2017 XLT Audio Speaker Upgrade

[TWhite17Exp]

Hello All! This is my first real post. So, I'm in the process of upgrading my 2017 XLT audio 7 speaker system. I have removed all door speakers and actually modified the rear doors. I have put Kicker CS series component 6x9's in the front doors and Kicker DS series 6x9 coaxils in the rear doors. The rear is where the modification took place. I actually cut bigger holes in the doors to acomodate the new 6x9's. I'm going to be adding 2 amps. 1 for subs and 1 for all the other speakers. I spoke with a company that makes plug and play harnesses designed specifically for 2011-2019 Explorers and the Kicker key 200.4 4 channel amp. The person that I contacted at the company said the 4 channels control all speakers except the center speaker in the dash. So worth all that being said, can someone tell me if the rear panel speakers are bridged with the doors or what? Because by my thinking, isn't each speaker supposed to be 1 channel? Then the 4 channels couldn't possibly go to 6 speakers,,, unless some are bridged. Can anyone she'd some light on this and let me know if I'm thinking correctly?

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
There are several threads on speaker upgrades you should be able to locate with the 'Search' feature at the upper right. Given that, I'm sure that some members will be able to reply and assist you. Good luck.
Here is just one of many threads that may have some useful info; My 2017 Limited (with Sony audio) speaker upgrade. Thoughts..

Peter

 

[TWhite17Exp]

Thanks Peter! I've read a few af them and so far I haven't found an answer to my question. Was hoping someone with a little more knowledge might be able to help.

 

[AdamWest436]

Hello All! This is my first real post. So, I'm in the process of upgrading my 2017 XLT audio 7 speaker system. I have removed all door speakers and actually modified the rear doors. I have put Kicker CS series component 6x9's in the front doors and Kicker DS series 6x9 coaxils in the rear doors. The rear is where the modification took place. I actually cut bigger holes in the doors to acomodate the new 6x9's. I'm going to be adding 2 amps. 1 for subs and 1 for all the other speakers. I spoke with a company that makes plug and play harnesses designed specifically for 2011-2019 Explorers and the Kicker key 200.4 4 channel amp. The person that I contacted at the company said the 4 channels control all speakers except the center speaker in the dash. So worth all that being said, can someone tell me if the rear panel speakers are bridged with the doors or what? Because by my thinking, isn't each speaker supposed to be 1 channel? Then the 4 channels couldn't possibly go to 6 speakers,,, unless some are bridged. Can anyone she'd some light on this and let me know if I'm thinking correctly?

I came here for the same question minus the center speaker. All searches lead me to this and a few blips/pics of what you did in your 5th gen. When Key is added I'm sent to no start or immobilizer posts. Was trying to decide if I'm fading front or leaving it in the center for the key mic and pink noise magic. I wasn't sure if it's really singling out the tweeters from the front door woofers.

 

[goalieThreeOne]

When I did a speaker swap in my fifth gen, I abandoned the rear panel speakers. Reason being is that it added a lot of work and money to replace them, and this isn't worth it considering the rear panel speakers can't be heard from the driver's position. I suggest just leaving them alone and leaving them unconnected.

My car came with the Sony system, and if you have that, you're gonna need more than a harness. I did a full write up of my build in this post:

Explorer Audio upgrade(s)

Can anyone tell me if the base model sound system in a 2019 XLT 201a with sync 3 8" screen nav ect. Has crossed over singals or are all 7 speakers full range? The easiest way to find out is look on your "door card", if you have a separate tweeter (up by the sail panel) you will have your answer.

www.explorerforum.com

As an update to that post, I did get the battery and AmpPro reset. All chimes work. I never reconnected the rear speakers, because I found out that the hatch closing chime will play through the fronts. Good thing too, because those third row speakers just ruin the sound profile.

 

[goalieThreeOne]

Also, I can't remember which thread I found this in, but you may find it useful.

On the Sony Systems, the D Pillar speakers have their own channels out of the Sony DSP

On the non-Sony Touch Screen systems, the D-Pillar speakers are wired in parallel to the rear door speakers. If you replace the rear speakers, you need to be sure to account for the speaker impedance arranged in parallel and impedance must match for both sets.

 

[AdamWest436]

When I did a speaker swap in my fifth gen, I abandoned the rear panel speakers. Reason being is that it added a lot of work and money to replace them, and this isn't worth it considering the rear panel speakers can't be heard from the driver's position. I suggest just leaving them alone and leaving them unconnected.

My car came with the Sony system, and if you have that, you're gonna need more than a harness. I did a full write up of my build in this post:

Explorer Audio upgrade(s)

Can anyone tell me if the base model sound system in a 2019 XLT 201a with sync 3 8" screen nav ect. Has crossed over singals or are all 7 speakers full range? The easiest way to find out is look on your "door card", if you have a separate tweeter (up by the sail panel) you will have your answer.

www.explorerforum.com

As an update to that post, I did get the battery and AmpPro reset. All chimes work. I never reconnected the rear speakers, because I found out that the hatch closing chime will play through the fronts. Good thing too, because those third row speakers just ruin the sound profile.

I don't have the SONY system and cool front cameras, I have this harness from this company with Key 200.1 amp for the non SONY setup. My subs are the rockville 10CA under seat setup but finding out I need to modify the power seat pigtail to the top of that brace vs where it hangs now. I haven't done the doors yet that's next on the list. I see what you meant but soo much money, the key amp cost $120 more when they come back in stock if you can't find any in stock right now.

As for the rear speakers, the kids probably wouldn't like them gone. I sat back there a few times and toyed around with adding tweeters to that space in front of the door handles or in the rear like the upper models have.

Also, I can't remember which thread I found this in, but you may find it useful.

On the Sony Systems, the D Pillar speakers have their own channels out of the Sony DSP

On the non-Sony Touch Screen systems, the D-Pillar speakers are wired in parallel to the rear door speakers. If you replace the rear speakers, you need to be sure to account for the speaker impedance arranged in parallel and impedance must match for both sets.

You can get D pillar w/o sony? maybe I should look and see if the wires are there. I didn't realize how much sound is missing back there until I sat back there. Part of me wants to just mount the sub back there vs under seat. I randomly fold both rows down or use 3rd row in a pinch so I can't pinpoint a good spot.

 

[AdamWest436]

When I did a speaker swap in my fifth gen, I abandoned the rear panel speakers. Reason being is that it added a lot of work and money to replace them, and this isn't worth it considering the rear panel speakers can't be heard from the driver's position. I suggest just leaving them alone and leaving them unconnected.

My car came with the Sony system, and if you have that, you're gonna need more than a harness. I did a full write up of my build in this post:

Explorer Audio upgrade(s)

Can anyone tell me if the base model sound system in a 2019 XLT 201a with sync 3 8" screen nav ect. Has crossed over singals or are all 7 speakers full range? The easiest way to find out is look on your "door card", if you have a separate tweeter (up by the sail panel) you will have your answer.

www.explorerforum.com

As an update to that post, I did get the battery and AmpPro reset. All chimes work. I never reconnected the rear speakers, because I found out that the hatch closing chime will play through the fronts. Good thing too, because those third row speakers just ruin the sound profile.

I did it yesterday, the harness for the key was wired for the front and back doors. The front tweeters must be off the bottom door speakers as I couldn't tune them independently. At this point I also found out I had a center speaker and it's super under powered. With the amp off it took max volume to hear that center speaker. The rear doors kinda got better but I didn't want to push the stock speakers too hard. The kids were acting like they never knew speakers were back there the 2nd they got in. I'll run the key self tune when the speakers come in.

 

[goalieThreeOne]

I did it yesterday, the harness for the key was wired for the front and back doors. The front tweeters must be off the bottom door speakers as I couldn't tune them independently. At this point I also found out I had a center speaker and it's super under powered. With the amp off it took max volume to hear that center speaker. The rear doors kinda got better but I didn't want to push the stock speakers too hard. The kids were acting like they never knew speakers were back there the 2nd they got in. I'll run the key self tune when the speakers come in.

For the non-sony with touch screen system, the front tweeters are daisy chained to the the door woofers. I assume there is a passive filter on the tweeter terminals on the backside of the OEM woofer, so hopefully you put your own passive filters in there as replacements.

This was another reason I went with a PAC AMPro and Audison DSP. My front woofers and front tweeters are on their own channels so I can tune each and every speaker in the car independently. The AMPro also let me disable the center channel and reconfigure the chime and navigation prompts to come from the doors. This means I don't have to fight with the center speaker when I'm setting up my soundstage.