Explorer Audio upgrade(s) | Page 7 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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

Yea...I felt the same way....the dealer told me they increased wattage from head unit to power the 9 speakers.....keeping cost down....the power is split the following.....

Left front.......tweater/woofer
Right front.....tweater/woofer
Left rear.........rear door mid and 3rd row
Right rear.......rear door mid and 3rd row
Center has its own combined channel 8ohm
3rd row are 16ohm speakers ran off rear channel
 



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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.

And there were no RCA outputs from head unit...only the speaker and power leads....
 






Thanks for everyone's feedback on the 9 spkr system. Like I mentioned it'll be November before I get my vehicle, so I'll have time to research more and report back my findings. Plus I'll probably drive the new vehicle around a few weeks with the stock ford system to see if there are any "factory glitches" in it before I start my stereo upgrades. Don't want the dealer blaming any MFT issues on my upgrades.

In summary, looks like I'll be tapping off the rear spkr level outputs of the head unit, feeding that to a dedicated sub amp ( which I'll mount in rear passenger quarter panel it would appear ), and run that to my little 10" sub box that I'll strap down to the rear cargo floor. ( needs to be removable as I haul some good size demos for my job on occasion. nor do I want my girlfriend's golden retriever and my overactive bordercollie/springer deciding to use it as a chew toy when I haul them around. ;-) )

Thanks again...
 






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.

Someone needs to correct me if I am wrong, but as I understand your plan, I can't see how this would yield good results. The line converter simple takes the high level output and converts it to a low level. The high level signal is post processor in the head unit. So if you crank down the bass on the head unit, you are removing the bass from the signal, only to attempt to add the bass back with the volume knob of the JL??? Why not add a cheap crossover before the speaker leads which would allow the line converter and the JL amp to get the full bass signal?
 






Couple of things in regards to your post:

Passive crossovers as you mention, take power away from the speakers. One would typically want a 2nd order crossover network, capacitor and inductor and not just a single cap, which would take even more power away from what is a very small output to begin with. If I can just "equalize" out the bass to keep the factory speakers from "bottoming" out, then full power still goes out to the speakers. One thing I don't recall is if there is an equalizer built into the Premium head unit, or just bass / treble controls. Would be nice if I actually knew the center frequency of the equalization settings as well.

The JL sub amp adjustment is not just a "volume / gain" control. It actually controls the boost in the frequency range around 45 - 60 hz. Gains can still be set at the amp to balance the volumes of the speakers so that bass is not overpowering the rest of the door speakers. But in "theory", if I do reduce the bass to the factory speakers to minimize their distortion, I can boost it back up to the sub with it's dedicated control. Now granted, if I have to turn the bass down so low on the head unit to keep from distorting the factory speakers, then no amount of boosting on the JL amp will add to what is not there to begin with.

Ideally, one would go with an active crossover and dedicated amp to the door speakers, which I may end up doing. But thought I'd just try adding the sub amp first and see how everything sounds.

Thanks for your input.... I'll have a better feel for things once I actually get a chance to listen/ dissect the stereo when my vehicle arrives. There's only so much one can do to test a system when the ford sales guy is in the vehicle with you. Plus I'd probably scare the heck out of him with my diverse range of musical selections! ;-)
 






I understand crossovers. I build them when I design and build home audio speakers. My statement still remains. Why remove bass from the source signal only to then use a small chip amp (which is what the gain knob basically is) and attempt to add it back? Also, the JL volume/gain knob is there to match it's SPL output to that of the rest of the system, not for manual EQ'ing.

You are right, if you are trying to avoid the door speakers from distorting the best plan is transition the high level signal to low level and then use active crossovers in aftermarket amps to feed your door speakers and use the low level signal to run the JL and it's built in highpass crossover.
 






My statement still remains. Why remove bass from the source signal only to then use a small chip amp (which is what the gain knob basically is) and attempt to add it back?

Because adding the bass back to the "sub only" still keeps it away from the door speakers.

Not to mention, it's easy enough, and free, to try out and report back my findings. Why add extra components that draw power away from the small built in amplifier if it may not be necessary? Yes, I agree it's not ideal way of "massaging" the low frequencies out of the system.... and in the end I'll probably discover I won't get enough volume out of the factory amp anyway and end up adding another amp / speakers to the doors. I always up-sell myself! ;-) But adding another amp, and a good set of component door speakers can easily add a few hundred bucks to the system. Then there will be a possible issue of balancing out the factory center channel speaker by taking the matched door speakers out of the mix. ( am I giving to much credit to Ford sound engineers that the actually designed the speakers in the front of the vehicle to all work in harmony? ;-) )
 






I'm not trying to say it isn't possible, I am only trying to help you avoid future headaches. The amount of power loss by adding bass blockers to your door speakers will be fair less detrimental to the overall sound of the system than EQ'ing the bass out of the system then using a small, inefficient chip amp in hopes of adding it back to a powered sub. Unless the speakers are dramatically different than the ones in the Limited, you would need to be a basshead to overpush the factory door speakers to the point that they sound that bad with the added JL sub.

You are correct, it is possible do to it. It will mess with the overall quality of the sound and make matching output levels a nightmare. But it is possible.
 






Well, I picked up my 2014 XLT Explorer last week, drove around in it all week and I'm ready to upgrade the sound! I have the MFT system, ( not premier Sony.. if there really is such a thing ), but with any volume cranked up with some bass, the doors are vibrating and sound gets muddied quickly. Going to leave the front door and center channel stock for now as the mids / highs and imaging will suffice.... but adding a 10" JL Audio W3 woofer box and 250W continuous subamp to get the low end. Probably won't have everything in to install till around Nov. 8th.. but I'll report back.

Overall have been enjoying the MFT system... but totally disappointed Ford still doesn't have AppLink available for this premier system!
 






If the doors are rattling from the bass in the speakers, how is adding a sub going to fix that? Without adding a crossover of some type they're still going to get the bass.
 






If the doors are rattling from the bass in the speakers, how is adding a sub going to fix that? Without adding a crossover of some type they're still going to get the bass.

if the sub has an amp, then you could turn down the overall bass EQ and reduce the amount of bass going to the rest of the speakers, allowing the amp to compensate (lowering the amount of rattle in the doors). But this is a dumb way to approach stereo design :)

If the doors rattle the solution is sound deadening (dynomat, etc) .. if the speakers distort then crossovers, or better speakers are needed. A sub will just amplify any rattle in the car.
 






The problem here with the muddiness is mostly from the head unit/amp's internal clipping. It is not going to get better to just change speakers or the amp (unless the amp is the sole source of the clipping). Someone smarter than me should investigate this.
 






The problem here with the muddiness is mostly from the head unit/amp's internal clipping. It is not going to get better to just change speakers or the amp (unless the amp is the sole source of the clipping). Someone smarter than me should investigate this.

I'm adding a woofer box, with a bass boost control and a dedicated sub amp to get the volume on the low end up, and can back out some of the bass going to the front speakers either through equalization, or some type of passive crossover.

The front speakers get "muddy" way before the amp begins to clip. More than likely I'm gonna yank them out and go with new component speakers and a dedicated amp on down the road... but the sub upgrade will suffice for now.
 






dont feed from the rear speakers. They Will likely have a high pass filter cutting off low frequencies that are essential to a sub system.

Only the front will be a full frequency feed (possibly some low low freq might be cut ie, 20hz and lower)
 






Well, I picked up my 2014 XLT Explorer last week, drove around in it all week and I'm ready to upgrade the sound! I have the MFT system, ( not premier Sony.. if there really is such a thing ), but with any volume cranked up with some bass, the doors are vibrating and sound gets muddied quickly. Going to leave the front door and center channel stock for now as the mids / highs and imaging will suffice.... but adding a 10" JL Audio W3 woofer box and 250W continuous subamp to get the low end. Probably won't have everything in to install till around Nov. 8th.. but I'll report back.

Overall have been enjoying the MFT system... but totally disappointed Ford still doesn't have AppLink available for this premier system!

I'm curious. When you listen to the stock system, do you adjust the EQ to get a flat response? Or do you adjust the EQ to get lots of bass (aka, turn the bass adjustments and perhaps the treble adjustment all the way up) to make it sound good to your ears?
 






I'm curious. When you listen to the stock system, do you adjust the EQ to get a flat response? Or do you adjust the EQ to get lots of bass (aka, turn the bass adjustments and perhaps the treble adjustment all the way up) to make it sound good to your ears?

Well of course I turn the bass up to 11. ;-) Actually, just bump it up a little... but I mean we're only talking a 6" "woofer" in the door. Just by nature of its design it's not going to produce low frequencies very well.

Got my amp, battery kit, sub adjustment knob in today... but for some reason UPS needed a signature on the sub box even though the amp was ordered from the same place?! So I can put everything in, but I won't be able to hear it! LOL I'll set up a small test speaker just to make sure sound is coming out.. but no "thumping" this weekend. :-(
 






A properly designed 6" woofer puts out more bass than you think. A properly designed 6 driver and a properly designed cabinet will shock you if you add cabin gain (when used in a car).

The problem you are having is the cheaply made and poorly designed woofers in the Explorer system. Again go would suggest not to EQ out the bass in hopes getting less distortion from the weakest part of the system. Then trying to EQ or chip amp the bass back into a subwoofer completely kills any high end audio hopes you may have. I think the system you put together might end up sounding ok if you listen to low res music and like lots of bass only because the bass from the aftermarket sub will drown out the weaker parts of the factory system.
 






I dont see any problem knocked the bass on the HU back a few to clean up the muddy factory tone. This can easily be brought back to the sub with the bass boost Commonly found on most amps now. Knowing the exact frequency the Ford uses for their :"bass" setting would help but ford probably has no idea either.

Im not saying to take out so much that you are affecting the over all tone, but to take the edge of of speakers that have no business trying to make bass in the first place.
 






Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to dive into the installation over the weekend as expected. The woofer box isn't here yet anyway so looks like I may have to postpone to next weekend.

In the meantime, I "thought" I had the wiring diagram for the 2014 MFT 9 spkr system, but in double checking I see the one I see referenced was for the older 2011 Explorer.

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp~TID~125888

Is there an updated one somewhere for the 2014 MFT 9 spkr system? I really just need to know colors for the front door speakers and a switched 12V lead to turn the amp on / off. I'm going to throw a line level adapter off the front spkr leads to feed the sub amp.

I can always pull the doors off and see what leads are attached to the spkrs, but it'd be easier if I knew the wiring code to grab from the back of the unit in the dash.

Thanks...
 



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updated wiring diagram???

So.. I still can't find a specific wiring diagram on the Ford Exp 9 spkr MFT system, but did find this on the 2013 flex.

Car Radio Battery Constant 12V+ Wire: White/Red
Car Radio Accessory Switched 12V+ Wire: N/A
Car Radio Ground Wire: Black/Blue
Car Radio Illumination Wire: N/A
Car Radio Dimmer Wire: N/A
Car Radio Antenna Trigger Wire: Blue
Car Radio Amp Trigger Wire: Purple/Red
Car Stereo Amplifier Location: N/A

Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): White
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): White/Brown
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Purple
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): White/Orange


Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Green
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Brown/Yellow
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Brown/White
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Brown/Blue

I'll hopefully have a chance to dive into this mess this weekend and see if these colors exist off the back of my head unit. Can anyone confirm or deny that these may indeed be the colors? Granted.. there is no 3rd row speakers listed above.. but I'm really only interested in the front door speakers to tie my line level adapter in to.
 






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