S650 Aftermarket Sound System

[Timry2]

Agree for the most part, especially about Pioneer, but I'm not so enthused about the names you tossed out. McIntosh and Krell, especially, are like royalty in the audio world, but where it counts they're not that different - and sometimes not as good - as other names. I'll take a Marantz anytime over a McIntosh and save the money. JBL used to be king of the hill until they went mass market and started churning out garbage.

I'm kinda old school, and have not done any shopping recently, but I think JL Audio, Polk, and Pioneer could make really good drivers for the mustang. I also wonder what would it take to get Bob Carver to jump into car amplifiers. His tracking down-converter amps (Sunfire) are perfectly suited due to their compact package and low heat. Couple that with Audissey and DSP controls and you have the makings of a reference audio system. Hey, a guy can dream...

Mtx subs, pioneer speakers and kenwood amps was my recipe.

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[Timry2]

I may have missed it, but has anyone put together a confirmed full list of speaker sizes. I found the info below but they were taking a gues.

I'm going to make (probably accurate) guesses.
Center dash: 3" midrange
A pillars: 3/4" tweeters
Upper door: 1-2" twiddler and 4" midrange
Back dash: 6 1/2" midbass for the lows
Sub: 10”

 

[IFFV68]

Best way to describe the B&O is.....

If you are not an audiophile, then it will be good enough for you. Maybe even impress you.

If you are, or just like LOUD music and bass, in general, it will not satisfy you.

As mentioned, it is clear and crisp if you will, but just doesn't have the volume or punch needed.

I have a Skar Audio EVL 12 D2 in a custom birch box, Skar Audio 1500.1M and Audio Control LC7i that I will likely be adding to mine. For now, the rest of the B&O will suffice. My only qualm is, I do not want to really put that very heavy sub and enclosure in the trunk, and boat anchor the car LOL. I was looking at the JL Stealth box option. Not sure if that will hit hard enough for my tastes.

Nice install to the OP

If you are a TRUE AUDIOPHILE you should know changing the Speakers is just taking a Shortcut.
The Wire content is just as important if not more important than the Speakers.
Audiophiles I know use Silver Wire.
Yes very expensive but when you spend thousands of dollars for B&W Silver Signature Speakers, twenty five years ago, what’s a few thousand for wire?
It’s a Muscle Car.
Do you want to hear the Loud cheap Bass with a little music in between or the Coyote sound?
I’ve done the speaker before.
A waste of money unless you go all out and keep the ..
I know it’s not my money.
Just my$.02.

 

[LETHAL]

If you are a TRUE AUDIOPHILE you should know changing the Speakers is just taking a Shortcut.
The Wire content is just as important if not more important than the Speakers.
Audiophiles I know use Silver Wire.
Yes very expensive but when you spend thousands of dollars for B&W Silver Signature Speakers, twenty five years ago, what’s a few thousand for wire?
It’s a Muscle Car.
Do you want to hear the Loud cheap Bass with a little music in between or the Coyote sound?
I’ve done the speaker before.
A waste of money unless you go all out and keep the ..
I know it’s not my money.
Just my$.02.

The Timberline I traded for the Mustang had $2000 in install labor. Every facet of the system was upgraded. So I get all that. LOL

 

[Klipshpoke]

If you are a TRUE AUDIOPHILE you should know changing the Speakers is just taking a Shortcut.
The Wire content is just as important if not more important than the Speakers.
Audiophiles I know use Silver Wire.
Yes very expensive but when you spend thousands of dollars for B&W Silver Signature Speakers, twenty five years ago, what’s a few thousand for wire?
It’s a Muscle Car.
Do you want to hear the Loud cheap Bass with a little music in between or the Coyote sound?
I’ve done the speaker before.
A waste of money unless you go all out and keep the ..
I know it’s not my money.
Just my$.02.

Even at the highest end of Car Audio people are not running silver speaker wire. Possibly there are competition sound quality cars out there that have it. Fact is the stock wires are perfectly suitable for most upgrades, even with amplification.

My last car had a massive sound system in it (similar to the OP). After a year or so, I realized it was a total waste of $$$ cause my windows were always down, and I was much more interested in the sound of a pair of Borla S type cutbacks.

 

[IFFV68]

Even at the highest end of Car Audio people are not running silver speaker wire. Possibly there are competition sound quality cars out there that have it. Fact is the stock wires are perfectly suitable for most upgrades, even with amplification.

My last car had a massive sound system in it (similar to the OP). After a year or so, I realized it was a total waste of $$$ cause my windows were always down, and I was much more interested in the sound of a pair of Borla S type cutbacks.

I know where you’re coming from.
Once you do it you’ll wonder why did I do that?
Silver Speaker wire is your car is a little overboard and not realistic.
It was a terrible example.
I was referring to home audio systems.
Please except my apologies?

 

[Wiley Marmot]

Some really great info in this thread! Thanks to all for posting; if nothing else I think the stock B & O sub needs to be swapped out.

I swapped the stock sub (******* underpowered bass--dang thing was like 5.5 ins in diameter?) in my focus RS for a powered Rockford Fosgate 8 in sub. I'd take that modded Sony system over my GT's B & O system any day. VERY disappointed! Thanks Ford!

PS: Where's the CD player you cheap s?!

 

[ctumbles]

I may have missed it, but has anyone put together a confirmed full list of speaker sizes. I found the info below but they were taking a gues.

I'm going to make (probably accurate) guesses.
Center dash: 3" midrange
A pillars: 3/4" tweeters
Upper door: 1-2" twiddler and 4" midrange
Back dash: 6 1/2" midbass for the lows
Sub: 10”

Replaced the rear deck speakers this weekend. Purchased replacements from Crutchfield using 2023 Mustang recommendations which were 6 1/2 inch that fit fine. Kit from Crutchfield included wire adapters (Metra 72-5602). The included wire adapters fit the existing connectors in the car.

Existing speakers were paper cone, woofer only.

 

[LaMakina2]

Well, as sorry as I am to hear the B&O system is disappointing, I'm glad to read it as I opted against ordering that package and now feel better about the decision. Thanks for posting this walkthrough. Maybe someone will do something similar for the 9-speaker (because if the B&O is disappointing, I'm sure the 9-speaker will be, too).

I just uploaded a video of me upgrading my subwoofer in my new S650 with Skar Audio VS-10 D2 shallow mount 2 ohm subwoofer. In the stock subwoofer location. The bass Sounds amazing. I will be upgrading the rest of the speakers throughout the cabin.

 

[Antarctica24]

If you are a TRUE AUDIOPHILE you should know changing the Speakers is just taking a Shortcut.
The Wire content is just as important if not more important than the Speakers.
Audiophiles I know use Silver Wire.
Yes very expensive but when you spend thousands of dollars for B&W Silver Signature Speakers, twenty five years ago, what’s a few thousand for wire?
It’s a Muscle Car.
Do you want to hear the Loud cheap Bass with a little music in between or the Coyote sound?
I’ve done the speaker before.
A waste of money unless you go all out and keep the ..
I know it’s not my money.
Just my$.02.

Sir, No No No, Silver wire is very tinty sounding. 12 gauge from monoprice will be the best sounding wire you can get for the car for the best price. Its not just about the speakers and its not just about the wire, its the whole thing, the head, amp, wire, speakers, enclosures...all of it. But Silver wire would definitely be at the very bottom of the long long list of options.

 

[Antarctica24]

Im not sure what happened here when it comes to deciding what is and is not good audio, but SKAR is not it, SKAR is considered to be at the bottom of the food chain sorry, I think problem comes in where people hook a sub and say wow thats loud and it sounds awesome, and its easy to do unless you have been exposed to what exceptional bass sounds like. SKAR my friends is not it. IF spending money is a problem after buying a 60K car, and you want nice audio above what the factory had for subs, go to some middle ground like Alpine, Pioneer, Rockford Fosgate, Kicker, JL Audio, something anything but SKAR, please. That is right next to BOSS audio.

I want to add, and I think I said this before, I have been at this a very long time like a little over 40 years, having had 2 audio shops, had my car at the time written up in Car Stereo Review, Car Sound of Japan, Car Stereo of the UK, I was 100% sponsored by A/D/S and Pioneer. I competed Expert 601+ and judged sound quality for 12 years. Now, I moved more into Home Audio recently did a built where Alpine came out to listen to from CA. So, that being said, I have a clue as to what does and does not sound good. It doesnt mean you have to like it, and it doesnt mean it sounds good to you, but it sounds correct. As for the Ford B & O system, it lacks some low end extension. Low end extension does not mean MORE VOLUME, or more BASS, its a type of bass. Using the RTA its dropping off about 80 Htz and 80Hts is not even in the sub bass region. So a more defined sub with more power so you can cross it over at 60Htz, getting it to play down to 30 or so would be a perfect edition to the Mustang. Adding more subs does not guarantee better bass. Im an audiophile and not a bass head, and I have heard some of the absolute best car audio systems in the world, and have judged over 2500 vehicles, and have heard 1000's of the best home speaker systems in the world. Trust me when I say I am qualified to make this assessment.

Just adding speakers to this car will not fix it. You have to be able to grab the signal after the head before the amp. Insert a DSP, add your speakers, amps and such and retune. The technology to do this does not exist as of yet, Ford spend Millions tuning this vehicle, and for what it is, its not the best I have ever heard but it is nicely balanced, slapping a bunch subs in the back without though will just make the car obnoxious and boomy. You need to grab the signal at the back, preferably at the sub, use an audio control LCI, use a clean amp, like a rockford, alpine, audio control has some really nice sub amps, and get something like a rockford 10", something that will go in a small enclosure, 1 cube or less. Make sure its sealed do not do any ported crap.

That should solve your discomfort with the system. Replacing speakers without retuning is just dumb and you will not get any benefit out of it. The factory speakers if they are a lower ohm, it will just make the system sound louder, not better.

 

[DontHitMeSafetyYellow]

Well I can honestly say the B&O is plenty loud enough for me. You are just reinforcing my plan to buy stock in hearing aid companies as I’m convinced all of you will be friggin deaf by age 60… lol

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

In comparison to the 9 speaker setup, how does the B&O system sound at highway speeds once you factor in road/wind noise? (I have the 9 speaker in my EcoBoost and I found the sound quality conflicting depending on what music I was playing on the highway. For city driving it's fine as it's 90% of my driving. But if I could I'd like to get a better highway sound experience if possible.)

Thanks in advance!

 

[HWill]

Just adding speakers to this car will not fix it. You have to be able to grab the signal after the head before the amp. Insert a DSP, add your speakers, amps and such and retune. The technology to do this does not exist as of yet, Ford spend Millions tuning this vehicle, and for what it is, its not the best I have ever heard but it is nicely balanced, slapping a bunch subs in the back without though will just make the car obnoxious and boomy. You need to grab the signal at the back, preferably at the sub, use an audio control LCI, use a clean amp, like a rockford, alpine, audio control has some really nice sub amps, and get something like a rockford 10", something that will go in a small enclosure, 1 cube or less. Make sure its sealed do not do any ported crap.

That should solve your discomfort with the system. Replacing speakers without retuning is just dumb and you will not get any benefit out of it. The factory speakers if they are a lower ohm, it will just make the system sound louder, not better.

This is not true! There are a few devices that can get the signal from just before the amp. This is not new and is what we have been doing for around 6 years with the Ford B&O. One of the first was the Zen A2B and there are like 3 others, some even include a DSP.

 

[Antarctica24]

This is not true! There are a few devices that can get the signal from just before the amp. This is not new and is what we have been doing for around 6 years with the Ford B&O. One of the first was the Zen A2B and there are like 3 others, some even include a DSP.

Dont be spreading incorrect information there is nothing available today to grab the low level signal before the amp on the 2024 mustang B & O system. The NAV TV system was the only thing that could do it but it wont work on the 2024. You can use a plethora of things to grab a high level sign off the rear speaker or off the sub to add an amp and sub upgrade, but to do it correctly and with the best sound, you need to grab the signal right after the head unit and a way to do that in the aftermarket does not exist as of today.

Grabbing a high level signal is no better than listening to AM radio. Its junk, its always been junk and will always be junk. You cant get rid of the underlying Total Harmonic Distortion using a High Level signal. Sorry.

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