Toni
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Greetings from Sweden! Got my '18 GT 1.5 months ago and put about 500 miles on it (yep..) all while being boggled by the somewhat nasty sound of the Shaker Pro system. Jump down to TDLR-section if you're a bit lazy today 
All Swedish mustangs are by default equipped with PP1 and Shaker Pro, 12 speaker with sub included and Mine's a 401A package. Great ride, first Mustang. Loving the v8!
Aaaanyhow: I'm a bit of a low level audiophile and have literally swapped speakers, put in subs, sound deadened and done all the wiring on my previous 7 cars since 16 years back. The Mustangs Shaker Pro struck me as a pretty good midbass setup with decent-ish tweeters and horrid mids. Why? Well, here's the interesting bit:
Normally a equalizer (with or without DSP) will boost db values when increasing any frequency. We only have High/Mid/Low to poke but I also fiddled with my phones way more advanced EQ. What I found is the quite literally groundbreaking detail for me at least;
The Shaker Pro does increase gain when increasing a speicific equalizer setting, but it also warps that frequency level in terms of sound. Example: If I reset all settings everything is at 50%. If I increase all 3 sliders to max, in theory at least, the volume should simply increase without turning the volume knob or buttons. It does but it also brings forth a nasty side effect: It changes the sound quite literally. In a bad way.
Now the normal rule for equalizer settings is simple: Start at neutral/middle level and always go DOWN. Never increase above mid-level to make sure nothing distorts at higher volume. In the Mustang it does not distort but it warps the sound across all frequencies if all 3 sliders are moved above middle ground.
Highs don't gety screecy but they do fizz alot. Mids take on a typical echo-tin-can-sound as really bad aftermarked installs do with horrible sound deadening or bad speakers in general and the lows just boom undefined.
One way to compare volume levels vs sound quality is to set volume to say 12, increase all sliders to max and listen. Then re-listen to the same song or part of song and set the volume to 13, pull all the sliders back to 50% and listen. Pretty much same db(volume) but way different tones. MASSIVE difference in sound. One makes noise, the other makes sound. ;)
TDLR:
I had tried everything to make the sound better and was starting to get bummed out by the so-called-top-tier sound system of the Mustang when I figured i'd go back to basics and start at the middle setting. Silly me didn't think of this earlier on of course. Behold: Instantly massive improvement at a flat 50% position of all 3 EQ sliders. What..? That's when I realized it warps sound through gain when increasing beyond 50%, probably due to the pre-set equalizer setting oooor just random crap like simply using somewhat cheap parts. Probably both.
I simply played with the high and mid notch pulling it 1 and 2 steps left/down from the middle setting to get a pretty perfect sounding system. For an mid-level OEM system it's literally superb, if one does NOT increase any EQ sliders above mid, ever. If you want more base just put the base at 50% and drop the other two down further in relation to base.
I guess this applies to both 9 and 12 speaker systems. Mainly 12 though since they use different speaker materials but I can imagine the 9 speaker also having this issue.
Second detail: If you find the stock subwoofer lackluster, and it sort of is in a sedan-type car which has an enclosed boot, just drop the seats. That's like adding an aftermarket amp+sub with 100-150 more RMS watt output with seats up in comparision. I threw out the back seat base and folded the backrests down to make a flush floor and am fine with that. 2-seater forever. ;)
Try these things if you're like me, displeased with the stock system at first. I now see why some people here have praised the shaker pro as a really good stock system. I happily join that group from now on!
I'm just so excited by solving this, albeit simple in the end, mystery that I felt like sharing my findings with ya'll. Long first post though. Sorry 'bout that!
Cheers!
All Swedish mustangs are by default equipped with PP1 and Shaker Pro, 12 speaker with sub included and Mine's a 401A package. Great ride, first Mustang. Loving the v8!
Aaaanyhow: I'm a bit of a low level audiophile and have literally swapped speakers, put in subs, sound deadened and done all the wiring on my previous 7 cars since 16 years back. The Mustangs Shaker Pro struck me as a pretty good midbass setup with decent-ish tweeters and horrid mids. Why? Well, here's the interesting bit:
Normally a equalizer (with or without DSP) will boost db values when increasing any frequency. We only have High/Mid/Low to poke but I also fiddled with my phones way more advanced EQ. What I found is the quite literally groundbreaking detail for me at least;
The Shaker Pro does increase gain when increasing a speicific equalizer setting, but it also warps that frequency level in terms of sound. Example: If I reset all settings everything is at 50%. If I increase all 3 sliders to max, in theory at least, the volume should simply increase without turning the volume knob or buttons. It does but it also brings forth a nasty side effect: It changes the sound quite literally. In a bad way.
Now the normal rule for equalizer settings is simple: Start at neutral/middle level and always go DOWN. Never increase above mid-level to make sure nothing distorts at higher volume. In the Mustang it does not distort but it warps the sound across all frequencies if all 3 sliders are moved above middle ground.
Highs don't gety screecy but they do fizz alot. Mids take on a typical echo-tin-can-sound as really bad aftermarked installs do with horrible sound deadening or bad speakers in general and the lows just boom undefined.
One way to compare volume levels vs sound quality is to set volume to say 12, increase all sliders to max and listen. Then re-listen to the same song or part of song and set the volume to 13, pull all the sliders back to 50% and listen. Pretty much same db(volume) but way different tones. MASSIVE difference in sound. One makes noise, the other makes sound. ;)
TDLR:
I had tried everything to make the sound better and was starting to get bummed out by the so-called-top-tier sound system of the Mustang when I figured i'd go back to basics and start at the middle setting. Silly me didn't think of this earlier on of course. Behold: Instantly massive improvement at a flat 50% position of all 3 EQ sliders. What..? That's when I realized it warps sound through gain when increasing beyond 50%, probably due to the pre-set equalizer setting oooor just random crap like simply using somewhat cheap parts. Probably both.
I simply played with the high and mid notch pulling it 1 and 2 steps left/down from the middle setting to get a pretty perfect sounding system. For an mid-level OEM system it's literally superb, if one does NOT increase any EQ sliders above mid, ever. If you want more base just put the base at 50% and drop the other two down further in relation to base.
I guess this applies to both 9 and 12 speaker systems. Mainly 12 though since they use different speaker materials but I can imagine the 9 speaker also having this issue.
Second detail: If you find the stock subwoofer lackluster, and it sort of is in a sedan-type car which has an enclosed boot, just drop the seats. That's like adding an aftermarket amp+sub with 100-150 more RMS watt output with seats up in comparision. I threw out the back seat base and folded the backrests down to make a flush floor and am fine with that. 2-seater forever. ;)
Try these things if you're like me, displeased with the stock system at first. I now see why some people here have praised the shaker pro as a really good stock system. I happily join that group from now on!
I'm just so excited by solving this, albeit simple in the end, mystery that I felt like sharing my findings with ya'll. Long first post though. Sorry 'bout that!
Cheers!
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