Stereo Information (Wiring, Upgrades, etc...)

[SirLoin]

I see several mentions of "base stereos" in this thread, but none of you are actually talking about the base 6 speaker stereo, from what I can tell. Hopefully, you can lend some advice on my planned stereo upgrade. Bear with me, as I know very little about stereo systems and their terminology.

I've had my 2017 V6 convertible for exactly a week. Apparently, in all my test driving of V6s, EBs, & GTs, I never cranked the stereos to see how they sounded. Honestly, I think the base stereo in my wife's 2013 Highlander sounds decent (except for the lack of bass), so I expected anything Ford threw into the mustang to be more than satisfactory. My 6 speaker stereo makes me yearn for the base stereo in my 2003 V6, which I replaced.

The one area in which my 2017 stereo excels is the volume. It's so loud that I've never turned it past 3/4, even at 80 mph on the interstate with the top down. I don't know if others are experiencing the same volume in the 6 speaker stereo, but I don't think I need to add an amp to be happy. I'm looking for "high-end factory stereo (apparently not found in any S550 mustang)" kind of quality, in the ballpark of $300-400.

I'm considering the Stage 3 Motorsports Kicker upgrade kit (URL below), but it seems like it's just 4 speakers and I think I could find comparable speakers at a better price. I also don't know if I want to add tweeters to the doors. The last time I had them (in the aforementioned 2003 V6), the tweeters blew the first time I cranked the stereo and sounded terrible for the following 8 years that I owned the car. I'm also planning to keep the stock A-pillar tweeters, for now.
http://www.stage3motorsports.com/KSC654-2015-Mustang-Kicker-KS654-6-5-Door-Speaker-Upgrade-Kit-Base-Audio.html

For the bass, I'm looking for well rounded sound, not the re-calibrate-your-pacemaker bass I had in the 2003. I'm thinking about a self-powered under-seat sub. It would be mounted either under the manual front passenger seat (if it fits), or against the back of the rear seat, which is stationary in the convertible. I'm not sure how much bass would be heard from the trunk with the top down.

What do you think of bass blockers to reduce the distortion in the four 6.5" speakers? This is the biggest problem I have with the base stereo. I figured the sub input could be spliced in-line from one of the rear speakers, before the bass blocker. Would this allow me to use the head unit bass adjustment in place of a remote control for the sub?
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_127BB150A2/Bass-Blockers-150-Hz-cut-off.html?tp=3216

Does anyone have the output specifications for the base 6 speaker stereo? I'm looking for a range of parameters I need to stay in when selecting the 6.5" speakers. I'm assuming it's a low powered system, due to the absence of the amp, correct?


P.S. - In regards to an earlier post, I'm pretty sure my 2017 has the Aux input in the center armrest. I'll have to double check.

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[CVCashmere]

I've Been reading This Entire Thread But Have a Simple Question

I also have the Shaker system without the rear subwoofer.

Is there an actual wire from the left kick plate amp to the rear trunk even though it did not come with the sub??

Can I buy the sub/with amp and directly hook it into the system using this wire?

I am getting rather confused...but I can buy a used Ford subwoofer and do a simple attachment to hook up the subwoofer? Where would I get the power for it?

Thanks

CVCashmere

Just purchased a factory 401A sub enclosure. Has anyone figured out how to add it to the 9 speaker stereo that is included on the premium?

Also can anyone confirm that this is the connection needed for the amplifier bolted to the back of the box.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Speaker-Con...ash=item25b6191e47:g:iLAAAOSwXshWs~FM&vxp=mtr

 

[GTP]

These are my questions, too.
I was too lazy to pull the trunk cover back to check at the right side.

 

[Nik_Ind]

I also have the Shaker system without the rear subwoofer.

Is there an actual wire from the left kick plate amp to the rear trunk even though it did not come with the sub??

Can I buy the sub/with amp and directly hook it into the system using this wire?

I am getting rather confused...but I can buy a used Ford subwoofer and do a simple attachment to hook up the subwoofer? Where would I get the power for it?

Thanks

CVCashmere

Hey bud! From what I've read on a few threads, if I remember correctly, I think there is a wire but it doesn't get any signal since it is disabled at the Head Unit. However, there is a possibility of enabling the wire using Forscan by modifying the as-built data. Tricky, but not too tricky.

I have a 9 speaker premium as well, but didn't go that route.

 

[djcwardog]

A few retrofit observations

So you got the subwoofer, perhaps the box with speaker and amp already on it. Hopefully your seller also provided the plugs with wiring cut off enough so you can use it. Now what? Here are the Ford part numbers for the bracket and the cover. If you get the actual sub box and amp from an eBay seller you may need these two parts to complete the installation.

Woofer Cover
Part Number: FR3Z-18B947-A. (~$25)

Woofer Bracket
Part Number: FR3Z-18807-A. (~$80)

The bracket came along with my sub but not the plastic cover. So I ordered the cover. If, like me, you don't have (or get with your used parts) the 10-pin subwoofer harness, then we need to figure out what to use.

[UPDATE 7-13-2017 There seems to be a WPT-667 part # out there. Also found a longer Part number associated: 3U2Z14S411CAAA and I have one on order. Soon to confirm if the plug fits into the jack on the sub amp.]

Note also - the 400A and 401A option cars use the outboard amp. I believe that this is the "DSP" module that comes up when you pull your car's as-built data down from Ford. I compared my car, a 400A, with a 401A car that I also considered locally. Using both VINs I got the data from Ford online. Beyond the scope of this thread - FORscan is needed w OBD reader, and a nice comparator program that other members have linked us to. I found at least one difference in the DSP coding between the two cars. So what?

It's possible that I may need to edit the as-built data of my car's DSP to match that of the 401A car in order to enable full subwoofer compatibility. This could be the case when I open up the kick panel and the right rear trunk area. I may find pins 1 and 2 (signal for the sub) occupied on the amp output but no plug out back for the sub...or something else. I may need to run wires from that plug out to the rear to get the signal to the sub the way the factory has done it on 401A cars. Not sure there, but this is the sort of thing we need to plan for in making these retrofits. I will post up my outcome to share the info.

I CAN confirm that an edit to my APIM module will be necessary after having installed the ACM (head unit) from a 401A car in order to have HD Radio. I did the swap yesterday and made no edits to anything - literally plug and play. While the HD works fine and shows on the screen when tuned to a HD station, the option under radio settings is not (yet) there - to enable or disable HD. I will do this edit soon.

Observation - before doing the swap, I could not get my iPhone to play as a USB device (like an iPod) when I plugged it in either port under Sync3 operation. Yes, it works fine as a Bluetooth device in all cases to play music. And, of course it worked with CarPlay. However, CarPlay in this Ford is a bit crude in appearance when playing music from the iPhone compared to other cars so I prefer the Sync3 interface which is great. Now, with the 401A ACM head unit installed, my iPhone indeed shows up under Sync3 as a USB device alongside it showing as a Bluetooth device. When you plug it in, the car is smart enough to disable it as a Bluetooth music player so that feature gets grayed out - leaving the iPhone to show as a telephone and data device only - the way it is supposed to work when plugged in!

Also - the DIYmobile forum and the FORscan forum both give us detailed information on these topics. Search them both for relevant topics like I am doing.

 

[djcwardog]

Swap out all the factory speakers

I am going to give this kit a try:

http://www.stage3motorsports.com/15...ker-Complete-KS-Series-9-Speaker-Package.html

This should make for a decent baseline over stock. This kit requires you to cut the baskets out of the stock 6.5" speakers (thereby destroying them) so you can use those mounting rings for the 6.5" Kickers. No sweat as this will ensure a good door seal along with some dynamat of course. Silk dome tweeters ought to be quite an upgrade over the stock stuff in my 400A car. However, I don't get why the Kicker kit sources a total of four coax speakers for the 6.5" locations. I can always use a low pass filter to choke off the highs going to my lower doors - otherwise I will have a total of seven tweeters up front!

I will try these out along with a factory sub in the back and go from there. I can always go with external amps and Focal speakers later if this does not satisfy me. Unlike prior BMW cars I have had where they ran so quiet that top-line audio upgrades really sounded fine, my GT runs a bit loud. However, it makes good music from the coyote 5.0 so I want to keep the stereo expectations in line with my new reality, a beast of a car - which I love.

 

[djcwardog]

With Updates

I CAN confirm that an edit to my APIM module was necessary after having installed the ACM (head unit) from a 401A car in order to have HD Radio. I did the swap yesterday and made no edits to anything - literally plug and play. While the HD worked fine and showed on the screen when tuned to a HD station, the option under radio settings was not there - to enable or disable HD. SOLVED...

UPDATE - 7-5-17: My APIM under 7DO-01-01 read in hex: 622A 0502 00xx. This had its 8th character at "2" as I suspected. I edited that to be a "3" and this did the trick. HD Radio enabled or disabled now appears under my Radio Settings choices.

ACM 727-01-01: 1050 F800 44CC. That second "0" Means HD radio enabled, DAB and CAN-SWC both not available and CGEA version is 1.3. The "5" means that the front and rear satellite speakers are External Variable (from the DSP amp). The "0" means Aux 1 and Aux 2 not used (Perhaps this switches to an "8" when enabling the sub output from DSP?) The "F" means Front and Rear speaker detection is disabled (not coming from ACM head unit) and the antenna type is active with 6 presets. The "8" means Front Tweeter is present, North American chime strategy, ANC is absent and USB is absent. The "0" means Mono Subwoofer for Aux 1 Channel location. The "0" in the eighth place means internal CD and no MP3 text conversion.

For ACM 727-01-02: 0300 34. The second digit as "3" means EQ selection #3. Choices are from 0-9.

727-04-01 0001 0255 53DE. The second digit at "0" means Tuner region North America. The fourth digit at "1" means SDARS region is US. Sixth digit at "2" means no SDARS data services ("1" means they are on.).

My DSP stock coding is 783-01-01: 0000 8C. From the 401A car this is 1000 xx
783-01-02: 018E. From the 401A car this reads 2E, and comparator says both cars are same. To investigate... possibly edit 783-01-01 and change the first "0" to be a "1" to enable signal from DSP amp out to the sub amp in the trunk?

 

[mumbles]

I CAN confirm that an edit to my APIM module was necessary after having installed the ACM (head unit) from a 401A car in order to have HD Radio. I did the swap yesterday and made no edits to anything - literally plug and play. While the HD worked fine and showed on the screen when tuned to a HD station, the option under radio settings was not there - to enable or disable HD. SOLVED...

UPDATE - 7-5-17: My APIM under 7DO-01-01 read in hex: 622A 0502 00xx. This had its 8th character at "2" as I suspected. I edited that to be a "3" and this did the trick. HD Radio enabled or disabled now appears under my Radio Settings choices.

ACM 727-01-01: 1050 F800 44CC. That second "0" Means HD radio enabled, DAB and CAN-SWC both not available and CGEA version is 1.3. The "5" means that the front and rear satellite speakers are External Variable (from the DSP amp). The "0" means Aux 1 and Aux 2 not used (Perhaps this switches to an "8" when enabling the sub output from DSP?) The "F" means Front and Rear speaker detection is disabled (not coming from ACM head unit) and the antenna type is active with 6 presets. The "8" means Front Tweeter is present, North American chime strategy, ANC is absent and USB is absent. The "0" means Mono Subwoofer for Aux 1 Channel location. The "0" in the eighth place means internal CD and no MP3 text conversion.

For ACM 727-01-02: 0300 34. The second digit as "3" means EQ selection #3. Choices are from 0-9.

727-04-01 0001 0255 53DE. The second digit at "0" means Tuner region North America. The fourth digit at "1" means SDARS region is US. Sixth digit at "2" means no SDARS data services ("1" means they are on.).

My DSP stock coding is 783-01-01: 0000 8C. From the 401A car this is 1000 xx
783-01-02: 018E. From the 401A car this reads 2E, and comparator says both cars are same. To investigate... possibly edit 783-01-01 and change the first "0" to be a "1" to enable signal from DSP amp out to the sub amp in the trunk?

Great information, thanks so much for sharing! :clap2:

 

[djcwardog]

Subwoofer Retrofit - More Trunk and Kick Panel Investigation

First, I spent a little time today putting in my amber hood vent turn signals - very cool! I got a Starkey kit, 3660R Mustang Heat Extractor LED Signal Amber GT 2015-2017 from CJPonyParts. The 2016 cars came with these as OEM, but not so for our 2017's. Anyway, not too hard to install.

Then...I started work on installing the used sub and bracket I got from eBay. I discovered that my 400A car has no subwoofer wiring at all running from the kick panel back to the right rear trunk area. In the kick panel - the gray plug in the amp is missing all the subwoofer wires. Luckily we all know what is supposed to go in the open holes. Also, the black plug has 6 wires in pins 9-14 that go the ANC module. Our 5.0 GT cars do not use the fake engine noise generator like the Ecoboost cars. So...I am thinking that I can insert pins into the gray at pins: 1, 2, 3 and 9. In photos of 401A setups it seems that the subwoofer harness comes out of the same loom that holds the ANC Harness plugs (a black and a gray). There is a menu setting for speed controlled volume: low medium or high. So, if there is a mic somewhere in the cabin, it may interact with that ANC box in the trunk - or it could be strictly a function of vehicle speed. I can run a four-conductor cable from DSP gray back to the trunk and the subwoofer plug.

Pin outs from gray DSP plug > (to the) subwoofer plug appear to be done this way:

1 > 7 low-level subwoofer signal +
2 > 8 low-level subwoofer signal -
9 > 1 subwoofer amp turn on (this may be just 6v?)
3 > I am not sure, it says "Audio D" but I find nothing in the rear to run this to?
-- > 5 the sub amp needs 12v power from fuse 5
-- > 2 the sub amp is grounded in the trunk right rear, near C pillar.

I saw a listing with this Ford part # for a 10-pin (6 small pins in one row, 4 larger pins on a second row) subwoofer harness - a part that - edited for UPDATE - I confirm that works for us.

3U2Z-14S411-CAAA You see in the photos the plug that was featured earlier by others in this thread - obviously what we now want to duplicate.

The rest of the photos are of my trunk, ANC Module, plugs in kick panel, my mark ups on Ford schematics showing pin-out details, and the sub with bracket. Looks like these schematics assume that you are looking INTO the plug at all the openings (not from behind where you will insert all your wires). Compare the sub plug photo with its schematic...

While waiting for all these parts I went ahead and installed the sub bracket and the sub box. The bracket needs four metric bolts, size M8 X 1", to hold the bracket to the right rear trunk shelf (floor). You peel up the clear plastic weatherproof insulators that Ford affixed over the four bolt holes to keep water out of the trunk. Use some wide washers under those four bolt heads. A fifth bolt goes in the upper right side of the bracket into a C-clip that you need to provide. I dug in my parts bin and found a fender bolt with integral washer and and a threaded clip that worked great. You need to carefully cut the trunk carpet (slit it with a razor blade, then scissors for the white padding) to allow parts of the bracket to come through. It will be obvious when you have the parts in hand. I basically cut and rolled the carpet up from under the bracket to stuff in behind the bracket. In this fashion, I was able to access the two bolt holes at the base of bracket that the speaker box bolts onto. A third bolt goes in the upper right to secure the sub box. The final touch is to use three screws to affix the black plastic trim piece that hides the metal angle brackets at the base of the box.

One way or another, we will get this retrofit figured out. Once I do, I will confirm the pin outs and other info so you will have a DIY guide.

 

[djcwardog]

I also have the Shaker system without the rear subwoofer.

Is there an actual wire from the left kick plate amp to the rear trunk even though it did not come with the sub??

Can I buy the sub/with amp and directly hook it into the system using this wire?

I am getting rather confused...but I can buy a used Ford subwoofer and do a simple attachment to hook up the subwoofer? Where would I get the power for it?

Thanks

CVCashmere

See above - your question was what got me started in trying to figure out the DIY for a subwoofer retrofit into a 400A car. I already did the Sat and HD Radio ACM swap and edited the one line in the APIM that needed it.

 

[djcwardog]

Connector for Subwoofer Amp - in the trunk

I got this kit today and it looks to be a match for the jack on the amp. I see now why they charge a bit more - it's listed as a "wiring pigtail kit". Comes with crimp tubes and heat shrink to cover your splices - apparently designed for the techs to repair a cut-off harness. Here's hoping for a clean factory look as I wrap up this work soon. Knowing my past car installs, I will still be underwhelmed and end up using aftermarket amps and speakers/sub...but I want to give the factory stuff a good chance first.

The photos show what I got today along with the known factory plug as the jack on the subwoofer amp. Looking carefully between the rows of wires I was able to read the part number stamped in the plastic connector. All of it reads: AMP C1E35 on left side, then on the right: F6DB-14489-AGA. I started by crimping four female pin connectors onto some four-conductor cable using an excellent special tool just for these crimps.

UPDATE - this plug fits the amp jack! Now we can wire it to the car. Also - see the photo of my right-side kick panel - fuses. From the factory, the sub is powered through Fuse #5 - and my car already has that fuse in place. Wonder if there is a wire behind it - and where it goes? In any case, I bought the ATR Add-A-Circuit by Bussman. Yes, there are those tiny ATR fuses. This will let me tap into the power side of that fuse location and connect up a new wire to run down the right side of car to the trunk - subwoofer power input into pin 5 of the new sub amp plug.

 

[SirLoin]

Well, it seems no one is interested in helping me upgrade my base 6 speaker stereo, but I learned something today that may be helpful to others.

On my 2017 V6 convertible, the rear speakers get almost no attention from the head unit. Almost 100% of the sound from them is midrange. Changing the treble and bass does very little. Can anyone else confirm if their coupe or convertible does the same thing?

I thought maybe Ford spent all their time tweaking the sound for the 9 & 12 speaker systems and didn't bother adjusting for only one door speaker, but the 9 & 12 are so different from the 6 speaker, that's hard to believe. If anyone is thinking of tapping into the factory head unit for a sub install, I'd recommend tying into the door speakers.

After sitting in the car for an hour tweaking my stereo, I was able to get a good sound with minimal distortion at higher volumes. We'll see how it sounds while driving with the top down, but for now I'm happy enough to put off my speaker upgrade for the time being.

Treble: 0
Midrange: -2
Bass: +2
Fade: +3 or +4 to the rear
Balance: 0

 

[mumbles]

Well, it seems no one is interested in helping me upgrade my base 6 speaker stereo, but I learned something today that may be helpful to others.

On my 2017 V6 convertible, the rear speakers get almost no attention from the head unit. Almost 100% of the sound from them is midrange. Changing the treble and bass does very little. Can anyone else confirm if their coupe or convertible does the same thing?

I thought maybe Ford spent all their time tweaking the sound for the 9 & 12 speaker systems and didn't bother adjusting for only one door speaker, but the 9 & 12 are so different from the 6 speaker, that's hard to believe. If anyone is thinking of tapping into the factory head unit for a sub install, I'd recommend tying into the door speakers.

After sitting in the car for an hour tweaking my stereo, I was able to get a good sound with minimal distortion at higher volumes. We'll see how it sounds while driving with the top down, but for now I'm happy enough to put off my speaker upgrade for the time being.

Treble: 0
Midrange: -2
Bass: +2
Fade: +3 or +4 to the rear
Balance: 0

I know you said you are currently satisfied, but if you change your mind and are still looking at the setup from Stage 3, you can save some money by going with the updated version of those speakers from Crutchfield;
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206KSC6504/Kicker-44KSC6504.html?tp=105

Having said that, I would recommend against going with a 2-way in the door since that will bring your soundstage down. Instead, I'd suggest going with 2-way components which replaces the 6.5 woofer in the door and the tweeter in the A-pillar. Something similar to;
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB6502/Polk-Audio-DB6502.html?tp=106
or
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206KSS6504/Kicker-44KSS6504.html?tp=106

I also suggest staying away from metal dome tweeters as they typically get somewhat harsh at higher volumes.

 

[djcwardog]

Kit Installed. I will upload photos once I can resize them.

I am going to give this kit a try: http://www.stage3motorsports.com/15...ker-Complete-KS-Series-9-Speaker-Package.html
This should make for a decent baseline over stock. This kit requires you to cut the baskets out of the stock 6.5" speakers (thereby destroying them) so you can use those mounting rings for the 6.5" Kickers. No sweat as this will ensure a good door seal along with some dynamat of course. Silk dome tweeters ought to be quite an upgrade over the stock stuff in my 400A car.

I watched the Stage3 video for their base upgrade set just to remind myself how things go before starting this morning. Key thing - print off the color wiring diagrams from the beginning of this thread and have those in your hands as you cut into each factory harness and hook up the new wires. Critical if you want to avoid a simple polarity error!

Spent the day today putting these in. I started with the center channel dash speaker. The panel covering it has four snap lugs near the front. Pop those up - they were tough! - and then pull the panel towards you to unseat a pair of locating pins on the front. This speaker was identical to the midranges iin the middle of my doors - paper cone, no tweeter. I used quite a bit of acoustic mat around all the speaker mounting holes. More inside the panels where the grilles are plastic-welded to the panels from the inside. A bunch more inside the lower front doors directly behind the woofer magnet area to really reduce road noise and boom from the doors. The doors and rear deck come apart just as in the video. You will cut each of the four OEM woofers up to reuse the factory rings with the new Kicker 6.5" coax speakers - one in each door down low and a pair on the rear deck. I used a dremel cutting wheel for this at the work bench. I ran the new speaker wire through the area where I cut and pulled out the factory jack. Seal all that up with some goop like that E6000 stuff I got from Hobby Lobby. No air gaps is key! Seal it all up. I was able to install the door midranges simply by unscrewing the pair of Phillips screws from the OEM bracket. You can do all your work right there at the door and fit a piece of acoustic mat behind that magnet as well. The A-pillar tweeters are a snap-in replacement for stock. Here the OEM pieces were silk dome tweeters, better looking than I thought they would be. Tip - pop the clips for those A-pillar covers (careful, right behind there is an air bag right in your face!) then reach in and unclip the OEM tweeters and pull them out to hang five or six inches out and down. Do your work, then snap the new ones in never having had to completely remove that A-pillar trim piece.

The result - highs are really there! I cut back the treble to -4 and upped the bass to +3. I was pleased in testing each driver as I went along and to hear that the lower door speaker is not full-range from the factory. It plays lows and the highs are not there, so no real sound from the coax teeeter there. That's a good thing. I have not yet tackled the subwoofer hookup, maybe tomorrow? My bass ought to improve if I can get that running.

Quoting from the first page of this thread to refresh us all as to what these speakers are, then you will see my photos.

Premium Models 200A/400A (9 Speaker Configuration)
6.5" (Lower Doors) > Coax Kickers - cut OEM out of baskets, use those as rings to mount Kickers
3.5" (Middle Doors) > Coax Kickers
Tweeters (A Pillars) > Kicker 0.75", snap-in fit
3.5" Center Channel (In dash) - same as middle doors > Coax Kickers
6.5" (Rear Deck) - same as lower doors > Coax Kickers - cut OEM out of baskets, use those as rings to mount Kickers

 

[mdnt]

are we able to run a RCA convert cable to C4109A
Pin outs from gray DSP plug > (to the) subwoofer plug appear to be done this way:

1 > 7 low-level subwoofer signal +
2 > 8 low-level subwoofer signal -

or is this a signal aftermarket amps cant read?

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