Speakers upgrade only - is it worth it?

[TyphoonFiST]

When I first got the car I took it to a nice audio shop for a quote - I ultimately balked at the price, but that was for a full overhaul. Let me see if I can find the parts they recommended, I know there was a set of speakers on the list.

How much is the balking price?

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[XanRules]

Couple grand, parts and labor. New sub in a custom box, new DSP, soundproofing, speakers, everything.

 

[GAbOS]

Here's an example of the foam speaker rings.

https://tinyurl.com/y73amm83

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[TyphoonFiST]

Couple grand, parts and labor. New sub in a custom box, new DSP, soundproofing, speakers, everything.

I thought maybe a grand...but shit...a couple grand. Ludicrous I tell ya...

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[TrickSTer]

Lots of data, suggestions and how-tos on this in the past.
Try a search!

 

[anticon]

This is going to sound funny but I wound up just turning the bass up all the way on the eq, and the mid down all the way, and the high at the first step from the bottom. Then if I really want to listen I just crank the volume to 20+. Try it out, I think it helped a lot. I went to my goto test tracks, with quick thumping bass combined with balanced highs and while not sounding amazing, at least the bass came through. Im not sure how long the speakers and amp will hold up, but I only drop the bass once a week or so on my daily drives.

 

[danbfree]

This is going to sound funny but I wound up just turning the bass up all the way on the eq, and the mid down all the way, and the high at the first step from the bottom. Then if I really want to listen I just crank the volume to 20+. Try it out, I think it helped a lot. I went to my goto test tracks, with quick thumping bass combined with balanced highs and while not sounding amazing, at least the bass came through. Im not sure how long the speakers and amp will hold up, but I only drop the bass once a week or so on my daily drives.

Interesting, I've never messed with the mid setting, I'll have to try that but from what I've seen is if I bump the bass too high it cuts my mids badly, maybe this fix of yours will help... it's obviously trying to balance the power to the speaker with the sound processing, so this kind of makes sense... I think eventually what I'd like to do is replace the speakers; decent enough replacement component set for the front, decent enough 6 3/4" for the rear and use ForScan to disable sound processing.

 

[joeyearl]

I went through the dealer to get a mildly distorting right front door speaker replaced under warranty. The result was better, but not perfect. I had a set of Boston 6.5s with crossovers and tweeters, and I got a pair of plastic mounts so I wouldn’t have to destroy my factory speakers. I hooked one up to the right side, and tested it mounted in the door with the door panel off.

The stock Sony system in my ‘17 Fiesta ST is rated at 25w per channel, so I thought it might work. Comparing it to the factory left door speaker, the Boston was nowhere near as good as the factory. I’m glad I didn’t destroy my original to test it. The Boston might sound fine with a lot more power, but I’m not interested in going that route. I think the factory unit has been optimized for the enclosure, and the bass that it puts out is not bad at all.

What I did next made a difference. I wanted to see if the distortion was possibly a vibration in the door, so I tightened every 7mm screw, the torx screws holding the window motor, and made sure all the panel assembly screws were tight. I think the system for what it is, sounds pretty good now. Maybe I’ll add an active sub at some point.

 

[danbfree]

I went through the dealer to get a mildly distorting right front door speaker replaced under warranty. The result was better, but not perfect. I had a set of Boston 6.5s with crossovers and tweeters, and I got a pair of plastic mounts so I wouldn’t have to destroy my factory speakers. I hooked one up to the right side, and tested it mounted in the door with the door panel off.

The stock Sony system in my ‘17 Fiesta ST is rated at 25w per channel, so I thought it might work. Comparing it to the factory left door speaker, the Boston was nowhere near as good as the factory. I’m glad I didn’t destroy my original to test it. The Boston might sound fine with a lot more power, but I’m not interested in going that route. I think the factory unit has been optimized for the enclosure, and the bass that it puts out is not bad at all.

What I did next made a difference. I wanted to see if the distortion was possibly a vibration in the door, so I tightened every 7mm screw, the torx screws holding the window motor, and made sure all the panel assembly screws were tight. I think the system for what it is, sounds pretty good now. Maybe I’ll add an active sub at some point.

You have to disable the Sony sound processing to get good sound out of our system. It's not the speakers holding back the quality it's the BS Sony sound processing... Once disabled, the stock speakers even sound much better. Full sound without trying to tweak the EQ now, sounds good! As far as speakers for our car, I suggest using Crutchfield and using the "what fits my car" tool... With different mounting depth requirements, there are more that fit the rear than front, but I suggest going with a full 6.75" to get the best bass and Crutchfield includes all adapters necessary too for quite often the same price as Amazon. You also want to make sure to pick a speaker that has a low minimum RMS wattage and a high sensitivity rating. There used to be a bigger selection but right now there are some Kicker 6 3/4" for $65 or step up to some Rockford Fosgate components for $99 where you mount the tweeter in the stock location with a bit of work. Forthe rear, with more mounting depth, there is even a lower end Rockford Fosgate 6 3/4" for only $40 that has low minimum wattage and a decent 91db sensitivity to get good sound out of the rears. Since I do swap tunes around in my car a lot where the EQ and fade gets reset, I do fade to the rear 2 notches, even with stock speakers and Sony sound disabled. So in this case, replacing the rear speakers with the ones for $40, they hit down to 52Hz, claimed anyway, while the $65 step up model mentioned above that fits front and rear hits down to 40Hz, which is a pretty good start in maxing out the stock speaker locations.

 

[Cartman]

How do you disable the Sony sound processing?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

How do you disable the Sony sound processing?

Ditto! Spill the beans!

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[XR650R]

I'm so intrigued, it's intriguing.

 

[Ford ST]

I need to do this as well.

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[danbfree]

How do you disable the Sony sound processing?

Using ForScan. You just need a cheap OBDII cable or one with Bluetooth and a laptop. Software is free after joining the ForScan forum. Then use the spreadsheet for the Fiesta settings, they all are easily searchable here. Honestly, I thought everyone knew this, there are lots of threads about ForScan and now a newer one with a Fiesta specific spreadsheet too.

 

[kenweise]

You have to disable the Sony sound processing to get good sound out of our system. It's not the speakers holding back the quality it's the BS Sony sound processing... Once disabled, the stock speakers even sound much better. Full sound without trying to tweak the EQ now, sounds good! As far as speakers for our car, I suggest using Crutchfield and using the "what fits my car" tool... With different mounting depth requirements, there are more that fit the rear than front, but I suggest going with a full 6.75" to get the best bass and Crutchfield includes all adapters necessary too for quite often the same price as Amazon. You also want to make sure to pick a speaker that has a low minimum RMS wattage and a high sensitivity rating. There used to be a bigger selection but right now there are some Kicker 6 3/4" for $65 or step up to some Rockford Fosgate components for $99 where you mount the tweeter in the stock location with a bit of work. Forthe rear, with more mounting depth, there is even a lower end Rockford Fosgate 6 3/4" for only $40 that has low minimum wattage and a decent 91db sensitivity to get good sound out of the rears. Since I do swap tunes around in my car a lot where the EQ and fade gets reset, I do fade to the rear 2 notches, even with stock speakers and Sony sound disabled. So in this case, replacing the rear speakers with the ones for $40, they hit down to 52Hz, claimed anyway, while the $65 step up model mentioned above that fits front and rear hits down to 40Hz, which is a pretty good start in maxing out the stock speaker locations.

You can disable to Sony system with Forscan. You can find a complete FiST Forscan settings spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16AV73FgxPnA15FdD30WQj-2NpqInSXTlRvccwJIKZTk/edit?usp=sharing. The Sony disable is on line 45. If you want to disable Sony the Sony processor and Sirius, the code for that is there too.

 

[joeyearl]

You can disable to Sony system with Forscan. You can find a complete FiST Forscan settings spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16AV73FgxPnA15FdD30WQj-2NpqInSXTlRvccwJIKZTk/edit?usp=sharing. The Sony disable is on line 45. If you want to disable Sony the Sony processor and Sirius, the code for that is there too.

If only FORScan would work on a Mac.

 

[danbfree]

If only FORScan would work on a Mac.

Borrow one for a friend or otherwise it's worth having a cheap Windows laptop, like a $100 one off CL or FB Marketplace, etc...

 

[joeyearl]

Borrow one for a friend or otherwise it's worth having a cheap Windows laptop, like a $100 one off CL or FB Marketplace, etc...

Yes, I’m looking for one. They’re available. If I had a copy of Windows I could run it on my Mac, but it’s actually cheaper to buy an inexpensive PC laptop. I’m also waiting for a response from a friend that may have one.

 

[danbfree]

Yes, I’m looking for one. They’re available. If I had a copy of Windows I could run it on my Mac, but it’s actually cheaper to buy an inexpensive PC laptop. I’m also waiting for a response from a friend that may have one.

Yeah, they have ForScan itself for just about every platform BUT only the Windows version allows actual programming... I used it to also change my boot screen to ST, disable Sirius as a displayed source, to reset my TPMS without an extra tool by disabling, pumping the low tire up and re-enabling as well as added a Climate tab to my media screen. So it's definitely quite useful! You can also disable the shift light for those who aren't tuned, enable rear camera if added to a '16-'17, adjust your tire diameter if you change tire sizes, etc... [MENTION=9468]kenweise[/MENTION] was kind enough to link to his direct spreadsheet above for exact applicable Fiesta settings, but you guys will have to read the "ForScan and how it can help fiesta/focus owners" thread to get the rest of the details.

 

[joeyearl]

Okay, going to disable the Sony sound processing later today. [SCAMMER ALERT] a PC, and he downloaded FORScan. The problem I’m having is an intermittent distortion on the right front. I’m starting to think it’s the head unit. Sometimes it sounds great, and then I’ll get back in the car and the right front is distorted. Then the distortion goes away.

I’ve had the speaker replaced under warranty. That didn’t fix it. The car is a 2017 I bought used in October 2018. I discovered the previous owner had modified the audio system- removing the front kick panels, I saw where the speaker wires had been cut, and then patched back together. I thought that the spliced sections may have been responsible, they were non automotive wire with crimped wire nuts, so I redid the right front with TXL automotive wire soldered with heat shrink. Still have the problem, so that’s why I think something is wrong with the right front channel.