JBL or Alpine?

[Dimaoala]

Well... I've been getting alot of the mods I've been wanting now. Intake, H-Techs, now my exhaust not to long ago. But I'm deciding if I should keep my factory upgraded JBL system, or go back to my old system that I had in my previous Corolla.

The JBL system has 8 Speakers in 6 locations, and has 440 Watts.

My alpine system had 6 Speakers in 6 locations, had 700 watts. Spent about +/- $1800 for all system components, custom set-up, labor and installation, and all hardware (box materials, RCA's, Wires, etc.)

Tried selling my Alpine on CL and eBay, no bids or offers at all.

If I try selling, I'll be about $800-900 down the drain. My Uncle who helped me post the sale suggested its best not so sell because I'll be losing to much. Asked my parents if I can put it back in, but they said no. So I'll try and put it back in if I'm really determined to have it back in.

Pros and Cons to this?

Pros
-Upgraded sound system
-Upgraded sound quality
-Definitely more bass
-The custom look of the trunk set-up
-Will be great for car shows (plan on trying to go to a few in the future)
-System is already designed to fit in a Corolla trunk
-Will make me even lower due to the added weight in the trunk

Cons
-JBL takes up no space at all, and sounds great, or descent compared to my Alpine
-Custom trunk set-up took more than half my trunk, it can make a inconvenience, but I rarely use my trunk.
-Will have to pay for installation

If any of you are wondering, the spare tire is still accessible.



So far the system has been sitting in my Dining room for almost half a year

Suggestions, opinions, and your input would definitely be appreciated.

If you can think of any other Pros/Cons to the swap let me know, I wanna know all Pros and Cons for this swap

Don't sugar coat, I want your honest thoughts

[IWAKE]

Do you have a decent Alpine head (far better in all areas, imo) unit as well? In my experience, used car audio depreciates pretty badly. Especially if custom to a particular car but you might be lucky if your buyer has same car and strong following for customization -ie. Acura RSX....

I've always like Alpine stuff and imo, the factory JBL (or most JBL stuff) is nowhere near decent aftermarket. JBL in Toyota's do sound clear but is a little brittle sounding that is tiring at louder volumes for longer period of times. The sound is there but doesn't have the depth, warmth and lushness (relatively speaking) of good aftermarket.

If you have the stuff and is custom to your car, why not enjoy it? But it is another one of those things that can become never ending....then you are going to need dynamat, then better amp, then better this and better that....the Corolla class is not the quietest also so at highways speeds a good sound system may not have as much desire...

But having a full aftermarket Alpine system would be sweet! I've been considering changing parts or all of my system but haven't been able to justify the trade offs to myself, yet....

Wish I had your dilemna. Good luck!

[lownslowneon]

I like having my full trunk space... you could have that redone where it would take less space though.

[pengin978]

Dim, if you ever wanted to get rid of the JBL system I'll gladly take it off your hands man. no need to worry about that because when I bought my car, the system was stripped out of the car besides the cd changer and amp. sounds horrible

[RollaRed]

I have similar set up. Except for the full custom half trunk design its just in a box. Same type R. It hits hard.

[SuperchargedMR2]

My question is that are you changing out the HU too? If you already own a nice Alpine HU with NAV than I would say to go ahead & use what you have. If you are keeping the HU than I would keep the JBL system until you want to change out the HU too.

The downside to a different HU though is that you can't use the steering wheel controls for the BT.

[Dimaoala]

I don't have plans on changing out the h/u any time soon. I rarely use my BT as I just wait before or after for a call

This swap up is just a thought, if I do end up doing it, it will be down the road

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by Dimaoala

I don't have plans on changing out the h/u any time soon. I rarely use my BT as I just wait before or after for a call

This swap up is just a thought, if I do end up doing it, it will be down the road

Than leave it with the JBL unless you want a new HU later with NAV.

[PhatRoyale]

Keep the Alpine setup. It looks great. I'm sure it sounds even better.

[Dimaoala]

Gonna look into some Alpine Double Dins, any suggestions?

Or any double dins in general?

-Want a Doulbe Din
-Don't really care for bluetooth or navi, but I'm open to suggestions
-Ipod Connectivity
-Orange/White Button Color
-Steering Wheel Audio Control connect-ability
-Non motorized

These are the minimum features I can think of as of right now

[TFCommanderBob]

I'd also keep the stock JBL unless you upgrade the HU, although your alpine gear looks nice .

There are ways to build a system to be much more discreet but still sound nice. Unless you really just dig massive bass output. I'm molding a box to the corner of my trunk and putting in a low profile sub! (hopefully finishing in the next couple weeks) I put an alpine PDX5 amp under my drivers seat and am using a PC under the passenger seat as my HU with a 7" touchscreen for input. It is possible to have a cool system without losing a trunk!

Oh, and you will always lose a lot of money if you pay new retail and then sell used. To lessen that grief, think of it as getting money for something that isn't of use to you, rather than thinking about what you paid for it. If it were a computer and 2 years old you'd get about 1/3 your investment if your were lucky!

[Dimaoala]

My next mod and goal is to get this system back in!

Gonna go to my sound shop sometime tomorrow and have it quoted for the installation!

For sure I'm gonna look into a double-din

-Non motorized
-Ipod Connectivity
-Orange/White Button Color
-Steering Wheel Audio Control connect-ability
-Don't really care for bluetooth or navi, but I'm open to suggestions

[msncorolla422]

Originally Posted by RollaRed

I have similar set up. Except for the full custom half trunk design its just in a box. Same type R. It hits hard.

yeah I need a system asap! and any news on the cold air? and selling the old weapon r to me?

[Persian Scarface]

it all depends on what you want. if you want more bass, i say just install the amp and sub with your JBL speakers, and try and sell the alpine speakers. i have never personally heard the JBL system, but im sure it sounds great. I remember in a previous thread a while back that you were looking for a little more bass than the JBL can offer, but the alpine hits harder than what you want, so I say put the sub in and get a sub controller and wire it somewhere in reach so that way you can get more power from the sub when you want it and you can turn it down when you dont want it.

either way, you cant really go wrong with what ever you decide to do, they both sound great. if you decide to take out the JBL and put the alpines in, more power to you. a lot of my friends think that i have upgraded my system when i have stock non JBL in my car, so im pretty sure the JBL is good too. I have a friend with two type-r's and hes looking to get rid of one, so im thinking of taking it off his hands and putting it in my car.

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by Dimaoala

My next mod and goal is to get this system back in!

Gonna go to my sound shop sometime tomorrow and have it quoted for the installation!

For sure I'm gonna look into a double-din

-Non motorized
-Ipod Connectivity
-Orange/White Button Color
-Steering Wheel Audio Control connect-ability
-Don't really care for bluetooth or navi, but I'm open to suggestions

The install is a little trickier with the JBL system. The speakers are wired in separately & there is a digital signal that tells the amp to fire up from the HU. It will be much easier to use the amps & sub if you upgrade the HU & speakers too. That may get more expensive than you want. If you don't care about NAV than just save your money & keep the JBL as it sounds very good. If you do upgrade the HU than just get yourself a very nice 2-din unit with NAV as it's always nice to have.