"Audiophile" Stereo?

[rpr]

The door speakers are either 5x7 or 6x8, and I believe they are rated at about 15W RMS. I strongly suggest you replace them. I went with JL Audio 6x8 components in the front (Csi model) and 6x8 coaxials in the rear (Cxi model). You will have trouble finding a spot for the tweeters. I settled on a surface mount on the sail panels. I know, sounds cheesy, and I'm sure you will have to convince yourself that that is the best spot, but believe me, it is. JL also has a nice surface mount tapered cup system, so it looks fine and easily passes for a stock application from the factory.

In terms of amps, you will have trouble finding a good quality powerful amp that can be effectively hidden in the "06 Explorer. After much research, I went with a JL Audio Slash series 300/4 amp, which will just fit beneath the second row passenger side bench seat (even while in cargo mode).

I'm using an old Alpine 7894 HU. If I upgrade that, I would be looking at the Eclipse 6600 double din nav unit, which is compatible with Sirius.

Good luck.

P.S. For what its worth, my system sounds incredible, and it is a complete stealth install.

 

[drbsimon]

can you post some pictures of the tweeter installation on the sail panels?
thanks

 

[rpr]

Call me stupid, but I can't figure out how to post pics here. Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will e-mail them.

 

[ctek]

Call me stupid, but I can't figure out how to post pics here. Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will e-mail them.

You have to host your pics online somewhere like www.photobucket.com . Then you use the insert image tab in your reply to thread window and enter in the url for the pics that you want to display. Thats it!!

 

[Lil0ne]

I'm also thinking about what would be the most bang for the buck in terms of improving on the stock factory sub/amp, so I'm also looking for the answer to this question.

bump for this answer please

 

[rpr]

I ended up installing a 4 channel amp, using the front inputs to power the front components, the rear inputs were bridged to power an aftermarket 8" sub (the factory sub amp is worthless), and I am using the HU to power the rear door speakers.

Worked awesome. Very balanced (with 60W max/channel powering the rears off the Alpine HU), and I believe this was clearly the most bang for the buck for my purposes (one new high quality JL Audio SLash 300/4 amp, and one new Punch 8" sub). Of course, I also replaced the factory door speakers, but I already had those.

 

[Crizz]

Doorspeaker swap

I need all of the cargo space, so an added sub won´t fit anywhere. I decided to swap only the doorspeakers with Infinity Kappa 572.5, a two-way-system with external filternetwork. Sounds great, guess with the same in the rear doors it will be really great.

And to all the guys that a little afraid of disassemling the doorpanels, here a short manual and some pics "how-to" :

1.) Remove the two lower screws ( 7mm nutdriver )

2.) Remove the cover of handle and opener ( just plugged in clamps, blue arrows )
and remove the two screws on each ( red arrows, 7 mm nutdriver ).

3.) slide the panel upwards for r.a. 1" and you can get it off. Be carefull with the wire of the mirroradj., it´s not very long
( upper right at the pic - Don´t forget to reconnect when reassemling ! )

4.) Remove the 4 screws of the org.speaker ( 6mm nutdriver - no, not the 7mm )
Cut the connector and replace with AMP-plugs or whatever you prefer

5.) Replace it with your choice of speakers and reassemle the panel in reverse order.

Time needed : 10 min.´s per side

Note : at pic nr.4 you see why the sound with the Ford-spks. is so flat - they
put a two-way-sys. in an own small enclosure. Guess they´re nice for PC-use

 

[bojans]

New door speakers

Thanks for the great detail in the post.

Did the new speakers make a big difference in the sound? Did you keep the factory head?

Scott

 

[rpr]

Crizz: For what its worth, I just removed the stock 8" sub and replaced it with an aftermarket 8" Punch sub. My amp was carefully positioned under the 2nd row bench seat (passenger side), and the seat still retracts fully in cargo mode (barely).

Big difference, with no loss of cargo space.

 

[Lil0ne]

Crizz: For what its worth, I just removed the stock 8" sub and replaced it with an aftermarket 8" Punch sub. My amp was carefully positioned under the 2nd row bench seat (passenger side), and the seat still retracts fully in cargo mode (barely).

Big difference, with no loss of cargo space.

if you dont mind.. what sub did you get?

Also if anyone has time.. i will prob do it this weekend .. could you see how much depth the speaker has.. "from screws to backwall" i need: 6.83 in. / 173 mm. I want a jl 8' w7 in there.. so i might mod it if the back wall is not the fender

lol

-- Sal

 

[Crizz]

1.) The Infinity Kappa 572.5 is great - brings a hell of a lotta more sound, the trebles are brilliant without screaming, voices are clear and I guess with a second pair in the backdoor it will be close to a 12" sub - lotta more pressure, they make the bass feel ( my r.v.mirrors started dancing ).

Swapped the factory HU with a Sony 9950 and HC-1 Nav., the original Ford-HU is worthless over here in Germany : we use another frequency-rasterizing, so the US-Radio doesn´t receive every station. ( Was the reason why I haven´t ordererd my Eddie with a factory nav. )

2.)RPR, can you post a short guide how to change the factory woofer ? I was thinking of swapping it, too, but still haven´t figured out how to open the panel. Or must the rear cargo panel be removed completly ?

 

[rpr]

I got an 8" Rockford Fosgate Puch sub (the "2" series). Make sure you get the right impedence. Using a bridged output from a JL amp, I needed to use an 8 ohm sub to maximize the power output with 4 ohm door speakers (rather unusual).

I had a local shop do the sub install, so I can't really advise on how to access the sub. However, the shop advised that everything just pops off. I believe you need to start with the center floor trim panel, and then the rear side quarter panel.

Good luck.

 

[drbsimon]

does anyone know the frequency response for the factory sub, I am trying to set the crossover settings for an alpine 9853 HU

Thanks

 

[bitkahuna]

Great info. Crizz - the door speakers can be replaced with those Infinity's without adding an extra amp and it will sound better?

 

[Crizz]

@Bitkahuna : yep ! And they really sound great. Got my second pair of Infinity 572.5 CF today, will swap the rear doorspeakers this WE. Guess this will give it the final kick to the verly low frequencys, and even if you only swap the front pair : it´s a difference like between day & night, believe me. Those Infinity-speakers really surprised me, esp. for this price ( 89.- Euro / pair => r.a. 100 bucks ).

 

[bitkahuna]

Thanks for the info!

Do the impedences match - it's just a swap out?

 

[Crizz]

Don´t care too much about impedance - it´s a car-speaker, not a HiFi-chassis. Haven´t seen since now that different manufactures build car-systems with different impedances. Have just swapped them, without any additional mod´s, like I wrote when I posted the pics. ( Execpt the Ford-Plugs for the speakers don´t match - I´ve cut´em off and connected the Infinity´s with mains connector sockets.

 

[bojans]

Crizz,

The Infinities are 5x7's? It looks like they bolted right up with no drilling, is that right?

I am thinking of getting the Polk DB570's for my car.

 

[Crizz]

yep, the Ininitys are 5x7" . Just need the original mounts, but the Infinitys are not alone for use in Ford-cars, they fit on some Mazda and other cars having 5x7" installations, tahts why they have more mounting-holes than needed on the Explorer.

The Polk DB´s I don´t know, guess they are well-known in the states, but nearly unknown over here.

 

[bojans]

Thanks.

Polk and Infinity are like Coke and Pepsi - slightly different sound for different taste. And I can get a deal on 2 sets of the Polks for $100 total, half normal price.