Audio/stereo improvements.

I have a '15 "Premium". Not really a bad stereo- but wondering what others are doing as a "bang for the buck" improvement to the factory stereo. I noticed that mine has no speakers on the rear deck. One in each door and 3? vertical above the dash.

Not much you can do with small scratch.

 

Since the HU is of an abnormal shape, I was thinking of eventually adding a digital signal processor (DSP), with line level inputs, an amp, and component speakers. I'm too cheap to do so, though, so I haven't done much research.

 

FWIW, I've tried adding "better" speakers to past vehicles, with a stock HU, and was sorely disappointed. I lost all low frequency and the mids/highs weren't powered well enough (with a decent enough output) to sound even halfway decent. In the past, for double-din applications, an aftermarket head unit has been the best bang for the buck for me.

Metra has a dash kit so you can use either a double din or single din head unit in our cars.

95-8906HG

99-8906HG

I upgraded my factory speakers and tweeters to kicker speakers. The 6.5" we're around $55 a pair and the tweeters were $45 a pair. There is an improvement over stock even on the factory headunit. The real improvement in sound will be amplifying the speakers as the factory head unit is not powerful enough.

I upgraded my factory speakers and tweeters to kicker speakers. The 6.5" we're around $55 a pair and the tweeters were $45 a pair. There is an improvement over stock even on the factory headunit. The real improvement in sound will be amplifying the speakers as the factory head unit is not powerful enough.

 

Good input!

 

I'll qualify the following with: I'm an amateur and far from an expert, audiophile-level guru. It has also been a while (~10 years since I last messed with modifying car audio)...

 

Amplifying the crappy output from the stock HU will just make for a louder, low-quality sound. If you're going to spend the money to replace speakers and amplify them, then it behooves you to replace the stock head unit with one that has a decent DSP built-in; otherwise, add an external DSP for a clean, stock look that won't draw the attention of thieves, like a fancy face-plate on an aftermarket HU will.

 

I've gone about this a few ways, including replacing the stock speakers with nicer 6.5" three-ways, using the stock head unit, and it sounded pretty terrible. I lost all low-frequency response (no bass) and the rest of the range would distort at even moderate volumes. The stock HU simply couldn't keep up. Even with a decent Alpine HU, the stock Ford 6X8" (IIRC) speakers were noticeably better-sounding, EVEN THOUGH the tweeter was nothing more than a paper cone.

 

With an amp, using RCA inputs from the Alpine HU, the aftermarket speakers (both the indoor 6.5" Phoenix and boxed 6X9" Alpines) sounded amazing! The amp was a beat old model that had seen better days, but it made everything sound amazing.

The problem is there isn't a whole lot that you can do going with an aftermarket radio while integrating it with the OEM functions. My plan is amplifying the factory head unit and using a bass restorer for the frequencies the factory head unit filters out. Overall I think you can do a decent upgrade over stock for around $400-500. The bass restorer is only about $60.

I have a '16 base model. I did consider keeping the stock HU but ended up scrapping the lot and went with:

Kenwood DDX9018DABS head unit

Pioneer TS-D65C splits front

Pioneer TS-D65F rear

Pioneer GM-D9605 amp

Pioneer TS-SWX2502 sub