious :D

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R6532EM/Infinity-Reference-REF-6532ex.html?tp=78072

They have the same basic benefit as the the smaller ones -- 3ohm resistance spec -- but I'm not sure if a coaxial will drop in well in this spot, or how well they'll do on the stock amp. Or if there is another that is known to work well on the Alpine amp without further upgrades.

Normally I love to just try things and see how it goes, but it's a lot of work to swap these guys back and forth, so hoping to do it right once if I do.

Thanks!

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[Average Oregonian]

Found some posts deep within JL Wrangler forums that make it sound like there's just not enough oomph out of the stock amp to justify these, but still open to any advice.

 

[blau iii]

I have a pair of JL C2 6.5 sitting in the new metra pods waiting to go in. I was going to go the same route as you but when I saw what was involved with this, I decided to power these and the sound bar JL C1 6x9's off of a Kicker 4x50 DSP amp. Leaving the 3.5" JL C2 powered off the alpine oem amp.

 

[mx5red]

I know some people swear plug and play speakers sounded way better but I was not happy with mine. the dash seemed a little better, then I took the plunge and did knee pods and sound bar. I think the way the Alpine stereo sends signals to the different speakers makes aftermarket speakers sound weird. I had way too much bass going to the rear, to where they were buzzing. I don't know if stock have some bass blockers or what.
And didn't really hear much difference out of the knee pods. Again I think stock just doesn't send the same signals to the different channels.

I wanted a cheap/easy fix and ended up wasting way more time and money trying things before ending up with an amplified system with DSP. Definitely sounds better/different.
If starting over I would either just switch out dash speakers and call it a day, or start from the get-go with DSP and amps and be ready to spend some coin.

 

[Average Oregonian]

I know some people swear plug and play speakers sounded way better but I was not happy with mine. the dash seemed a little better, then I took the plunge and did knee pods and sound bar. I think the way the Alpine stereo sends signals to the different speakers makes aftermarket speakers sound weird. I had way too much bass going to the rear, to where they were buzzing. I don't know if stock have some bass blockers or what.
And didn't really hear much difference out of the knee pods. Again I think stock just doesn't send the same signals to the different channels.

I wanted a cheap/easy fix and ended up wasting way more time and money trying things before ending up with an amplified system with DSP. Definitely sounds better/different.
If starting over I would either just switch out dash speakers and call it a day, or start from the get-go with DSP and amps and be ready to spend some coin.

That's great feedback, thank you

 

[Jramos44]

If you are leaving the factory amp to power them I would do a component set up front ( Mid 6.5 + Tweeter in the 3.5 spot) the knee speakers don't get a full range signal from the factory so coaxial speakers are a waste in that spot with the factory amp. Currently I hvae coax 6.5 in my knee speakers and they don't sound much much different from stock but I will be using a Pac APCH41 to get clean signal to add a amp for my front speakers.

 

[terpsmandan]

I installed a similar set to those but they were the 6530 component system in the soundbar with the factory Alpine system, and the amp was very unhappy with them and shut the whole saondbar off. I then went with a set of Alpine S-S65c components and they have held up for six weeks with no issues.

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