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

[DeepImpactS550]

Wiring the tweeters is super easy, but installing the a-pillar trim is a huge PITA lol. The door wiring is more than adequate for anything up to 100 watts per channel. And you aren’t getting that molex connector out and back in without taking the door off.

I watched a video where someone separated the boot and drilled the notches out of two adjacent unused holes in the connector. They did it without taking the door off, but I could see how that would make things easier. Definitely not something I'm willing to attempt, either way.

Unfortunately I am well aware of the A-Pillar difficulty. I ended up with a small ding in the dash. I actually installed a set of Powerbass OE65C-FD components. They sound terrible to me. Midrange is shouty and harsh and the tweeters are sibilant. The woofers basically play full range and the tweeters only have a simple resistor in-line. The bass is on another level, though, it's actually too pronounced. They are literally plug and play. They even came with an adapter plug that is a female version of the factory tweeter connector. I didn't have to run any wire .The tweeter fit into the same A-Pillar notches as stock. I just can't stand to listen to them. I have the entire midrange and part of the highs set to -9dB on the EQ to make them even somewhat listenable.

I picked up a set of Sound Ordnance P67CB Components. They were the best sounding when listening to Crutchfields "speakercompare" app, so I'm staying hopeful.

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[Evolvd]

I watched a video where someone separated the boot and drilled the notches out of two adjacent unused holes in the connector. They did it without taking the door off, but I could see how that would make things easier. Definitely not something I'm willing to attempt, either way.

Are you referring to a YouTube video from Car Audio Fabrication? That’s where I got the idea but whatever vehicle he did it on was much simpler than an S550. Also, my connector had no open pin locations to drill.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

Are you referring to a YouTube video from Car Audio Fabrication? That’s where I got the idea but whatever vehicle he did it on was much simpler than an S550. Also, my connector had no open pin locations to drill.

Yes, that was one of the videos I watched on the subject. I noticed it wasn't a mustang but figured it would be similar. If the door has to come off, then it's a non-starter for me. I've also read that drilling a hole in the front edge of the door, and the fender, adding grommets and custom building a wire loom around everything is another method. Both options are beyond my skillset. If you have 3-way system up front, I believe it uses up all of the contacts. My basic system may still have a few remaining.
I'll update regarding my plan to run wires back and forth between the crossovers. It seems like the only realistic option. I'm not even sure my crossovers will fit behind the kick panels yet. They are pretty big, roughly
4.75 x 3.5x 1.5.

 

[Evolvd]

Yes, that was one of the videos I watched on the subject. I noticed it wasn't a mustang but figured it would be similar. If the door has to come off, then it's a non-starter for me. I've also read that drilling a hole in the front edge of the door, and the fender, adding grommets and custom building a wire loom around everything is another method. Both options are beyond my skillset. If you have 3-way system up front, I believe it uses up all of the contacts. My basic system may still have a few remaining.
I'll update regarding my plan to run wires back and forth between the crossovers. It seems like the only realistic option. I'm not even sure my crossovers will fit behind the kick panels yet. They are pretty big, roughly
4.75 x 3.5x 1.5.

There’s really no benefit to running new wires. You’re better off getting a pigtail harness like the Maestro AF03 or T-harness where you can wire directly into your crossovers and then tap into the stock door wiring. I have the B&O option so I used the AF02 harness and de-pinned the two tweeter wires and extended those into the A-pillar.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

There’s really no benefit to running new wires. You’re better off getting a pigtail harness like the Maestro AF03 or T-harness where you can wire directly into your crossovers and then tap into the stock door wiring. I have the B&O option so I used the AF02 harness and de-pinned the two tweeter wires and extended those into the A-pillar.

I'm not familiar with that harness. Will it carry a full power amplified (head unit) signal to the factory speaker locations? Does it plug into the idatalink port on the back of the radio or work more as an adapter? The actual maestro module is not needed to use it?

I don't mind running wires to and from each crossover, then up the a-pillars from the crossovers. But if there's something that could simplify it i'm all for that.

 

[Evolvd]

I'm not familiar with that harness. Will it carry a full power amplified (head unit) signal to the factory speaker locations? Does it plug into the idatalink port on the back of the radio or work more as an adapter? The actual maestro module is not needed to use it?

I don't mind running wires to and from each crossover, then up the a-pillars from the crossovers. But if there's something that could simplify it i'm all for that.

I’m sorry I wasn’t really tracking how your system is set up. So if you’re using external amplification and want to use the stock wiring you would use a harness like the AF03. You unplug the speaker harness from the stock amp and then plug the AF03 harness into it. This effectively bypasses the stock amp. The other end of the harness is open so you can wire directly to your own amp to it. There’s no power, ground, or remote wire in the harness, just speaker wires.
Send me a PM with a detailed list of what you’re wanting to do and I can walk you through it. @Cathul us also an extremely knowledgeable source who can also assist.

 

[5.0_SD]

how i did mine, not the greatest pics, but the the third shows the size wires i ran into the door...i didn't want to mess with the molex...just went through a grommet in the door.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

how i did mine, not the greatest pics, but the the third shows the size wires i ran into the door...i didn't want to mess with the molex...just went through a grommet in the door.

The pics are detailed enough for me to get the idea. Thank you! Was the grommet you used already in the door?
That wire loom you ran doesn't get pinched when you close the door?

 

[5.0_SD]

Existing grommet and I haven't seen any indication of pinching and been there for several years.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

I’m sorry I wasn’t really tracking how your system is set up. So if you’re using external amplification and want to use the stock wiring you would use a harness like the AF03. You unplug the speaker harness from the stock amp and then plug the AF03 harness into it. This effectively bypasses the stock amp. The other end of the harness is open so you can wire directly to your own amp to it. There’s no power, ground, or remote wire in the harness, just speaker wires.
Send me a PM with a detailed list of what you’re wanting to do and I can walk you through it. @Cathul us also an extremely knowledgeable source who can also assist.

Sorry. I was hinting at buying the scosche dash kit in the past, but never announced that I had. I I'm trying to adapt the wiring that came with the kit so that I can use the amp in my aftermarket head unit (Kenwood DDX396) with the external crossovers that came with my components. It's currently going through the new module that came with the setup, which adapts the head unit to the factory wiring. I have no factory amp, as the Scosche kit eliminates the ACM and sync modules. The new head unit is the only amp.
We can take it to PM if you like, unless you think the thread would help others.

 

[Cathul]

Well, the Scosche unit is integrating into the stock wiring through it's adapters. But if you never had a stock amplifier in your Mustang, then you simply cannot use the idatalink amp integration harness as you don't have the connectors in the drivers kickpanel for them to connect to.
I don't think there's an easy solution on how to wire up a dedicated midrange in the door if you don't have at least the 9-speaker system from factory.

 

[Evolvd]

Sorry. I was hinting at buying the scosche dash kit in the past, but never announced that I had. I I'm trying to adapt the wiring that came with the kit so that I can use the amp in my aftermarket head unit (Kenwood DDX396) with the external crossovers that came with my components. It's currently going through the new module that came with the setup, which adapts the head unit to the factory wiring. I have no factory amp, as the Scosche kit eliminates the ACM and sync modules. The new head unit is the only amp.
We can take it to PM if you like, unless you think the thread would help others.

If you car had a stock amp at one time then you still have to wiring bundle at the drivers kick panel. But, if you didn’t then you’ll need to get creative with your setup.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

If you car had a stock amp at one time then you still have to wiring bundle at the drivers kick panel. But, if you didn’t then you’ll need to get creative with your setup.

I technically had a factory amp but it was part of the ACM (CD Player) module. It was removed during the install and replaced with the aftermarket head unit amp via the scosche module. I was planning to just make a double-run of speaker wire directly from the head unit amp outputs to the inputs of the crossovers (I'll mount behind kick panels), then run the crossover woofer outputs back behind the dash to the original connections at the scosche module. Since the connection would then have the highs filtered, I would use the tweeter outputs from the crossovers to run new wire directly up the A-Pillars to the new tweeters. I'm assuming this would work.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

Well, the Scosche unit is integrating into the stock wiring through it's adapters. But if you never had a stock amplifier in your Mustang, then you simply cannot use the idatalink amp integration harness as you don't have the connectors in the drivers kickpanel for them to connect to.
I don't think there's an easy solution on how to wire up a dedicated midrange in the door if you don't have at least the 9-speaker system from factory.

I have the 6 speaker system. 2-way 6.5" components up front, and 6.5" full range/dual cone speakers on the rear deck. There was never a factory external amp. The original amp was in the ACM module (CD Player). The front outputs ran directly from the ACM to the woofers, with a factory split/splice at some point in the path branching off from these wires to the tweeters. I went into more detail on what I was planning in my reply to Evolvd.

Please let me know if you think it will work.

 

[DeepImpactS550]

Any ideas on where to mount external crossovers? With the 6-speaker system (2-way front components), behind the kick panels are a no-go. Too many harnesses and a fuse box on the passenger side, and the hood release on the drivers side.
Unfortunately I don't have the 3-way wiring behind the door panels so I can't use that.
There seems to be a bit of room behind the dash/under the head unit if I can move the scosche module far enough out of the way, but I still have RCA's and remote wire to run for a sub amp.

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