Stereo

[vyper340]

Ford does not do a good job explaining their stereo system options anywhere that I have been able to find. I know we bought these to hear the engine but every now and again it would be nice to hear some music stuck in traffic. The system in the "TECH PACKAGE" is unbelievable shallow and poor for what appears to be the best option in the 2016 GT350. Why on earth does this system sound so bad considering it is the year 2016??
I've owned many highline vehicles and have to say that the sound systems in most cars and trucks today put this one to shame. Did Ford spend any effort or time tuning the system in any Mustang? If so, why wouldn't they apply that to the the best Mustangs they sell?? I see that 2017's have the "Shaker" system, another speaker location in the door but unclear as to what even that is, how many total speakers, sub, etc?
I have no problem imrpoving the system but want to keep it as close to stock at least in appearance as possible. Wondering what others have done... What is the best door and ?rear deck (if that is where the other pair is) speaker to replace to get some clarity and fullness to the sound? Is the JL Stealthbox the best option for the trunk or is there something else? Does the factory amp need to be improved and where is it located?

Hoping others have the same thoughts and maybe even some ideas on how to improve

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[mkonrad]

I'd recommend getting a wiring diagram. I picked up a 2016 diagram for thirty bucks on ebay.

The Shelby is a driver's car; Ford puts minimal effort into the stereo, and that's good. For my 2016 GT350 tech, it was a pretty simple OEM install since it doesn't use an outboard amp -- get a hi-lo converter, run summed front channels to an external amp and ditch the rear fill, use the stock speaker locations, add your sub at leisure. Easy-peasy. Stereo tech is amazingly compact right now; you can get a single DSP/amp unit that does the whole enchilada from start to finish. I chose Helix.

Or you can get as complex as you want.

 

[GTP]

As an ex-professional loudspeaker designer, I will share my general thoughts.

IMO, the best sound (in general) could be had with a very good 2-way speaker on the back deck, which is angled such that the reflected sound off the back glass travels horizontally to the driver's head. This could be a 7" woofer and 1" tweeter, or 6" woofer and 3/4" tweeter. You would get a very good and stable sound stage this way, and the clarity would be decent. (Car interiors are the definition of diffuse sound due to all the possible reflection paths.)

The trouble with door speakers is that the path length of woofer, mid, tweeter are all different - both from either door to the driver, as well as from one door's group to the other door's. So that is 6 very different time delays leading to a very incoherent sound.

A subwoofer that gets down to 30-40Hz is sufficient for most music needs, IMO. It need not be a powerful or expensive subwoofer, but it should reach that far and measure flat.

As for what Ford has in our cars now... I have only pulled on rear shelf woofer. It is a paper cone woofer with paper whizzer cone (1950's idea that is great at making distortion in the treble band), small neo magnet (=poor bass control), and small voice coil (=low power and low efficiency).

Furthermore, if the signal sent to the rear shelf speaker is not customized (=EQ) for that woofer, then you get paper "cone cry" distortion, which is the rough response you detect.

The door speakers would have been better as a 2-way with the expense saved spent on better drivers and crossover.

Finally, we would be amazed at the improvement of the sound if only there was proper EQ (in the head unit) that was specifically developed for the current drive units.

My plan to is replace the rear woofers with a 6" or 7" two-way setup, and then develop EQ with the new passive crossover. Then I will simply fade the sound mostly to the back until it sounds better. Note that the speaker system has to developed outside of the car in a controlled acoustic environment.

My wife's 2007 Acura TL base stereo has a sound to die for. Ford can do it to a price point, but it would have required more R&D by audio people that knew what they were doing.

 

[GT_Dave]

I have been a bit of a stereo nut for the past 45 years and I gotta say that my 2016 Tech Pack sounded OK when I received it. I have since replaced the rear speakers with a set of Hertz 6.5 inch 2 way speakers which made a slight improvement. Since then I have programed the enhanced engine module to be "off", which also seemed to help. My wife has an Acura MDX with a true 5 channel system that is supposed to be one of the best factory systems you get in any car, it is amazing. The Shelby does not sound as good as her MDX, but it is not too far off.

 

[vyper340]

"enhanced engine module" - what is that? I don't recall seeing that in the settings.

 

[Tank]

"enhanced engine module" - what is that? I don't recall seeing that in the settings.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61884

 

[vyper340]

Holy Sch-Nike! That was a boat load of awesome info! So I'm guessing the sound enhancement is standard and on in a factory GT350.

 

[keith58]

Holy Sch-Nike! That was a boat load of awesome info! So I'm guessing the sound enhancement is standard and on in a factory GT350.

Yes but easily disabled. It's noted the the sticky programming thread. I've been without it for two months and the car has much less drone and sounds more natural. It's still plenty loud for me and the neighbors get the real sound no matter what.

 

[TxOilMoney]

I have to agree with Vyper on this one. I was shocked at how pathetic the sound system was in my Tech. It was downright embarrassing. I had to blow $1500 on speakers, sub and amp before any other mods just to make it livable. LOL

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