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Disappointed with Stereo upgrade


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$1,300 for the Shaker Pro? wow I'm not impressed. Lots of bass but no highs. I cant imagine how much worse it could have sounded without this upgrade.

I have the Sony upgrade in my 11 F-150 and it sounds pretty good.

So here's my question, I believe I have seen on here that you can swap out your factory speakers for better and cleaner highs and also use some sort of signal processor.

I am not interested in changing out the navi head unit just better sound. I know kicker or someone makes a powered sub replacement but again the system doesn't seem to lack for bass.

I dont care about doing some $jillion dollar system. If I want to listen to serious tunes I will take my 5,000 watt Expedition for a drive.

 

Can anyone refer me to the articles on this or the equipment needed. I love Polk Audio and JL stuff but am willing to listen to recommendations.

 

Thanks

Kev

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$1,300 for the Shaker Pro? wow I'm not impressed. Lots of bass but no highs. I cant imagine how much worse it could have sounded without this upgrade.

I have the Sony upgrade in my 11 F-150 and it sounds pretty good.

So here's my question, I believe I have seen on here that you can swap out your factory speakers for better and cleaner highs and also use some sort of signal processor.

I am not interested in changing out the navi head unit just better sound. I know kicker or someone makes a powered sub replacement but again the system doesn't seem to lack for bass.

I dont care about doing some $jillion dollar system. If I want to listen to serious tunes I will take my 5,000 watt Expedition for a drive.

 

Can anyone refer me to the articles on this or the equipment needed. I love Polk Audio and JL stuff but am willing to listen to recommendations.

 

Thanks

Kev

From what I can find Kicker does not make a system that works with the 13/14 Nav. I took mine in to a local shop and they told me they tested one of the upgraded speakers on the drivers side against the stock passenger side results were: not enough of a difference to warrant 1500-2000.00 upgrade. As well the stock amp is above average and tied to the Nav head as well. Again not worth the $$ to upgrade.

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I left the head unit, replaced the amp, added a DSP, and replaced the speakers/sub. Just the amp and speakers will make a substantial difference. I would suggest settling on a budget and seeing your trustworthy local car stereo guy, assuming that exists.

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I consider myself a musical kind of guy. I play most instruments a bit, played in a band when Inwas young, and seen just about every act under the sun over the last 25 years. I have always appreciated good sound in cars.

 

Is the pro equal to the Porsche Panamera? Good god no, that's the best stock sound I have ever heard. But it beats the Shaker 1000 from the old shelby by a landslide, and the kicker was never a system that impressed me in either the 2008 or the 2011.

 

It also is quite a bit better than my 2011 raptor with its upgraded Sony crap. That thing thumps like a tambourine.

 

Is it perfect? Nope. Is it awesome for when you wanna get a mood going or just lay down your favorite soundtrack to the road your driving? You bet. The best setting for any of our radios 90% of the time is the OFF setting. So who really cares what you get the rest of the time? Right?

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Lol, Im with you guys on the exhaust and sc sound track... I do think I got the answer I needed in the DSP. I think we had a article on it last year but cant find it. I do have a good Stereo guy I trust. I will look to change out a few pc's on a reasonable budget. maybe try the DSP and speakers first. Thanks everyone

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I, too, am underwhelmed with the $1300 Shaker Pro and can only imagine the "even worse" sound of the base stereo. Like many others, I prefer to listen to the engine most of the time.

 

I don't recall seeing many stereo upgrade threads here, but I've read several elsewhere including...

- Upgrading Both Door Speakers Shaker Pro System

- best rear speakers

- Anyone Else A Little Disappointed In The Shaker 500/1000 vs. Old Mach Systems? (Post 6)

- Shaker 500 upgrade

- Shaker 500 to 1000... (Start at Post 22)

- Anyone install JL Audio Clean Sweep during their stereo/speaker upgrade?

- Stereo Upgrade

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I'm responsible for posting some on the svt site that Norton posted above and would recommend you try just swapping the doors and rears for a high SPL replacement speaker like the Infinity's I used and use some sound deadening on the panels, doors, etc. while you are at it and reevaluate it after before dumping more $$$ to replace subs, amps etc. A word of caution - the plug in speaker adapters to make install easy were backwards so I spliced anyways to flip polarity. Also, remember you need the adapter rings for the door speakers which I ordered from Tousley/Autonation. In the end, although the upgrades helped the system simply lacks much for adjustments (no separate mid or sub levels) which I believe this is a contributing factor to the lack of mids and highs.

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Excellent info thanks, What about adding a multi band I have heard that the biggest change for dollars would be to do the front speakers first. I will do some dynamat while its apart. I was thinking of changing out the 8" subs to some shallow mount pioneers or getting the

rockford's that are suppose to plug in from Shelby American. Either way I appreciate the info.I put a cd in it yesterday and it want too bad but still like as good as sound as I can without dumping 3K into it.

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The JL Cleansweep (or similar) would likely help but I didn't want splicing and dicing of all the wires, etc. I bought the Shelby kicker subs (wanna buy them $100? - literally in car for 4 days) and basically felt like they were hardly on. Factory door subs are dual voice coil 2 ohm, and Shelby kickers were single 4 ohm so not even pulling 1/4 the power out of the factory amp. Rockford does make a dual voice coil 2ohm but I wasn't 100% sure on fit and felt the stock speaker grills may not fit so that's why I kept the stock subs but did some sound deadening to reduce vibrations.

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For those trying to decide; I like mine!

It is better than the base shaker unit by far due the added bass. I like factory installed. No loose or creaking panels which can happen after market no matter how good they are. If you are wanting serious high level sound $1300 won't even start the process...I suspect the pro system will satisfy sound levels for 90% of the average users where the base unit will leave you wanting more...

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I do agree that I prefer the factory look. I will say that a good stereo shop can put your car back together without lots of rattles etc. But of course, it cost money. I did happen to throw a cd in it and it did sound pretty good as well as some of the HD radio channels.

However I do think that for $1,300 which isnt a ton of money when it comes to high end stereo that Ford could have done a bit better. I think I would have gone with a better powered JL sub in the trunk and just changed out the door speakers to POLK or INFINITY

And for about the same $1,300 come up with a better sound and still left the factory look and controls intact. At this point Im going to try out just replacing the front speakers (not subs) to start and go from there.

I made a speaker swap in my 11 F-150 from the upgraded SONY to some Polk audio 5x7's in the four doors and even changed the center top dash out to a Polk 3.5" coaxial and it sounds 100% better. I left the factory powered sub unchanged.

All I wanted was some clarity meaning high's and mids. The system has enough bass for low to medium level volume.

 

I love to hear whatever feedback or opinions from all you guys. I appreciate it.

Thanks

Kevin

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I am with tough, a speaker upgrade is the quickest and easiest upgrade. Any good component speaker will have its on DSP or at least a built in crossover that should clean up the sound. I really only listen to the exhaust and whine also, the stereo clarity is terrible and usually only frustrates me.

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I took the shaker pro upgrade off the order and I'm putting that money towards aftermarket upgrade. I'm going to get a 5 channel amp, the JL sub box made for mustangs, and replace the door speakers. I'll also get cleensweep to clean up the sound. I think I'll be happy with that.

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I took the shaker pro upgrade off the order and I'm putting that money towards aftermarket upgrade. I'm going to get a 5 channel amp, the JL sub box made for mustangs, and replace the door speakers. I'll also get cleensweep to clean up the sound. I think I'll be happy with that.

Murray, Let us know how it sounds when you finally get that done.

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I second and third that...and I rarely use the A/C....windows down !

+1 !! I dont care how great my stereo is, and wouldnt overpay for that upgrade...It aint the 1970s anymore, my hair is shorter and hearing is worse anyway!

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