Center audio sounds horrible

[rreddy3]

Looks like 80s modern. That’s fairly recent. Attached is a representative image of the dash panel of my first car. It’s not my actual car. Just representative of make and year. When I first drove the car it was only 8 or 9 years old. Eventually rust got it. It might be pretty cool to have one now, flat head vee 8 and all ??

v

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[rreddy3]

Looks like 80s modern. That’s fairly recent. Attached is a representative image of the dash panel of my first car. It’s not my actual car. Just representative of make and year. When I first drove the car it was only 8 or 9 years old. Eventually rust got it. It might be pretty cool to have one now, flat head vee 8 and all ??

v

geez, I almost forgot, this one may have come before the modern car above. It’s a representative image of the dash of a 1930 Dodge DD six, I had one of these. It would be nice to have it now too. Dodge was the first with an “all steel body”, made by Budd as I recall. All steel meaning not wood coach work building style like Morgans I’ve owned and every other car from that era. Dodge was also a pioneer in hydraulic brakes. Three speed crash box. Off topic. Yep.

 

[Ahlarict]

My first car was a heavily modded Mustang II Ghia (this is someone else's but I had the same interior). The wheezing 4-banger had been upgraded to a rumbling 289 V8, and I'd upgraded the sound system from its' original 8-track to a decent 4-speaker (no sub) Kenwood aftermarket system. That 8-track may have been fine for the Barry Manilow tape the car came with, but the Kenwood was much better suited to the Nirvana CD it spent most of its time spinning.

 

[StuMc]

I'm kinda of jealous of you guys that had the very cool first car experience. My first motorized transportation was a 1972 Honda CB350 because that was all I could afford. My first car was a base model 1975 VW Rabbit with no power anything and an AM only radio that had a single built in speaker. This sound system (if you want to call it that) was commonly referred to as the boombox. I loved that car anyways and it proved to be nearly indestructible.

So yes, the stock premium system in the Mach-E sounds very nice on its own. But can it be improved with reasonable time and expense (and of course "reasonable" is highly subjective)? I'm now convinced that it can. Even if the cost/time/ benefit analysis was a loser, I'd still probably do it, because I'm just a nerdy guy who loves a project and can't help but modify everything I own.

Ahlarict, that Mustang II Ghia is gorgeeous!

 

[StuMc]

Did you and @rreddy3 install it with the inline crossover filter or without? I do have a dedicated subwoofer installed in the trunk if it makes any difference...

I did the same as rreddy3 and installed it without the inline filter. Since we are just swapping out the driver, it is safe to assume that the stock B&O system already accounts for limitations of the stock driver and the Kenwood should have no problem at all playing within those parameters.

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

Great to hear that the speaker arrived and you had no problems with the install. I have a big smile from reading that you too are a Surround mode convert with the Kenwood center channel. I'm loving it and can't go back to stereo. Today I finished my subwoofer installation. I used the Hertz DBA 201 which is a very compact box with a built in Class D amplifier. It has one active 8" driver and two passive 8" drivers. It's current draw is very low, so I was able to power it with the 12v accessory plug in the back deck. I have a wide velcro strip on the bottom and on the rubber mat, so it stays put, but can easily be unplugged and moved if I need the space. I'm quite satisfied with the sound.

Thanks for the info! Looking into subwoofers now. Nothing too crazy. It’s a lease so keeping mods to a minimum.

 

[StuMc]

Thanks for the info! Looking into subwoofers now. Nothing too crazy. It’s a lease so keeping mods to a minimum.

Mine is also a lease. That is partly why I went the Hertz sub route. I got the connector for the stock subwoofer from Mark Boris and used it to connect the new sub. I can easily reconnect the stock sub to return it to stock. Same thing with using the 12v accessory plug for power.

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

I think I’m going to go the 12v plug route as well. What gauge did you get? I see them from 16 - 12 on Amazon.

I will probably order the kicker 51HS10 so it’s out of the way. It’s 10” with 15amp fuse rating. Looks like it’ll fit in the foam without mods.

 

[StuMc]

I think I’m going to go the 12v plug route as well. What gauge did you get? I see them from 16 - 12 on Amazon.

I will probably order the kicker 51HS10 so it’s out of the way. It’s 10” with 15amp fuse rating. Looks like it’ll fit in the foam without mods.

I used this 14 gauge one from Amazon. I just cut and stripped the non- business end and attached it to my sub's harness.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00G8WLX14?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

Perfect.
Do you recall the speaker wire colors for the sub? I have a 24 Premium as well.

 

[Ahlarict]

Perfect.
Do you recall the speaker wire colors for the sub? I have a 24 Premium as well.

@markboris wrote the book on how to install your sub-woofer in an MME, and this guy demonstrates how to do the same while removing things that don't need to be removed (like the rear hatch gasket) and wiring it up as neatly as the 12th owner of a 1980s Chevy Citation that "runs but needs a little work".

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

Thanks!

I’ve seen that video already but didn’t notice what year model that was?

I’m pretty sure I have the info from @markboris thread as well. But it can be a bit confusing as model year is not always clear with some posts.

I thought I had read that the colors changed on the 24?

 

[markboris]

I thought I had read that the colors changed on the 24?

Hey Rick, the wire colors are the same on the '24 Sub. Green/Violet +, Gray -

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

Fantastic. Thank you for the confirmation!!!

 

[Buh-Bye Tesla]

@markboris wrote the book on how to install your sub-woofer in an MME, and this guy demonstrates how to do the same while removing things that don't need to be removed (like the rear hatch gasket) and wiring it up as neatly as the 12th owner of a 1980s Chevy Citation that "runs but needs a little work".

So any thread or video showing how to access the 12v/sub area that shows what properly needs to be removed or was the gasket the only extra thing he removed in that video?

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