Calling All Car Audio Gurus

[Skiordie53]

Ok Heres the deal 04 Marauder with Stock Ford Premium System and 6 disc changer. Sound sux. have a 1 year old Alpine MP3 Deck and sirius tuner from my old car. can i install this in the mercury and still use the factory changer? what do i need to adapt the steering wheel radio controls? any suggestions on what else to upgrade int he system.

[rookie1]

you need a PAC SWIX to integrate the steering wheel control. I believe you are out of luck with the changer.

http://www.pac-audio.com/

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_3688.html

[RoyLPita]

Ok Heres the deal 04 Marauder with Stock Ford Premium System and 6 disc changer. Sound sux. have a 1 year old Alpine MP3 Deck and sirius tuner from my old car. can i install this in the mercury and still use the factory changer? what do i need to adapt the steering wheel radio controls? any suggestions on what else to upgrade int he system.

If the "sound sux", upgrade the speakers and subwoofer.

[twolow]

The factory radio is a nice one, its the speakers that are horrible. Changing the radio will not solve anything.

[Warpath]

Changine the HU greatly improved the sound of my Mach 460. It still sucks though.

Why do you want the changer? You have an MP3 capable HU. You could fit more than 6 albums on one CD.

[Rider90]

I found that by changing the positioning in the stock head unit to "Rear Seats" through one of the options my sound was improved greatly. On top of that I added a 12w7+1000w+1 hour of tuning the amp and the sound is very nice inside. I don't think I will be upgrading the in-door or rear speakers even. They are good enough for me, atleast for now.

If you have the seat positioning on the HU to "All Seats" it sounds HORRIBLE. You can't even get 1/3 volume up before distortion on most music. Change it to "Rear Seats" and it only takes about five seconds for you to get used to the change in sound, but it sounds that much better. :beer:

[jjaguda]

you need a PAC SWIX to integrate the steering wheel control. I believe you are out of luck with the changer.

http://www.pac-audio.com/

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_3688.html
I tried an adapter - tuneable ifrared remote - that pluged into the steering wheel. Had it professionally installed along with HU - four speakers - two amps and a sub. The steering wheel adapter worked poorly. Pulled it all out and put the stock HU back in leaving the aftermarket 5x7 three ways.

IMO, the Alpine HU will sound noticably better as it has cleaner internal amps than the stock HU. Also, if you upgrade to external amps, the pre-amp outputs on the Alpine will be at a higher voltage producing a cleaner signal to the amps. i.e. better sound.

[Lowell]

This all very simple, it just takes money. This is the list that I recommend. You will need two pair Pioneer TS-D801p, 6x8 rev speakers. One TS-SW124D Pioneer 12" thin sub, fits in a one cubic foot box. One Pioneer GM-D510M 1000 watt mono block sub amp. Metra part numbers, kit 99-5600, harness 70-5520, speaker wire adapters,72-5512. This set up has proven to work well, sounds great. The sub enclosure will fit to the left of the spare tire after you remove the factory sub. No trunk space lost. The satellite radio interface, if you want digital sound quality, purchase the mating unit for your head unit, this mating unit will work from your head unit conrols. If you want portability, choose an XM or Sirius unit with a built in rf modulator. You have a P.M.

[twolow]

Pioneer?

I could think of some better equipment than Pioneer. It used to be pretty good brand but it has caved in to discount retailers such a K-mart, Walmart, Sears, etc and quality was abandoned years ago in favor of cheap price. I've sold 12 volt electronics for a good many years and even Pioneer 'Premier' has had too many returns and complaints for my taste.

[Directedby]

A good after market head unit is far superior to the factory one. The clarity and quality of the sound is completley different.

As for Pioneer, I am very happy with this head unit.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5703&size=big&cat=500&page=1

[Mad4Macs]

The factory radio is a nice one, its the speakers that are horrible. Changing the radio will not solve anything.

I Most Respectfully Disagree. I had my 2 amps temporarily hooked into the factory deck, and yes, the sound suxed.
My current Alpine has better range, less distortion and all around better sound than the factory deck ever had.
Just beware of shops puncturing your gas tank :rolleyes:

[twolow]

I Most Respectfully Disagree. I had my 2 amps temporarily hooked into the factory deck, and yes, the sound suxed.
My current Alpine has better range, less distortion and all around better sound than the factory deck ever had.
Just beware of shops puncturing your gas tank :rolleyes:
Of course if you are running amps, aftermarket subs, etc you want to replace the radio. He said he hated the sound and was putting in another head unit (didn't mention he was replacing speakers as well). A new head unit on factory speakers will not effect anything all that much.

I didn't mean to lead anyone to thinking keeping the factory radio and run a aftermarket 'system'. :o

[Skiordie53]

Don't think i clarified myself enough. I need to do this right if i am going to do it either by using my current alpine deck with factory speakers or a new head unit. should i replace the speakers how do they sound and hold up to a 22 watt rms per channel deck. any suggestions on combonations, or anyone recoomend a sound guy in long island, ny.

[Directedby]

Don't think i clarified myself enough. I need to do this right if i am going to do it either by using my current alpine deck with factory speakers or a new head unit. should i replace the speakers how do they sound and hold up to a 22 watt rms per channel deck. any suggestions on combonations, or anyone recoomend a sound guy in long island, ny.

i personally believe power is the most important source of goor sound. that said, power would only work with a new head unit and new speakers.

I suggest you use your alpine head unit and buy a good amp and speakers.

[King Fubar]

Don't think i clarified myself enough. I need to do this right if i am going to do it either by using my current alpine deck with factory speakers or a new head unit. should i replace the speakers how do they sound and hold up to a 22 watt rms per channel deck. any suggestions on combonations, or anyone recoomend a sound guy in long island, ny.

The stock speakers are a Thunderous 25 watts that there presents the problem. I replaced mine with some cheap Pioneer 5x7's and they actually sound decent. I like the stock HU and I have put money into sound systems in all my cars, this car the cash is going into performance first.

[DEFYANT]

I've heard of S/Cer wars, but radio wars??? Whats this world coming too?

[Sully008]

Starting tomorrow, I will be installing the beginnings of my aftermarket audio system. I used to compete in IASCA (International Autosound Challenge Association) in the Pro 1-150 watt class. I'll be using almost 10 year old components, but it's still good equipment. The only new piece will be my head unit, which will be the Kenwood DDX7015.

Stage one will be the front end, which consists of the head unit, and Macrom 6" speakers in the doors, and Macrom 4" mids and 1" tweeters mounted in custom fiberglass kickpanel enclosures.

Stage two will be the trunk, which will remain secret for now. But let's just say it won't be a couple of amps screwed to a sub box thrown into the trunk. :D

I should have stage one done in the next couple of weeks. Stage two will take probably a month or two.

[Warpath]

Pioneer?

I could think of some better equipment than Pioneer. It used to be pretty good brand but it has caved in to discount retailers such a K-mart, Walmart, Sears, etc and quality was abandoned years ago in favor of cheap price. I've sold 12 volt electronics for a good many years and even Pioneer 'Premier' has had too many returns and complaints for my taste.

I agree. You can do much better than Pioneer for speakers. I can't speak about recent quality. I have an old Premier H/U and changer I bought about 7 years ago and it still works like the day I bought it. I haven't purchased anything new from Pioneer. Some Mustang guys still like Pioneer. Their top favorites are Alpine, Eclipse, and Pioneer. There are a lot of complaints about Sony (poor sound and quality). I have an Alpine HU and iPod adapter waiting to go into my Cobra.

My recommendations are to read through some car audio forums. I have links at home that I'll post later.

The second recommendation is to install the HU with the stock speakers for now. They may eventually blow and/or sound less than ideal. But, it will give you time to find speakers that you like. Go to local car stereo shops and listen to different brands. Everyone's tastes are different. You may find an "off" brand that sounds better than the name brands. You'll should find them cheap online too.

[glassman99]

I have been looking at the McIntosh and Clarion head units with McIntosh/Phoenix amplification but have not yet decided on spending the $$.

[QWK SVT]

My recommendations are to read through some car audio forums. I have links at home that I'll post later.
Take a read through the following boards:
http://forum.sounddomain.com/
http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb3/index.php
http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/

[Warpath]

Take a read through the following boards:
http://forum.sounddomain.com/
http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb3/index.php
http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/

Thanks. I forgot about it. I don't think I have any others to add.

[Warpath]

Here's a really good site for beginners.

http://www.bcae1.com/

[Gagfish]

Sound can be very objective and there is a lot to consider. Mainly what kind of sound you want to accomplish and your budget. Sound quality depends on several factors, but mainly the speaker quality, amplification quality, and proper tuning. Low budget upgrade would be to change the speakers. Next step up to change the amplification which could be done simply by swapping the head unit or adding an external amp. Thing is if you swap the amp you should also swap the head unit to one with RCA outputs. Otherwise converting from line level with the stock head will defeat the purpose of an external amp.

And I completely disagree that watts has to do with sound quality. It's the sound quality of the amp that really matters. There are many 100 watt amps that are many times superior to 500 watt or more amps. Again, it's all about budget and what you want to get out of it. My system cost me $1500 IN JUST CONNECTORS/WIRES. It's a full 8 channel system with surround sound and 32 parametric bands of EQ and 165 of graphic EQ. It's all about how far you wanna take it.