Unless I overlooked them I didn't see any specs on any of the available stereos in the XJ8. What I'm looking for is the specs on the Alpine system. Wattage, output, inputs and ohms. Any ideas where to start?
What would be even better is a comparison between the Alpine and HK.
Thanks again.

 

To cut a long story short... it's all very poor.

Speakers are generic 4 ohm, as per industry standard, factory headunit probably makes all of 20wrms total, and the HK system is about as powerful as a generic aftermarket headunit, the amp only makes about 18wrms per channel, possibly a bit more for the sub channels, as the sub is a dual voice coil unit, 2ohm per coil, so you might get 30-35wrms per channel?

Real question is, why are you asking, and what do you hope to achieve?

 

Hi
Do not forget about the SPL of the speakers. If the speakers has more than 91dB 20W it is enough a simple calculation at 1W you have 91dB at 20w you will have about 104dB in the car. If the speakers has less then 87dB you will have less SPL in the car. every 3dB SPL double the power.
In sound reproduction it is all about SPL not power.
I have regular sound system and i am satisfied.

 

That is your opinion and opinion only.

For me the Alpine in my 01 XJR sound very good and was advertised at 320 watts.

 

It may pay for you to learn the difference between a watt and wrms

It is very easy to make a claim about how many watts a stereo may have, but wrms is what actually matters, and is really the only valid way to make comparisons between systems

 

Maybe 320watts PMPO
Please read this if you want to learn something
Audio power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I'm asking for informational purposes. If I want to just change the speakers It's always good information to have.

 

Sounds a little disrespectful to luc. "If you want to lean something". Well as YOU know sound is always subjective. What sounds good to you might sound like crap to someone else. Does that make them wrong? No it means they have different taste in sounds. To put someone down because they like the sound of their system??? So maybe it's not 320 watts. Does that really matter? Seem
ed a little off to me...

 

Well I was hoping to get better quality sound. Volume is fine but the clarity and bass isn't there. Not looking for crappy thumping bass just a more solid with an edge. Replacing with newer technology and more efficient speakers should accomplish this. Always good to know what the amp rating is. However all you gave was a guess. So the Alpine system does not have an amp? All is powered by the head unit and we're assuming that it's 20 watts total? So that would be 10 watts for the F/R-L/R speakers and 10 for sub? That is why I was hoping someone had the specs.

 

If you really want to improve the sound, consider installing a proper amplifier.

You have the standard system, which makes things a little easier, you can use the existing speaker outputs from the headunit as high level inputs into a small 4 channel amp, then wire this up to the original speakers. Even a small 50wrmsx4 amp will make a night and day difference.

You still won't have proper bass, as you don't have a sub, but there are things you can do to help improve it.
The best thing will always be to run a proper sub, but most people don't want to do down this road. You could use a 6x9 in the parcel shelf, like they did with the premium setup. I don't know of many 6x9s I would consider up to the task, but I know ID (Image Dynamics) make a set that would sound fantastic.
The other option is to help your door speakers out. Even just some sound deadening on the inside of the doors will give you a noticeable difference, or look at getting speaker pods made up that mount the speakers to the actual door, rather than the (in terms of a speaker mount) flimsy door cards.


One last thing...
Don't get too caught up with speaker efficiencies and counting watts. Even if all you did was replace the old speakers with new ones, you should see an improvement

 

I don't need nor want to learn anything about stereo. You guys need to read posts correctly.
Question was asked about specs for the Alpine System.
Jaguar rate/advertise it as 320 watts.
Therefore my answer.
Same thing is someone was asking for the HP rating of the XJR.
Jaguar rate it at 370 hp.
Obviously there are many ways to calculate power, being for a stereo or an engine.
Brake horsepower, SAE, horsepower, DIN horsepower, RWHP ( rear wheel hp) etc.

And yes, I do like the alpine system in my XJR.
taste and opinion are very personal and that apply to music

 

However, you're still not addressing Grandell's correct input: Advertising "320 watts" sounds good, wow 320 watts! but that is typical maximum power (with all of its distortion) and it has nothing to do with 320 watts true root means square (i.e."rms"), which is the core, true value of the available power and comparing to the XJR's 370 HP doesn't make any sense. Jaguar's advertised power on my XJR's is 370 HP and there's no other OEM used value that I know of that's popularly accepted to express engine power at the show room, other than torque, but that's a different movie.

Luc, I don't mean to be beligerant, but I just come across many subjects in life where people assure that "taste and opinion are very personal and that apply to music"... Really? Only to a certain extent, at best. If someone tells me that there's a SINGLE piece of rap that comes close to "Beethoven's 9th", or to Chopin's "Ballad in G minor" or to most pop music that actually contains a melody, as in music, I'd say "OK, let's listen to it, I'm dying to hear it".

Cheers,

 

Good points, Grandell. The only item I question is that 6"x9" subwoofer. To me, "6x9" and "subwoofer" do not belong in the same sentence. "Woofer"? Maybe, but "Sub", I doubt it because sub-100Hz and sub-80HZ frequencies, etc. will get poor reproduction; either that or the poor thing can expect a short life span. My XJR came with the Alpine "Premium" sound system...what, are you kidding me? When I first bought the car I was curious as to what that Premium system with the factory 6x9 sub-make-believe speaker would sound like compared to my existing XJS' awesome custom 10" JBL in sealed enclosure. Not even close. Once in a while there are some very low frequency pipe organ passages in my music and it is immensely rewarding to be able to listen to it just like being inside Notre Dame... You cannot do that without the proper subwoofer.

Even the modest 10" sealed enclosure Kicker subwoofer, currently in the trunk of my XJR (see gallery), works beautiful with low-low frequencies, even when the only sound passage to the cabin is the 6x9 "void" left by you-know-who in the parcel shelf. It is a 400wrms driver driven by a 350wrms Kicker amp. Total I believe less than $400.00.

Cheers,

Cheers,

 

I feel like I should apologize a little... but talk about music and stereos and 'personal taste' really grinds my gears.
For a collective group of people who drive high end vehicles, and generally appreciate the finer things in life, it amazes me that we put up with such poor stereos.

When you compare an old CRT TV to a new ultra hi-def screen, there is a very obvious improvement in quality. Good music is the same. You may be used to something blurry and fuzzy and think it's ok, but once you've heard a proper high end system, you'll know the difference.
Unfortunately with sound it's not as easy to put it in numbers. Even watts and sensitivity measurements won't tell you whether a system has been tuned correctly, has peaks and troughs, flat spots and correct phasing, let alone a decent flat response.
Fortunately car manufacturers are taking a lot more care in these areas now, and properly working with audio engineers to integrate the stereo right back in the design stages. Go and sit in a new Jag, Merc, Audi etc and the quality is amazing. FYI some of those stereos comfortably rate in the thousands of watts. Sadly peak figures still sound far more impressive on a spec sheet than actual rms ratings, but it's a step in the right direction at least.

 

A high end/ quality stereo would be a waste on me as my ears are not what they once were.


As for HD TV, I have worn glasses since the age of four, so without HD eyes, it does seem a waste to get rid of my perfectly good working CRT TV.