Explorer Audio upgrade(s) | Page 6 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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I may not yet change factory speakers yet because I wanna see what the Ms -8 does first, if I change it all I won't know what the Ms -8 brings to the table....

Almost ANY aftermarket speaker will be an upgrade and help the MS-8. The MS-8 may help the factory speakers, but the factory drivers themselves will still have their mechanical limits for quality (higher and lower frequencies). No DSP can create crystal clear cymbals when a paper whizzer is used on a driver.
 



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Almost ANY aftermarket speaker will be an upgrade and help the MS-8. The MS-8 may help the factory speakers, but the factory drivers themselves will still have their mechanical limits for quality (higher and lower frequencies). No DSP can create crystal clear cymbals when a paper whizzer is used on a driver.

Your absolutely right deewan, I guess I didnt explain what I meant very well...LOL
What I mean is I know what the system sounds like now, (not great) and I know new speakers will sound much better even on there own but what I wanna see is a comparison from all of the above....I wanna see what the ms-8 itself will sound in means of alignment and how well it flattens out the OEM bloat and yes im sure i will get some better clarity even from the stock speakers but I know full well that I will not get a great sounding system without the change of OEM speakers. I intend to change them sooner than later but most likely after the sub and ms-8 is installed....

If i replace the speakers and add ms-8 at the same time, I may not fully get the feeling of what the ms-8 has done and what the speakers have added....
So i hear the factory, add the ms-8. wow, what a difference, and then change speakers and wow, awesomeness, well maybe...LOL...just for comparison reasons is all....

But i understand where your coming from, adding DSP and subwoofer and keep crappy speakers......no not intending on that for long...
 






You have to click on the image button when posting if the link doesn't already have image tags around it; it's above the text box and it looks like a little picture of a mountain. Once you have clicked on it paste the URL in the box that pops up. Hopefully this helps. :D

Thanks willied, i will try it out again, maybe from different site...
Does it matter what hosting site I use for pics? I did try the pic link as you explained and i copied link from my drop box photo folder and it just posted the link to the picture but not posted the picture in the post...wow, messy..LOL
 






Thanks willied, i will try it out again, maybe from different site...
Does it matter what hosting site I use for pics? I did try the pic link as you explained and i copied link from my drop box photo folder and it just posted the link to the picture but not posted the picture in the post...wow, messy..LOL

Yeah, I tried posting a picture with Dropbox and it didn't work, either. :thumbdwn: :D I usually just use Photobucket. Make a free account, upload the pictures, and copy and paste the IMG link, or copy the regular link and click on the image button as I described previously.
 






I'm coming a bit late to this posting but here is my speaker upgrade so far on my '13 limited with sony system. Ordered Polk db 5.25 replacements from Crutchfield for the rear doors and the generic spacer to position them out from the door similar to the factory setup - the spacer is not quite the same thickness but close enough to clear the inner door workings... Had to drill new mounting point pilot holes and used the factory screws to attach the spacers. Then I cut back some wire shielding and soldered on new leads, taped them up & secured with wire ties. Then I took some thick foam and cut it into a circle to match outer speaker size, cut out the center and siliconed it to the spacer to seal the open space between the speaker ring face and inner door panel. Basically the work is the same for the fronts but I went for the Polk db 6X9's. I left the factory tweeters as they are. There was a noticably improvement in sound quality and definition. I adjusted my audio settings to stereo & neutral positions after listening to a varied selection of tunes. What I did notice what the sub is now a bit weaker sounding due to the effiency of the Polk db's.
I inspected the sub enclosure and figured out how to modify it to accept a 10" replacement & just ordered a Helix DVC 2 ohm. In a couple weeks I'll have that done (after a vacation break) and add to the report.
 






I'm coming a bit late to this posting but here is my speaker upgrade so far on my '13 limited with sony system. Ordered Polk db 5.25 replacements from Crutchfield for the rear doors and the generic spacer to position them out from the door similar to the factory setup - the spacer is not quite the same thickness but close enough to clear the inner door workings... Had to drill new mounting point pilot holes and used the factory screws to attach the spacers. Then I cut back some wire shielding and soldered on new leads, taped them up & secured with wire ties. Then I took some thick foam and cut it into a circle to match outer speaker size, cut out the center and siliconed it to the spacer to seal the open space between the speaker ring face and inner door panel. Basically the work is the same for the fronts but I went for the Polk db 6X9's. I left the factory tweeters as they are. There was a noticably improvement in sound quality and definition. I adjusted my audio settings to stereo & neutral positions after listening to a varied selection of tunes. What I did notice what the sub is now a bit weaker sounding due to the effiency of the Polk db's.
I inspected the sub enclosure and figured out how to modify it to accept a 10" replacement & just ordered a Helix DVC 2 ohm. In a couple weeks I'll have that done (after a vacation break) and add to the report.

Love to see pics of your sub work when you get to that point.
 






Anyone know why the Sony system clips out so bad? I am a bit pissed about my "premium audio" setup...
 






I'm coming a bit late to this posting but here is my speaker upgrade so far on my '13 limited with sony system. Ordered Polk db 5.25 replacements from Crutchfield for the rear doors and the generic spacer to position them out from the door similar to the factory setup - the spacer is not quite the same thickness but close enough to clear the inner door workings...

Good to know Crutchfield has some speaker spacers now. Just over a year ago when I called they had no idea what was even in the 2011+ Explorer. But I have to give them credit, they are normally on top of stuff like that.
 






I'm coming a bit late to this posting but here is my speaker upgrade so far on my '13 limited with sony system. Ordered Polk db 5.25 replacements from Crutchfield for the rear doors and the generic spacer to position them out from the door similar to the factory setup - the spacer is not quite the same thickness but close enough to clear the inner door workings... Had to drill new mounting point pilot holes and used the factory screws to attach the spacers. Then I cut back some wire shielding and soldered on new leads, taped them up & secured with wire ties. Then I took some thick foam and cut it into a circle to match outer speaker size, cut out the center and siliconed it to the spacer to seal the open space between the speaker ring face and inner door panel. Basically the work is the same for the fronts but I went for the Polk db 6X9's. I left the factory tweeters as they are. There was a noticably improvement in sound quality and definition. I adjusted my audio settings to stereo & neutral positions after listening to a varied selection of tunes. What I did notice what the sub is now a bit weaker sounding due to the effiency of the Polk db's.
I inspected the sub enclosure and figured out how to modify it to accept a 10" replacement & just ordered a Helix DVC 2 ohm. In a couple weeks I'll have that done (after a vacation break) and add to the report.

Hey markcuss,
When you ordered the speakers from Crutchfield did they send the adapters for free? They usually ship the adapters and wire harness with them for free....that way you would not have to cut wires....
I think metra 72-5600 are the ones for the explorer but need to verify that....

Does anyone here know if that is correct of not? I have yet to pull the doors off yet...
 






Hey markcuss,
When you ordered the speakers from Crutchfield did they send the adapters for free? They usually ship the adapters and wire harness with them for free....that way you would not have to cut wires....
I think metra 72-5600 are the ones for the explorer but need to verify that....

Does anyone here know if that is correct of not? I have yet to pull the doors off yet...

Yes, mounting adapters from Crutchfield were free -universal 6x9 "liftrings" for the front and "Toyota SAP's 2000 & up" adapters for the rear doors. There are no wire harness adapters.

Sub was delivered today but it will be a couple weeks before I get to the installation. I'll submit a report once completed with a photo or 2.
 






For those interested---the installation of the Helix 10" DVC 2 ohm sub was a difficult fit. I took a RotoZip tool to the factory enclosure and cut out the 8" mounting flange and trimmed where needed to enlarge it enough to fit in the sub frame. I then trial mounted it and drilled pilot holes on the enclosure face to match the 10" sub mounting holes. Where the enclosure was molded shallow I built that area up with layered plywood pieces to complete the full circle mounting surface for the new sub. This wood was secured with copious amounts of Gorilla glue and anchored with screws until it dried. The final thing was to use double back foam tape to seal the mounting surface irregularities. Thank goodness the wiring was easy cuz the factory sub has the + & - noted so I just connected it up the same. I slid it all back in, bolted it down & reattached the interior trim panel(s).
From the outside it looks stock. As for sound, it is an improvement in both sound level and clarity / kick.
To finish this whole project off I replaced the rear pillar 3.5" speakers with coaxial Polk db's today.
The next few days I'll tinker with the bass, mid, treble and fader settings to find the sweet spot - that'll be fun cuz it sounds pretty darn good now !
 






I'm wondering if any of you guys that replaced your stock sub noticed that only one voice coil is actually recieving power from the amp? Unless something is wrong with my Sony amp. Now i'm thinking I might as well just get an aftermarket amp.
 






adding a subwoofer to 9 spkr system...

Just ordered 2014 Ford Explorer XLT with the, Ummm... "premium" audio 9 spkr system. I have gone through the thread and summed up this is what I see.

2 speakers in each front door, ( door woofer / pillar tweeter ), Center Channel, 2 spkrs in 2nd row, 2 spkrs in back row. If my math serves me correctly, that's 9 total. ;-)
All powered by amplifier built into the dash head unit.

I know for sure I am going to add a woofer box and amp.. probably JL 10" box and a JL 150 Watt sub amp. Will test that system out for sound quality before I go and add new speakers and higher wattage amp for front doors.

My question is this... is there a dedicated low level sub out on the head unit I can pull from? Or will I need to splice in line level adapters to feed my sub amp?

Vehicle won't be here till November, so I'll continue to research.
 






All powered by amplifier built into the dash head unit.

The amp is not built into the dash head unit. The premium 9 and sony 12 speaker systems use an amp mounted in the passenger rear quarter panel.
 






The amp is not built into the dash head unit. The premium 9 and sony 12 speaker systems use an amp mounted in the passenger rear quarter panel.

This is true for the Limited edition but the 2013 xlt with premium 9 speaker system there is no amplifiers...I have confirmed this on my own vehicle as well as with Ford reps and with dealerships....there is no amplifier in rear quarter panel on xlt 9 premium systems....

So been confirmed...no more amplifiers for anyone except limited Model explorers....
 






upgrades to 9 spkr system

hmsracing,

When you yanked the headunit out to work on upgrades, was there any kind of low level rca sub output on the back of it?

I know you can run line level converters or use spkr level inputs if the additional amp supports it.. but it'd be easier just to run rca cords if they're already there.

What did you finally end up doing to your system? Did you ever pull the trigger on that JBL processor? That looks interesting, but for the $$ I wish it packed a little more wattage.

I know more than anything the 9 spkr system will lack bass, which is why I will add a woofer first. JL makes a nice amp with a subwoofer adjustment knob to fine tune the sound. I figured I'd crank down the bass on the headunit to limit low freq. distortion on the factory spkrs, and dial it in on the dedicated sub amp. ( I had similar setup in an old Pathfinder my son now has. ) I'll see how that sounds first, then see if I need to dive into another amp and front spkrs. I really can't see spending money on the other speakers in the vehicle due to their placement. They should suffice for rear fill ambiance.
 






This is true for the Limited edition but the 2013 xlt with premium 9 speaker system there is no amplifiers...I have confirmed this on my own vehicle as well as with Ford reps and with dealerships....there is no amplifier in rear quarter panel on xlt 9 premium systems....

So been confirmed...no more amplifiers for anyone except limited Model explorers....

Limited and Sport.
 






This is true for the Limited edition but the 2013 xlt with premium 9 speaker system there is no amplifiers...I have confirmed this on my own vehicle as well as with Ford reps and with dealerships....there is no amplifier in rear quarter panel on xlt 9 premium systems....

So been confirmed...no more amplifiers for anyone except limited Model explorers....

Weird... I wonder why they would change this from the 2011/2012 XLT.
 






hmsracing,

When you yanked the headunit out to work on upgrades, was there any kind of low level rca sub output on the back of it?

I know you can run line level converters or use spkr level inputs if the additional amp supports it.. but it'd be easier just to run rca cords if they're already there.

What did you finally end up doing to your system? Did you ever pull the trigger on that JBL processor? That looks interesting, but for the $$ I wish it packed a little more wattage.

I know more than anything the 9 spkr system will lack bass, which is why I will add a woofer first. JL makes a nice amp with a subwoofer adjustment knob to fine tune the sound. I figured I'd crank down the bass on the headunit to limit low freq. distortion on the factory spkrs, and dial it in on the dedicated sub amp. ( I had similar setup in an old Pathfinder my son now has. ) I'll see how that sounds first, then see if I need to dive into another amp and front spkrs. I really can't see spending money on the other speakers in the vehicle due to their placement. They should suffice for rear fill ambiance.

I have not done the system yet...still pondering my options as I have another project that is taking all my time up...my 12yo son and k are fully restoring a 1968 dodge dart before his 16th birthday...so far we have completely dismantled the entire car to just its shell and are going to start body and frame work.....
I may attempt the system during winter if I can....
 



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