I think you guys are right when you say that aftermarket stuff is better than a stock.

Unfortunately, i dont know of anybody who has one that can check out to see how such a setup feels. Its not like a I can go to a dealer and see.

Any suggestions?

If i end up getting a car with base audio, I would go the aftermarket route. If i have to change the radio itself, does it destroy the look of the dash panel?

Thanks for all the great suggestions guys

 

My HU's enhanced the interior! Have the same light color scheme as the instrumentation and ambient lighting...looks great!

 

I probably stand alone here, but I disagree. Aftermarket equipment may have more features, but in terms of quality/robustness it's all junk.

 

lol what?

is this a joke?

 

You sure do stand alone and for good reasons.
Where do you think that Ford gets its sound system from eh?

 

No.

a sparkly cone and "rigid" cast aluminum frame are meaningless when the speaker has tons of distortion at 1/4 of its rated power.

a handful of suppliers who produce parts to Ford specifications.

 

I don't know what brand of aftermarket speakers you've been listening to, but I guarantee my Focals can go much louder than the stock units without distorting. I've turned it up to the point where it hurts to listen and there was still no distortion. The only changes to the shelby's system were the speakers and the head units. My wife's setup is 100% aftermarket and gets so loud you cant be in the car, it rattles crap around...it's insane. We bought it that way. I think everything speaker wise in it except the trunk subs are alpine and it doesn't distort.

However, I will admit that we bought some speakers for my F150 and they pretty much fit the bill of what you said. I'd have to dig around for the brand but it's the first and last time I will buy those. A buddy recommended them and obviously we have different tastes. Then again, I've played everything from drums to sax for many years in many different bands, run Denon/Definitive/focals for my home theater while he only plays the skin flute and thinks sony cheapo speakers are audiophile quality. He also thinks that his Mitsu Lancer is better than my Shelby. Yeah, at gas mileage and groceries maybe.

 

Exactly. You can get bargain basement stuff from most of the mainstream brands (Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, etc). Most of them also make some really good stuff, but the $29 5x7 you see aren't going to fit that bill. With that said, there are many aftermarket brands that put out some real quality stuff - some of it is very expensive, some quite affordable. As far as durable/robustness - the same thing applies. The install kits that are available now look very factory - seemless integration if you buy a decent kit.

 

Like Bose, Infinity etc... those are aftermarket companies that sell their products to the general public and car makers.

 

#1 neither Bose nor Harman (who owns Infinity) supplies anything to Ford
#2 what any of these companies sell into the aftermarket has no bearing on what they might sell to the OEMs.