2015 GT PPP w/ shaker pro is underwhelming

[druby]

Ok, so last fall I bought a used (6k miles) s550. I haven't gone to a ford dealer to get a build sheet, but from what I can tell, this thing has the premium speaker set up. I do have the trunk sub, and it says Shaker below the controls.

Ideally, I would like to listen to music stored on my phone, but I've been getting mixed results. I have noticed that the radio is much much louder than any other source. I even considered Sirius for a bit, assuming it would be cleaner and louder, but it wasn't so I let it expire.

At first I thought it was just a blue tooth issue. Letting the music stream that way required me to jack up the volume to get any quality at all. I've learned (through these forums) to use a usb cord, and this seems to help. I've even tried using Apple Music for the song files, which theoretically replace all of my mixed quality files with authentic apple files of higher quality. It does seem better for the most part, but I still get quieter songs from time to time.

My goal is not crazy loud music. I like to hear the 5.0, but I would like the music to sound really good, even at lower volumes. I've been running this set up for 3-4 weeks now, and I find myself turning up the volume so it sounds decent, but when I unplug and turn off the car, the car will revert to radio and it about scares the crap out of me since it's so much louder.

Is there a way to get that radio quality out of music on a phone? It seems like the speakers etc. will do what they need to do, but the input seems to be the problem.

I've been looking at various suggestions on this forum, and I see everything from replacing the head unit to replacing certain speakers. Another question I have is if I did replace the head unit, if the aftermarket head units might do a better job of letting me stream music and get better quality sound for example. That might make it worth it to me.

Any help / suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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[zero_chance]

Ok, so last fall I bought a used (6k miles) s550. I haven't gone to a ford dealer to get a build sheet, but from what I can tell, this thing has the premium speaker set up. I do have the trunk sub, and it says Shaker below the controls.

Ideally, I would like to listen to music stored on my phone, but I've been getting mixed results. I have noticed that the radio is much much louder than any other source. I even considered Sirius for a bit, assuming it would be cleaner and louder, but it wasn't so I let it expire.

At first I thought it was just a blue tooth issue. Letting the music stream that way required me to jack up the volume to get any quality at all. I've learned (through these forums) to use a usb cord, and this seems to help. I've even tried using Apple Music for the song files, which theoretically replace all of my mixed quality files with authentic apple files of higher quality. It does seem better for the most part, but I still get quieter songs from time to time.

My goal is not crazy loud music. I like to hear the 5.0, but I would like the music to sound really good, even at lower volumes. I've been running this set up for 3-4 weeks now, and I find myself turning up the volume so it sounds decent, but when I unplug and turn off the car, the car will revert to radio and it about scares the crap out of me since it's so much louder.

Is there a way to get that radio quality out of music on a phone? It seems like the speakers etc. will do what they need to do, but the input seems to be the problem.

I've been looking at various suggestions on this forum, and I see everything from replacing the head unit to replacing certain speakers. Another question I have is if I did replace the head unit, if the aftermarket head units might do a better job of letting me stream music and get better quality sound for example. That might make it worth it to me.

Any help / suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Never heard of someone wanting their audio to match the radio quality! Usually the other way around. Though these do have HD radio... In any case, I've used both bluetooth and Apple CarPlay through the USB/lightning setup and I have zero complaints with audio quality or loudness. At volume 20 on mine its pretty damn loud and clear. Not sure the specific differences between a 17 and 15 but out of curiosity, do you know what Sync setup you have? Do you get Apple CarPlay when using your iPhone hooked up to USB or just a USB input? Source volume on your device maxed out? Seems simple but I bought a bluetooth speaker a while back to connect to my phone and I was extremely disappointed at the sound level and quality until I realized my phone volume setting was at less than half.

 

[druby]

Interesting that you haven't had the same experience. I'll look at the volume on my iPhone, but I think I've tried that and it didn't have any affect on the volume when plugged in via USB. I'm almost sure I tried this when I was using Bluetooth. I was excited to not have to mess with my phone and still have it access all of my music, only to find the sound was very very quiet that way. I believe my car is Sync 2. Its a Premium, so it does have the larger screen, but it must have been before CarPlay so it doesn't have the apple look and feel like I've seen in some rental cars I've had. I'll give the volume adjustment a shot and let you know.

 

[offcamber]

I have the Shaker system.
My phone volume setting does influence the stereo volume when directly connected or via bluetooth. I can tell you that mp3's or streaming content (Sirius) does sound thin regardless. CD's sound the best. EQ your system to optimize the sound stage using a CD and after that you should be set. The sound tube delete may be necessary to perfect your listening experience if you haven't done it already.
Good luck!

 

[druby]

I have the Shaker system.
My phone volume setting does influence the stereo volume when directly connected or via bluetooth. I can tell you that mp3's or streaming content (Sirius) does sound thin regardless. CD's sound the best. EQ your system to optimize the sound stage using a CD and after that you should be set. The sound tube delete may be necessary to perfect your listening experience if you haven't done it already.
Good luck!

I sure hope so. What is the sound tube delete? I haven't heard of that yet?

 

[offcamber]

On the GT there is a tube that runs from the intake to the firewall.
It is supposed to "enhance" the engine noise to the interior.
Here's a video on removing it:
[ame]

 

[SVT-DADDY]

Changing the center speaker will really clear up your sound stage.

 

[fordxgt]

I also have the Shaker Pro system but don't have any complaints with the sound quality (I know it's not that great but for an OEM system, it's pretty good). I think Bluetooth robs music quality so I avoid it at all costs and only use USB. I don't know where you get your music from but the problem could stem from poor music quality. I try to make sure my music library is 320 kbps. There is a noticeable difference to me if music quality is below 320 kbps.

 

[druby]

I also have the Shaker Pro system but don't have any complaints with the sound quality (I know it's not that great but for an OEM system, it's pretty good). I think Bluetooth robs music quality so I avoid it at all costs and only use USB. I don't know where you get your music from but the problem could stem from poor music quality. I try to make sure my music library is 320 kbps. There is a noticeable difference to me if music quality is below 320 kbps.

Yeah, I was bummed to find out how bad the bluetooth quality sounds. USB is much better, but for me it's still about half as loud as just plain radio for some reason.

I have experienced the same thing with the file quality. This was my original intent on using Apple Music. It's supposed to be all higher quality files. I think it is for the most part, but there are still some exceptions I think. That's something I'm working with Apple on.

 

[2016Gruv]

...but for me it's still about half as loud as just plain radio for some reason.

I get what you're saying because it's something I noticed, too. If I have the radio on and insert a CD, the volume is noticeably lower than the radio. I suspect the "engineers" set the gain differently between the sources.

 

[druby]

I have also been wondering what the order of priority might be in replacing things to improve quality. It sounds like it might be...

1. Center Speaker replacement
2. Head Unit replacement
3. Various other speaker replacements/add amp etc.

Of course my first step is to see if the volume on my phone might do the trick. I don't need a ridiculous stereo in this thing, and don't really want to dump a bunch of money on it.

 

[Chef jpd]

I had great results with:

Replace center with polk db351
Replace pillar tweeters with 1" any replacement
Replace sub speaker with RF punch DVC8
Add dedicated sub amp.

500% sound improvement.
Higher highs and lower lows, midrange is just fine with factory door and deck speakers.

 

[kratch]

I have a 2015 GT Premium, Shaker (not pro).
I was underwhelmed by the audio quality and total lack of power from a factory system with an amplifier. My buddy's 2011 GT sounds WAAAAAY better.
After trolling a lot of threads, I've come to the conclusion that (for my taste) the speakers and amp probably can't be salvaged.

What I've done:
1. replace factory rears with Pioneer 6.5" 3 way coax - this helped a bit
2. fiddle with FORScan ACM and DSP settings - this helped a lot
3. Replace door mid-range with Pioneer TS-A878 door woofer with JBL GX600C components, only woofer so far, turned 727-01-02 from 00xx xxxx xx back to 02xx xxxx xx so I don't send highs to woofers until I hook up crossover - bad idea, sounds like crap.

So after reading the speaker replacement only thread, I now know what I did wrong - the factory 3.5" midrange speakers are 8 ohm impedance (in parallel with 8 ohm factory tweeter for close to 4 ohm channel impedance) and the Pioneers are 4 ohm (for a channel impedance of 2.67 ohms with factory tweeters still installed in parallel) - so with the factory ACM/DSP settings, I am overdriving them relative to the other speakers.

As an electrical engineer, I know better than to do a partial install like that but I just didn't have time to finish and I thought enabling the factory amp settings would protect my shiny new door woofers from high frequencies until the weekend.

I am still considering a Focal 3 way component setup, but I haven't given up yet - this weekend I plan to complete GX600C install properly and disable factory eq/signal processing (727-01-02 00xx xxxx xx again) and see how it goes. I still don't think the stock amp has enough power but maybe I can get by until the I can convince the committee that an amp is required, if it at least sounds OK. The wife doesn't really like the stang anyway and prefers her explorer.

Just to put my audio preferences in perspective, my previous vehicle is a 2006 expedition with pioneer components up front and 6x8s in the rear driven by a GM-D8604 amp with a factory sub. Not amazing, but it sounds pretty good and I really expected more than that from the mustang "premium" audio.

 

[zero_chance]

On the GT there is a tube that runs from the intake to the firewall.
It is supposed to "enhance" the engine noise to the interior.
Here's a video on removing it:

I'm fairly certain that in the 4 and 6 cylinders, some noise is actually pumped through the speakers. Not the case in the GT's as far as I know so I'm not certain that will help with his original concern.

 

[SVT-DADDY]

I had great results with:

Replace center with polk db351
Replace pillar tweeters with 1" any replacement
Replace sub speaker with RF punch DVC8
Add dedicated sub amp.

500% sound improvement.
Higher highs and lower lows, midrange is just fine with factory door and deck speakers.

^^^^^This^^^^^^

Just the center speaker is a 100% improvement.

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