I'm a new member who just migrated from Mustang Forums. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?? I've just read several pages of posts and found out they're intelligent, well-written, civilized, and informed. Glad to be here! I've decided that the Shaker 500 in my '05 GT needs to take a forced retirement. I'll try to take advantage of its good points: the looks, the lights, the mp3 capability, and most of the existing wiring. After that, nothing's sacred. Because I want to keep the 500 head unit, I plan to install another, a McIntosh MX-401 cd/tuner, inside the center console, and somehow I hope to be able to switch between the two. Any ideas as to whether connecting speakers to both would work by powering up only one or the other? All speaker drivers and amps used by the add-on system are McIntosh. I plan to replace front door upper speakers with component 5 1/4" mids and dome tweeters (if the existing speakers don't have transferrable crossovers, I'll use those from an old pair of bookshelf speakers with the same-sized drivers). For the rear deck I'll adapt and install 5 1/4" coaxials with component crossovers, for the trunk a boxed 10" sub. Front door speakers will be powered by two channels of a 4-channel, 50wpc continuous rms amp, the other two channels will be bridged to 100w to power the sub. A second 30wpc stereo amp will power the rear deck speakers. Again, I'll share wiring for the smaller speakers with both head units and use the front subs with only the Shaker and rear sub with only the McIntosh. What do you think, best of both worlds, or impossible dream? I think A/B switching would be a nightmare. Also, any ideas on where to mount the additional amps? My best guess at this point would be to insulate the back of the sub box with a rubber mat, then mount them to the back. It would probably look and sound respectable with the back seats folded forward. The amps are approx. 12x16x4" and 12/10/4" and would be too heavy to mount to the backs of the rear seats. Any comments and/or suggestions would be much appreciated. I look forward to some interesting discussions!

 

Welcome to the best Mustang forums arounf Keep up up to date on the new stero process

-Bryan

 

Welcome; yea you dicovered a site of enthusiasts helping one another; not elitists and know-it all flamers.
Scan the interior sections. Lots going on with aftermarket upgrades to amps and speakers. Might get some ideas there

 

And I look forward to reading your stuff Eric!! Very well written - even though electronics are not my forte (though I do LOVE a great stereo system, which this one really isn't).

Enjoy the place, I sure have

Mark.

 

welcome


this board is much better than corral or stangnet

the people here are actually nice!

 

Welcome Eric. In answer to your question, You should not connect the speakers to both systems. The output signal from either system will drive the speakers but it will also damage the other system. Your best bet is to use a switching box. They are available from radio shack or you can build one yourself.

 

Welcome. This is a great site.

 

Thanks for the insight, Ed. Actually, Step 1 of the upgrade turned out to be to replace Plan A. Sheesh, things are never as they seem. I went into it willing to be flexible (necessarily) on the original plan, and once I got into it I've had to adjust on the fly. Anyway, the door panel component speakers are in molded proprietary enclosures, so I took them off entirely. By doing so I was able to mount my Mc coaxials, which would have been otherwise too deep; with the added space available from not using a component tweeter I was able to mount the crossover as well. I think I'll end up just disconnecting the subs in favor of putting the higher quality one in the trunk. The plan to use both head units is no more; the McIntosh 1din unit is too deep to mount in the center console, so it will replace the Shaker 500 in-dash (there really is nowhere else to put it). I remembered that McIntosh made a stock head unit option for Subaru VDC models, 2din; I'd love to get my hands on one if I can find one used (I don't think these Subaru guys have any idea what they've got, the bast***s!) . If I have to put the smaller one in, I'll have my installer make up some amp power meters to take up the slack. I have yet to mount the rear deck components, but they should be more easily mounted with more elbow room than in the door panels. Parts are trickling in (subwoofer came today); I'll post more as things progress. An Escort Passport radar detector was received and installed Saturday (I'm in more trouble with it morally, but anticipate less trouble legally). I think it will be easy to hard-wire it to the fuse box when I have the time.
Again, great forum, and keep up the comments!

 

Update day Next: All speaker components have been delivered! My current plan is to rebuild the sub box according to sub component manufacurer specs (13" x 13" x 9.5" box, 1" high density particle board, fully braced and sealed). Amps will be mounted to rear and top, and box will sit to the rear of back seats on level portion of trunk. I'll likely make it free-standing with rubber straps or bungee cords to hold it in place. I need to make the entire unit removable in order to access the spare tire (I assume - too late and too tired to run outside again), and will factor in quick-connect plugs for power inputs and speaker outputs (I sure don't look forward to the possibility of a flat!).
Rear deck speakers, component 5 1/4" mids and 1" dome housed tweeters should fit just right into existing cut-outs in rear deck if done properly; I'll remove the existing speakers and covers and replace with a pre-cut flat (stainless steel, galvanized, or black aluminum) plate from Home Depot. With any luck, all should look as if it belongs there (wishful thinking!). Search continues for head unit from 2004 Subaru, McIntosh, the Holy Grail (lol). A customer of mine, who owns the local used auto parts yard, is working on it. I haven't been able to find one on my own and could use some help (it was a factory installed stereo head unit on 2004 Subaru Legacy Outback VDC models, sedan or wagon). Any help would be greatly appreciated. So ends Day 3 or whatever it's up to (scr#w the installer, it's beginning to look as if I may be able to pull this off on my own!

 

you should create a photo journal so we can see what your doing and what the products look like.