Dash Speaker Upgrade

[Riddick]

My truck is a 22 and has the factory Alpine system. The system is loud, clear, and the bass level is acceptable. However, in my opinion the system is severely lacking in the mids and highs range. I have searched on here and found a few threads in which members upgraded the dash speakers. Most have reported once they changed them the dash speakers overpowered the rest of the system. Has anyone found speakers that provide good mids and highs without overpowering the rest of the system?

I have read the OEM speakers are 8 Ohms and most aftermarket ones are 3 or 4 Ohm, could this be the reason they are so loud? Has anyone installed a 4 ohm resistor to raise the resistance, if so could you share your results?

For those who have changed their dash speakers please post up what you used. Also, I will most likely be changing out the center dash speaker as well. If anyone wants to go in half on a pair of speakers hit me up we can split the cost. We have 3 dash speakers and speakers are only sold in pairs........

 

[Riddick]

For anyone looking to upgrade their dash speakers the Kicker DS series were a direct swap. They were only 50 bucks and the sound difference is night and day, the mids and highs are more pronounced but not over powering.

The DS line is kickers entry level speaker and designed to be used with a stock head unit which is exactly what I needed. If you plan on adding an amp you may want to consider a higher end speaker. I have only listened to them briefly but the difference is huge.

I have the factory Alpine system but the OEM dash speakers looked exactly like the base ones. If I had to guess they only put the Alpines in the doors and sub locations.

I will more than likely purchase another pair so I can replace the center speaker. If anyone in interested in the other one let me know.

 

[JHeat2500]

Edit: Impedance was measured at the connector. I'm not sure what system uses 8 ohm drivers, but this one does not. I'll check the stock tweeters and 6x9s from the doors, they might be 8 ohms.

 

[JHeat2500]

Tapatalk is acting up. That is an HK dash speaker, just fyi.

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[gimmie11s]

For anyone looking to upgrade their dash speakers the Kicker DS series were a direct swap. They were only 50 bucks and the sound difference is night and day, the mids and highs are more pronounced but not over powering.

The DS line is kickers entry level speaker and designed to be used with a stock head unit which is exactly what I needed. If you plan on adding an amp you may want to consider a higher end speaker. I have only listened to them briefly but the difference is huge.

I have the factory Alpine system but the OEM dash speakers looked exactly like the base ones. If I had to guess they only put the Alpines in the doors and sub locations.

I will more than likely purchase another pair so I can replace the center speaker. If anyone in interested in the other one let me know.

Good to know.

I think the Alpine system has great bass but agree on the mids/highs.

 

[JHeat2500]

I don't know what's going on, but this picture disappeared.

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[Riddick]

I don't know what's going on, but this picture disappeared.

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Great info, thanks for posting. I measured my stock one and it was 3 ohms.

 

[BighornHDRam]

For anyone looking to upgrade their dash speakers the Kicker DS series were a direct swap. They were only 50 bucks and the sound difference is night and day, the mids and highs are more pronounced but not over powering.

The DS line is kickers entry level speaker and designed to be used with a stock head unit which is exactly what I needed. If you plan on adding an amp you may want to consider a higher end speaker. I have only listened to them briefly but the difference is huge.

I have the factory Alpine system but the OEM dash speakers looked exactly like the base ones. If I had to guess they only put the Alpines in the doors and sub locations.

I will more than likely purchase another pair so I can replace the center speaker. If anyone in interested in the other one let me know.

I did the Pioneer JS-G690 in both front and rear doors and the Kicker 46CSC354 for the front dash in my 2019 Ram 2500 with the base 8,4 and it sounded great, I removed them before trading in the 2019 at Mark Dodge and plan on installing them into my 2022 3500 with the Alpine system if the weather will ever get above 20 degrees outside.

 

[Grayson]

The alpines I've heard are both 2 or 3 ohm. I believe they are 3ohm after replacing the dash speakers with infinity 3.5's that are 2ohm.

They sound good but are way too bright without upgrading the rest of the audio system. I attempted to replace the rear speakers with infinity 6x9's as well but would have to make new holes so I decided to wait until an integration harness is available with DSP

 

[ST3500]

The alpines I've heard are both 2 or 3 ohm. I believe they are 3ohm after replacing the dash speakers with infinity 3.5's that are 2ohm.

They sound good but are way too bright without upgrading the rest of the audio system. I attempted to replace the rear speakers with infinity 6x9's as well but would have to make new holes so I decided to wait until an integration harness is available with DSP

The pac amp-pro ap4-ch41(R.2) works well, that's what I have on my HK system upgrade.
It has 6 channels pre-amp outputs (front, rear and non fading / subwoofer) and a bass knob.

You can use 2 channels out of the PAC to connect a mono amp and subwoofer (chanel 5 & 6, so you can use the bass knob) , your HK amp will drive all the others speakers.
Later on, when you decide to upgrade the rest of the speakers by adding another aftermarket amp(s) and DSP: you can use the other four pre-amp outputs that you already have (bypassing the speakers outputs from the factory HK amp, of course).

 

[JHeat2500]

The pac amp-pro ap4-ch41(R.2) works well, that's what I have on my HK system upgrade.
It has 6 channels pre-amp outputs (front, rear and non fading / subwoofer) and a bass knob.

You can use 2 channels out of the PAC to connect a mono amp and subwoofer (chanel 5 & 6, so you can use the bass knob) , your HK amp will drive all the others speakers.
Later on, when you decide to upgrade the rest of the speakers by adding another aftermarket amp(s) and DSP: you can use the other four pre-amp outputs that you already have (bypassing the speakers outputs from the factory HK amp, of course).

This is what I did. It's super convenient for wiring purposes and allows the user to upgrade in steps if needed. The best part is, the PAC unit eliminates any factory signal processing and provides a clean, flat output signal. I ultimately ended up running an amplifier with a built in DSP that has provisions for high level inputs (which makes the PAC unit somewhat unnecessary), but between the PAC unit and their harnesses, I didn't have to cut a single factory wire.

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[Grayson]

The pac amp-pro ap4-ch41(R.2) works well, that's what I have on my HK system upgrade.
It has 6 channels pre-amp outputs (front, rear and non fading / subwoofer) and a bass knob.

You can use 2 channels out of the PAC to connect a mono amp and subwoofer (chanel 5 & 6, so you can use the bass knob) , your HK amp will drive all the others speakers.
Later on, when you decide to upgrade the rest of the speakers by adding another aftermarket amp(s) and DSP: you can use the other four pre-amp outputs that you already have (bypassing the speakers outputs from the factory HK amp, of course).

Do you or the poster above have a 2022? If not the PAC is not compatible with UConnect5 systems until they release another version. PAC and Jimmy have both confirmed this

 

[ST3500]

Do you or the poster above have a 2022? If not the PAC is not compatible with UConnect5 systems until they release another version. PAC and Jimmy have both confirmed this

You're right, PAC does not have anything compatible for UConnect5 yet. Sorry, I did not pay attention that you have a 2022 model.
But, what you could do is: to take the speaker's signal (high level output) and connect those into to a DSP (for example: the Helix V EIGHT or V TWELVE DSP MK2), like JHeat2500 said a couple of post here above.
Then, you have to bypass the ANC with a bypass harness or maybe with "Alfa OBD" (not sure if compatible with a 2022) and get the proper speaker's bypass harness or make your own by modifying the current one's available in the market.
You definitely have to do some homework on all this, but if you're somewhat familiar with stereo upgrades and reading / understanding electrical schematics ........... you can do it, for sure.

 

[el_barto]

For anyone looking to upgrade their dash speakers the Kicker DS series were a direct swap. They were only 50 bucks and the sound difference is night and day, the mids and highs are more pronounced but not over powering.

The DS line is kickers entry level speaker and designed to be used with a stock head unit which is exactly what I needed. If you plan on adding an amp you may want to consider a higher end speaker. I have only listened to them briefly but the difference is huge.

I have the factory Alpine system but the OEM dash speakers looked exactly like the base ones. If I had to guess they only put the Alpines in the doors and sub locations.

I will more than likely purchase another pair so I can replace the center speaker. If anyone in interested in the other one let me know.

These ones the Kicker DS speakers you are referring to? Tempting upgrade for $50

Kicker 43DSC3504

DS Series 3-1/2" 2-way car speakers

www.crutchfield.com

 

[Riddick]

These ones the Kicker DS speakers you are referring to? Tempting upgrade for $50

Kicker 43DSC3504

DS Series 3-1/2" 2-way car speakers

www.crutchfield.com

Yes, those are it. Crutchfield includes the metra adapter harnesses to plug into your factory connections. Total install takes 15 minutes.

For the price they are a great upgrade.

 

[Grayson]

You're right, PAC does not have anything compatible for UConnect5 yet. Sorry, I did not pay attention that you have a 2022 model.
But, what you could do is: to take the speaker's signal (high level output) and connect those into to a DSP (for example: the Helix V EIGHT or V TWELVE DSP MK2), like JHeat2500 said a couple of post here above.
Then, you have to bypass the ANC with a bypass harness or maybe with "Alfa OBD" (not sure if compatible with a 2022) and get the proper speaker's bypass harness or make your own by modifying the current one's available in the market.
You definitely have to do some homework on all this, but if you're somewhat familiar with stereo upgrades and reading / understanding electrical schematics ........... you can do it, for sure.

I could use a LOC/DSP however I trade frequently and keeping it simple with a PnP solution is more favorable for me.

While Mopar is better than Ford or Chevy on warranty issues, I would prefer if something fails or has glitches like the UC5 that I don't give them extra causation to deny a repair.

 

[JHeat2500]

Depending on what connectors they used for the amplifier outputs, you may still be able to use a PAC harness to feed a dsp/amp without cutting any factory wiring. It's going to take some leg work, but may be an option.

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[ST3500]

I could use a LOC/DSP however I trade frequently and keeping it simple with a PnP solution is more favorable for me.

While Mopar is better than Ford or Chevy on warranty issues, I would prefer if something fails or has glitches like the UC5 that I don't give them extra causation to deny a repair.

I agree with your opinion, I have the UC4 on my '19 RAM and it has never given me any issues to this date.
But, from what I read in this forum in regards of all the problems with the latest UC5.......... I would not do anything with it until later in time when all the bugs are taking care of. Very wise opinion you have!
Cheers!

 

[Grayson]

Depending on what connectors they used for the amplifier outputs, you may still be able to use a PAC harness to feed a dsp/amp without cutting any factory wiring. It's going to take some leg work, but may be an option.

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I've already looked into that; Jimmy told me the molex connectors had a 5-6 month backorder wait time. When I ordered this past June I honestly didn't think the aftermarket would be at almost a snail level of R&D and product release.

I typically don't order the "upgraded" audio system but when its rolled into a package it doesn't leave much choice.

 

[Riddick]

After a couple of weeks with these I figured I would post an update. I noticed on some songs the tweeters were distorting ever so slightly at high volume, very light popping sound.

I decided to install some bass blockers to solve this. Crutchfield recommended the 150hz blockers but after some research I decided on the 300hz. The 300hz still allow all of the mids and highs but they block all of the low bass. These were plug and play an easy to install.

Additionally, I ordered another pair of speakers to swap out the center dash speaker. The sound is perfect and I can go as loud as I want with no distortion at all. Changing the center channel made a noticeable difference and I could not be happier.

All in with the bass blockers I have around 120 invested and the difference in sound is amazing.

If anyone is interested I will sell my extra 3.5 kicker, metra adapter, and 300 hz bass blocker.