I am stereo challenged and need some questions answered.

With the audiophile option, is the addition of a subwoofer the only difference between it and the regular 6-cd changer system?

Is there a jack/plug (?) in the stock radio/cd changer to plug the subwoofer into? And if so will the stock controls automatically allow me more menu options for fine tuning (rather than just bass and treble as it is now)?

Should I order the subwoofer & "box" from Ford at $327.69 (quote from dealer parts dept) or should I turn elsewhere?

As you can tell I'm not familiar with all things stereo, but need an education from those of you who know your way around. I am not happy with the sound of the stock stereo in my new truck.

Suggestions appreciated.

Gregory

 

The audiophile has component speakers in the front doors, or atleast has an extra set of tweeters, plus an amplifier.

Your best option is probably going to be to go with a full-on aftermarket system. Problem with that is that the steering wheel controls wont work anymore. There are no extra outputs on your factory head unit. I suppose if you wanted, you could just upgrade the speakers in the doors, and then get an amp that takes speaker level inputs (in addition to RCA's) and then add a sub, however it'll never sound as good as an aftermarket deck with good speakers.

It all depends on how much money you want to throw at it.

 

Thanks for the information. Any suggestions for a new deck that wouldn't change the appearance of the dash too much?

It looks like component speakers for the front and rear run about $275 (Infinity Kappa) for either, and the subwoofer set-up around $350. Any suggestions for the subwoofer?

Thanks again for the information.

 

I found a guy who sells custom sub boxes for the 2004 F-150 SuperCrew. He has single and dual 10" sub boxes. You add the sub yourself. The boxes run $60.00 for single and $70.00 for double. The price includes shipping. If you're interested send me an email. I'm not sure how the advertisement thing works.....

 

Sure they will! http://www.pac-audio.com/products/swi.htm

Anythings possible.

I would not try to turn your non-audiophile setup into one. Cost to much for too little benefits. Aftermarket is the way to you for you.

 

Blue G - Infinity has a lower end of components, the Reference. They are quite a bit cheaper than the Kappas, and are fine if you are building a budget system.

While there are differences of opinion on the subect, you might consider just disconnecting your rear speakers all together. Whatever budget you were going to spend on upgrading the rear speakers could be better spent on othe parts of the system.

you can do some research on audio at www.crutchfield.com If you buy from there, they will give you instructions and all the adapters you might need.

IMO, you could do a decent sounding system for the following budget:

Head unit (preferably with a non-fading subwoofer output) $250 $400

Component front speakers - $100 - $200

Sub - single 8" or 10" $100-$150

Sub Box - $50 (do it yourself) to $100

Amp (4 channel, 2 to front and 2 bridged to the sub) $200 - $300

Wiring to Sub & Amp $50 - $100

So if you get all this stuff new and do your own install, you are looking at $750 - $1,250 but it would absolutely put your stock system to shame.

 

Do some checking in the four audio forums here, you will see alot of diff. setups in peoples galleries. You can install after market speakers, amps, and sub and stay with you stock head unit using line convertors as I did. I wanted to keep the stcok look, but that's just me. You can also get those Kappas a lot cheaper on e-bay.
Good luck.

 

Great information, I need to educate myself some more over the next few weeks and then make my move!

I will continue to monitor the audio forums and peruse everybody's galleries.

Thanks. I'll keep you posted.

 

Blue G, you are in the same boat I am in. Do a search for my username in the Audio forums...many of the answers there will apply to you as well, I'm betting.

My system thus far:

Nakamichi MB-75 head unit/changer

4 Infinity Kappas (about $140 on ebay, new)

I'm going to do a 8" sub, amps and EQ next.

Mike

 

Coronach-

Do you have a photo of what your dash looks like with your Nakamichi installed?

I really want to maintain the look of the current dash, but maybe that isn't possible for a quality after-market sound system (although I did see the XM satellite system in Dupuis' (?) and really appreciated the way he put the receiver in the ashtray).

Thanks for the info about doing a search, I am going to do that!

Regards,

GREG

 

I think you would be very impressed with my sound even with the stock head.
Good luck!

 

Arg! I'm sorry, I just saw this now.

No, I don't have a pic of the dash yet, as its kinda/sorta not done yet. Its sitting in there, but I have not yet hooked up my RCAs, so have to use the amp block, and didn't want to mount it elsewhere, so its attached to the back of the HU...so, it doesn't slide the whole way in. It just kinda sits there, looking all ghetto and cheap.

Once I get the amps in, I'll run the RCAs, finish the install, and snap a few pics.

Mike

 

BTW, the Nakamichi looks very old-school high-quality. Clean black face, small buttons, green display. Not flashy at all. In fact, I bet that if you left the face plate on most thieves would look at it and think its not a high-end stereo. This might be a drawback to some, but I like it.

Mike

 

Great can't wait to see it.

I just put in my new speakers, sub-woofer and a satellite radio yesterday, and have been driving all over town today listening to music (life is good!). And with the memories of all of the recent galleries with screens mounted on the dash, I kept thinking, you've got this great sound, now you need pictures!

If they carried Kenwood at the stereo store, I probably would have had them install an Excelon and a rear camera (it sure would make hitching to my trailer a breeze). I can tell that (or something like it) is coming soon!

BTW, thanks to everyone for their suggestions and photo galleries of their installs! Thanks to all of you, I sort of sounded like I knew what I was talking about with the stereo store (although I did nod my head more than I usually do, and said "uh-huh" a lot!) when I was setting up an appointment, or maybe they were just being nice to the "old man".

GREG

 

Dupuis, et al

I'm in the same boat as you. Purchased a 2005 F150 SuperCrew, no audiophile, and don't like the way it sounds.

A few really newbie questions: How do you get the panel off of the speakers as Dupuis showed? Does it just yank off, or do you need special tools?

Dupuis "line converters", do they add noise to the signal?

How do you get to the back of the head unit? Where does the Subwoofer connect to?

Has anyone tried the infinity powered suwoofers?

Thanks

DD