Upgrading OEM Alpine Speakers

[Riddick]

Who has done this, what did you upgrade to, and what were your results? I'm sure someone on here has upgraded only the speakers and left the factory amp in place. I have already changed the dash speakers and am pleased but now I want to swap out the door speakers.

My front door speakers barely have any sound coming from them, they only seem to play mids and low bass. I did read somewhere the Alpine amps have a crossover for the front door speakers and that's why they are so much quieter, can anyone confirm this? I did confirm my rear door speakers are louder and clearer. If there is a crossover I wonder if I would even notice a difference in sound by changing the speakers?

I currently have Kicker DS 3.5s in the front dash (all 3) and am considering buying some cheap 6x9 pioneers for the doors. The fronts have limited space so if you want to run a 6x9 you have to purchase one with a small magnet.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's set up and how you like it. Thanks.

V/r

Leonard

 

[Thompsre08]

following.

 

[Arth]

Interested as well. Upgraded the dash speakers with Infinity. Sound difference was very noticeable.

 

[Power247]

I replaced all of the dash and door speakers with Infinity Reference in my 2012 with Alpine system. You are correct that the Alpine amp has built in crossovers that split the full range signal between the front doors and dash speakers. Back doors get almost full range singal with just the lowest lows cut off. I went with 3.5s in the dash, 6x9 coaxials in the rear doors and 6.5s from a component set with an adapter plate (did not install the tweeters). I tried 6x9s in the front doors first but didn't like the fit or the sound. Move them to the back when I got the 6.5 component driver. The sound up front got better with the 6.5s but honestly, I can't say it was really worth it. The factory amp is so limiting.

Greg
2019 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | 6.4 HEMI
2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

 

[Riddick]

I replaced all of the dash and door speakers with Infinity Reference in my 2012 with Alpine system. You are correct that the Alpine amp has built in crossovers that split the full range signal between the front doors and dash speakers. Back doors get almost full range singal with just the lowest lows cut off. I went with 3.5s in the dash, 6x9 coaxials in the rear doors and 6.5s from a component set with an adapter plate (did not install the tweeters). I tried 6x9s in the front doors first but didn't like the fit or the sound. Move them to the back when I got the 6.5 component driver. The sound up front got better with the 6.5s but honestly, I can't say it was really worth it. The factory amp is so limiting.

Greg
2019 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | 6.4 HEMI
2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

Thanks for confirming what I suspected with the factory amp. I think you are spot on with your statement about the factory amplifier limiting our options with the built in crossovers. From the sounds of it the main options we have for upgrades are dash speakers and the rear 6x9s.

On a positive note since we have a built in crossover those of us with Alpines should not need bass blockers on the dash speakers, only trucks with the base system. I installed bass blockers on mine and it did tone them down but I'm not sure if they were even really needed.

Additionally, a friend of mine had a couple of Skar Audio TX 3.5s laying around so I wanted to try them. I installed them in the corners and I still have the Kicker DS in the center dash. The Skars are larger, so large its a very tight fit between the window and the dash. They do seem a little more crisp than the kickers but its to early to tell for sure. They were only 33 bucks according to my buddy so for the price they are hard to beat, im going to leave them in for a couple of weeks and see how I like them. If I like them I may purchase a set to swap the center channel and a set of rear 6x9s. I dont know much about car audio but my friend swears Skar is pretty good and its a fraction of the price of the big name brands.

I recently read a few posts where some metra adapters were wired backwards . While installing the Skars I checked power and sure enough my drivers side dash speaker metra harness was wired backwards. I was able to repin it so we will see what kind of difference that makes. Since the drivers side was wrong I pulled the center speaker to check it, the center and passenger were correct.

 

[Shadowboxin20]

I just swapped the 3.5s in the dash with Kicker DS series and it made a huge difference in just those two. Way crisp and cleaner sound. I can hear the lyrics perfect now at high volume and they don’t get drowned out. $40 for the speakers and another $10 for the harness.

I had to take the front door panels off for a chrome to black mirror swap. I was not planning on changing any others but now that the panels are off I’m probably just going to do it for $200 more for all 4 doors. They are $160 for the four of them on and another 30 I think for the 4 harnesses.

Eventually I’ll add the kicker sub and a 1 channel amp just for that. That should help throw more power to the current speakers and really get it going. Got the 8’ bed so I have no room for a real box

 

[Riddick]

I just swapped the 3.5s in the dash with Kicker DS series and it made a huge difference in just those two. Way crisp and cleaner sound. I can hear the lyrics perfect now at high volume and they don’t get drowned out. $40 for the speakers and another $10 for the harness.

I had to take the front door panels off for a chrome to black mirror swap. I was not planning on changing any others but now that the panels are off I’m probably just going to do it for $200 more for all 4 doors. They are $160 for the four of them on and another 30 I think for the 4 harnesses.

Eventually I’ll add the kicker sub and a 1 channel amp just for that. That should help throw more power to the current speakers and really get it going. Got the 8’ bed so I have no room for a real box

Keep us updated on your door speaker swap. Also, the kicker DS 6x9s won't fit the front door. If you stick with a 6x9 it will have to be shallow mount. The DS 6x9 will fit the rear doors with no issues.

 

[Shadowboxin20]

KICKER 43DSC69304DS 6x9 720 Watt 3-Way 4-Ohm Car Audio Thin Profile Coaxial Speakers with Dome Tweeters, Foam Surrounds & Polypropylene Cone, 2 Pairs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BO6M2MM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FRWX5EFWP7WG6ATJZEMH

They make a shallow profile model. Sorry I didn’t put that in the first post. Don’t know if they will work but 1/4” spacers plus these should have no issues. I’ll let you know soon

 

[Shadowboxin20]

Ok so door speakers are a no go. Sound worse that the stock ones in almost every single way. Less bass, droning, and the pitch is so inconsistent with each song. Came to the conclusion that without a full upgrade with an amp and rewire I probably won’t get what I’m looking for so I am just going to be happy with the dash speakers and upgrade the sub down the line.

Good thing I had to the panels off to swap mirrors or I would been pissed I went through all that. Back to Amazon they go

 

[Riddick]

Ok so door speakers are a no go. Sound worse that the stock ones in almost every single way. Less bass, droning, and the pitch is so inconsistent with each song. Came to the conclusion that without a full upgrade with an amp and rewire I probably won’t get what I’m looking for so I am just going to be happy with the dash speakers and upgrade the sub down the line.

Good thing I had to the panels off to swap mirrors or I would been pissed I went through all that. Back to Amazon they go

Thanks for the update! Did you attempt to swap the rears? I had a suspicion the fronts would sound worse considering they have a crossover on them. The rears should be full range, would love to hear your results for the rear doors.

 

[Shadowboxin20]

I did them all. Maybe it was the fronts causing the problems and not the rear but all together it was bad imo so I just pulled everything. Honestly never got to isolate them.

 

[Riddick]

I did them all. Maybe it was the fronts causing the problems and not the rear but all together it was bad imo so I just pulled everything. Honestly never got to isolate them.

Thanks, I will save my money and keep all the door speakers stock. The front and rears have their own channel so the fronts should have no impact on the rears. Thanks again for updating.

**Dash speaker update**

As I mentioned in my original post I had 3 Kicker DS dash speaker and swapped out to Skar Audio TX35s. At first I only had the Skars in the corners and the kicker was left in the center. The kickers take a lot less power so this made my center channel extremely loud..... not in a good way. I went ahead and ordered another set of Skars to swap the center channel, now all dash speakers play at the same volume.

At lower volumes the kickers seem louder/clearer but as you turn the volume up higher the kickers start trending towards the bright side. At lower volumes the Skars are mild but as you crank it up they start to sound really good. I guess it all comes down to how one listens to their music. If you prefer lower volumes the Kickers are great, if you like to turn the volume up (above 15 on the Alpine) the Skars are worth considering. Also, I have the balance set exactly in the middle, with the Kickers I preferred the balance set a few clicks towards the rear.

 

[Sierra Nate]

I wound up going with Kenwood speakers for my doors on my 2019 2500 CC. Reason I went that way was in 2019-2020 the Kenwood were the only low profile 6x9s I could find on the market. I also did a full amp and DSP to run the system off the factory UConnect. But...parts came in one piece at a time. First I hooked up the amps with the factory speakers...just to get it all working while waiting for the new Kenwoods to arrive. I will say this...the factory speakers handled 200 watts RMS per channel just fine (one channel per speaker x 4 doors >=< 800 watts rms total). I seriously thought about cancelling the order on the Kenwoods. However...when the Kenwood arrived I can say that the sound is cleaner with the Kenwood. I did 3.5 inch coaxial in the dash and run them off a separate 400 amp 2 Chanel amp. I used the DSP to cut out all bass and lowered the =midrange (kind of like a bandpass but not really a cross over...more of a trim function). I run a 13 inch JL Audio sub off a Alpine M500 amp. So three total amps, one for the sub, one for the doors and a third for the dash. The DSP lets me fully control each channel separately so I can adjust timing, trim and crossovers on each speaker the way I want to hear it. Total control freak, I know! But to your conclusion above...the factory speakers are not all that bad. You just need more control for them. It's too bad Moopar doesn't give us a little more DSP control in the head unit.

 

[brv10]

Put NVX speakers in the dash, all 3, way better. The doors are getting Morel coax 6.5 speakers,22 Alpine 12 inch screen.

 

[Riddick]

Post your impression once you change the door speakers, I am still on the fence about swapping them.

Put NVX speakers in the dash, all 3, way better. The doors are getting Morel coax 6.5 speakers,22 Alpine 12 inch screen.

 

[brv10]

I have everything, just need to install, the doors better work well, not cheap! They are pretty efficient though. My stock dash speakers tested at 2.6 ohms and are cheap junk.

 

[gimmie11s]

Subbed for info. Like many in this thread, I swapped the dash and center speakers to kicker DS's and they are much more pronounced with better mid and high sound. They were so much better than stock, I had to adjust my mids/highs EQ down and adjust the front/back fade to balance everything out.

 

[brv10]

I went with NVX dash speakers because they have silk tweeters and were 35.00 for 4.

 

[CFE]

bumping an old thread - curious how the NVX's sound @brv10 and if you're still rocking the cheap skars @Riddick?

skar is appealing due to the cheap cost, plus they have a shallow mount 8" sub that i might just swap w/ the factory sub. seems like a cheap way to potentially improve the oem audio without adding amps and DSP.

 

[brv10]

The NVX speakers are still rocking the dash, all 3 of them!