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Thoughts on my Audio Upgrade Plans

blau iii

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I have a JTR with the 8.4 and Premium audio. My main goal is to have better sound but don't need a SEME Show truck or to compete in any EQ competitions....

- MB Quart 6.5" in the knee panels. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_049JC1116E/MB-Quart-JC1-116E.html
- MB Quart 6x9 Soundbar upgrade. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_049JC1169S/MB-Quart-JC1-169SB.html
- MB Quart 3.5 in the upper dash. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_049JC1108/MB-Quart-JC1-108.html
- I'd like to replace the Alpine sub with a shallow mount 8" subwoofer in the OEM enclosure but haven't found a ton of options.

Will the Premium Audio from the factory have enough power for this setup?
What subs will work with the oem location/wiring?
I like the MB's from crutchfield because they seem to make the wiring stupid simple, are there better offerings out there?

I'd ideally like to avoid running an aftermarket amp, just want a bit better sound with how disappointing this "premium audio" is...
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There is a pretty cool looking sub box here: https://oemaudioplus.com/jeep/jt-se/
Not sure if they sell separately and cost (can't be cheap).

I think the Alpine sub has pretty descent bass for its size.
Mids and highs could be improved for sure w/o needing a large amp IMO.

MBs I'm sure are awesome, albeit not cheap. I would probably upgrade the speakers first to see how it ties up with the factory sub then take it from there.
 

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I also have the alpine 8.4 with factory sub. Like you I wanted better sound. I had all my speakers replaced It did help but not enough in my opinion. My audio guy said that when the sound leaves the factory amp that it is stripped of most of the high and lows due to the cheap factory speakers. From what he was telling me you have two options to make it better. Both require a aftermarket amp. 1) use factory head unit it will require a processor and then a 5 channel amp. 2) use an aftermarket head unit and it will not require the processor but the 5 channel amp would still be needed.
I am most likely going to replace my head unit but am concerned if I do that I will not be able to use the UCONNECT app anymore.
 
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blau iii

blau iii

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I also have the alpine 8.4 with factory sub. Like you I wanted better sound. I had all my speakers replaced It did help but not enough in my opinion. My audio guy said that when the sound leaves the factory amp that it is stripped of most of the high and lows due to the cheap factory speakers. From what he was telling me you have two options to make it better. Both require a aftermarket amp. 1) use factory head unit it will require a processor and then a 5 channel amp. 2) use an aftermarket head unit and it will not require the processor but the 5 channel amp would still be needed.
I am most likely going to replace my head unit but am concerned if I do that I will not be able to use the UCONNECT app anymore.
I wouldn’t even consider losing the 8.4. These things are so integrated I don’t want to deal with all of that.
What speakers did you use?
 

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I have the 8.4 with the Alpine Premium audio. I think it is really good, for a factory installed system. My head is overly sensitive to the thumping, and I had to turn the bass way down the first day. I bought a set of the Kenwood speakers to put in the dash. I'm going to see how that works out before looking at changing anything else.
 

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blau iii

blau iii

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So a bit of an update...

I replaced the dash speakers with JL C2 3.5" speakers, going to leave them as is powered off the OEM alpine amp.

My JL C1 6x9's and MB Quart mount are coming today and will go into the sound bar. Eventually, these and the knee speakers are going to be powered off a kicker key 50x4 amp.

Next I will sort out the subs. I'm going to build a custom box for behind the back seat. It will house either a JL 12" TW3 or 2 JL 10 TW1s. I'm still playing with the design and airspace. I'm pretty sure I can find about 1cu/ft of air back there but my CAD skills need some work.... This will have a dedicated mono amp tied to the OEM Alpine sub leads.

The last phase will be adding the 6.5" knee pods and a set of JL C2 6.5 coaxials as well as the Kicker Key amp. I didn't want to pull the dash apart twice when I added the amp so going to do this as the final step.
 

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Here is my update and I must say I am pretty happy with the results. I also have the factory premium system. I replaced all speakers, except the sub.
this was good but now what I was looking for. After reading the forums I chose not to replace the head unit. I added a 5 channel Rockford fosgate amp. This also gave me an adjust knob for the factory sub. It is night and day. Factory head unit with all the factory features feeding the amp, pumping to all new speakers. It works well for me.
 
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blau iii

blau iii

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Here is my update and I must say I am pretty happy with the results. I also have the factory premium system. I replaced all speakers, except the sub.
this was good but now what I was looking for. After reading the forums I chose not to replace the head unit. I added a 5 channel Rockford fosgate amp. This also gave me an adjust knob for the factory sub. It is night and day. Factory head unit with all the factory features feeding the amp, pumping to all new speakers. It works well for me.
So your RF amp is powering the OEM sub? Have you taken that thing apart yet? It's pretty thin looking, I can't imagine it could handle much, if any aftermarket power for any amount of time.

I just finished my sub box for two 10's behind the back seat. I'm working on putting in the PAC, amp and subs this weekend. Going to order JL C2 6.5 for the knee along with the kicker key amp and I'll be just about done. I ended up going with Kicker RT 10's, two of them instead of the JL subs. The kickers could take more power, got good reviews, and used about the same space as the JL subs but were a good bit cheaper. We'll see how they sound.

For those using the PAC 6 channel adapter to get signal, does the knob that's included work well to control the bass or should I get the one that goes with my amp?
 

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I'm happy with mids and lows. How did just replacing the 3.5s in the dash sound before adding anything else?
 
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blau iii

blau iii

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I'm happy with mids and lows. How did just replacing the 3.5s in the dash sound before adding anything else?
the music was clearer but def not any louder when nekked.
 

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If anyone is looking for an option to keep your 8.4 but upgrade your system, there is an option. I have the 8.4 with 2 amps. A 2ch for the sub and a 4ch for the pods and other speakers.

Just call up netaudio out of texas and tell them exactly what you want to do. They will send you a plug n play wiring harness that will do exactly what you want. That's all I am using is the harness and it works good. You can get it with the PAC to give you multiple tuning options for factory, aftermarket, and subs. They will custom the harness to your needs.

Netaudio: www.netaudio.com
 

RockinRobin

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So a bit of an update...

I replaced the dash speakers with JL C2 3.5" speakers, going to leave them as is powered off the OEM alpine amp.

My JL C1 6x9's and MB Quart mount are coming today and will go into the sound bar. Eventually, these and the knee speakers are going to be powered off a kicker key 50x4 amp.

Next I will sort out the subs. I'm going to build a custom box for behind the back seat. It will house either a JL 12" TW3 or 2 JL 10 TW1s. I'm still playing with the design and airspace. I'm pretty sure I can find about 1cu/ft of air back there but my CAD skills need some work.... This will have a dedicated mono amp tied to the OEM Alpine sub leads.

The last phase will be adding the 6.5" knee pods and a set of JL C2 6.5 coaxials as well as the Kicker Key amp. I didn't want to pull the dash apart twice when I added the amp so going to do this as the final step.
Did you have any issues with the 3 1/2 JL. Crutchfield says the won’t fit?
 
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blau iii

blau iii

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Did you have any issues with the 3 1/2 JL. Crutchfield says the won’t fit?
You have to bend the tabs on one side but it wasn’t a big deal.
 

RockinRobin

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I have a JTR with the 8.4 and Premium audio. My main goal is to have better sound but don't need a SEME Show truck or to compete in any EQ competitions....

- MB Quart 6.5" in the knee panels. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_049JC1116E/MB-Quart-JC1-116E.html
- MB Quart 6x9 Soundbar upgrade. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_049JC1169S/MB-Quart-JC1-169SB.html
- MB Quart 3.5 in the upper dash. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_049JC1108/MB-Quart-JC1-108.html
- I'd like to replace the Alpine sub with a shallow mount 8" subwoofer in the OEM enclosure but haven't found a ton of options.

Will the Premium Audio from the factory have enough power for this setup?
What subs will work with the oem location/wiring?
I like the MB's from crutchfield because they seem to make the wiring stupid simple, are there better offerings out there?

I'd ideally like to avoid running an aftermarket amp, just want a bit better sound with how disappointing this "premium audio" is...
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