Do you have audio questions?

I've been a member of this forum for approx 5 months now, there seems to be a few people on the forum that I've seen answer audio questions in a comprehensive manner. that is awesome because that is the purpose of these fourms. If ypu have questions I am certain the can be answered here effectively!

A little background on me. I have been in the Audio industry for the better part of 20 years. I have been a DIY installer, I've installed for a couple shops in my area in my early 20s, and I still help people in my spare time. I've been an area rep for Digital Designs, and ARPA (ARPA makes Zapco). I am also a certified IASCA judge and competitor. For IASCA I am certified to judge based on installation as well as sound quality of an install. I have also been MECP certified to the advanced level in the past.

As I said earlier there are a few other guys that seem to know what they are doing. If there are audio questions feel free to shoot them on the forum as you can feel confident that myself or one of the other knowledgeable members will point you in the right direction.

I, for one, appreciate your offer! That's what makes forums a great place to learn, good folks helping out...

Hi Guys,

Ok, one question. I successfully swapped my door speakers in my previous car (Shaker Pro, 2013 GT500) and the sound quality improved greatly...

Would I achieve the same if I do it in my 2016 GT350 ? I mean music in this thing sounds like I have a speaker in the fridge.

Anyone swapped just speakers in their mustang and noticed an improvement ?

Thanks

One day I plan to get around to installing:
- Hertz Mille Legend Active 3-way front
- Audison Voce 6.5" rear (just for fill, these will be faded off most of the time unless I just want to get as loud as I can)
- Two Hertz Mille Legend 10" subwoofers in fiberglass boxes on each side
- Audson Bit.1 (initial tune with BitTune)
- Arc Audio amplifiers
- Don't plan to replace any factory wiring unnecessarily - it's fine, add as needed for active.

But... no time.

wildcatgoal said:

One day I plan to get around to installing:
- Hertz Mille Legend Active 3-way front
- Audison Voce 6.5" rear (just for fill, these will be faded off most of the time unless I just want to get as loud as I can)
- Two Hertz Mille Legend 10" subwoofers in fiberglass boxes on each side
- Audson Bit.1 (initial tune with BitTune)
- Arc Audio amplifiers
- Don't plan to replace any factory wiring unnecessarily - it's fine, add as needed for active.

But... no time.

Click to expand...

Those are very expensive speakers... Anything good to replace the factory speakers you recommend, cheaper ? I had installed Infinity speakers in my old mustang, 2 ways, and they sounded great ?
What is the size of the door speakers, 6.5" ? Do you know the size of tweeters by any chance ?

Many thanks

Yes I bought those before I left the car audio shop I moonlit at for 5% above cost - so they were actually pretty cheap. The markup on this stuff is ridiculous.

Anyway, on a budget I tend to avoid car name brands and get speakers from SB Acoustics, which makes a lot of the speakers almost identically for numerous car speaker brands. Join DIYMobileAudio and ask around there - much more specific advice.

Car audio brand-wise, I have always recommended Infinity Reference for budget speakers so long as the model came with silk dome tweeters. Check out sales - around this time there are lots of closeouts at Crutchfield and elsewhere.

Door speakers are 6.5". A-pillar tweeter is technically 3/4" but you can do a little finagling to get a regular 1" in there.

wildcatgoal said:

Door speakers are 6.5". A-pillar tweeter is technically 3/4" but you can do a little finagling to get a regular 1" in there.

Click to expand...

The 3/4" tweeter is held in by a plastic bracket that is plastic-glued in three places. I used a dremel and ground off the glue caps after which the bracket and tweeter popped right out. Next I used sever dabs of hot glue to mount my SEAS Prestige 1" tweeter behind the factory grill. Doing it this way means you can return the car to factory easily and keep your aftermarket gear for you next car...

Oooo... SEAS Prestige... classy man, classy.

You can fit 6.5" or 6.75" speakers in the door.

I bought Kicker 43CSC674 6 3/4" . If you buy the speakers from crutchfield they give you an adapter for the stock wiring harness and a speaker adapter so you can mount the speaker to the door without any drilling.

I'm looking for some recommendations on speakers to replace the factory Shaker (9 speaker, no sub) speakers. I don't need deafening loudness or earth shaking bass. A little more bass would be nice but I favor clarity and and a 'bright' sound. I expect I will have to add an amp so I'd take a recommendation on that too. As far as budget I'll say <$1,000.

OxFord6G said:

I'm looking for some recommendations on speakers to replace the factory Shaker (9 speaker, no sub) speakers. I don't need deafening loudness or earth shaking bass. A little more bass would be nice but I favor clarity and and a 'bright' sound. I expect I will have to add an amp so I'd take a recommendation on that too. As far as budget I'll say <$1,000.

Click to expand...

When I had the Shaker on my GT500, I only replaced the front door speakers and it sounded good... Didn't bother with the rears, can't hear them anyway.

I used Infinity reference 2 way speakers, which have the tweeter in the middle which can be moved/directional to point to your location, and a little switch for attenuating treble.
Give those a go, than take it from there if you still need more bass and / or an amp.

I got a question, can you buy a wiring harness adaptor for the door speakers and tweeters, or you have to cut/solder wires ?

Thanks

For the most part, just speaker swaps are not successful in these cars. Most say that the sound quality and loudness levels declined. This is likely because the impedance of the stock speakers are lower than aftermarket. If you are not replacing amps at the same time it isn't worth it.

torque124 said:

When I had the Shaker on my GT500, I only replaced the front door speakers and it sounded good... Didn't bother with the rears, can't hear them anyway.

I used Infinity reference 2 way speakers, which have the tweeter in the middle which can be moved/directional to point to your location, and a little switch for attenuating treble.
Give those a go, than take it from there if you still need more bass and / or an amp.

Click to expand...

torque124 said:

I got a question, can you buy a wiring harness adaptor for the door speakers and tweeters, or you have to cut/solder wires ?

Thanks

Click to expand...

For the most you will notice a difference replacing the speakers because you will get better frequency response. yoh could lose some volume as the own speakers are most likely 2ohm speakers, but quality isn't associated with loudness. The real limiting factor in our cars is the factory eq and crossover, besides the speakers being crap.

While I would recommend an amplifier also as it would be more effective, you will notice better sound. I would also suggest sealing up the door cavity and treating the door with sound dampening material.

I'm not certain but the speaker plugs should be the standard Ford plugs, and yes they should be a valuable at any speaker retailer.

torque124 said:

I got a question, can you buy a wiring harness adaptor for the door speakers and tweeters, or you have to cut/solder wires ?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Is this what you are looking for?
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120725602/Metra-72-5602-Speaker-Wiring-Harness.html?tp=3097