300A Door Speaker Upgrade

[Mark23GT]

Doing some research on possibly upgrading my front door speakers on the 300A 6 speaker system and read the PowerBass OE652-FD speakers were probably the best choice. Crutchfield has them for 100 bucks. has anyone done this upgrade and how happy are you with the sound? I figure replacing the rear speakers would be a waste since they don't seem to get much power back there and hardly can hear them and tweeters sound ok i think stock, was looking for more lows mostly. thanks! and about how much did you have to pay for installation? hardest part is getting the door panels off probably.

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[Evolvd]

My suggestion is to skip replacing speakers…I think you’ll be disappointed unless you’re doing a full audio build. For the same price you could buy a roll of Sound Shield or Sound Skin and deaden the doors. This will make a significant improvement in the sound of your stock system. Your bass response will increase and less road noise will enter the cabin.

 

[MAGS1]

Yeah, what Brian said. I’ve thought about replacing mine but really to get the best out of new speakers, you need a new/better amp. And then you’re going to want to replace all the speakers for better sound all the way around. And then add a sub. And, well, you’ve just gone down the rabbit hole LOL.

If you’ve not seen Brian’s full audio build, he’s got it documented here. It’s truly a work of art. I did similar stuff (though nowhere near as good) back in high school and college but I just don’t feel like doing it anymore. I love my music but I also love the sound of my exhaust just as much, so I usually listen to that with the music in the background

 

[Mark23GT]

Interesting, did not realize adding sound dampening in the doors would help that much, will do some more research, thanks!

 

[GTP]

The door speakers are the best of the lot. Before replacing them, first disconnect your center speaker, and fade most of the sound forward from the rear speakers. Then reevaluate.

 

[Mark23GT]

Could also do a combination of new door speakers with some sound deadening, still thinking it over, trying to get a quote for installation, does not look too difficult on youtube videos. also, been adjusting the stock sound settings and think it sounds pretty decent. have bass at +5, treble 0, midrange -4 , balance one click to right, fade one click to front, speakers for all passengers, speed compensation on high. also a new to me song recommendation to test it out is a band called The HU with Papa Roach , song is called Wolf Totem, sounds pretty good in the car. that band has an unique rock sound.

 

[shogun32]

The door speakers are the best of the lot. Before replacing them, first disconnect your center speaker, and fade most of the sound forward from the rear speakers. Then reevaluate.

center does not apply.

I do -2 trebel, 0 mid, +4 bass

I can't stand shoving all the sound forward. it's just wrong. I put line at the front crease of the headrest, or next (or 2) click forward. "All occupancy" mode instead of "only driver"

Yes the rear speakers do very little but they do contribute something.

The Ford speakers are just abominable. As long as you're not expecting miracles, a ~$200 set of 4 is IMO worth doing. And deaden the rear seatpans and the outer door skin.

 

[shogun32]

The HU with Papa Roach , song is called Wolf Totem

ahh yes throat singing. Michael Jackson's Billy Jean has a steady bass thru the entire piece so you can have time to play with settings. My M1's 12 the door panel thumps whereas the 6-speaker GT you can barely feel it.

 

[Mark23GT]

Good recommendations, I agree. I may replace the speakers and put some sound deadening in, thinking it over more. yeah been using the Tidal music app the last couple weeks and it has been playing quite a few rock bands I had not heard before, most are pretty good, some sound better than others in car depending on the bass response. but Tidal is best sounding free app I have found so far

 

[Evolvd]

Good recommendations, I agree. I may replace the speakers and put some sound deadening in, thinking it over more. yeah been using the Tidal music app the last couple weeks and it has been playing quite a few rock bands I had not heard before, most are pretty good, some sound better than others in car depending on the bass response. but Tidal is best sounding free app I have found so far

Not that you’ll need it now but if you upgrade your entire system I’d recommend paying for the hi-res version of Tidal (or Amazon Music). Sirius XM compresses the bitstream so much it sounds like garbage compared to lossless audio.

 

[Mark23GT]

Not that you’ll need it now but if you upgrade your entire system I’d recommend paying for the hi-res version of Tidal (or Amazon Music). Sirius XM compresses the bitstream so much it sounds like garbage compared to lossless audio.

Yeah I read that Tidal free may be going away in April, not sure I want to pay for music, what other free app would you recommend to sound good? I have tried free spotify recently and did not think it sounded good. thanks. hopefully Tidal changes their mind on getting rid of the free version, would think that would be the way to get people hooked on it and then pay for the better version

 

[Mark23GT]

was going to tell you I did try some wireless headphones for my blu ray player, remembered my Dad had a set of the Sony tv headphones that use RF signal for the wireless, he never used them, they are kinda old but seem to sound good. just connected the RF receiver box straight to blu ray player with optical cord and tried them for few minutes last night, could hear a lot more detail in the sounds on the movie den of thieves. I might test them tonight on new top gun movie some. the whole audio hobby could be quite costly I can see lol.

Yeah, what Brian said. I’ve thought about replacing mine but really to get the best out of new speakers, you need a new/better amp. And then you’re going to want to replace all the speakers for better sound all the way around. And then add a sub. And, well, you’ve just gone down the rabbit hole LOL.

If you’ve not seen Brian’s full audio build, he’s got it documented here. It’s truly a work of art. I did similar stuff (though nowhere near as good) back in high school and college but I just don’t feel like doing it anymore. I love my music but I also love the sound of my exhaust just as much, so I usually listen to that with the music in the background

 

[Evolvd]

Yeah I read that Tidal free may be going away in April, not sure I want to pay for music, what other free app would you recommend to sound good? I have tried free spotify recently and did not think it sounded good. thanks. hopefully Tidal changes their mind on getting rid of the free version, would think that would be the way to get people hooked on it and then pay for the better version

I’m not aware of any free lossless audio apps. If you have CDs you can download them into a lossless format on an iPhone or android.

 

[Mark23GT]

I had read that tidal free was close to CD quality, just did a google search on the subject and read on Reddit people recommend Radio Paradise as high quality free, may try that if Tidal free goes away. so many different music apps anymore lol.

I’m not aware of any free lossless audio apps. If you have CDs you can download them into a lossless format on an iPhone or android.

 

[shogun32]

so many different music apps anymore lol.

and yet none of them have any hope of being a profitable business. I just use Amazon music or YTMusic. high fidelity is wasted on a car.

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