gasman94 Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 I just bought a 2013 Journey R/T and it has the Alpine system. What a disappointment! I was expecting a decent system and this is one of the worst I've listened to. I should have payed attention to it more when I bought the vehicle. The bass is alright for me since I listen to classic rock, acoustic, etc., but there are no highs whatsoever and the midrange is very muddy. I am planning on starting with replacing the front 3.5's with some quality aftermarket speakers. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I see from previous posts that this system is not very good. It's a shame because it puts a bad mark on an otherwise pleasant vehicle. The vehicle sticker lists the system as coming with 6 "Premium" speakers, but I would challenge that. Any other insight would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 I've been happy with the Alpine system in my 2011. Maybe they switched it up for the 2013 models? I listen to a lot of metal and also play a lot of mashups. I think those genres would expose any top, middle, or high end weakness. Or maybe my ears are not as refined as some. Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black2011 Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 I have a 2011 also and love the Alpine system. Although I came from a Lexus, which had a sound system suitable for my sons "Power Wheels" toy. That too was classified as "Premium". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasman94 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 UPDATE Well, I'm eating my words. I had been doing a lot of research on how to access door panels and dash for speaker changes (no information out there, btw) and ran across a comment on how the system doesn't sound as good with the satellite signal. (not cd quality) So I put in a cd and wow.....the Alpine system came alive!!! So I guess I have no complaints about the Alpine system now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jontrip247 Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 You might already know this, but using the USB drive to play MP3 will not be as clear as a CD if you saved your music files in a compressed format. If you are like me and purchase your tunes via Amazon or other online sites, be sure you save them to your thumb drive in optimal format settings.You will not be able to have as many albums,but with a 16gb drive, I doubt anyone here will have a complaint on storage amounts gasman94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 UPDATEWell, I'm eating my words. I had been doing a lot of research on how to access door panels and dash for speaker changes (no information out there, btw) and ran across a comment on how the system doesn't sound as good with the satellite signal. (not cd quality) So I put in a cd and wow.....the Alpine system came alive!!! So I guess I have no complaints about the Alpine system now. Glad to hear your happier with your system. It seems these newer vehicles are so integrated that its best to just go with the highest trim manufacturer stock system and leave it alone. Just a comment on accessing door panels and such. . . I recently took everything out of my Dakota to apply the sound insulation adhesive stuff and I had thought about doing the same to the journey. I reconsidered b/c I am afraid that ripping into the panels and such would loosen tight factory tolerances that minimize squeaks and rattles. Not worth it to me. I wouldn't want to disassemble the door panels unless I was sure that I would get a great return for my risk of increasing rattles. Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 You might already know this, but using the USB drive to play MP3 will not be as clear as a CD if you saved your music files in a compressed format. If you are like me and purchase your tunes via Amazon or other online sites, be sure you save them to your thumb drive in optimal format settings.You will not be able to have as many albums,but with a 16gb drive, I doubt anyone here will have a complaint on storage amounts I commonly play mp3, m4a, wma, and similar formats via my iPod. I have noticed that audio CDs sound a little better. I'm not as computer savvy as some so I don't understand your comment above. The formats I refer to in this post are certainly "compressed". Are you saying that devices such as the iPod and thumb drives default to compressing those files even further unless you somehow specify otherwise? I'm not sure about apple products such as my iPod, but can I specify a less compressed save format somehow on my thumb drives and possibly my iPod? Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moparman Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 I think its a poor system really, very poor bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecrazyfoo4u Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 I would like to swap out the stock sub in the back with something that's better. That would help out in the bass department I'm sure...even if it uses the stock amp. Has anyone done this? It's an 8" sub isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moparman Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Yeah its 8in......Ive had it out, decent speaker, and box, not sure why it sounds so poor. I'm going to try hooking a differnt box in place of it, and see how it sounds. That will tell me if speaker or amp issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubberdude88 Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Moparman, pretty sure it is an amp issue. 300 watts was the standard back in the 80's. Today, 300 watts is pathetic, especially in a large cubic feet area like the DJ. Update the amp to today's standards - 1000+ watts and only your neighbours will be complaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destination Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 I agree the satellite sound is weird, distorted even. But I have no complaint with the cd, mp3/4 or local radio station sound. gasman94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecrazyfoo4u Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 Moparman, pretty sure it is an amp issue. 300 watts was the standard back in the 80's. Today, 300 watts is pathetic, especially in a large cubic feet area like the DJ. Update the amp to today's standards - 1000+ watts and only your neighbours will be complaining. If it's 300watts RMS, then that should be more than enough power. Not everybody is into full body 1000watt pumping. If it's 300watts peak, then that would definitely be underpowered. Where do you guys find the specs for the stock amp/sub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lebowski Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 I commonly play mp3, m4a, wma, and similar formats via my iPod. I have noticed that audio CDs sound a little better. I'm not as computer savvy as some so I don't understand your comment above. The formats I refer to in this post are certainly "compressed". Are you saying that devices such as the iPod and thumb drives default to compressing those files even further unless you somehow specify otherwise? I'm not sure about apple products such as my iPod, but can I specify a less compressed save format somehow on my thumb drives and possibly my iPod?Peace. unlike, e.g., a zip file which is lossless (when you uncompress it you get back the same file that you put in), mp3, in order to save space, uses lossy compression: you take the original audio file, compress it to reduce storage and, when uncompressed, you don't get the original file. The mp3 algorithms throws out something, supposedly the details that you cannot hear, but in practice something you will notice. When you compress the original audio file, you can decide the compression level (i.e., the bitrate to use). Obviously an higher bitrate (less compression and bigger file size) will give better quality that a lower bitrate (where more detail has to be thrown out). If you want the highest quality possible you should use a lossless compression like flac, (but I don't think the uconnect would reproduce it), also, there are competing formats (like ogg, which not only is considered to be of higher quality at the same bitrate but is also a free format, with no patents encumbering it and no royalties to pay to fraunhofer as it is the case for mp3), but sadly the uconnect doesn't work with it either. Me, I don't have such a fine ear, so I'm happy enough with 128kbps streams downloaded from an internet jazz radio. jontrip247 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirceuximenes Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 I use an iPod with MP3 music, with better quality in the conversion, and I have had a good result, now I changed the speakers by JBL, has not changed the Sub I do not know if the amp supports a Sub best, but after the exchange the speakers I was very pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biohazard Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 when playing music from a USB stick(MP3) make sure the sound quality is 128 BIT ot better.... I use 192 BIT setting when i rip music to maintain as much of the CD quality as i can. It does come with a price of space( at 192BIT a song is 9megs as compared to a 128BIT 4megs) but is worth it in quality. I find the stock system to be great but you are correct on the satelite signal being weaker then a regualr one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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