I'm installing a 12" sub in the trunk with its own AMP. Does it makes sense to upgrade the door speakers and does the stock base system accept an amp?

2011 GT

 

The 5X7 speakers that Ford uses SUCK!

Yes, it's worth changing the speakers. In fact it's worth changing the speakers even if you don't do anything else to the car. The factory Ford speakers are probably the cheapest, worst sounding, crappiest PAPER SPEAKERS I have seen put into a car since the 1970s. Even my old 85 Camaro had better sounding factory speakers.

In my car I took out the cheap 5X7s and installed a set of Polk Audio 5 1/4" Components with a 1 1/4" tweeter in the doors. The sound is FAR better than the factory speakers even before I added the amp. My rears are now Polk Audio 5X7s, and in the trunk I've got a Polk Audio 12" subwoofer all powered by an Alpine MRX V70 5 channel amp.

My brother in law owns a 2011 GT with the Shaker sound system. The first time he sat in my car and heard the stereo he said "That's not the Ford sound system, is it?" Even to my wife the difference in both volume and more important, sound quality is instantly noticeable. After almost 2 years she still comments on how good it sounds now.

 

Replace those door speakers ASAP. Eventually you may want to upgrade the sound from the OEM head unit, with a signal proc, amp, or replace it completely. It's a slippery slope, depends on how much quality you want, and how much you are willing to spend.

 

Back in the spring I did a similar installation - an amp and a 12" sub in the trunk, and I replaced the door speakers with MB Quart separates.

My car has the base (non-Sync) system so there's no amp. In order to hook up the sub amp, I ran the 4 gauge wire to the trunk, wired an Audiocontrol lc2i to the rear speakers (to get a line level signal and a trigger wire to turn on the amp), then wired up the amp with the low pass cutoff around 100hz.

For the sub, I built a sub box that tucks in the corner of the trunk out of 3/4" MDF and used an old MTX Thunder 8000 sub.




For the door speakers, I installed a set of old MB Quart separates in the doors (powered by the surprisingly good head unit).



I mounted the amp and lc2i to a board on the underside of the rear deck so the whole setup takes very little trunk room and the system turned out great.



The sub is so powerful that I have it turned most of the way down all the time. I have now built a smaller box for a 10" sub that will tuck much, much farther into the side of the trunk (I have to wait for spring to test that one though).

 

Stupid question, but you have to take the entire door trim off to get to the door speaker on the base GT, right? How complicated is that? I'd love to upgrade my speakers too, but I worry about the work involved...

 

I changed front and rear speakers. Entire door trim comes off but no big deal. You can find step by step pics online. Rear speakers are a little more involved. I did not add amp for front or rear. Added 8" sub in right rear corner of trunk with mono amp and it is perfect for my needs but now have buzz/rattles in rear view mirror and IP trim rings that are driving me crazy...

 

I also added subs to the trunk. I designed a sub box that would sit on the slant in the trunk and up against the back of the rear seats. They are two Rockford Fosgate 10"s.

 

Good ideas, I'll be tackling all this soon'ish.. have a friend who said he'd help me with the install as he knows electronics...


The plan is a 12" Polk Audio sub in a rear corner box with it's own Amp.. new speakers for the doors and rear deck and an Amp to add power to the speakers.

 

Remove the screw marked in red behind the door handle and in the bottom of the hand hold. You'll need to remove the plastic cover in the hand hold. It's been a while so I can't remember if the door screw is holding the plastic piece in or if you need to pull the handle and remove the plastic piece to get to the screw. It's not hard, you'll figure it out in about 2 seconds.

Pull the pieces circled in blue off. You'll need a small flat blade screwdriver to get most of them to pop loose. They are really easy to pop loose though. Unplug the mirror and power window controls.

Unscrew the remaining screws marked in red.

Lift up and carefully pull away.

That's it.

 

Thanks Moustang!

I appreciate the pic, I think it will really help me when I'm ready to pull the trigger on this project!

 

Yeah, the door panels come off and go back on really well. They're just designed well.

When I was tuning in my separates (adjusting the crossovers and installing sound deadening) I had to take the door panels off a few times between adjustments. Before I was through, I got to the point where I could take a door panel off in less than 2 minutes. Then the panel goes back on nice and easily too (no issues with broken/misaligned clips or anything - and all the screw holes lined up without a problem).

Working on this car was a pleasure compared to the last few I've done stereo work on.

 

Niiice! That's really encouraging to hear. I guess my past memories of breaking flimsy retaining clips still haunt me today. It's funny, I have no rservations about ripping my brakes out, but I worry about scratching/scuffing the door trim.

 

No clips at all in the Mustang door panels. It really is surprisingly easy. I've also taken mine off about a half dozen times. It's so fast and easy it sort of promotes going back into the doors to make little adjustments that you would normally ignore.

People tell me that the old muscle cars were great because they were so easy to work on. Well, I've owned quite a few and none have been easier than the Mustang. I can do oil changes without lifting the car, I can strip the entire interior in about an hour and put it back exactly like it was, and I was shocked when I dropped the rear end and replaced the springs and replaced and adjusted the panhard bar in less than 2 hours using a floor jack and hand tools.

I've had plastic model kits of cars that were harder to work on than this Mustang.

 

What Are the replacement size speakers? Are there only 4 speakers in the base system? Actually How hard is the rear? I really need to do this.

 

Can anyone recommend some good door speakers for my 13 Premium?