Pondering replacing all speakers (not subwoofer)

[Raptor62]

In my wifes 05 Mustang GT, she has the Shaker 500 system. I replaced the head unit with a Kenwood and that stereo woke up. All levels of the sound came to life and the subs have better response now than in the Shelby with a Shaker 1000 system. It may not be all in the speakers these days, it may be in the head unit itself.

 

[ssebranek]

I am going throught the same issue as you. I started by adding Boston (ISTS) tweeters running off the stock amp and caps(crossover.) The stock tweeters just didn't sound right. My Sony drives them fine. I added a dash mat to soften the center speaker (seemed too much out of level with the others) and poly filled the sub to get rid of that hollow bass sound. I can live with this for a while, and it was cheap to do. Still will upgrade speakers next (maybe with an amp.)

Speakers make the biggest difference in your sound. Don't cheap out on them, but know that some of the better ones really need more power than what the Sony will push out, and an amp will really make them sing. That said, the Sony head unit is decent. Yes aftermarket makes way better, but the $$$ you need to spend to get there is rather high. Stick with Alpine head units if you go that route.

An amp will help the speaker sound even better (much more so when combined with an aftermarket head unit.) I will add more speakers and amp when I get the chance and $$. The head unit will be the last thing I replace. Just my plan, but has worked in past vehicles I have had.

If you don't plan on upgrades after the speakers, you can get by will less expensive ones that should sound better than the Sony's. I was never a fan of Sony speakers. They are o.k., but not great.

 

[Kraka]

I have only had my truck for a few months and I started getting a noise out of my passenger front speaker. Almost sounded like it seperated from the magnet. It was just making a god awful sound. I actually just popped in here to see what speaker size we had in the truck and ran across this. I am about to run to the audio store down the road and get some better speaks and get quoted on a new amp. I used to rock out bass and all but now I am really just looking to make it all mesh and get a good quality sound.

Anyone else have problems with the factory speakers making noise? I figured if one has gone already the others will shortly follow.

 

[Kraka]

Nowadays, some amps are rated at 1000w (company claims) and depending on the company, the system sounds like ass.

That's because that is how much power they apply to it before it blows up and then round down to the nearest 10th or 100th. But your right, back in the day RF was top quality. I haven't messed with them in a while, so not sure how they are today.

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

I've heard nothing but good things about Infinity Kappa speakers. I've heard them a few times and sound nice, but I've never had them installed in any of my vehicles.

 

[Fordx4]

I had Kappas in my Wrangler and really liked them. That was back in 2002 so alot might have changed since then.

 

[Droid]

I am going throught the same issue as you. I started by adding Boston (ISTS) tweeters running off the stock amp and caps(crossover.) The stock tweeters just didn't sound right. My Sony drives them fine. I added a dash mat to soften the center speaker (seemed too much out of level with the others) and poly filled the sub to get rid of that hollow bass sound. I can live with this for a while, and it was cheap to do. Still will upgrade speakers next (maybe with an amp.)

Speakers make the biggest difference in your sound. Don't cheap out on them, but know that some of the better ones really need more power than what the Sony will push out, and an amp will really make them sing. That said, the Sony head unit is decent. Yes aftermarket makes way better, but the $$$ you need to spend to get there is rather high. Stick with Alpine head units if you go that route.

An amp will help the speaker sound even better (much more so when combined with an aftermarket head unit.) I will add more speakers and amp when I get the chance and $$. The head unit will be the last thing I replace. Just my plan, but has worked in past vehicles I have had.

If you don't plan on upgrades after the speakers, you can get by will less expensive ones that should sound better than the Sony's. I was never a fan of Sony speakers. They are o.k., but not great.

Thanks for the info!

Definitely don't want to do an aftermarket HU though as I'm a fan of the Sync system and stock navigation integration, was one of the strongest selling points for me on the 09+ F-150 before I made the "mistake" of test driving a Raptor.

I just went out and played around with the system a bit. Tried disconnecting sub and/or center channel. Can't tell much of a difference on the center channel, almost like it better without, but not enough to warrant permanent disconnection.

Think I'll try adding polyfill to the sub too. Cheap/easy/reversible.

How difficult was the tweeter installation? Were you able to retain the factory covers and/or did anything have to be cut? I've noticed cymbals are pretty difficult to hear with the stock items, and turning the Treble up is not exactly a solution.

 

[Droid]

Poly fill installed. Pretty sure I was the only Raptor in the Joann Fabrics parking lot.

Think it's an improvement, need to go test side-by-side with kglesq's stock sub. If anything it quieted it a little bit (a good thing).

 

[Kraka]

I just got home from the spot. I bought and installed the Infinity Reference 6832cf in rear and 6032cf in front. Sounds alot better. More pure sound then the factory. Still pondering on a new amp and sub set up.
Either way, at least I am not hearing that crackling or vibrating or what ever the hell it was.

 

[ssebranek]

The tweeter install rather easy. Just be careful taking off pillars. They slide up and out (kinda) You will need a strap to hold a new tweeter in place. Mine (1 inch) fit nice and spliced into the factory wiring. The cap is on the positive wire. You can unhook the tweets by removing the panel on the side of the dash. There is a clip that runs the tweets wires and makes taking the pillar off much easher. Just be careful as there isn't much wire to mess with when adding the tweeters. I added a little just to make it easier to do. You will be able to keep the facotry grills ( I ditched the Boston's.) The new tweeters really shows how bad the sat radio sounds!

Now I want to replace the door speaker, or sub, or an amp. Or just enjoy the best audio the truck offers...right foot bass!