2019 mustang gt coupe (base model) (6 speaker configuration)

[MegaG]

To follow up Mike's post about just finishing his system and SPL. I recently bought a sound meter and sat in my car trying different volume levels and did the same wiht my garage 2.1 system. I am now convinced I didn't need anywhere near the 125 watts/channel RMS I will be getting from my amps. I am willing to bet for many people, 50 to 75 watts RMS will be more then enough. Something tells me 200 watts on the sub could be enough if the right driver is chosen. My garage system is a 10 IN driver in a porter car sub enclosure gets 100 watts and makes plenty of bass.

The point of this, is this helps you in your price range, you are looking at amps in the 50 watts/channel range or 200 watts for subs.

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[MegaG]

Spend a little more and gain a lot more happiness. Buy once, cry once.

I resemble that remark, I started not wanting to spend too much because I didn't have a commute long before Covid hit so I didn't want to tie up too much $ in a car I may drive 200 to 250 miles a month but then the bug bit, I remembered my old car stereo days from the 80's and early 90's so I quickly doubled my budget and have been resisting spending even more...

That's why I like to see the smaller budgets start on a portion of the system instead of trying to do the whole thing. You can always add on...

 

[StangTime]

Just my 2 cents... upgrade in stages.

1. Forscan EQ to flat. You want variable line level output from your head unit so you need to make 2 Forscan code adjustments for that.
2 Sound deaden the car. Bare minimum are doors. They are hollow tin cans. Trunk can be done later. Buy a big box of Killmat for budget or Soundskins for a premium option.
3. Install DSP and 5 channel amp (Min 50w ×4 +200w for sub). Do full active 2.1 system configuration with factory speakers.
4. Add a mono sub.
5. Start measuring your frequency response and adjust your EQ to get the best sound you can.

Enjoy your system for a while you might find this is all you need. The factory mid-bass drivers are surprisingly very good (the tweeters not so much) and you can get it tuned to sound good.

The next step:
1. Replace A-pillar tweeters with something that has a low resonant frequency (1200hz or less). That will help lift the sound stage up from the doors and really make a huge improvement to sound quality. Hertz MP25.3 is excellent for this. Cross over at 2000hz to 2250Hz @24db/octave.
2. Replace door speakers. Hertz- MP165P.3 mid bass is excellent.

Option replace all 4 speakers with a good 2-way like Hertz MPK165P.3 but you won't need the crossovers so that's why I suggested the raw drivers. I bought the 2way package because the bundle was cheaper than individual drivers.
After any change you will need to measure and retune the system. This is time consuming.

 

[Matti777]

Save some money and skip the rear speakers. I would focus on buying a decent 2 way speaker set and an amp. An entry level DSP would be great if you can fit that into the budget. I don't see how you could swing a sub and another amp. Perhaps you can enough bass out of a decent 6.5" speaker for your liking. You can always add a sub later. I ended up buying a lot of used components and spent nearly double your budget.

 

[StangTime]

Hertz 5 ch amp HCP5D and Hertz H8 dsp combo can be had for around $1000 Can. Or a better DSP like the TwK88. That's around $600-700 U.S. for those 2. Buy a second hand sub or build one with rest of the money. Leave the factory speakers for now. You can upgrade them later when you have more $$. All you need is a little extra for wiring and hardware. It can be done but I agree, it's going to be more than a $1000 project.

 

[shogun32]

Option replace all 4 speakers with a good 2-way like Hertz MPK165P.3

what about the combo speakers that have tweeters on-board? I bought some to put in my door door but I guess I need to disable the A-piller somehow? I guess just unplug? Anyone know if the circuit driving the door speaker is full-range or did the factory amp knock the highs out?

 

[StangTime]

what about the combo speakers that have tweeters on-board? I bought some to put in my door door but I guess I need to disable the A-piller somehow? I guess just unplug? Anyone know if the circuit driving the door speaker is full-range or did the factory amp knock the highs out?

The lower door speakers are likely low passed by the factory head unit. They are on the 9 and 12 speaker systems. Your coaxial tweeter may not even be audible. To disconnect the A pillar tweeters, you have to pull the A pillars.

 

[MustangorCamaro]

You definitely want to keep the HU. Half the functions in the car like AC tie into it. You'll spend $2K+ on upgrading the HU alone b/c an aftermarket HU needs all kinds of other interface boxes to tie into the factory systems, bluetooth, USB and so on. This HU is actually pretty decent.

I assume he has the stock 4 inch screen POS system. Are you suggesting he not replace that unit? I had a quote from Crutchfield a while ago using an alpine receiver unit with amp combo. Added some speakers and would be far superior to the stock system. Under $1000. The bar is very low here.

 

[mikes2017gt]

Ah, I forgot he has the base HU. Are the AC controls tied into the base HU like they are in the Sync 3 system? I'm only familiar with the premium system, which half the functions of the car are tied into the HU. Of course it can be replaced with an IPAD or whatever, but all the extra brain boxes and wiring harnesses you have to buy and install correctly in order to keep everything working like factory just isn't worth it to me.

If on the base models you can simply swap out the HU and not affect the rest of the car's functions, then replacing it is a no-brainer. You still will need some kind of interface box to keep the steering wheel controls and voice activation, Bluetooth, etc.

 

[MegaG]

Its a judgement call for the OP,

To swap the HU with an aftermarket unit you are going to have to be ok with the bezels that are available. I wasn't a fan of any of the offerings when I started my build (Metra, Android offerings, the older Scosche), the newer Scosche offering is better but I am still not a fan and the change it ties up a lot of the OPs budget. When you do this swap, you loose the stock HVAC control & volume nobs (which I kind of like, I'm old) and depending on the HU you may loose some of the other functions you asked about that then needs another investment to retain like an AR module or something similar.

Its a shame because I like a lot of the aftermarket HU, just not what the finished installed product looks like with the current bezel offerings.

My longer term plan is to do the 4" to 8" Sync upgrade even if it means loosing the physical HVAC controls but at least this stock install looks good. The ACM module is the same whether its the base or premium model.

Although we talk about a HU as a single unit its really three pieces (ACM, FCIM, and the APIM). I would love to see a base bezel(FCIM) that kept the HVAC controls and volume knob and had a single DIN opening where the 4" screen was located so I could install an Alpine Halo

 

[shogun32]

Anybody with 6 speakers has the 4" Sync I believe and supposedly has no amp. If you have the 8" screen you have the 9 speaker system with amp and 'B&O' gives you the 12 speaker setup.

I have the 4" 6-speaker system.

 

[Jimmy]

Except for those of us like me who had the 4" screen with the 6 speaker system, then swapped in the 8" screen. I am really not happy with this 6 speaker system. I did the forscan change to disable the bass roll off and didn't notice any difference, maybe it's the type of music I listen to (lots of metal, eg metallica). As a first step, I was thinking of replacing just the front door speakers, and adding a small sub and an amp. What is the least amount of money I will need to spend to do this, using budget (but not crap) components? I don't want to do any sound deadening as I like hearing the engine.

On a side note, I think my first car 20 years ago (a dodge neon which was only like $14,000 new) had a better sounding sound system than this, how could Ford put such a bad sounding system in a car in 2019.

 

[StangTime]

Except for those of us like me who had the 4" screen with the 6 speaker system, then swapped in the 8" screen. I am really not happy with this 6 speaker system. I did the forscan change to disable the bass roll off and didn't notice any difference, maybe it's the type of music I listen to (lots of metal, eg metallica). As a first step, I was thinking of replacing just the front door speakers, and adding a small sub and an amp. What is the least amount of money I will need to spend to do this, using budget (but not crap) components? I don't want to do any sound deadening as I like hearing the engine.

On a side note, I think my first car 20 years ago (a dodge neon which was only like $14,000 new) had a better sounding sound system than this, how could Ford put such a bad sounding system in a car in 2019.

So you upgraded from the 4" to the 8" screen with OEM parts? You have the amplifier in the drivers kick panel or something else?

Read back through this thread. Upgrade options have already been discussed. With this car, there isn't really a budget (re: cheap) way to upgrade. The factory amp is such a piece of dog shit that to begin to get the car to sound better, you have to toss it and use a real amplifier. Bare minimum IMO you need a 2 channel amp with at least 50 to 75W/ch, a 2-way component speaker system with passive crossovers, a mono sub amp with speaker level inputs running off rear channels, and a suitable subwoofer. Occasionally there are OEM sub boxes for sale on the forum, remove the OEM sub driver because it's garbage too and replace with a better sub (lot's of posts about this already) that can work in that air volume. Power it with a good mono amp.

 

[mikes2017gt]

@StangTime tells it like it is. I agree. With this car there is no very cheap upgrade path that will get you good results. At minimum you need:

Molex plugs/wiring harness to get signal from the HU to your amp(s) and the amplified signal back into the factory speakers. New door speakers. 3-channel amp for the front doors and a sub. A sub. Amp wiring kit.

If you want to retain the rear speakers you need a 5-channel amp or two separate amps.

The factory amp is garbage. Putting in new front door speakers and expecting miracles will result in disappointment. Some cars with upgraded factory systems have decent amps. Not this car.

The factory speakers are actually pretty decent for OEM stuff, but they're not built to take real power from a real amp. They are matched to what the stock amp is; a wimpy little OEM amp.

 

[shogun32]

As long as you keep the polarity correct you should be able to tie the tweeter line to the woofer line and drive a co-ax in the door. But you'll need to disconnect the A-pillar tweeters. I'm no EE but if you put a diode just upstream of the shunt, that might(?) be sufficient to keep the A-pillar tweeters functional but I don't know what kind of wattage is needed. The rear-deck speakers I can't get an actual answer as to what range signal is being sent but with any luck some coax will work back there as well.

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