I'm just about ready to sell my car and get myself into a gorgeous gas guzzling gargantua. I think I'm set on a crew. Problem is I cant' seem to get my mind off of the premium sound with 6CD Changer. Is it worth it? I have no problem sticking with the stock singel CD system and upgrading later, unless of course you folks think this premium one is worth the extra $$ and upgrading is a pain in the a$$. Only problem is, forddirect.com is not showing a lot of rigs with this system in my area, unless it just isn't listed. Thanks.

Tony P.

 

I would get the least expensive option and just buy a new head unit. With the wire harness adapters, and mounting kits these days installing an aftermarket radio is a breeze. The stock speakers should sound pretty decent with a GOOD aftermarket unit. I put a ~$300 pioneer HU in my '01 windstar, on the stock speakers and it sounds awesome. Then I added 2 10s and it really sounds good now.

 

The stock speakers on these trucks are 25 watt paper. I've thrown away better.
Any head unit I have seen will fit these trucks. Double din, din and a half, single din. I have two single dins in my truck today.

Wal-mart, yep wallyworld, sells an excellent dash adaptor for 10 bucks. They sell a premium wire adaptor for 7 bucks. They sell decent speakers, much much better than stock, 4 for between 100-130 depending on your location. These speakers can be installed in about an hour on a reg cab, not much more on any of the trucks. The front speakers, (some just change those) can be put in in about the time it takes to talk about it. The grills can come off with your fingers. You can remove the radio surround with your fingertips also. Lots of directions in this forum, search under stereo.

A head unit that sounds much better than the stock unit, and will play MP3's and home burned CD-R stuff, can be bought for about a 100 bucks. I've seen xcellent ones go new on e-bay (brand names, new in box,) for 80 bucks.

The stock radio sounded OK, the CD sounded pretty good. Till I put in a cheap Kenwood ( model 225) off e-bay for 80 bucks. Then the stock radio sounded like junk. Sorry.

The speakers didn't sound too bad, till I put 120 bucks worth of Pioneers in it. Then I realized the stock speakers were not so hot.

I've had three sound systems in my truck, or four counting the dvd player.

There is no comparison between the stock system and 220.00 bucks worth of aftermarket.

If you want to spend more, it just gets better.

If they will toss in the Audiophile system for 200 bucks, go for it. Even 275. Forget about the 6 cd unless they toss it in free. Some play MP3's some don't. Some work great, some don't.
Hope this is some help.
Again search for stereo in this forum, and you will find a huge amount of info.
Have a good one,
Chris

 

Thanks Chris, it's a big help. Is the audiophile something they can install at the dealer? I'm really looking into an XLT crew, i like the prices they're running lately. Plus, i eventually plan on throwing some 20's on and maybe dropping her a bit, not much, just enough to take up the wheel well slack. Not alot of 4 wheeling gonna be done with this when i get it. Therefore, i don't want to spend extra for an FX4 suspension if i'm really not gonna use it. Have a good night.

Tony P.

 

You can pick up one on ebay (6 pack changer) for under $200 bucks.

 

Here's the breakdown for me. Your mileage may vary.

My truck came with single CD and non-audiophile.

6 Disc MP3 Audiophile head unit on ebay $150
Sold my existing single CD head unit on ebay 95

Ford subwoofer unit on ebay $140
2 wiring harnesses from oemfordparts.com $40

4 Pioneer used 3 way speakers on ebay $60
sold my 4 ford speakers on ebay $20

My net cost to upgrade was around $300. Install time was about 2 hours total.

 

The factory audiophile unit comes with additional switches on the sterring wheel. (volume, memory or seek and mode) which is a very nice feature. Of all the aftermarket head units I looked at, none had the option of the driver control switches on the wheel! Plus the factory is double din, which makes it even more difficult to find a suitable replacement! All in all I am very happy with my audiophile!! even with the elcheapo speakers.

 

The switchs on the steering wheel are included in the Lariat package even if you don't have the audiophile unit.

 

[QUOTE=ReForder]I'm just about ready to sell my car and get myself into a gorgeous gas guzzling gargantua. I think I'm set on a crew. Problem is I cant' seem to get my mind off of the premium sound with 6CD Changer. Is it worth it? I have no problem sticking with the stock single CD system and upgrading later, unless of course you folks think this premium one is worth the extra $$ and upgrading is a pain in the a$$.QUOTE]

The answer really depends on what you are looking to achieve. The Audiophile upgrade from the factory includes a head unit upgrade, 6-CD and a subwoofer. I don't recall if the speakers are upgraded, but since the Audiophile is a 300 watt system, either they are upgraded or the earlier comment about the speakers being 25watt speakers is incorrect. In any event, you're talking about a complete upgrade that will satisfy 90% of the market. There's plenty of bass and plenty of distortion-free volume with very good sound reproduction.

Can you do better aftermarket? Sure. But to make a significant difference you will likely spend quite a bit more in time and money. You can trade some of that money for much of your time installing the components yourself. If you think you might go that route, I would check out Crutchfield (www.crutchfield.com). They have a catalog (as well as online and phone ordering) and provide custom installation instructions and kits for free with their products. Also, they backup their products well and provide good support and generally competitive prices (they might even price match, I can't remember).

Keep in mind that any aftermarket system you add will definitely look aftermarket. Depending on your tastes this can be a good or bad thing. Also recall that current Audiophile systems play MP3 disks and all play homemade CD's just fine.

My advice: the 6-CD in-dash unit is a great feature to have. Whether you go aftermarket or OEM, the changer is much more convenient than a single CD, especially when combined with MP3 capability. If you prefer the cleaner look of the integrated OEM unit and/or you do not require your stereo to rattle the windows of the car next to you, go with the Audiophile. Otherwise, plan on replacing the head unit and six speakers and adding a sub and spending more than $1,000 plus labor if you don't self-install.

If you self-install, replacing the head unit is relatively easy. The speakers are usually easy, as long as getting to them isn't an issue (haven't done this in the F-150). Adding the sub would be at least a moderate effort with location, wiring and power adding to the effort. Plan on maybe 1/2 hr for the head unit, 15 minutes per speaker and 1-2 hours for the sub.
If you have the chance to demo the Audiophile, my guess is you'll more than likely find it meets your needs.

 

Snip
I don't recall if the speakers are upgraded, but since the Audiophile is a 300 watt system, either they are upgraded or the earlier comment about the speakers being 25watt speakers is incorrect. snip.


The stock speakers from the F-150 2004 are 25watt. They are marked as such.
I have been told that the Audiophile comes with better speakers. We pulled the grill off a brand new XLT that had been 'upgraded' to an audiophile. It had the same 25 watt speakers.

A Lariat next to it had the Audiophile from the factory, but the dealer was unwilling to let us pull the grill. Gee, go figure...

If you order the Audiophile as an addition they are not going to swap any other speakers in, and if you look in the door of the non-lariat trucks, there is no hole for tweeters, and there are no holes in the plastic speaker grill for the tweeters. There is also no wire harness down the column for Audiophile controls, even if they swap the steering wheel.

As to 300 watt, remember it puts most of that to the subwoofer. The tweeters pull some watts too. Figure nominal 25 watts for tweeters, and 150 watts for a very low powered subwoofer, and the 125 watts left over are well within what Ford would think is adequate.

Not a reason not to buy an Audiophile, almost half the people who post here that have them, like them. And those controls are neat, inspite of the problems with seek that keep poping up in threads.
The head unit does look nice, and if the truck has the tweeters and sub, sure, I would keep them. Adequate sound combined with nice style is worth keeping.
But adding it as an option on a truck that is already built is not cost effective.
Chris

 

Chris is right (as usual) the stock speakers are 25watt 4 ohms (at least the rear speakers are) I have a pair I pulled out of my 05 in my hand. But I don't remember the rating on the front, I bought a pair of audiophile (front) on ebay, and installed them along with the head unit and sub. I would not have it any other way! All the after market stuff I looked at was just that "After market", and looked totally bogus!

 

I have the Audiophile 6 Disk system in my Lariat. Came with steering wheel mounted controls, 6 performance grade speakers plus sub woofer. Sound is excellent turn it up and enjoy.

 

sorry for high jacking your thread but I have a lariat with a single cd player. I just bought a 6 pack mp3 mach500 sestem on ebay. Will this work in my truck? I also have steering wheel control. Also do I have tweeters in the upper part of my door?.
Thanks Shawn

 

I think it depends on what type of music you like to listen to as to whether you will be happy with the Audiophile or not. I'm completely happy with mine but I don't like to listen to 90% bass and 10% mid and treble like my kids do. Don't get me wrong, I like bass, I have an $1800 Earthquake sub on my home theater that will knock stuff off the bookshelves. I'm pretty impressed with the Audiophile sub in how clean and tight the bass sounds versus muddy like most stock systems. I also like the 6 disk in-dash player vs a single disk like most aftermarket units and, of course, the steering wheel controls.

BTW, are there any reasonably priced aftermarket in-dash changers in double din? The head unit in my son's SVT Focus crapped out and he needs to replace it. Thanks..

 

As what is said above it all depends on what you want. I have the Audiophile and am extremely happy with it. It blows away most of my friends aftermarket installs (of course they don't have the quiet sounding interior as ours). If you like working on stuff like this, go aftermarket. One thing is the Audiophile does include upgraded speakers the Boston Acoustic. I love it and have no desire to upgrade any component of it. I'm adding sound proofing to my truck and will add the cone reflectors behind the speakers to add to the sound.