How did you upgrade your stock stereo?

[Softballer77]

I don't have Shaker 1000. I prefer hearing my exhaust, but I value a great sounding stereo system when I wish to listen to good quality music. I'd prefer to keep my stock looking unit, but wondered what anyone else has done to increase the quality of their factory systems.

 

[NELCO]

I am in the middle of installing an amp, all new speakers. crossovers, and a clean sweep. My lightning's stock stereo sounds better than my 500's. There are a ton of options but I want mine to look stock and sound great. the surprising thing is in the front door there is a tweeter towards the upper part of the door.

 

[Hourigan218]

Gonna have to do some upgrades as well

 

[Norton]

I am in the middle of installing an amp, all new speakers. crossovers, and a clean sweep. My lightning's stock stereo sounds better than my 500's. There are a ton of options but I want mine to look stock and sound great. the surprising thing is in the front door there is a tweeter towards the upper part of the door.

I look forward to DETAILS, NELCO...

 

[MovingZen]

I tried to keep the stock head unit but couldn't get the ford amps to play nice with my RF360.3 and they intermittently/consistently shut off. I ended up with a Maesto iData link kit and an Alpine INE-W957HD head unit that I'm really happy with. My components consist of the RF360.3 to a JLAudio HD900/5 amp powering a SB-F-MUCUPE2/13W3v3 13.3" sub in the trunk and per door: ZR800-CW 8" mid bass driver + ZR650-CSi 6.5 inch component system. The maestro kit makes the system look and act damn near OEM but the sound is considerably better. I'm not even using speakers in the rear deck.

 

[Ray Lucca]

Stock Stereo here. Added New Polk Speakers, foamed around them when installed. Had the inside of the front door panels matted to stop the buzzing and it worked. Plays louder, cleaner with tighter bass, kept the factory mediocre Subs. Next step would be an Amp, if needed.

 

[phil123]

If you don't want to add an amp and clean sweep type device you need to replace the front tweeters and mids with high sensitivity speakers so they are efficient enough to play with the stock amp. I used the ARC black speakers which are a little pricey but very high quality. The eight inch door woofers are terrible and can be replaced with Pioneer eight inch shallow subs. I believe JL has an eight inch sub but the pioneers are cheaper and did a great job. I have the shaker 1000 and my installer told me there was a separate amp for the front door subs. There is no need to replace the rears unless you want to I just push about 80 to 85 percent of the sound to the front. This provided a large increase in sound quality and the Ford trunk shaker sub works pretty well after these upgrades. Adding amps and a head unit would provide a larger improvement but what I described above is very satisfactory without making a lot of changes.

 

[Silver_Bullet]

I replaced all my factory speakers with Focals and it sounds 100 times better. Adding a signal processor will help too. The best change was putting 4 ohm 8" subs in the doors to replace the way over boosted 2ohm stock ones

 

[Softballer77]

I replaced all my factory speakers with Focals and it sounds 100 times better. Adding a signal processor will help too. The best change was putting 4 ohm 8" subs in the doors to replace the way over boosted 2ohm stock ones

What was the difference in going with 4 ohm subs in the doors? Clarity? More solid base? Did you already have the 1000? I didn't check the "Shaker 1000" box so I'm base stereo.

I'm wanting everything to look stock as well. As I understand it, cleansweep has a separate volume control? That would be redundant to me. I wonder if it's easy enough to swap the speakers myself? I'd like to think so unless i need a special tool, but I have heard the door panels are a bit of a headache.

The stock system leaves plenty to be desired. I will check into the Focals. Thanks!

 

[Snoopy49]

From the 2014 Mustang Service Manual.

View attachment 2013-14 Mustang Speaker Removal & Installation.pdf

 

[Silver_Bullet]

What was the difference in going with 4 ohm subs in the doors? Clarity? More solid base? Did you already have the 1000? I didn't check the "Shaker 1000" box so I'm base stereo.

I'm wanting everything to look stock as well. As I understand it, cleansweep has a separate volume control? That would be redundant to me. I wonder if it's easy enough to swap the speakers myself? I'd like to think so unless i need a special tool, but I have heard the door panels are a bit of a headache.

The stock system leaves plenty to be desired. I will check into the Focals. Thanks!

Better balance and much better sound. The stock speakers are very low quality

 

[Softballer77]

From the 2014 Mustang Service Manual.

View attachment 57484

Snoopy...we need to change your nick to "Clutch". Thanks man.

 

[Lethalchem]

I replaced all my factory speakers with Focals and it sounds 100 times better. Adding a signal processor will help too. The best change was putting 4 ohm 8" subs in the doors to replace the way over boosted 2ohm stock ones

Can you give more specific on which focal units you selected? Thanks.

 

[Silver_Bullet]

Can you give more specific on which focal units you selected? Thanks.

ISC 570s front and rear plus the woofers from the ISS 200. I don't recall which 12" sub I used but it was Alpine

 

[Lethalchem]

ISC 570s front and rear plus the woofers from the ISS 200. I don't recall which 12" sub I used but it was Alpine

Thanks. I have the shaker 1000 and don't really want to change much, but if a simple speaker swap can make a significant difference then I'd be interested.

 

[1FASFKR]

ISC 570s front and rear plus the woofers from the ISS 200. I don't recall which 12" sub I used but it was Alpine

How well is the fit with the stock holes? And where the heck did you get them? I can't find a dealer in the western hemisphere.

EDIT: I found a place near me! Helps to be on the Focal-America website...

 

[phil123]

How well is the fit with the stock holes? And where the heck did you get them? I can't find a dealer in the western hemisphere.

EDIT: I found a place near me! Helps to be on the Focal-America website...

You can get Focal's online from Crutchfield an authorized dealer. I understand they also are good at providing installation advice. Not the way I would go but anything should be an improvement over the stock speakers. The installer that put in my front door subs was astonished at how cheap they looked.

 

[1FASFKR]

You can get Focal's online from Crutchfield an authorized dealer. I understand they also are good at providing installation advice. Not the way I would go but anything should be an improvement over the stock speakers. The installer that put in my front door subs was astonished at how cheap they looked.

Well lets hear your advice. I'm pretty wide open. I'm a bit of an audiophile. I like crisp audio.

 

[phil123]

I've already given it above. Focal's I have heard have been a little bright for my taste but even if that is what you enjoy I would go further up in the line and get separates. If you are willing to spend the money I got the ARC black 5.2 and even with the stock deck and amp they do very well. Once you upgrade the mids and tweeters, the in door woofers sound even worse. I went with the eight inch pioneer but I believe both Focal and JL make speakers that are shallow enough to fit. It all depends on how much you want to spend and if you want to keep the factory deck and avoid adding an amp. I don't doubt the ISC 570's sound better than stock its just a matter of how far you want to go just like mods to the car.

http://www.arcaudio.com/p/black-5-2?pp=24

 

[Silver_Bullet]

My local installer is a Focal dealer and did all the work but he did mention the install was very straight forward