SPARTAN VI

Alright, so I'm looking for suggestions, critique, and comments on upgrading the base 4-speaker audio I have on my non-premium 2014 Mustang GT. It's going to be an ongoing DIY and a bit of R&D on my part. I plan on sticking with the stock head-unit for now, but will consider an upgrade and an amp if/when I find myself unsatisfied. Furthermore, I haven't heard any of the products (see below) that I'm considering in-person, so I'm relying a bit on Internet reviews, you guys, and... yes... brand names to make my purchase decisions. You guys and your experiences are my last line of consideration before I check-out.

I've decided to start my DIY with the pair of door speakers first, then work my way to the rear speakers when my confidence builds. Please keep in mind that I listen to rock/alt-rock almost exclusively, so I find it important to have crisp highs and a "decent" bass (i.e. not vibrating the car next to me). As such, I've been looking at speakers that include tweeters. I also realize that these front speakers alone won't hit all the items on my checklist, this is just a launching point:

Alpine SPS-517 - $100/pair

Polk Audio db571 - $100/pair

Kenwood Excelon KFC-X683C - $120/pair

I'm also looking at second skin for sound deadening on my doors, which I'm estimating is about 10 sq feet per door. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks in advance!

jz78817

well, I'll caution you right now that the main reason the base 4-speaker system is bad is because of the cabin acoustics and speaker locations. Those are the reasons the system has no bass and everything sounds like it's coming from the door. changing the speakers isn't going to fix that; in all likelihood you'll get more treble output from co-ax speakers but that's about it. The Shaker systems fix those problems by throwing subwoofers in and having occupancy modes (Driver's Seat mode in a Shaker 500 is pretty good IMO.)

the other thing is, don't put too much stock into how the Alpine/Polk/whatever speakers sound on the display board in the shop. How they sound on a board being fed maybe half a watt of power has nothing to do with how they'll sound once you install them in your car. Get whichever ones tickle your fancy; the results will be similar once you install them.

as for the damping material, any mass-loaded product will work whether it's asphalt based (DynaMat) or filled vinyl (Second Skin.) Asphalt is stinky, though. The big thing you want to do in the Mustang's doors is look for things which can cause buzzing or rattling. Look for places where wire harnesses or door lock rods/pull rods can touch the sheet metal, and wrap them with felt tape. Then use your chosen damping sheets to make sure the trim panel doesn't buzz against the sheet metal.

artdohc

Hey Spartan,

What it comes down to is what are you least happy with right now with your car stereo system? Is it that it sounds muddy or distorted or that it lacks clarity or bass or power?

Your answer will determine what your first steps are.

In my 2007 GT I had the Shaker 1000 and while the speakers had decent clarity, the bass was lacking good rebound. What I mean by that is that it was hard to distinguish each individual bass hit, they kinda ran together. I replaced the rear subs and amp with an Alpine amp and 2 10" Kicker subs and that fixed my bass issues. Once that was done the decent clarity of the Shaker 1000 became the weak link and I started looking at replacing the head unit with a nice Alpine or Pioneer satnav unit, but I ended up trading in the car for a 2011 GT before I got around to it.

My 2011 GT came with the Shaker 500 unit and the factory satnav. I was actually amazed how much worse the system sounded compared to my stock Shaker 1000 in the 07. Even though my biggest concern was how muddy the car sounded, I started with the sub and amp since the car lacked bass.

I decided to leave the mainstream companies and go with a Memphis Audio amp with a 10" Hertz sub. I'm amazed at how accurate this setup is for bass hits, and it doesn't hit hard so outside the car it doesn't sound like I have some ridiculously huge sub in my car. I was 25 when I got my 2007 and I was 31 when I got my 2011, and bass has less appeal to me than it used to have.

While this addressed my bass needs, the system still sounded extremely muddy. I knew that I needed to either replace the stock speakers or add a 4-channel amp to power the stock speakers (since I have no plans to touch the head unit). I decided to go with speakers first. Once I replaced the speakers the muddy sound was gone, but it was replaced by an overabundance of higher end sound.

I got really pissed about it (since I spent $200 on the speakers) and I almost gave up on the system, but then I heard about second skin. I decided to wrap my trunk area in damplifier and then use their Overkill and Luxury Liner to kill all rear sound issues and to use damplifier and overkill on the doors. WOW, what a difference. Now the car sounds correct, almost like I had the system tuned professionally. The middle range is much fuller and all echoing is gone. Now the bass in the trunk and the high end clarity from the new speakers is rounded out.

I used 10 ft of damplifier and overkill in each door and 40 ft of damplifier, 20 ft of overkill and 10 ft of Luxury Liner in the trunk. This was an expensive endeavor, but in retrospect I almost wish it was the first thing I tried. If you do decide to try out these products I recommend buying the roller that is on their website for applying the material and wear some heavy duty gloves, that damplifier is SHARP.

Good luck!

artdohc

Oh, and FWIW, I'd go with the Polk Audio speakers.

SPARTAN VI

Thanks for the advice you two. I'll go ahead and put in an order for some damplifier and a pair of the Polk speakers to get started on the doors.

@Artdohc, where are you in the CA area? I'd love to see/hear your setup in person.

jz78817

did you try "Driver's Seat" mode? The default is "All Seats" which is a compromise; Driver's Seat optimizes the tuning for (surprise) the driver and is IMO much better than All Seats.

artdohc

Central Coast, by Cal Poly.

artdohc

Yeah, I have mine set to both Driver's Seat and I have the fade/balance slightly changed to aim even more at the driver, sounds loads better, but still wasn't quite what I wanted in stock trim.

SPARTAN VI

I went ahead and ordered a Dynamat door kit and a pair of Polk db571s. I went with Dynamat instead of Second Skin because my purchases were made on Amazon (I have store credit) and I was looking for a product that offered Prime shipping (free 2-day). Unfortunately, Second Skin did not show up in those searches. On the other hand, the db571s were only $50 shipped on Amazon, versus $100 from Crutchfield. In total, my door upgrade only cost $100 and an afternoon (or two).

So yesterday afternoon I Dynamated and installed one of the Polk audio db571s on my passenger door. A majority of my time was spent cutting, fitting, and rolling out the Dynamat followed by hunting for the mounting/screw holes. I lost the sun light by the time I completed the passenger door, so I'll get back to the driver door next weekend.

Now I have a stock speaker on the driver side and a db571 on the passenger side, so I played with the balance to hear the difference. The stock speaker by comparison sounds like it's under a pillow and is almost entirely mid-range, whereas the highs on the db571 are very crisp. As expected, the lows were entirely unchanged. Overall I'm very pleased with the price/performance.

I can't really tell if the Dynamat has done much for road noise, but I can confirm that I've eliminated ALL rattle from the door when opening and closing. The driver door has a slight "kla-thump" when closing, but my Dynamated passenger door has a decisive "thump!"

I do have one question about the Dynamat; should I be covering the large holes on the bottom of the door panel (see picture below)?

jz78817

look at the inside of the door trim panels and see if there's anything that would stick into that opening. I think those are only there for the enclosures for the shaker 8" subwoofers.