JL Audio and Alpine speakers are among the best audio brands available in the market. However, if you are going to upgrade your car sound system, you may get confused about which one to choose.
So, are the JL Audio or Alpine car speakers better? Let’s find out.
Generally, Alpine speakers are better than JL Audio speakers in terms of sound quality, price, and installation ease. Speakers from JL Audio on the other hand, create more dynamic and deeper bass but are more expensive.
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Tip: For the absolute top sound experience, you can install a 3-way component system JL Audio C5-653 Evolution. This is the only 3-way system you can find from both brands.
In this article, I will compare JL Audio and alpine speakers from the technical side, the budget, and show you which ones are better for different music types to make a smart choice while buying them for your car.
Which Is Better: JL Audio or Alpine?
JL Audio and Alpine are two well-renowned brands, and both have gained a good amount of trust among car audio enthusiasts.
Alpine offers a broader range of car speakers as compared to JL Audio. Alpine speakers are well-known for their reliability and excellent sound quality. When you see the price range of Alpine speakers, they have speakers for every budget.
Whether you are looking for affordable speakers like 6.5″ Alpine SXE-1726S or a high-end car-specific set like Alpine PSS-24WRA for Jeep, this brand has a good product. You will not find such diversity in JL Audio.
A pair of high-quality Alpine speakers can transform your car’s sound system to a different level. Here are some of the key features:
Improve Sound Quality
Your factory-installed speakers may be great, but when it comes to sound clarity & tone, they are not the best. Frankly, unless your car is equipped with at least a premium sound system, the factory speakers are way worse than most aftermarket alternatives.
Upgrading your sound system with alpine speakers will let you hear podcasts, music, and news more clearly.
With the Alpine speakers, you can crank up the volume louder without compromising sound quality, especially when they are powered by a good amplifier like Audio Control LC-5.1300.
Upgrade is Easy
You don’t need to swap out the entire sound system while installing Alpine speakers.
They are compatible and fit easily in the place of any OEM speakers. In addition, the installation can be done quickly without any professional help.
Come In Different Sizes.
Alpine speakers come in different sizes ranging from 3.5″ to 12″.
In addition, they have specially designed models for ATVs, UTVs, Jeeps, and marine speakers. A characteristic feature of the Alpine speakers is their color, usually black or metallic black.
Powerful Bass
Bass is a crucial parameter of any speaker, and for many, this is the most critical decision-making factor when purchasing new pair of car speakers.
Alpine speakers come with powerful bass production with no vibrational changes and noise. Models like Alpine SPR-60C will rattle your car windows with powerful bass without compromising sound quality.
The price of these speakers varies according to their size, the output wattage, and of course the series.
| Price Range | Wattage |
|---|---|
| Low Price Range (less than 100$) | 75 – 100 watts, small size speakers |
| Medium Price Range (100$ to 200$) | 100 – 240 watts, powerful speakers |
| High Price Range (200$ and above) | 240 watts and more, premium quality speakers |
Are JL Audio Speakers Good?
JL Audio is a well-known brand in top-class car audio systems, and the company has been developing good quality speakers since 1970. However, due to their higher prices, they do not suit everyone’s wallet.
JL Audio speakers are expensive as compared to other brands. Therefore, these kinds of speakers are placed mainly in high-quality sound systems, including other top-class components, and in such combinations, JL Audio speakers give their peak performance.
If you are tight on budget and still want to install top-quality JL audio speakers, you can look at the JL Audio C1 series.
JL audio has years of experience and expertise in manufacturing speakers which sets them apart from other car audio brands, and they never make products below their standard.
JL Audio has always maintained the highest quality when it comes to materials used to manufacture speakers and the design.
Everything from the cone design, surround profiles, basket, etc., has been perfectly engineered for optimum sound quality.
JL Audio has set the bar high with its top C7 line. These speakers have a clean sheet design perfectly optimized for car audio systems.
Are JL Audio or Alpine Speakers Better?
As you can see above, both brands have good products, and it all depends on the budget. To dig deeper, let’s look closer at each brand’s technical specifications.
Alpine Speakers
Alpine Electronics was founded in 1967 and is considered one of the world’s finest aftermarket car speaker makers.
Their speakers and amplifiers are installed in luxury vehicles like Mercedes Benz and BMW.
Alpine speakers come in four series:
- X series
- R series
- S series
- E series
X Series
The X series is Alpines’ most popular among all products. These speakers are manufactured using high-quality components under Alpine engineering specifications.
Below are other unique features of Alpine X series speakers:
- Radial Neodymium Motor Structure – High efficiency, low loss magnets are placed in voice coils, making these speakers better fit in shallow enclosures.
- Lightweight Nanofiber cone makes cone structure rigid and more sensitive to any slightest voice coil movements. This improves sound quality, reduces the noise, and provides clear undistorted sound.
- Carbon Graphite Tweeters are tight enough to give hard dome performance and, on the other hand, soft enough to produce natural sound characteristics. Tweeters in the X-series help produce accurate sound at an extended frequency range without noise.
R Series
This series is for car audio enthusiasts who are ready to invest in high-quality speakers.
Alpine R series is well known for its durability and high performance. In addition, many factory car speakers use Alpine speakers because of their cost-effectiveness and quality.
Apart from being loud, the Alpine R series handles enormous power and sound reproduction with extreme clarity.
Below are a few other features of the Alpine R series speakers:
- Streamlined Design Grill. External grills of R series speakers have a metal mesh low profile design. This increases the overall strength of the speaker assembly and adds extra durability to it.
- Alpine does not cut costs with cheap materials. R-series speakers have powerful Neodymium magnets. This allows the mounting depth of the speakers to be smaller without sacrificing power handling.
- The R series uses an HD polymer frame instead of a steel design, making the speakers stronger, lighter, and easier to install.
- Smooth Silk Dome Tweeters create perfect and crystal-clear highs.
S Series
Speakers from the Alpine S-series are affordably priced, so you will get alpine-quality sound without paying additional money from your pocket.
They work well with many different applications, have high efficiency, and produce good sound quality, even when you hook them up with your factory head unit.
Other features of the Alpine S series speakers include:
- Good Power Handling Capacity – For example, the S-S65 speakers can handle up to 80 watt RMS. So, they work well with an aftermarket stereo but also with a powerful amplifier. The power handling gives you extra headroom, so they will sound good even when you crack them up.
- Silk Dome Tweeter – The silk dome tweeter on these models gives you a nice smooth high that’s not tinny. You can listen to them on the long drive, and they will not hurt your ears. The tweeter can be adjusted up to 10 degrees to tune the sound performance.
- Polypropylene and Mica Cone – The tuned Poly/Mica cone combination gives excellent energy transfer, increases efficiency, and helps produce a clear sound.
- Rubber Surround – The rubber surround lasts for a long time and gives speakers plenty of cone excursion.
E series
The speakers from the E series are Alpine baseline and are perfect for anyone looking to replace their factory speakers without other car audio upgrades.
They are economical, but that doesn’t mean they are not good. Here are some of the great features of this series:
- Mica Polypropylene Cone – These coaxial two-way speakers can put out tremendous amounts of power due to the lightweight injected pearl mica polypropylene cone. They have a 3.25-inch silk dome tweeter driven by neodymium magnet power.
- Square Wire Voice Coil – This series utilizes square wire for its voice coils in place of the traditional round wire. The benefit of using square cables is that it offers a greater volume for power to travel through and greater heat dissipation while decreasing the voice coil size.
JL Audio Speakers
JL Audio is a US-based brand and an industry leader in car, marine, and home audio. JL Audio car speakers are engineered to meet the needs of customers who are looking for high-end car speakers.
The current lineup of JL Audio includes:
C1 speakers
Each JL Audio C1 speakers have a purpose-built frame design with DMA optimized motor system. The polypropylene cone is a mineral filled with a rubber surround. In addition, these speakers use aluminum dome tweeters equipped with silk suspension.
C2 speakers
The C2 car speakers are equipped with silk dome tweeters giving them extra performance. Also, they have powerful midbass capabilities and smooth midrange output. Everything else is the same as C1 speakers.
C7 Speakers
These speakers reflect the quality for which JL Audio stands for. They are designed without compromising any technical errors with the latest technology developed by JL Audio engineers.
JL C7 Car speakers are designed to work with active crossovers. The tweeter of these speakers is ceramic coated. The lead wires are attached to the rear speaker suspension to avoid unwanted noise.
JL C2 vs. Alpine S. Which One Is Better?
To make this comparison, I took Alpine R-S65 C.2 and JL Audio C2 650. Both models are 6.5-inch two-way component systems at a similar price level, below $300.
| JL Audio C2 650X | Alpine R-S65 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tweeter Design | Silk Dome with neodymium magnet | 1″ Silk Dome |
| Woofer Composition | Mica-filled Polypropylene woofer | Hybrid Fiber Multi-Layer Woofer |
| Woofer Surround Material | Butyl rubber | Santoprene Rubber |
| Sensitivity (1W at 1 meter) | 91 | 88 |
| RMS Wattage | 60 | 100 |
| Peak Wattage | 225 | 300 |
| Frequency Response | 59 – 22kHz | 65 – 29kHz |
The comparison table clearly states that JL C2 are louder at the same distance and have deeper bass, although they do not require an amplifier to be as strong as the one used for Alpine speakers.
Moreover, Alpine R-S65 speakers use larger voice coils (35 mm) than JL Audio (25.4 mm).
The larger the voice coil, the more power a speaker can handle. Larger voice coils tend to have more control over speaker output than small ones.
Which Ones Are Better for Different Music Types?
Whether you listen to Taylor Swift, Neil Young, or Metallica, all these performers and musical instruments cover a wide range of frequencies.
The male voice frequency ranges between 120 Hz to over 3 kHz, while for female singers, this varies from 200 Hz to 4 kHz.
A high-quality sound system covers as much frequency range as possible. For example, if you like to listen to instrumental music, which typically ranges at a lower frequency spectrum, you should choose JL Audio speakers. But if you enjoy music that makes your car a party house, you should go with Alpine speakers.
To get a better audio experience, most audio enthusiasts use a three-way design, meaning they install three separate speakers in the car.
Conclusion
JL Audio and Alpine speakers have decades of experience in manufacturing speakers.
Both brands have launched excellent quality speakers in the market and pushed the industry forward with their innovations.
Of course, you can get more affordable speakers in Alpine, but you should try the JL Audio when searching for high-end sound quality.