Explorer Audio upgrade(s) | Page 18 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

I found the sub I put in was plenty, I have it working at about 2/3 of it's capable output. It has made a significant difference to the sound system. I replaced the standard speakers with Pioneers front and back doors as well but the subwoofer made the biggest difference. Have to say though the "Premium" sound system is far from it with the standard set up. If your going to do one thing put in a sub.

ry%3D480.jpg
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Stock Explorer Sound system.

Hi
2013 Explorer xlt 202a with I assume the stock sound system. What do they call this the 9 speaker premium sound system??

Does anyone know the quality of the speakers? I have putzed with the system options to get the best sound I can. The equalizer, fader, balance controls all set to exhibit as much range and fidelity that it can muster. So can replacing the main speakers help???
 






Yes, replacing the stock speakers will help with the overall sound. OEM stock systems aren't higher end as most aftermarket will be superior to your current speakers.
 






Not familiar with the differences between the the 9 speaker in the xlt and the limited. I can speak from a little experience that the 9 speaker in my F350 Platinum sounded very similar to my Explorer. I replaced the door speakers as well as the center speaker keeping the factory sub and amplifiers and it is a major improvement. The factory amp isn't actually a bad amp, it is the paper speakers that are the down fall. Take any of them out and you will know why just be looking at them.

I'm thinking of bypassing the sub in my truck and adding an aftermarket amp/sub to get cleaner bass because the factory sub is pretty lacking.

Replacing the speakers is the first thing I'd do and see if you are happy there. Beyond that, it can get very complex very quickly trying to bypass the factory amp for the inside speakers because of how it is tied into the whole car system.
 






The system in our Platinum is pretty *****in'
 






Hi
2013 Explorer xlt 202a with I assume the stock sound system. What do they call this the 9 speaker premium sound system??

Does anyone know the quality of the speakers? I have putzed with the system options to get the best sound I can. The equalizer, fader, balance controls all set to exhibit as much range and fidelity that it can muster. So can replacing the main speakers help???
I have merged your thread with this one I found using the Forum's 'Search' program. There should be some useful info here.

Peter
 






Great info. One clarification to point out though

Not familiar with the differences between the the 9 speaker in the xlt and the limited. I can speak from a little experience that the 9 speaker in my F350 Platinum sounded very similar to my Explorer. I replaced the door speakers as well as the center speaker keeping the factory sub and amplifiers and it is a major improvement. The factory amp isn't actually a bad amp, it is the paper speakers that are the down fall. Take any of them out and you will know why just be looking at them.

I'm thinking of bypassing the sub in my truck and adding an aftermarket amp/sub to get cleaner bass because the factory sub is pretty lacking.

Replacing the speakers is the first thing I'd do and see if you are happy there. Beyond that, it can get very complex very quickly trying to bypass the factory amp for the inside speakers because of how it is tied into the whole car system.

The premium sound system in the XLT does not have a sub if i recall correctly - only the Sony system in the higher level specs has one.
 






The premium sound system in the XLT does not have a sub if i recall correctly - only the Sony system in the higher level specs has one.

Yea the sub thing is not what I am interested in. Do not need thump. Simply need a clear range from 20-25000 hz ability in the speaker. I would bet the range is being produced but not reproduced by the speakers. What ever filtering system used for the tweeters/mid range probably looked good on paper but performance is lacking.
Anyone have a picture of the stock door speakers??
 






As blwnsmoke stated above, simply replacing the OEM door speakers would be a pretty big step up in performance. HOWEVER, almost no 6x9 or other sized 2 or 3-way speakers will have the 20-25000Hz response you are looking for. The good news is, you simply do not need it. If you are listening to pop, rap, country, classical... 98% of the music doesn't go below 40Hz nor above 15,000Hz.

A $49.99 pair of Pioneer speakers purchased at Wal-Mart would be a good improvement on the factory speakers. If you get a chance go to a car stereo shop and demo some speakers to find what you like best. This is key as every speaker sounds different and every person has difference sound preferences. You could be surprised at how good a pair of $99 speakers sound and how much different they sound than another brand of $99 speakers.
 












As blwnsmoke stated above, simply replacing the OEM door speakers would be a pretty big step up in performance. HOWEVER, almost no 6x9 or other sized 2 or 3-way speakers will have the 20-25000Hz response you are looking for. The good news is, you simply do not need it. If you are listening to pop, rap, country, classical... 98% of the music doesn't go below 40Hz nor above 15,000Hz.

A $49.99 pair of Pioneer speakers purchased at Wal-Mart would be a good improvement on the factory speakers. If you get a chance go to a car stereo shop and demo some speakers to find what you like best. This is key as every speaker sounds different and every person has difference sound preferences. You could be surprised at how good a pair of $99 speakers sound and how much different they sound than another brand of $99 speakers.

The 2%. Plug this into your Explorer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahHKhkLQak
 






The 2%. Plug this into your Explorer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahHKhkLQak

Consider the instruments. The bass tuba may play down to 35Hz. The double bass to 40Hz. Most kick drums hit around 60Hz (that thumping in your chest freq). Now on the other end a concert flute or piccolo usually doesn't go above 4000Hz. I don't see anything on that stage that would make me think above 2500Hz. Your best bet if you want the largest frequency spread is organ music. I have a reference recording with the worlds finest organ and the frequency response was somewhere around 19Hz-8000Hz.

If you want to get an idea of Hz and the sound, watch this on a good set of true full range speakers. You may be surprises at how low sound is below 50 Hz or how high it is above 2000Hz
https://youtu.be/qNf9nzvnd1k
 






Deewan...... "If you want to get an idea of Hz and the sound, watch this on a good set of true full range speakers. You may be surprises at how low sound is below 50 Hz or how high it is above 2000Hz
https://youtu.be/qNf9nzvnd1k"

Cool link Thanks.

You enjoyed the Tuba I hope. The CD Gravity has one song that literally destroyed the speaker cones in my Durango. Of course they were already old but you could almost hear the paper tear. I bet this freq is below 25hz on the one song. Only thing i could listen to after that was talk radio. I peddled the truck.

My experience with sound, frequency, all types of distortion, equalization, span more then 50 years. My Boston Acoustics are a reference monitor I push with a old school Phase linear Amp with electronic equalization that can bring whatever I chose to the front. Sounds like a studio in my play room.

What I did for most of my life is pursue good sound. I chose Macintosh speakers over Bose 901's back in 79. They have much better fidelity.

My Malibu has a Bose system in it. I am used to it. My wifes Lexus is a standard system that is lacking. The 2013 Explorer is lacking. My sons F150 is a XLT that also needs upgraded speakers.

I was hoping to learn of the existing speakers in the Ex. Will replace the doors but still wonder of the quality of the tweeters in the door sills. Another study.
 






Consider the instruments. The bass tuba may play down to 35Hz. The double bass to 40Hz. Most kick drums hit around 60Hz (that thumping in your chest freq). Now on the other end a concert flute or piccolo usually doesn't go above 4000Hz. I don't see anything on that stage that would make me think above 2500Hz. Your best bet if you want the largest frequency spread is organ music. I have a reference recording with the worlds finest organ and the frequency response was somewhere around 19Hz-8000Hz.

If you want to get an idea of Hz and the sound, watch this on a good set of true full range speakers. You may be surprises at how low sound is below 50 Hz or how high it is above 2000Hz
https://youtu.be/qNf9nzvnd1k

BTW the human voice range is easily 300-3000 hz. Well above 2500Hz
 






[MENTION=301805]champco[/MENTION] My experience with sound does not span anything close to the 50 years you have. However, I have been designing and building high performance speakers for 10 years. I've spent countless hours measuring drivers and designing passive crossovers. Running full frequncy sweeps hundreds of times opens your eyes on what is actually needed for a quality sound system. I've replaced my car audio systems since my first car back when I was 16 and have helped several friends improve their car systems. I also sang throughout my high school and college days in groups ranging from a five man a cappella group to a 100 voice mixed choir with full symphony. I feel I have a fairly good understanding of the creation and reproduction of sound.

Couple of things here with your posts and your desire to improve the sound. While it is possible the tuba on the CD you mention plays down to 25Hz, I think it's doubtful. The fact you tore a stock driver apart in a Durango means very little for the frequency you were playing. Very few stock auto systems have a system capable of playing below 35-40Hz with any authority. Old, dried drivers in a Durango could easily be torn by playing a freq around 250Hz as 25Hz, all depends on the excursion and design of the driver. Depending on the speakers, they may have had a foam surround. The foam will often fall apart after being exposed to the hot, cold and possible UV elements of being inside an auto. Heck, talk radio turned up loud enough could tear an aging foam surround apart. Even a folded paper surround gets brittle after a few years. Most car audio systems have cheap components, even if they are top-tier brands. It's like biggie sizing your value meal. At McDonals you pay $1 more, and they give you $0.19 more of fries and soda. Same this with OEM car audio. You pay $250+ more and they give you $3 tweeters in each door with a $0.50 resistor to block the bass instead of a 6x9 with a wizzer cone for the higher frequencies.

Getting back to my original statement, a $99 pair of aftermarket speakers will easily improve the sound quality of the system in almost every car. The drivers will be better built, foam or paper surrounds will be replaced with a Non-fatiguing butyl rubber surround. Paper drivers will be replaced with injection cones and small magnets will be replaced with power magnets with quality voice coils.

But like I said before, listen to the speakers before you buy them and ask a local shop for their recommendations. The local shop will likely know about the system replacing. Bose for example uses inferior speakers, but EQ's the crap out of the signal to create a 'good' sounding system. Bose also normally uses a driver with a very low impedance. This forces an amp to work harder, but also creates more power. In this sort of situation, if you would replace a 2-ohm Bose speaker with a 4-ohm aftermarket, the aftermarket speaker could over produce certain frequencies due to the Bose EQ, and the speaker could play quieter because it's only a 4-ohm load instead of a 2-ohm load. But, assuming no extra EQ'ing is done and you are replacing a speaker with the same impedance, even a cheap aftermarket speaker will sound as good or better than almost any speaker that came with the car.


BTW the human voice range is easily 300-3000 hz. Well above 2500Hz

A bass singer in a group I really enjoy has been recorded singing as low as 44Hz, quite a bit lower than your 300Hz range. Hitting notes below 300 Hz is very simple for most singers, male or female. Not sure I agree with the "humna voice range is easily 300-3000Hz" range comment. Listen to the youtube video I posted above, skip to the 3000Hz (1:40 time mark). It's takes a special voice to hit those notes.

The average man’s speaking voice, for example, typically has a fundamental frequency between 85 Hz and 155 Hz. A woman’s speech range is about 165 Hz to 255 Hz, and a child’s voice typically ranges from 250 Hz to 300 Hz and higher. Of course, each of us has a wider range of sounds that our vocal cords can produce, and if we choose to sing, that range can extend up to four octaves.... But what’s surprising in all this is that the entire range of men’s and women’s voices remains between about 65 Hz for a male with a very deep bass voice to the highest note of a female coloratura soprano, just above 1,000 Hz, at 1,280 Hz. (A female high-pitched scream can go quite a bit higher, to around 3,000 Hz.) - See more at: http://www.axiomaudio.com/blog/audi...e-and-children’s-voices/#sthash.wTf32pIx.dpuf

Again, this is why I say a speaker that can accurately reproduce 40-15K Hz range is about all you need in a car. Heck, you are at least 50. You may not have much hearing left above 15K. I'm 37 and I know I've lost a lot of hearing in the upper range. It's part of growing old.
 






Enjoying the conversation Deewan

It got me to digging and I think I found something that stands up for you well as well as what seems to be a average, I used for years, on voice range. Not necessarily a limit on either end.

http://www.bnoack.com/index.html?http&&&www.bnoack.com/audio/speech-level.html

Digging thru some manuals with specs I found the 20-20000 hz were for headphones not speakers. besides that the lowest spec for any speaker I was able to find was 35Hz.

The Pioneers I picked out will be just fine I'm sure.
I have ordered some LEDs for the headlights which is priority over the sound. Once that is done I will revisit the speakers. As much as I read on the subject I am not alone on the disappointing sound. Thanks for the time here. Regards
 






Headphones have a much easier time reproducing the 20-20K HZ range. Headphones will often stop below or above the human hearing range because headphones can't add a feel to sound in those ranges. Large drivers can pressurize a room or interior of a car and add a feeling/beat to the music that isn't heard. Same with higher frequencies the human ear can hear. We can't hear them but it doesn't mean the body doesn't respond to them. Not a real need for those freq with headphones.

But trust me, speakers can easily dig as low or lower than headphones. Here is the measured freq response of the latest pair of speakers I built. As you can see their lower range is useful down to around the mid 20's and all I'm using are dual 8-inch woofers (not subs). The speakers were designed with a target curve slightly tilting down towards high frequencies as I find that preferable to my ear - a flat target often sounds too bright. That's the beauty of designing your own speakers, you can build them to your tastes.
Capture_zpse37c94b1.jpg


And an idea of the unfinished speakers with teh crossover still a work in process...
7D4BB27E-0A2D-4631-A083-6E349792988F_zpsgj9oaqpc.jpg

Finished speakers and crossover the day I took the above measurements:
IMG_2015_zps1cavho5c.jpg


Anyways, getting back on track to car audio. Due to all the outside factors that detract from car audio such as the windows down, road noise, engine noise, talking kids... super high fidelity is not a must in many car systems because they hi-fi would be lost. Factor in the fact a lot of music doesn't have notes below 40Hz or above 15K Hz, the full 20-20K Hz spectrum isn't required for a great sounding auto system that can really thump while driving down the road with the windows down at 55mph.

That's my two cents anyways. If I get a chance sometime I will try to measure the in cabin response of the Sony system. Might be interesting to see what it is so others can see what they currently have and where they might like to improve things.
 






...where they might like to improve things.

You may have mentioned this elsewhere, but did you Dynamat your Explorer? If so I'd be very curious to hear your experience with it.
 






You may have mentioned this elsewhere, but did you Dynamat your Explorer? If so I'd be very curious to hear your experience with it.

I have not added Dynamat to the Explorer. It's my opinion that the Explorer is fairly quite in the cabin, at least my Limited is. I'm not saying Dynamite wouldn't help, but I don't find the road noise terrible in the Explorer.

I have used Dynamite in the past and it's a good reminder how much audio quality is lost to road noise.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





When I did the door speakers I put Dynamat Extreme in, just the doors. Had a bunch left from by C7 'Vette which I had just done. It may have helped but like deewan said the Explorer is pretty quiet so not sure it made a whole lot of difference.

I put Pioneer speakers in the doors , front and rear, still found the sound quality lacking. Put the subwoofer in the back and it made a big difference, glad I did that. The OEM door speakers were dull so the new Pioneers made a big difference but being used to a sub both in the house and in my vehicles I missed it in the Explorer. Just fills that bass gap in.

My write-up is back a few pages on that sub install. The door speakers are a pain as you have to use the mounts from the OEM's as described by others back a few pages. Good luck with whatever you are doing :)
 






Back
Top