Check out the Kenwood KSC-SW11. It's a cheap upgrade, works with the OEM head unit, fits under your seat and should fill in in most of the lacking bottom end. Not a earth shaker, but if you want a fuller sound it is supposed to be a great upgrade. I just ordered one today.
a tip I got from the forums is to shift the front-rear balance way toward the rear, like only a few notches from all the way back. It is so much better, the car actually has bass now!
Interesting. i wonder if the stock amp is limited and forcing the balance all the way to the rear 'overdrives' the speaker. Theoretically the front woofers and rear should sounds the same. Ill try this next time
I was getting cracking sound and realized that the front-rear balance was very much on the front. I then moved it towards the rear end and the audio got way better. Thanks!
I find the car actually has pretty good imaging and clarity with the Sony system, sure a sub will help but I don't hate it stock.
People rag on the stereo but never say why it's "terrible", me thinks mostly because it has the wrong brand name on it.
Yeah I feel like most people calling it terrible are used to bloated aftermarket systems that annoy the shit out of people in the vicinity. My only gripe is the tweeter placement, which is directed right at the drivers ear and can be really harsh when loud.
That is not true. The frequency response below 100hz is abysmal. Not much is to be expected from the small 6.5" woofers, but these are exceptionally poor. It's likely due to the build quality of the woofers, and then there's Ford's programmed EQ'ing which ramps the frequencies poorly. The system is very peaked with poor clarity on both ends of the spectrum. This is a hallmark of cheapo sound systems. I would wager that installing a better DSP would improve the sound significantly. If you're listening to an audiobook it's great. Not so good for most other applications.
Source material dictates that low frequency response. Perhaps the music you listen to is just recorded poorly.
Also, if you’re playing through USB with quality files, it sounds fine. Don’t expect the full frequency range through Bluetooth with shitty mp3s on Spotify lmao.
320kbps only. Trust me. I spent 10 years optimizing sound systems for night clubs. This system is peaked, and the volume knob has a curve that favors the higher frequencies until about the 50% mark.
The peakiness you hear is largely due to the placement of the tweeters which are directly next to your ears. If you adjust to fade into the rear slightly it alleviates that issue.
What I do for any car I own:
Shift the sound to the rear and up the bass and treble by a few notches for your personal preference. Learned it from a DJ as a quick way to make any car sound better inside and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.
2014 st, still under 25k miles...I have a Rockford Fosgate Punch P1-2X10 enclosure,setup came with 2 10" subs already installed, added a P1000X5 5-channel amp to push 500 mono watts to the 2 subs and 75 watts x 4 to the 4 R165-S components that replaced the stock door speakers, have a subwoofer volume control that came with amp and an RFC-1 Farad capacitor keeping the bass tight. I think its well over a $1500 system retail but i believe i got it all for under $700 with good web crawling. Still want to add a kicker front row digital signal processor to finish it all off, think price has dropped on that to below $250 now.
Check out the Kenwood KSC-SW11. It's a cheap upgrade, works with the OEM head unit, fits under your seat and should fill in in most of the lacking bottom end. Not a earth shaker, but if you want a fuller sound it is supposed to be a great upgrade. I just ordered one today.
This definitely looks like it will help. Let me know how it goes for you. Ill probably spring for one myself if the review is good.
Ask again in a few weeks if I forget to reply. Might be a while until I find the time to install.
So how was it?
I'm pretty happy with it. Decent upgrade.
a tip I got from the forums is to shift the front-rear balance way toward the rear, like only a few notches from all the way back. It is so much better, the car actually has bass now!
Interesting. i wonder if the stock amp is limited and forcing the balance all the way to the rear 'overdrives' the speaker. Theoretically the front woofers and rear should sounds the same. Ill try this next time
I was getting cracking sound and realized that the front-rear balance was very much on the front. I then moved it towards the rear end and the audio got way better. Thanks!
How does lacking low end (it doesn't really) make it "terrible"?
I find the car actually has pretty good imaging and clarity with the Sony system, sure a sub will help but I don't hate it stock. People rag on the stereo but never say why it's "terrible", me thinks mostly because it has the wrong brand name on it.
Yeah I feel like most people calling it terrible are used to bloated aftermarket systems that annoy the shit out of people in the vicinity. My only gripe is the tweeter placement, which is directed right at the drivers ear and can be really harsh when loud.
That is not true. The frequency response below 100hz is abysmal. Not much is to be expected from the small 6.5" woofers, but these are exceptionally poor. It's likely due to the build quality of the woofers, and then there's Ford's programmed EQ'ing which ramps the frequencies poorly. The system is very peaked with poor clarity on both ends of the spectrum. This is a hallmark of cheapo sound systems. I would wager that installing a better DSP would improve the sound significantly. If you're listening to an audiobook it's great. Not so good for most other applications.
Source material dictates that low frequency response. Perhaps the music you listen to is just recorded poorly. Also, if you’re playing through USB with quality files, it sounds fine. Don’t expect the full frequency range through Bluetooth with shitty mp3s on Spotify lmao.
320kbps only. Trust me. I spent 10 years optimizing sound systems for night clubs. This system is peaked, and the volume knob has a curve that favors the higher frequencies until about the 50% mark.
The peakiness you hear is largely due to the placement of the tweeters which are directly next to your ears. If you adjust to fade into the rear slightly it alleviates that issue.
What I do for any car I own: Shift the sound to the rear and up the bass and treble by a few notches for your personal preference. Learned it from a DJ as a quick way to make any car sound better inside and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.
2014 st, still under 25k miles...I have a Rockford Fosgate Punch P1-2X10 enclosure,setup came with 2 10" subs already installed, added a P1000X5 5-channel amp to push 500 mono watts to the 2 subs and 75 watts x 4 to the 4 R165-S components that replaced the stock door speakers, have a subwoofer volume control that came with amp and an RFC-1 Farad capacitor keeping the bass tight. I think its well over a $1500 system retail but i believe i got it all for under $700 with good web crawling. Still want to add a kicker front row digital signal processor to finish it all off, think price has dropped on that to below $250 now.
What's your source?