SteelTownStang

I was wondering if there was detailed information or reviews on the S550 stereo? I've had both the Shaker 500 and 1000, and have heard the Shaker Pro in the S197s. While the latter was improved, I was unimpressed with all of them...

I spent a lot of time and money improving the acoustics on all three of my previously owned S197s, and was never really satisfied. I actually thought that the SN95 Mach 460 sounded better.

While the S197's OEM system(s) had sufficient power, the overall dynamic range was subpar. Its fatal flaw is notably due to the poor speaker location. Hopefully the addition of the A-pillar tweeters will minimize some of the muddiness in new cabin.

Thanks

Gnhunter

I have the one that comes with 9 speakers and the amp. The premium one. I decided going with that after having the 1000 watt one in my 2011. If you don't care about heavy bass you will be very happy with the one I got.

SteelTownStang

Thanks. Is the "premium" system the top of line... i.e., Shaker Pro w/the sub?

Gnhunter

No the top one has 12 speakers. That includes the subwoofer. The one that I have had enough bass for me. If you test drive one or just listen to it at the dealers go into setting and turn up the bass the settings are set to the middle. I turned mine up and it was all good. My 2011 that had the subwoofer felt like someone sitting in the backseat and hitting my seat with a baseball bat with the bass set at a little over half way up

SteelTownStang

OK. Thanks

orange3.9stang

I had 3 SN-95's with the Mach 460, and I agree ... it sounded MUCH better than the Shaker 500 in my 2011 !!

I spent a week with a 2015 Premium EB rental and was not that impressed with the middle ground 9 speaker system (what Gnhunter has). I did not have car long enough to be able to say it is really "better" than the Shaker 500 system in my 2011.

Took a pic of the rear deck speaker in the rental and have a pic of the Shaker 500 to compare. The magnet is much larger on the S197 Shaker 500 speaker but the 2015 Premium speaker otherwise looks like it could be better.

When I saw the magnet size in the 2015, I just had to snap a pic !!

Doug

SteelTownStang

Yeah, the magnet is definitely smaller but it looks like the '15 has the polymer/mica composite cone speakers as opposed to the cheap Mexican made paper cone speakers in the S197.

m05fastbackGT

I also prefer the mach 460 over the shaker 500, as the door subs on the shaker seem to always fade in and out, even at mid volume levels

Amariel

That's good, as the speakers in my 2014 Premium were utter garbage. It was pretty sad going from a '00 Celica GTS to a '14 Mustang GT... and wincing at how crappy music sounded in comparison to a 15 year old stock system. The sound system in my friend's 2003 Mach 1 was a lot better than the '14.

Though some new CDTs, Maestros, amp and line filter in my Mustang fixed all that.

SteelTownStang

Hopefully Ford has listened to the past 10 years of complaining and made some improvements to their sound system(s). The speakers appear to better quality, and the addition of the A-pillars tweeters is a plus, so maybe the interior sound can finally compliment the exterior(V8)...

Gnhunter

Who buys a mustang for the stereo anyway. If you want a killer stereo go buy a Lexus or Mercedes or bmw

SteelTownStang

... or McLaren, Rolls Royce, Bugatti, or maybe even the Naim Audio system in the Bentley. It's only a $10K option.

While I perfer the sound of the exhaust, it's still nice to be able to crank-up some metal without a fear of blowing out the speakers...

m05fastbackGT

That's beside the point, The point is some of us here are paying over 40k for premium edition Mustangs and you can bet your bottom dollar that I expect to get premium quality back in return, and that also includes a decent quality sound system..

With that said, if the imports can provide Bose and Infinity sound systems in their base models ? Then so can Ford !

SteelTownStang

^^^This^^^

Mustang Freak

IMHO I've yet to purchase a new car that has a great sound system! I've ordered many new cars with the supposedly 'best audio package' and they still all fall woefully short of what I would even consider good! :-)

laserred38

Doug, magnet size does not make a good sounding system. It actually looks like a neodymium magnet on the 2015.

SteelTownStang

There are some that are definitely better than others...

Mustang Freak

Well that could be said for a lot of things? But I'll put an aftermarket system up against anyone of your so called 'better' systems. :-)

SteelTownStang

Very thought provoking...

Obviously you can spend a lot of money improving an OEM system... which I've done- read earlier posts. Also, it's obvious that some OEM systems are better then others...

Edit: Oh, BTW, I think you're missing the point, but the gibberish is entertaining :-)

Mustang Freak

Thought provoking like there are some that are better than others? And though the point is on the new '15 system my point is it is still garbage! :-)