emilram11

Ok its my future car audio. Should be here this week (fingers crossed and prayers prayed).

--My 5.0 will be coming with the Shaker 500 system. Not sure I want to install a sub. Don't think I want to give up the trunk space. But, would be nice to swap the cabin's speakers out for some high quality sound.

Not looking to spend tons and tons of money but I'd be willing to splurge on some good speakers. Any of you guys have recommendations on a good setup of speakers to go with the Shaker 500?

(queue laserred38) who promised to chime in

laserred38

Haha ok...answer these ?s before we go further...

1) What's your total budget, speakers, amp(s), door subs, sound deadening and wiring.

2) Will you be installing or will you be taking it somewhere?

3) What kind of music do you listen to?

Answer those, and I'll put together a few sample systems together for you. You need to include some deadening to get the most of your speakers. You may be able to tap into the factory speaker wiring, as I doubt you'll be going crazy with your components. This may simplify things and keep the cost of wiring down...

Ltngdrvr

I'd wait until you get the car and live with it for a few weeks and see if you really think that a speaker upgrade is warranted for your listening style.

Of course I'm not an audiophile but I thought the shaker 500 sounded great in the car I drove.

laserred38

It's not THAT bad. But once you've been exposed to good audio, you're spoiled. And I've test driven 2009-2010 GTs. I couldn't live with the Shaker system.

stangfoeva

audio elitist bastard

laserred38

Lmao. Hey be happy you haven't been spoiled. It's saving you $$$. Once you get exposed to good sound, then you have to factor THAT much more into your mod budget.

Ltngdrvr

The song I prefer most in my Mustang is the one the engine sings, making the radio a secondary concern.

laserred38

Well once I finish my V6 build with SSM M112 adapter and FRPP Whipple, I probably will like hearing that for a while, but I love music. And I love driving. I wont drive a car without a good audio system. That's why we're all unique. And because the OP is asking about how to better his audio system, that is why I'm here...

emilram11

Ok no prob!

1) Between $500 and $1000
2) I've never done it but maybe I could try? Depends on how difficult you think it is.
3) Mostly rock music but I like everything.

Let me know if you need more info!

fritzOSU03

How much does that Bit One cost again?

laserred38

James the Bit One MSRP was $800, but they raised it to $1000 after it became so popular. You can find it for less than that though.

OP, I'm still working on a system for you, but for your budget I'd suggest you just replace the front speakers and door subs, add a small 4 channel amp to power those, and the JL Cleansweep. Either leave the rear speakers stock, or remove them altogether. It's worth it for you to spend 2x as much on better fronts, than to split your budget in half between front/rear speakers...

Let me know your thoughts on that, and I'll throw together a few different systems for you with different prices.

emilram11

That sounds good! Yah just build the system you would build for everything but that rears. Then if you can show what you would add if you swapped those out too. Then maybe I can do this in stages -- or all at once if I'm up for it. Or another thing you could do is say a couple options: budget friendly option, budget moderate option and best system option (without breaking the bank). Like I said, I could do this in stages say, starting with the budget friendly/moderate options then later add the icing on the cake option!


Thanks by the way! This is cool!

stangfoeva

You've come to the right person to ask. Patrick will hook you up. I'm curious to see what he comes up with

Automagically

Patrick is right, but this will need to be a DIY to save on the budget as you'd rather have better components than install charges. If you are not the DIY kind of guy, then I'd find a friend. When all else fails, check out a shop but you'll be paying for install. God if I would have made even half of the install charge when I was working, I might not be an engineer now. Guess I should have worked for Ultimate Elec.!

MSRP for the Clean Sweep is $299 but online many places have it for around $200. As a fan of home grown companies, I just want to throw this out there, try www.edesignaudio.com at least for a look. It's higher end on a bit of a budget. Still not cheap, but theres that triangle of quality thing again!

OP I must say, as an installer, the idea of a car that has a sub bass, mid range and high range speaker in the doors or front stage is a delicious slice of audio heaven as far as potential goes. Just because Ford doesn't have it dialed in, doesn't mean you have to suffer.

Edit: Patrick, you might appreciate this, in my GMC, I used a honeycomb fiberglass piston 12" subwoofer like the old PPI Power Class drivers, mated to my PPI Art A600.2 and CDT Separates with 6.75" Midbass, 1" silk tweet and 3/4" ambient tweet, mated to a PPI Art A404. Audio Control Line drivers, no EQ's unfortunately but utilized an Eclipse 8053 deck.

Automagically

OK, just a couple of suggestions, these prices are not the most consistent as I went with the highest dollar amount I could find so if you find it lower elsewhere then you're good to go:

CDT/Elemental Designs
eD - Nine.4 Amp $225
eD - e3.8 Door Subs $ $190 pair
CDT - CL-51 Mid Range $260
JL Cleansweep - $300
Total: $974
This does not include eDead or sound deadener.

JL/Pioneer
Pioneer Premier TSA502C Mid Range - $150
JL Cleansweep - $300
JL 8W1 - $200 pair
JL 320.4 Amp - $200
Total: $850

If I had time I might be able to find some more lower cost options but I included a bit of quality in there so you are not disappointed in the long run. Amplifiers can alway go bigger but the cost is high. You can also Garage Sale/Ebay it as well to find some slightly used older equipment but still very high quality. You also don't exactly have to run a sub woofer in the doors. You can find a very good mid bass but it's tough. Hope this helps some.

I'd say leave the rears as fill, you aren't going to SQ competition so sounds stage will not be a huge thing, plus just bump up the front since the amp will be on those speakers anyway.

laserred38

Thanks Kelsey, I've been busy at work so I haven't had as much time as I'd like to get back to this thread. And those are both good suggestions. Your system sounds like it was awesome btw!

Emil, I talked with the owner at the shop I used to work at. Seems they actually did a 2010 Roush a few weeks ago and went ALL out. I got some advice though, as I haven't done an install on an S197. On that particular car, they went with the JL ZR800 midbass in the doors, along with Focal 5.25" components. Then they added the JL Stealthbox in the trunk with the 13W6.

At this stage, I would step back and evaluate where you want to go with the system. For mainly listening to rock, you might be happy with the pair of 8" subs in the door and not having a trunk sub. I listen to a variety of stuff, and when I was in the market for a 2010/11 I had planned on doing a system like the shop did with the Roush. Elemental Designs does have some decent product for the price. Image Dynamics is another very good product line that won't break the bank. Woofersetc.com has MB Quart 8" subs on sale for $49 each. Those are another good low cost option.

Some thoughts I need to mention: the shop got signal for the amps (they used a Bit One to clean up the factory EQ and tune the system, but for your budget I'd just use a Cleansweep) from behind the factory radio; they had to make a small spacer for the 8" midbass speakers in the doors, which pushed the factory grill out a little bit, but the customer was fine with it (wasn't noticeable); they also cut part of the back of the door card open to allow the 8" speakers to utilize the whole door as an enclosure, infinite baffle style, rather than using the small factory 8" enclosures.

If all of that seems over your head, I would go on to caraudio.com/forum and see if there are any people in the Seattle area who could help you install/tune the system. I seem to remember some knowledgable guys in that area, but I haven't posted on there in a while.

laserred38

Also remember you will need wiring and some deadener for the doors. If you see yourself adding a trunk sub later on, I suggest saving up a bit more and doing a 5/6 channel amp now and leaving the rear/sub channels open for expansion down the road. I like to keep my amps and processors the same brand. There's no rhyme or reason behind it, just personal preference and a (slightly true if they are digital amps) notion that the processor and amp were made by the company to work in harmony so they should communicate better. So I would do the Cleansweep and the 600.6 JL 6 channel amp. Doing that, I would power the 5.25 or 6.5 components with the front channels, 8" mids or subs with the rear channels, then leave the last 2/sub channels open to bridge for a trunk mounted sub. I don't recommend JL mid/high speakers though. They make great amps, subs and integration solutions, but their speaker line can be topped for a lot less $.

Lastly I wanted to mention the new JBL MS-8. It's a signal processor similar to the Bit One, but it also includes microphone and software that will "study" your car's acoustics and automatically set your time correction and EQ. I've been hearing great things about it, but haven't personally used one. Also the msrp is $800 alone, but for others who are reading this, it may be a good solution for people who aren't experienced in tuning.

Automagically

Good posts Patrick, I completely forgot, I had the Focal Access as a substitute for the Pioneers. I can certainly vouch for the Focal/Audison brands, I have done many simple installs with their components and with minimal effort they sound incredible. So good looking too!
I forgot about JBL coming out with that processor. Emil, something to remember, many of these processors are used as the Master volume or Master control unit, so instead of using the factory ****, you are supposed to set the volume of the factory radio at a level that is loud but not distorted. Then use the controls given by the Cleansweep (as an example) to turn the volume up or down. I personally just like to have everything seem factory so if you want, you can somewhat reverse this process and adjust the cleansweep **** then use the factory radio volume control. Maybe that was too verbose but it's pretty simple an idea. Sorry if I just made a worthless post.

Edit: Patrick is right though, I can't stand JL's component or coax lines, I just hate them. LOVE the subs, amps, etc. I had a guy just pour money into a sound system that he wanted all JL, well, his lows were loud and his mids and highs just sounded like die grinder no matter what I did. Same with Eclipse. I too cannot recommend them.

emilram11

Well you guys have provided some awesome info! I think I realize I know nothing about stereos! I would definitely need help to do some of the things you guys are talking about. I'll keep these designs and see if I can find someone local who can help. I want to do it on my own but I'd need help for sure. Big, big thanks to you guys!