Has anyone looked into adding an aftermarket sound system in their new F-150? I heard there could be difficulties adding to or swapping out to a better system with a sub. I'm thinking battery issues running everything? I just picked up my 2015 3.5L Ecoboost Supercrew, and the NON-Sony speaker system leaves A LOT to be desired. Let me know what you guys think.

 

Battery issues are simple to solve. You can upgrade the factory battery, do the big 3, get a higher output alternator, add a second battery, etc.


The main problem you'll hit is if you want to swap head-units since replacement bezels that are currently out aren't the best looking and are upwards up $200. Then with an aftermarket headunit swap maintaining all the steering wheel controls, etc. get's even more expensive.

If you're keeping the factory headunit though, you can wire in a nice line out converter like LC7i to be able to add your own amps.

 

Thanks Pizzaman. I am going to keep the original head unit. I was thinking of swapping out the speakers for something much better. Then installing an amp somewhere to power a sub under the passenger side rear seat.

P.S. now I'm hungry for Pizza.

 

If your only swapping speakers and not amping them, you can just do a direct swap. However if the factory speakers in the 2015 are anything like the ones in the 09-14's they're actually decent speakers. It's the headunit that's the real limiting factor because it doesn't have a big enough internal amp.

 

I am pretty happy with the "higher end" Myford Touch system. It is lacking with the low end though. I have talked to Kicker already and they will have out a 2015 specific sub/amp package ready later this spring.

 

I must say I was really impressed with the sound on the new speakers. Cranked up the techo music with no distortion.

But the sub left A LOT to be desired. It was rattling my pant legs right in front of the door speakers but I was not feeling the bass I was just hearing it. My 07 has better bass feeling than the 15 did with the sony sound.

 

I have to second pizzamans comment about the speakers being about the same. I will say mine bangs pretty hard and it sounds really clean. I like the sound quality in the 15's it appears to have everything i had in my old truck. I had a the shaker audio system in my mustang and it hit so hard that the doors rattled and didnt sound good at all. Our trucks have that nice hit and low end bass(if you have the sony box in the backseat). Stil clean i just wish it was "Louder" with the same quality.. its still pretty loud but 10-15% increase in sound loudness wouldnt hurt

 

Wish mine had more bass. I checked with Kicker this week, and they said to check back monthly.

 

I had an 07 with the factory audiophile system and hit a lot harder and was louder and sounded better than the current sony setup does. The biggest problem is the sony amp they use is rated around 400 watts peak for all 9, 10 or 12 speakers in the system, including the sub. That means on a 10 speaker setup you are getting ~ 20 watts rms per channel, probably less. If you want to feel as well as hear the sub it should have at 3 times the power of the door speakers, if not more, not the same.

If you have the sony setup in your 15 and want to upgrade, you can follow what I did as a guide (even tho I went a little over board) the wire colors most likely have changed for the 15's but the wiring is probably the same. I have had 4 newer fords with the sony setup (an 11 fusion SEL, a 12 focus titanium, a 13 escape titanium, and my 13 F150 FX4) and they all used the same wiring setup. When you look at the amp with the plugs on the right, the bottom plug is the inputs (closest to you) and includes the 12v amp turn on. The middle plug is a 16 pin plug with two rows of 8 (the top row is all the + leads and the bottom is all the - leads) and this is your outputs to all the speakers in the doors and the center channel in the dash. The top plug (farthest from you) is the power, ground and the sub outputs. On this plug, the larger wires at the far end is the power and ground, while the smaller 18 ga wires grouped together in a clump of 4 is you sub wires, which follow the same pattern as the speaker out plug, + on the top row and - on the bottom.

Hope this helps you guys with 15's and here is my build if you want to look it over and see if you can get anymore tips.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sp...-upgrades.html