laserred38

Well Steve, first off I wouldn't let any BB employees near my car with a 10' pole. Second, I've mentioned this time and time again. The way stereos are integrated into cars these days makes them impossible to know how simply swapping out speakers will sound. The audio engineers spend 100s of hours tuning the EQ and signal with the cheap speakers the finance dept allowed them access to, in order to come up with an "acceptable" range of sound for the car's intended demographic. Essentially, the audio system is tuned for the parts they have available. Simply swapping out the speakers may not get you the results you are looking for. Some people have been happy with the Pioneers. That is a good line of speaker. I haven't heard them with the factory Mustang audio tuning. I've heard the component versions of them in a Focus in a hardcore SQ car, and I was amazed. But that car was tuned, for those speakers, for a very specific sound spectrum.

It's hard to give a recommendation to you guys without knowing how these cars are tuned, what kinds of music you all listen to, and how different speakers will react to the factory tuning. What I can recommend is getting an external processor, such as an Audison bit one, before buying any speakers at all and see if you can get the factory stuff to sound how you want.


I liken this advice to a CAI and tune. You're not going to get the most out of your CAI without a tune, and if you are planning on adding any other engine mods later, you're going to need the tuner anyways. The same notion can be applied to your audio system. Once you start down that road, just replacing the factory speakers most likely will not be enough in the long run.

laserred38

I would buy Polk over Kicker any day. Period. And with the exception of the ZR line and their subs, JL speakers are garbage. However, if you know what you're doing with your install and tuning, you can make $100 speakers sound like $1000 speakers; vice versa if you don't know what you're doing.

Overboost

Pat, I understand the explanation and it makes sense, but it still comes back to a simple question; what can you recommend based on your experience?

For instance, I listen to a mix of everything, except country, in my car, and want to have a clear sounding system, but without going crazy with adding amps and cutting/splicing systems in. I'd prefer to simply change the speakers, rather than go real crazy with that stuff.

laserred38

Steve, the point I'm trying to convey to you is that it isn't that simple. I haven't done an install in an S197. I know the shop I used to work at did a really nice install on a 2010 Roush, with JL ZR800 mids replacing the factory 8" subs, Focal 5.25" K2P components in the doors, the JL Stealthbox, an Audison bit one and a JL 900/5 HD amp. That's a complete, high end system in which they used the processor to fine tune the factory signal going to the amps to get the best out of the speakers.

Simply put, my recommendations of speakers I've heard pretty much mean diddly when referencing these cars. I haven't tried out any other speakers in them with the factory system! I would recommend the JL Stealthbox as far as subs go, but for speakers you're basically going to have to go with a trial and error system. I'd try out the Pioneers that Adam went with. They are a good line of speaker. The Focal Access will generally have a bit harsher highs compared to say Polk or Hertz. If that's what you're going for, give those a try. But like I've said, the sound these speakers put out all depends on how the factory EQ tuning is set...

Big Poppa

My speakers showed up and I installed the rear ones. I'm holding off on the fronts because I have some door mods I want to do and would prefer to remove the door panel only once. The speakers sound pretty good and have nice bass. I'd give them a 7 and the OEM a 4 out of 10. They are not as efficient as the stock speakers meaning you need a little more power to run them. Keep in mind the entire game is going to change when I install the fronts. For my driving pleasure I'm close to max on the dail so I may have to add an amp sooner than later. mo money, mo money.

BlackOut2k11

You're running almost max volume on the dial with just the rears replaced? Wow, I know with the stock speakers even half way up on the dial it is LOUD.

Big Poppa

Like I said, these Pioneers need a little bit more power than the OEM.
Yea, I like it loud. Actually it's about 3/4 of max with it faded 2 or 3 clicks because the OEM fronts are louder than my Pioneer rear speakers. That was in the city, I imagine on the road I'll have to crank it more when those Magnaflows get to talking.

laserred38

You should probably read up on "clipping"...

todd03blown

Wow great info!

Big Poppa

I don't have a problem with clipping in the Mustang.

2010MustangGT

Does the replacement speakers get rid of the 'white noise' that always seems to be there?

Adam

No. That comes from the subs.

emilram11

Any of you have these: Polk db571? Crutchfield has them coming up as the customer favorite.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB57...tml?o=r&tp=105

Also, any of you bother replacing the subwoofers on the shaker 500?

conv_stang

I have the same pioneer speakers in the front of my 2007 Explorer Sport Trac...very nice improvement on clarity but not much inprovement in lows. But definitely worth the money if you need to replace the stock speakers

gbech

I have the Infinity 682.9CF in my 2011GT and they are very crisp and clear. Like most infinity speakers they have a sharper edge on the higer range and would not be considered smooth, alot of folks would call them harsh at high volume levels, but if you listen to alot of metal or old school jazz where you like to here the high hat cymbal ring they are nice. We mounted the Kicker KS680's in the front doors first, but not enough highs for my preference and again, just my preference.

My question:

If I decide to take my alpine amps (2) MRP-F300 from my previous car and use them to drive the four infinity's with the stock shaker 500 head unit, do I lose the Sync handsfree functionality or any of the other functionality related to Sync? I have heard it both ways- sync plugs directly into factory amp so you lose all voice replies and bluetooth and have heard it plugs into factory head unit so you lose nothing....

Any one done this or comments of someone who has tried? Thx!

Automagically

Sounds like you need an adjusted sound stage rather than put faith in a speaker. I'm glad you like the Infinity's, and I will say that they are too crisp for my taste. Just like the JL's have the same problem for me. God how I hate JL's full range speakers. making use of a good set of separates and positioning the tweeter properly will move the sound stage and bring "up" the highs.

You can use your amp, it will just be fed from the wiring leading out to the speakers. I don't know if there are any specific speaker chimes or anything but just cover all your bases and you will be fine.

Now on the other subjects at hand.

Like Patrick said, the Polk's may very well be one of the best overall speaker systems on the market. Boston's aren't bad but can really take some dialing in. I personally won't recommend MB Quart due to how much they lack in low end and the and I never seemed to get those speakers to mesh well. I have heard some good things from Boston, but in a very expensive set up with all Boston amps. Focal, I will recommend all the time. Any line. I actually enjoy the Polyglass the most, but it's hard for me to say no to the Kevlar or Kv2. While still not very affordable, there is an entry line that Focal makes that does do very well. I could see the Focal's tweeters with a little bit of a -6dB level cut to tone down the tweeter in the lower models, but typically the ferrofluid filled sound a bit less harsh and would run at about -3 dB.

Ok, I've digressed. Personally I don't like to throw brands but I'm partial to Focal, CDT, elemental design, Boston, Polk, Pioneer (Premier),Image dynamics, old - Alpine Type 1, Rockford Fosgate (I'm a sucker for paper cone), Kicker Resolution. Subs: JL, Focal, CDT, elemental design, Polk, Image Dynamics, old - PPI, Oz, Xtant, MTX (Very old Terminator and Blue Thunder), Rockford Fosgate (Spruce Pulp). Amps: Audison, Kicker ZR, JL ZR, JBL (Crown), some Earthquake, a few old Memphis, Focal, Old Pioneer Premier, Old PPI, Boston and a couple more. I forgot about DLS and Dynaudio.

I could do this all day. There are endless possibilities. Panasonic made some cheapo speakers about 7 years ago that would sound better than most speakers a couple hundred above it. Even having worked for Kicker I certainly don't have a serious favorite. Though I like to go with a brand that has what I need.

let's say, in the S197, there is a place for an 8" midbass or sub, and a 5x7 component or coaxial. So I would choose lets say CDT, they make a small midbass or sub, and multiple good looking separates or coaxial speakers with high quality. Case closed. A lot of the serious audio companies sell components that fit the bill here. I'd recommend an 8" midbass if at all possible for the doors but a sub would do just fine with very low power handling. Stick to brands you know and like. It's been years since I've done installs but many of the same brands still apply.


That was just a jumbled up mess.

gbech

FYI- Infinity's actually have an 'adjustable' (aka it pivots in the mount) tweeter. Point it up and towards the windshield and it softens it out a bit.

Wasn't sure how must RMS power the factory amp puts our- nothing a good high-low line out filter wont fix. Thx for the feedback....and would still love to know where the sync sound connects to the system

Automagically

I won't really trash Infinity or anything but they haven't made anything that has really blown my skirt up, so to speak.

Some of the old JBL equipment got me excited but that was years ago when Harman didn't poop on all the brands they owned.

Not sure about RMS numbers but you can guess fairly low. I believe the subs are attached to a 200w amplifier, so that leaves about 300watts for all the others. I won't do the math. I'd guess that's pretty much the max power not the RMS.

gbech

LOL - Almost everything Harmon does now is low to midgrade at best....my old Home audio HK Criterion Series Amps still work perfectly and double as portable space heaters in the winter....

Speaker shopping always sucks....home or car....can never hear it with the amp you run at home or in the environment you will be living with it in....in this case, did aight for my slight hearing damaged from Desert Storm ears

Digital_Synapse

Thanks for serving dude. I believe I was in 3rd grade when you were over there.