darkknight1999

Personally I like Alpine head units. I've used them for year with excellent success.

But really it comes down to what you'd like to get out of it. What options you want it to have etc.

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Mark Doiron

That has been my experience, too. And the Kickers are a huge improvement over the earlier Infinity system. I proved that to a friend by having him fade his Infinity system to just the front speakers (no subwoofer overpowering everything, IOW), then comparing the same track with deep bass and strong cymbals on my Kicker-equipped front speakers. Totally blew away his Infinity system.

jk_sea

I always assumed the 77Kick10 upgrade was for those of us with the base stereo (non Alpine) setup, you know, the 4 paper megaphones and two screechy little tweeters on the dash. I've heard it's an improvement over the base system, but does not make the base system incredible in any way.

I'm not surprised there's little/not much difference between the Alpine and Kicker's, as the Alpine system isn't horrible, like the base system is. Is there any way to return the Kickers?

I've had really good results with the Polk db series in other vehicles. They're something I'm still thinking about for my current JK.

Collyn

just about any well known aftermarket brand head unit. Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, etc. they will all have virtually flat frequency response when all the sound "enhancements" are turned off. I prefer Kenwood. But, some prefer others. Pick one with features and price that fits your needs. Don't buy Boss, Sounstream, Soundstorm, Jensen. If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. Look at Crutchfield. They sell better brands. Full price though. You might look at their site to get an idea of what you want then shop around. Brick and mortar stores will likely have better deals and better warranty/customer service. So shop locally if you can.

vpkb1998

But they do sound better now, more clarity. I got this from the wrangler forum, just snip the leads off the stock capacitors and solder on new ones.

The idea is for those who don't want to have to do extensive mods, you know, those looking for plug and and play.

I have "real" component speakers and a very nice aftermarket head unit but I wanted to see if cheap simple mods would suffice.

darkknight1999

Exactly. Crutchfield is expensive, since they make you pay MSRP on product for the most part. However, they do supply some of the little things you'll need for installation. But if you can handle the install with little to no instruction, you can check out www.wooferetc.com for pretty good deals. And just pick up the harnesses yourself.

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

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vpkb1998

Only reason why you pay more is for the warranty, as Crutchfield and some other retailers are authorized dealers. You get 30 days at most with unauthorized but but the savings may be worth the gamble.

drew

I am very disappointed with the Alpine system in my 2014 JKUR. The Infinity in my 2008 would blow this one away especially on the high end. I wanted to do a plug and play Kicker speaker conversion (all 7) but I'm now hearing it won't make much difference.
Let's face it, a Jeep is a pretty lousy listening environment. I don't expect home theatre results and don't need ground shaking bass. I just want a crisper sound than the mud pouring out of the Alpines.
Has anyone done the plug and play Kicker (or other brand) 7 speaker replacement on the 730N? Details would be appreciated. Thanks

mr.brav90

My understanding of the jeeps audio short comings (and my understanding is limited and based of what I have read) is the head unit and factory amp have big limitations. The most common thing I have seen is swapping out both and stuffing evwrything with some kind of sound deadner polly fill or dynomat.

Collyn

Definitely and great starting point. Address the shortcomings and then reevaluate the system. And upgrade from there if you aren't satisfied. The major issues are with the parts you've mentioned. And replacing speakers without addressing the enclosures and signals is kinda a waste of money. As it will sound about the same. Maybe a little LESS volume due to aftermarket speakers usually are less sensitive due to trading efficiency for accuracy. Again...USUALLY. Some are simply just less efficient and have sonic issues of their own. Improving the enclosures and sending the speakers a more accurate, powerful signal is a step in the right direction.