Installing New Amp and Speakers Information

[MyLittlePony2022]

There have been several threads with input on how to install new speakers, including a sub, and new amps. Most of the information is on the forum in pieces, but being a geek and wanting to know I plan to do it, I did the research. Apologies about the length of the post but I want to be precise.

I am working on picking my components and probably will start with the speakers first and then look at new amps further down the road. Thanks to everyone on the forum who has provided all the great information. Below is what I know and other can help enhance the knowledge. Hopefully, someone has replaced the amps themselves and can provide real-world data. Some of the members on the forum have had amps professionally installed but specific details are not known about the means and methods.

Links to some of the threads that have the information
Subwoofer replacement
Discussion on B*O System
Ford factory A²B® (Automotive Audio Bus) & SYNC3


Specifications on B&O system
- 560 watts (not sure if that is RMS or peak)
- 9 speakers and sub
- Front dash and rear door speakers: 25mm or 0.98 inch tweeters ( 1 pair per)
- Center dash speaker: 80 mm or 3.15 inch mid (One speaker)
- Front door and rear door speakers: 160mm or 6.3 inch mid (1 pair per)
- Rear woofer: 160mm by 236mm or 6.3 inches by 9.29 inches

The front dash tweeters and center speaker are fed from the head end unit (radio) directly into the wiring harness and to the speakers. By assumption, the amp is within the head end unit and the signal must be analog. I am waiting on Crutchfield to put my speakers on sale and then my amplifier. Not in a hurry so I will wait for a sale. Also, need to do some more research and investigation on speaker dept.

The head end unit sends a digital signal to the rear amp via the harness. The rear amp send signal to the front door mids and the rear door mids and tweeters.
The head end unit sends a signal to the subwoofer amp, in the rear, via the harness. The rear subwoofer amp send signal to the subwoofer. This is analog.

Replacement of the speakers should be fairly simply and most depths should work. I have not seen any post on the exact depths that will work. I will take measurements and pictures when I do my replacements and post.

Adding aftermarket amplifier(s) is a bit more complex.

• The OEM rear amp receives a digital signal. Amplifier integration interface is required to convert to an analog signal for the aftermarket amp.
• The one specific interface that I know has been confirmed (via the company's website and via phone calls from members and myself) to be for the MME is the PAC AP4-FD31. PAC customer support said that they are expecting more of these kits back in but do not have a definitive timeline. The last units they got sold out quickly. They did say it would be this year.
  • There are others like NAVTV or iDatalink Maestro. I have not done the detailed research on them to validate if they make products that will work for the MME. The iDatalink Maestro is available for the Mustang coupe but the aftermarket amp that will interface with it is limited to Kenwood and Audison.
• The PAC interface kit comes with a wiring harness to connect to the OEM harness to receive power and digital signal. This connects into the interface.
  • From the interface, you can run RCA or TOSLINK (if applicable) signal to the aftermarket amp. If you want to power each speaker you will need to have a six channel for the front doors and rear doors or a eight channel for all the speakers except the dash center. More below on that.
  • The kit also has a connection harness to feed the amplified signal from the aftermarket amp back directly into the OEM wiring harness. No need to run new speaker wire, unless you want to upsize. Suggested video to watch if you do plan to replace or upsize.
  • In addition, the kit comes with the t-harness to go between the head end unit (ACU as they call it) and the wiring harness for the three front speakers. The literature does not explain this but the harness (should be similar to the LPHFD31) provides connections for the signal input into the aftermarket amp, remote start, and connection for the amplified signal back into the harness. Again, this allows you to directly connect to the speakers.
  • With the PAC interface, the front dash speakers have to powered by an aftermarket amp, per the PAC literature. I am not sure why since the PAC unit is specifically for the everything but the front dash speaker. However, if you are going to add an aftermarket amp to six of the nine speakers, why not do all eight or nine. If you are going to power the dash speakers, with an amp, you will either need to ...
    • Put the amp in the rear. This would require running the input signal, and possibly the remote out (unless you jump the remote from the rear amp) from the front t-harness to the aftermarket amp. You then have to run the speaker inputs from the aftermarket amp to front to interface with the new t-harness. If you want to run all three speakers you will have to get a three or four channel amp. You could disconnect the middle speaker and go with a two channel amp. Also, you could use a two channel amp and have one of the channels power the mid. However, that gets complicated since the mid (3.5" speakers) and the tweeters (1" speaker) would have different frequency cross-overs.
      • Another variable to this is to get a 8 channel amp to power all the speakers. Amp would be located in the rear. The center speaker would have to be either disconnected or powered by one of the 8 channels, as noted above. Of course, you could try to find a 9 or 10 channel amp which are not common.
    • Put the amp up front. Process is the same as noted above but the runs got to the aftermarket amp in the front. There may be space under the dashboard. I l did some cursory investigation and certainly did not see open space large enough for an amp. There is no room under the seat due to height clearances from the seat cross support brace.

If you replace the subwoofer, which I did and highly recommend, you will have to run power from the battery. The same can be said for the amp. Most of the manufacturers provide the minimum cable size for their products, for a direct single run. Do not forget to put a inline fuse close the battery to protect the power cable. The fuse on the amp only protects the amp. Fire in a car, with lithium batteries, is not a good thing.

Per JL Audio recommendation, I ran an 8 gauge for my subwoofer and it was fairly easily. I ran it on the drivers side. I could not cleanly run it under the door sill covers and had to do a small spot near the driver's seat between the frame and the carpet.

If you plan to run power for multiple amplifiers, don't forget to do the math to determine the correct power cable size and fuse size running into the your fuse block. The fuse block becomes the distribution to the amps but also add another fuse protection for the amp. See link for videos of determining wire size and fuse size. There are tables that also help to determine the wire size based on the length of the wire run.

Finally, if you are a geek like me, I am going to put sound deadening on the doors to help the acoustics. See the following: link 1, and link 2. If you like to research an determine the best way of doing an install, I would suggest looking on Car Audio Fabrications' website.


Hope this helps and please help add to the knowledge base.

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[AlpaChino]

God damn that's a lot of work.

I hope all of this effort pays off for you.

 

[markboris]

William, just wanted to comment on sound deadening a car. This is the first thing I do to all of my vehicles and it's not just to quiet down the car. I mainly do this to help the acoustics. Nothing is worse than a vibrating metal speaker enclosure. All my doors are covered, both the outer skin and inner baffle area with dynamat butyl rubber for reducing panel vibration and outside noise deadening. I then cover the dynamat with dynaliner 1/4" foam for acoustic dampening inside the doors reducing standing waves and internal reflections. The sound is so much cleaner coming from the door speakers.

Also added both of these materials to the rear quarter panels and the entire floor of the cargo area. While this makes the rear of the car quieter, it allows the sub to play cleaner since it's no longer surrounded but vibrating metal panels. In the Mach-E I didn't have to line the floor under the seats since the battery is below and noise and vibration are not present in this car in that area.

I really think this should always be the first thing you do before you spend any money on an upgraded audio system because sometimes it can change the sound so much, you don't need to upgrade as much as originally thought. Needless to say, I've had this car completely torn apart and while it takes me a couple of days and 36 sq. ft of both materials (about 30 lbs total), it was more than worth it. It always is.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

@markboris Thanks for the great information. I was planning on doing sound deadening for the doors when I replace the speakers. If I am going to tear all the panels off to do the acoustic matt, I am changing out the speakers.

I am still doing the research on how and what to do. The tip on putting the dynaliner foam is appreciated. I did put some sound deadening on the floor of the trunk when I replaced the subwoofer. I got that idea from you.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

God damn that's a lot of work.

I hope all of this effort pays off for you.

It is a bit of effort. That is why I am doing the speakers first. I know replacing the OEM speakers is definitely going to make a difference. I was going to do sound deadening but I am going to make more of an effort to improve the acoustics that way. With the deadening and new speakers, that might make a bid difference and I may not install aftermarket amplifier(s). If I do decide amps are needed, I will wait a while.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

A quick update... Crutchfield had the Infinity Kappa 603CF's on sale this week so I got two sets. I was looking at the Morel's but decided to go with the Infinity's. Crutchfield has a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. However, I think they will be a vast improvement.

I will be replacing the front dash tweeters, front door mids and both of the rear door speakers. I listened to the system in stereo and surround mode, and I like it much better in stereo. I am not going to replace the center speaker and will leave it in place, with the system set to "stereo mode". I will also add sound deadening to the doors, that arrived already.

I will document my replacement and post pictures when I am done. I plan to take measurement so anyone who is going to follow me will know the opening diameters, depths, etc. If you are interested in know something specific related to the replacement, reach out to me.

I am still thinking about upgrading to an aftermarket amplifier so I can get more power to the speakers and use the amps built in digital signal processor (DSP) to fine tune the system. That is another purchase, when on sale.

 

[CzarR]

@MyLittlePony2022 and @markboris, I see Mach E only has 35 amp hour battery. How much max wattage can this handle? I am thinking of using Helix V Eight(for all speakers- active) and Helix M one(aftermarket SI BM MKV shallow subwoofer) along with Pac of course. Wonder if the 12v battery can handle.

 

[markboris]

@MyLittlePony2022 and @markboris, I see Mach E only has 35 amp hour battery. How much max wattage can this handle? I am thinking of using Helix V Eight(for all speakers- active) and Helix M one(aftermarket SI BM MKV shallow subwoofer) along with Pac of course. Wonder if the 12v battery can handle.

For the OEM stereo plus adding a sub like I did, the 35 amp hour battery is ok. However if you are going all out on a system (haven't been following what you are building) what I normally do is add an extra battery. I use an XS Power battery in the rear when I build my systems. They are very expensive but small and powerful.

Below is a photo of the system I put in my Escape 10 years ago. You can see the little XS Power battery just behind the 12" JL Audio PowerWedge sub (that took the place of the spare tire). Other components are an Audison Bit One Signal Processor (takes the digital output from Sync 3, flattens the frequency and sends analog channels to my amps), Mosconi AS 200.4 amp powering ES 165 K2 Focal component speakers, JL HD750/1 amp powering the sub.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

For the OEM stereo plus adding a sub like I did, the 35 amp hour battery is ok. However if you are going all out on a system (haven't been following what you are building) what I normally do is add an extra battery. I use an XS Power battery in the rear when I build my systems. They are very expensive but small and powerful.

Below is a photo of the system I put in my Escape 10 years ago. You can see the little XS Power battery just behind the 12" JL Audio PowerWedge sub (that took the place of the spare tire). Other components are an Audison Bit One Signal Processor (takes the digital output from Sync 3, flattens the frequency and sends analog channels to my amps), Mosconi AS 200.4 amp powering ES 165 K2 Focal component speakers, JL HD750/1 amp powering the sub.

@markboris that is cool set up. Very impressed.

 

[CzarR]

For the OEM stereo plus adding a sub like I did, the 35 amp hour battery is ok. However if you are going all out on a system (haven't been following what you are building) what I normally do is add an extra battery. I use an XS Power battery in the rear when I build my systems. They are very expensive but small and powerful.

Below is a photo of the system I put in my Escape 10 years ago. You can see the little XS Power battery just behind the 12" JL Audio PowerWedge sub (that took the place of the spare tire). Other components are an Audison Bit One Signal Processor (takes the digital output from Sync 3, flattens the frequency and sends analog channels to my amps), Mosconi AS 200.4 amp powering ES 165 K2 Focal component speakers, JL HD750/1 amp powering the sub.

Oh I see. Great setup.

I followed your thread and accordingly setup Helix G one amp for SI BM Mkv 12inch shallow sub. 500 watts RMS.

Now planning to get Pac with Helix V Eight (DSP/AMP) for all the speakers. Not planning on any speaker upgrade. Since I will be turning off oem amp and replacing with Helix, will that make any difference in terms of power consumption? If that is the case I am thinking about audison ap8.9 too which is has low rated power consumption.

 

[markboris]

@markboris that is cool set up. Very impressed.

Thanks William. It was a pain setting up the Audison processor to get things working as there were no PAC units available at that time for Sync 3. For the Focus RS, I was able to use a Pac like you guys are doing which made things much easier. Only issue I had was, there was absolutely no room in the front doors to install the large Focal crossover boxes so had to keep them in the back (they are stacked one on top of the other). The rear doors had plenty of room for them. Would be nice if we had this much room under the cargo floor of our MME's.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

@MyLittlePony2022 and @markboris, I see Mach E only has 35 amp hour battery. How much max wattage can this handle? I am thinking of using Helix V Eight(for all speakers- active) and Helix M one(aftermarket SI BM MKV shallow subwoofer) along with Pac of course. Wonder if the 12v battery can handle.

@CzarR I am not a stereo geek and have to do research to learn. Others may be better qualified like @markboris. Here is my input.

The battery capacity at 35 amp hours can provide somewhere between ~367.5 watt hours (10.5 volts) and ~504 watt hours (14.4 volts). My sub woofer amp and my planned speaker amplifier both will be 400 watt amps. Depending upon the efficiency and the actual power draw (how hard are you driving the speakers with volume) will determine how many watts it is pulling. If we assume 70%, the wattage for two 400 amp amplifiers is 560 watts. If you go up to 80%, then 640 watts. In this situation the amplifiers if being driven hard, would exceed the battery. However, I don't think I will be making my ears bleed and driving it that hard

If this were an ICE car, you would need to determine the estimated current draw to fully power the amplifiers. In my case, that is two 400 watt amps or 800 watts divided by the efficiency, say 70%, which is 1143 watts. Divide this by the battery voltage (13v) and you get the input power to fully drive the amplifier to 400 watts each. This is highly unlikely but we are doing math. This is ~88 amps. If the 60 amp alternator had 60% spare capacity, then the amp can supply 36 amps. Subtract that from the 88 amps and the battery needs to be ~52 amp hours.

I do not know how much current can be pulled from the high voltage battery (HVB) to feed the battery. If the answer is zero, than the two amps requirement of 88 amp will exceed the batteries capacity of 35 amp hours. If the HVB can provide 53 amps, then the battery is ok.

 

[markboris]

Oh I see. Great setup.

I followed your thread and accordingly setup Helix G one amp for SI BM Mkv 12inch shallow sub. 500 watts RMS.

Now planning to get Pac with Helix V Eight (DSP/AMP) for all the speakers. Not planning on any speaker upgrade. Since I will be turning off oem amp and replacing with Helix, will that make any difference in terms of power consumption? If that is the case I am thinking about audison ap8.9 too which is has low rated power consumption.

I think you will be ok as long as you don't turn up the system until your ears bleed like William said. . I have to say, I don't know in detail how the whole charging system works in this car. I never looked into it and don't really care to since I'm not doing anything crazy with the stereo or any other electrical mods.

 

[CzarR]

Got you guys. Thank you @@MyLittlePony2022 and @markboris.

 

[Sillybibbles]

Some great setups, but all seem to be with the Premium B&O system. Has anyone run a setup from a Select with the stock system? I don't think they have a sub. Would you run the signal at speaker level from the doors back to the trunk & do a speaker level to line level converter?

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