I've actually seen it in action on a built Focus SVT stereo, and it was a great piece of hardware. I'd be just content with a sub and some replacement speakers, but that's down on my list of parts right now. I've turned away from mainly appearance and trivial mods to performance and things that benefit me and my daily driving the most.

 

I put this in , along with the factory amps & two 10" sub's it sounds better than it did:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R160...t&ssi=0&tp=115
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R160...0a.html?tp=115


but this would be nice ? take out the spare tire ?

 

The bit one has 31 band EQs on every channel and input/output. It has so many different features, and is probably overkill for most people. The 3.Sixty and other tuning/factory integration units (Zapco and JL make something similar as well), in my experience, just don't give the flexibility and features that the bit one does. Also, it can pretty much accept any factory signal. I'm not sure where the amps are on the S197, but easiest would be to tap into the factory wiring right before the factory amps...

F5Assassin, no problem, but honestly the system you listed probably wouldn't even sound as good as stock. Obviously it would depend on the tuning, but just looking at it from an equipment standpoint, the bass would be overexaggerated and there would be no midbass in the doors. A lot of people just assume they can play their subs up into the 500hz range, and that is completely wrong. You want your strong midbass to come from up front, and if you can, try to install your sub all the way up front too. The guys just finished a 911 Turbo Cabriolet with the Focal KRX3 3-ways and two JL 6W3 subs. There is a factory sub near the passenger footwell, and they built off of that enclosure to accommodate the two 6s. The thing rocks. The bass is all upfront, it doesn't draw the sound to the rear like most bass-heavy systems do. The midbass and subbass blend perfecly and pound you right in the chest! That is what people should strive for in a system.

If you did some work to the doors and braced the factory sub enclosures enough for some good quality 8" subs, you could probably get away with not even adding on another larger sub in the rear, depending on the type of music you listen to. The bass would be all up front and blend nicely with your midbass.

If you wanted to do a complete system on a budget (assuming you went with the Elec Pkg to get the navi and screen etc), I would do a bit one, PDX-5 or JL 900/5, Alpine Type-X Reference or Pro series speakers, and two 8" JL W0s in the doors. Basically just an upgrade of the Shaker500. I'd also remove the rear speakers altogether. I've gotten so used to having a proper 2ch audio system, that I will never use rear speakers ever again, unless I have a 5./6./7.1 surround sound system for movies. There's just no point. If you do your audio right, the passengers will have no problem hearing the music, and when I go to a concert, the music comes from in front of me, not behind me.

Save your money by not buying rear speakers. Spend $200 on good front speakers instead of $100/pair for front and rear. Simple as that.

Another variation of the above system would be the Audison bit one, Audison LRx5.1k or LRx6.9 or Hertz HP5 amps, Hertz HSK165 or 165XL or MLK165, and any of the JL 8" subs. Image Dynamics, Hybrid Audio, Morel and Dynaudio are other good companies that make 3-way speaker systems that could use the factory locations...

If the OP is serious, answer my questions about budget, music preference, whether or not you'll be installing or someone else, if you'll be getting the Electronic Pkg or not, etc. One more thing to consider is even if you don't feel comfortable installing yourself, I know a lot of people on the audio forums who would be willing to a) help you out or b) do the whole install for a fraction of the cost of a high-end audio shop. Audio is something you don't want to cheap out on installing though, or else you're just pissing money away. And I've seen some hackjobs done by crappy shops, and let me tell you, you don't want these people screwing with the electrical systems on your brand new car!

 

And please people, do NOT waste money on the Shaker 1000!!!! It is utter crap!! And Infinity makes OK subs, but there are so many other options out there which would blow them away as far as sound quality is concerned!

RF top quality? HA, maybe in 1996. Now? Not even close. But the 3.Sixty is decent. I just wouldn't spend my money on it...

 

soon enough history will repeat itself & I'll put my Craig 8 tract back in !

 

Here is my situation.

I have the Electronics Package. I listen to FM Radio, Sirius, and have a Zune HD hooked to the system.

The Shaker 500 does a pretty good job for the most part but there really isn't much low end bass. I want to keep the factory head unit.

I very much a price/performance kind of guy. I know the sky is the limit when it comes to audio gear but there is a point of diminishing returns. I'm looking for a clean sound through the entire range without breaking the bank. The car was expensive enough!

Just as a reference I had the following in my 03 accord hooked to the Factory Nav

JBL P650c up front
JBL GTO 936 in the rear
2x JL 12w3 in a box in the trunk
JL 300/4
JL 500/1

The did put some kind of audio processor in but I forgot what was.

 

I really like the analogy to Frankenstein... and I 100% agree with you on that.
Also all those annoying LEDs on many cheap 3rd party audio gears today and those manufacturers INFLATED specs numbers that means nothing !!!

 

Hey bud. What kind of music do you listen to on a daily basis? So basically, you're happy with the way the OEM stuff sounds, you just want more/better bass, correct? If that's so, what is your budget and would you install yourself or have a shop/buddy/someone else do it?

If you're just going to add an additional subwoofer and keep everything else factory, a RF 3.Sixty or the JL Cleansweep would probably get you by. If you did that, then found that you wanted to upgrade the speakers later, you may want to get the bitone right off the bat.

If you just want to add a sub in the trunk, I'd remove the rear speakers and do some dampener on the rear decklid and rear quarter panels. I know the 10+ cars have better deadening, but these are going to be the first panels to rattle. Removing the rear speakers will allow more bass to travel into the cabin and would relieve some of the air pressure pounding on those plastic panels.

 

If I understand this correctly, you are running the Infinity in conjunction with the factory Shaker 1000 system? Are you serious?

 

no I only have the 500 Shaker or had as soon as Ford gave me a new Head unit & it still buzzed they finally found drivers door amp was bad replaced that and all was good then I got the Pioneer.

 

Patrick (laserred38)

Dude...you blew me away with that novel...but I loved it. Thanks for taking the time to write.

Right now, I'm 99% sure I'm going with the Electronic pkg with Sync and Nav. Like you mentioned, I like the clean look of the dash and I would hate to ruin that with an aftermarket unit. I just figured that with all the technology that is floating out there, there would be something high tech that can turn factory sound into incredible sound. You mentioned the Addison bit one and that sounds like the ticket that I'm looking for. As far as what type of music I listen to...man, what don't I listen to. Lately, I've been killing the following:

New Rock (Godsmack, Alter Bridge, Shinedown, Creed) with a splash of Classic Rock (AC/DC, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Journey, Scorpions etc)

But I also listen to R&B, Jazz, Latin (Salsa and Meringue), New Age and Techno and House)...When I listen to Techno and House, I want to FEEL IT!! I'm sure you know what I mean.

I'm going to do my research on this Addison Bit One..so any additional info on this would be great. BTW, my days of messing with wires are behind me. My 96 GT was the last time I gutted my car and installed everything myself. I no longer have the skills or patients to attempt such an endeavor. Budget? I can safely say that I can spend between 2 and 4 thousand. Not in one shot, but over a period of time (a thousand a month)

Once again, thanks for the advice...Lou

 

I listen to everything Rock, Hip-hop, Pop, Electronic, Country, etc. It's not that I'm happy with the existing speakers. They just don't yell "I'm Horrible, Please Replace Me ASAP!" I want to make sure that when I do replace them I do it right and not waste money. I look for solid value in my speaker and amp selections. There are just so many brands out there it's hard to know who really is the best and what's just marketing hype. I haven't really been in tune since 2004 so I'm out of the loop. For a budget I'd say $2k in hardware but I just don't want to get $2k worth of stuff just to get $2k worth of stuff. If I come in cheaper that's great, if it costs a little more I'm fine with that to as long as it's the right gear. I'm really not interested in cutting so I want to use the stock locations if possible. I don't need rear deck filler. I only use it now because alone the fronts on the Shaker 500 don't cut it.

Thanks for the help!

 

I was considering doing something with the ipad as well, so I could stream anything from my home server, listen to any radio station through various apps, pandora, and use it as my gps. I'm not sure of the exact dimensions of the area I photo-shopped the ipad in, however in landscape the ipad is 9.56" wide by 7.47" tall by .5" deep, but this is roughly what it could potentially look like.



It looks like either the temperature controls need to be moved, or if the information display is only for the factory radio it could be completely removed, but I thought I saw it provides other information.

After looking at it though, it really looks like way too much work to implement, and would probably be insanely too distracting. It's too bad I can't get the Shaker 500 and Sync in the base GT.

 

Jevans, I'm pretty sure the display does in fact show climate control information in addition to the radio/media info. That is an awesome chop, and if I could order a Premium withOUT the Shaker500 and Sync, I think I would go that route (with a 3G iPad). I think you should do it man. You'd have your tunes and Internet stuff right there at your fingertips. It wouldn't be voice activated like Sync, but the iPad does have some VoiceOver functionality. I guarantee you, one day we WILL see the day where our media library/portable computer will just dock into our cars. When we park, we'll pop it out and take it inside with us. It's already possible with the iPad, and will only get better!

 

But can you do that on a horse wow look how far we have evolved

 

I completely understand. I listen to everything as well, so having a system that can play everything well is important to me. I would look into Image Dynamics in your case. Their performance/value ratio is very good. I've used and heard some of their products and they are very good for the price. Have you guys seen the custom fit box that Scosche makes for the S197? I know some 05-09 guys are using it and it's a solid sealed box for 1 12" sub. I believe it fits the 10+ cars, but don't know for sure off the top of my head. Look for a woofer that performs well in a small sealed enclosure and a small amplifier. I haven't personally used this unit, but I have heard good things about it: http://www.arcaudio.com/productdescr...lizers/sri.asp

You can use it to tap into the factory signal similar to the bitone, but with far less tuning options. If you're just adding bass though, it would work fine. I'd pair it with one of Arc Audio's "Mini" amps. These things are tiny, but they are also powerhouses. We use them on Harleys all the time. The Image Dynamics and Arc Audio subwoofers are very similar (I think they may be built at the same factory), but I would go with an Image Dynamics 12" IDQ sub. It's a good all around performer, and does well in small sealed enclosures. Those compents are putting you at around $800-1k depending on if you have a dealer in your area who will hook you up.

If you're okay with the speakers for now, add on a little more bass and see if that satisfies you.

Personally, I would go the opposite route and replace the front speakers and 8" subs in the doors first, though. You would probably be happy with the sound just doing that, not needing any more bass than the two aftermarket 8s would provide. But doing it this way would require more money and more ampification. It's all about how far you want to take it, and if just adding more bass would satisfy you....

 

Right. I can dock my computer into the horse's *** and have the horse sing my music, access the Internet etc. Good one. Obviously some of us have evolved. Seems like some haven't...

 

I took time to listen to the speakers closely today and they sounded pretty muddy unless you use all four at the same time. That tended to balance the sound out a little bit. The source was my Zune HD playing 192k WMA files. With that said they need to go now. Should I stick with Image Dynamics for the fronts or just the sub?

 

Image Dynamics makes pretty good speakers as well. If you have time, try to look up authorized dealers of Hertz, Audison, Focal, ID etc in your area and sample them. Hertz/Audison speakers tend to be more laid back and mellow in sound, while Focal tend to be brighter and more in your face. IDs are somewhat in between I'd say, but they are much less expensive.

I think you should go with the bitone to start. At the least, Alpine makes a similar unit (now discontinued, but the shop I worked at has one left over and would sell it to you at a discount) that doesn't have as much tuning ability, but would be a good starting point. You'd be surprised how just cleaning up the factory signal to the factory speakers can do...

What I like about the bitone, is the ability to time align every channel. If you mount your tweeters on the A-pillars, but the mids are on the doors, the sound will be hitting your ears at different intervals. If you go with good component speakers, using the supplied crossover box, you can't time align the tweeters separately from the mids. If you (or your installer) have the know how, running completely active (every speaker on its own channel) will give you the most flexibility in your install and the most fine-tuning on your sound.

If you think you would be ready for that, then I'd buy mids/tweeters/8" subs for the doors and either a 6ch amp, or one 4ch and one 2ch and go from there!

 

Is it common for installers to actually tune the system? The systems I've got in the past they just installed things and adjusted the amps. That was about it.

How is JL Audio and JBL's equipment? I was a big fan of each company back in 2004.