Gang: I picked up my slightly used 2011 Convertible V6 in early December. I can already tell that this Shaker unit is going to be an issue for me. It sounds pretty muffled and muddy to me even with the treble up and the bass in the middle. It seems a little better when using my iPod but the radio and CDs just do not sound good. The sound in my Honda Odyssey is infinitely better and my wife's Escape sounds much better as well. So is this an issue with just the speakers or do a lot of people swap out the whole gig? I used to be into this stuff when I was in my 20s and replacing stereos was a habit of mine but things have changed. How do audio places contend with all of the molded plastic around the radio and make new units look good? Do they have a molded piece that they put in place that allows the new unit to go in and make it look cosmetic? I don't know if I would ever do this but over time the radio will probably be a point of frustration for me.

 

Just replace the door speakers with a nice set of components and bypass the factory amp and install an aftermarket amp. That way you dont have to ruin the look of the stock flow.

 

Yeah, I wondered about that. If it was just the speakers that were causing the muffled/muddy sound, I could see swapping those out. And you're saying to upgrade the amp to get a little more wattage in the cottage? It's good to have a little extra oomph with the convertible because sound has nothing to bounce off of. I like the sound of this and should probably go see an audio guy. I had a 1984 convertible and I put an Alpine system in it that had some really good sound & a lot of power. Thanks for the reply!