Just read a long write up last night from a guy who has been in audio contests in the 90's. He was talking about how our stock system has been tuned specifically for the car's layout and equipment. Adding speakers and/or an amp would throw that off.
Not sure if the untrained ear would pickup on it though. Considering he gave the sound system a 2 out of 10 might say a lot about how in tune and picky he is. I agree the speakers suck but I'd probably give them around a 5 or a 6.
Tom, LMAO. Its Bryan, and I am a little picky but more so enjoy accurate. It is really difficult to discern the difference between what is accurate and what sounds good to your ear. Music and musical taste is a very subjective thing then you have to deal with everyone's ears are different, or are they? When judging judges all comment on different cars, but its funny when we all hear a car that sounds right, we all agree. Removing the aspect that someone actually has something wrong with their hearing, When judging audio systems in various cars, each one is tuned to the listeners preferences, then you have the acoustics of the car to deal with. And then you have to deal with not only spectral balance, but staging, right?
When I rate the factory system a 2 out of 10, let me put that in perspective. Let's say the Fiesta ST factory sound system is the only system you have ever heard. That would make the Fiesta system a 10 out of 10. But you have to remove personal preference from the equation. Not what you like, but what sounds correct. How do I know what sounds correct? over 25 years in the industry. Lets start with the factory system, its the only system you have ever heard. Sounds great. 10 out of 10. Now, you by change get to listen to the sound system in a Cadillac CTS-V. There is a factory sub. Now you change your opinion, The Cadillac is a 10 out of 10, but the Fiesta is now a 5 out of 10. So you think if I just add a sub to my Fiesta system, then it will be a 10 out of 10. So you add the sub, and indeed it sounds better than it did but now you have more bass than highs and mids and because you wanted the sub loud you crossed it over around 85-100htz and its mounted in the trunk. So now what you have done is not only added subbass, but added midbass to the rear of the car, and male vocals play in that range. So now the imaging is messed up.
I could go on for days.
The reality is, a perfectly balanced system tonally, and a car that images withing 95% of the original recording is a 10 out of 10. It can be done for around $2500.00 or less. You need components, you need a sub, you need external amp, and you need a signal processor.
So you say, Ford did all that so why is the factory system not a 10 out of 10.
They started with lessor quality speakers. The DSP chip they are using in their processor was probably $10.00 so the clocking is not the best it could be. The DAC in the head unit is not very good and the amp is integrated. Yes they tuned it for the car, but the low quality parts they started with, meant they had to go further in the tuning to get it to where it is, which means they added material that is not in the original recording. Meaning they had to raise EQ points above 0, to balance it out, and the factory system is missing all kinds of midbass and subbass information.
Those who add aftermarket speakers and dont retune, or add an amp, they are simply compounding the problem that was only there. And they say it sounds better, because the speakers they installed are more efficient than the factory ones, and thus is sounds louder or brighter. Louder and brighter are not better, and adding a sub to an untuned system just adds low frequency information. It is not better.
Until you have had a real tuned aftermarket system, there is no way to compare and once you have everything else sounds bad.
Once last comment, Adding a set of Focal speakers or any aftermarket speaker to replace the factory speakers in this car without retuning would be like adding chocolate topping to peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Anyone who would disagree or try and argue about this, just has never experienced great sounding audio.