Fastback65

I'm going to being ordering my car soon and the only option I'm having trouple deciding on is the stereo. I was'nt going to go aftermarket, but after all the problem I've heard about the skipper I'm not sure. The only reason I want to get the Shaker is because it would be nice to stay stock, and I like the look and location of the door mounted subs. My questioin to all you audio pros is this a good place to even mount subs? Would I be better of with a box in the trunk? Should I mount my own in the door if I get the base unit. I don't want to spend $675.00 :nono: on an upgrade I'm going to rip out just so I can get factory door mounted subs. What to do :scratch:

MilStang

I would be interested in this as well. I have been going back and forth on if I want to go Shaker upgrade or aftermarket.

That and I would like to have a NAV system in the car, but not positive on a portable or in dash as of yet. My biggest concern is being able to upgrade the software and if there are any out there that can be taken anywhere in the world. ....just in case I get back to Germany with the Shelby.

mr_speedvision

I personally was very unimpressed with my Mach 460 in my 2002. The setup included 4 mono 5"x7" woofers mounted in the doors and in a special enclosure mounted to the rear deck. It also included 4 stereo 2" midrange tweeters. The front were mounted in pods, and the rear mounted in the rear amp/speaker enclosure. The imaging and sound quality were horrible. It also included the CD6 in the dash. The head unit would heat up and not release cd's, and with the mono woofer setup the audio was very muddy when listening to ANY music recorded after 1989. I ended up removing everything, replacing the head unit with an Alpine MP3 reciever, Infinity 5-1/4" components in the front, Infinity 5"x7" 2-ways in the rear, and a 12" Infinity sub in the trunk. I used Profile California series amps. The sound in my car is awesome!

The moral of this story is that I bought the GT Premium package because I wanted the Bullitt wheels, leather seating surfaces, and a good audio system. If I had it to do over I would have bought a GT Deluxe and paid extra for leather. I paid for audio twice (plus factory premium audio is a pain to remove!), and you can get a great system for far less than the cost of factory "Premium" systems.

MilStang

Yes, I had the Mach 460 in my '99 vert as well. I had it replaced pretty quickly, I just wondered if the Shakers were an improvement.

Thanks for the feedback, I will start looking more into aftermarket and keep track to see if they improve on the Shaker by the time the Shelby comes out.

mr_speedvision

BTW, you can add aftermarket speakers and amps very easily to the factory head unit, it does have some neat features and MP3 decoding. All you would need are some line level converters attached to the factory radio. That would allow you to use the factory head unit and aftermarket amps. The factory speakers can be swapped for seperates or 2-way/3-way's of your choice.

BatNastard

I would definitely get the 500 just for the door woofers -- easy to replace, great location, nice enclosures. I wouldn't pay $1300 for crummy amps and subs in the trunk. But the base option doesn't have the door woofer enclosures (to my knowledge), and those are a good idea.

Fastback65

Mr Speed.... that was what I was wondering about. I would like to keep the factory head unit if possible. I was aware of the converters, but I was unsure of how "clean" the intergration would be. Has anyone had problems with aftermarket (amps+speaker) while retaining the factory head reciever.

Batnastard... don't you think you could just mount your own in the door and save the money??

markski74

I opted to order the car with the base system and had the entire thing ripped out.

I went with a single 12" in the trunk mounted to the side. If your interested, I have pictures on my website.

Fastback65

Wow markski74... your ride is nice. What did that stereo run you, and is the one 12" in the trunck equivelant to the 2 - 8" in the doors. Did they tell you in the shop not to mount in the doors.?

mr_speedvision

I would recommend a quality converter such as American International SLC-1 http://www.aius.net/ai2004_electronic_sos1.pdf The sound quality should be fine as long as you make good quality connections. I will try to draw up an easy whay to intergrate it when I get a chance, I am at work and my supervisor is snooping around. :nono:

Fastback65

Mr. speedvision
Thanks for all the great tips. Just so I make sure I got you right... you recomended that site and those products so that the factory head and the aftermarket amp and speakers all work together properly right? What do you think about subs in the doors? Also, looking forward to your sketch.

Enfynet

I got the base stereo and swapped out the speakers and added a single 10" in the trunk (approx where the Shaker1000 subs are) and am thrilled with the sound. I've also read that having subwoofers facing directly at each other, like the door subs, can actually decrease sound quality... Besides that extra $1300 that the shaker 1000 costs could be put towards plenty of performance mods.

05GT-O.C.D.

I did the same thing marski did, only I left the base stock head unit so it would appear stock. Yes, one good aftermarket 12 is MUCH better than the two factory 8's in the doors. I've heard them both and there is no comparison.

So, my .02 from experience is to skip the Skipper. If you want to stay looking stock and still have great sound, get the base stereo and add to that. You'll have better sound and more $$$ in your pocket.

Fastback65

My idea wasn't to keep the stock 8" subs in the doors, I should have been more clear on that, but to swap them out for some high quality 8's. The reason I was going to get the Shaker was for the 6 disc in dash, stock look, and sub location in the doors. My idea is to swap out all the speakers, including the subs, maybe add one or 2 in the trunk and get an amp. I just hope with the right adapters the aftermarket speaker and amps will work correct in conjunction with the stock head unit.

mr_speedvision

Here's how to do it nice and neat... No butchering allowed!

BatNastard

Mr. S, thanks for the great info! Now I need a harness for the factory shaker sub amps so I can replace them with no mess

Fastback, you could in theory mount your own midbass drivers in the doors. You would need to cut holes in the panels, and probably enclose them somehow or at least seriously deaden the doors. Speakers that size would need some kind of box unless you got the "free air" type. IMO, it's worth the $700 for the correct door panels, amps/connections, and of course the 6CD/MP3 head unit, but YMMV.

The plus side of doing your own thing is you would have more choices for door woofers -- in this case I'd go down to a 7" or 6.5" midbass driver. I might recommend that anyway if you plan a big sub in the trunk

markski74

Thanks

The 12" in the trunk more then equates to the "stock" door subs. I have heard all 3 Ford systems. The 1000 sounds good but not for the price. I did spend more than the 1000 upgrade but I think it looks and sounds much better.

The shop did not offer an opinion about mounting subs in the doors because I specified exactly what I wanted. I don't listen to heavy bass laden tracks so having multiple subs was not of interest to me. I wanted a tight, mellow base so I went with a single 12" in a sealed enclosure.

mr_speedvision

I was thinking of a setup like this with compenents in the factory 5"x7" opening and a woofer in the lower door panel. http://www.jlaudio.com/evolution/XR653CS.html#

Fastback65

Well after a lot of thought I have decided to go aftermarket. I had to stop and ask myself "do I even need a six disk in dash cd player?" Well I don't...because I have an ipod and would love to have a direct connect for it. I guess this was obvious in retrospect :bang: , but talking about it made me figure out exactly what I wanted. So... I'm going base, ripping it all out, and startin from scratch. Thanx for the discussion guys

markski74

My line of thought was parallel to yours. I hardly every listen to cd's. I use my Ipod most of the time. Clarion is coming out with a module that will allow me to control my Ipod through the head unit. You should look into it.