Originally Posted by southprk

Your factory is dual voice coil, yes - not an attempt to raise the bar in quality, it's simply cheaper to make 2 smaller amps, than 1 large amp. If you replaced it, you'll know if it's dual voice coil - it will have 2 sets of + and - terminals. You could possibly bridge it onto your sub, that would give you about 100 watts to your sub @ 2 ohms - I would seriously recommend replacing that amp, or using a dual voice coil sub though. MTX makes a powered enclosuer that fits right into the oem housing. It's kind of expensive for what you get (mediocre amp, mediocre sub, mediocre enclosure) but it fits right into the OEM spot - more important than sound quality for some. You can pick it up on ebay for around $200 (definately cheaper than buying an amp, hi-low box, new sub, new enclosure, etc!)

MTX Subwoofer

That one isn't powered, the powered one is a bit more expensive

Originally Posted by Andy-Expy03

Disclaimer: *** I do not nor does anyone I know work for any of the companies mentioned below. Nor do I own any stock in them, etc... Just passing on something that worked well for me.***

After spending a cool $38K for my '03 EB Expy with audiophile stereo and factory DVD, I found myself a little disappointed with the sound of the music. The bass was really pretty nice, but the mids and highs were muted and annoying - especially since my wife and I are both music nuts.

I have always heard that factory speakers leave something to be desired - as do factory tuners, amps, cd's, etc... But I like the integration of the factory stereo to the buttons on the steering wheel and to the DVD system. I decided the head unit was staying, but new speakers couldn't hurt.

So I called Crutchfield (www.crutchfield.com) and talked to one of their car stereo guys. Not being very knowledgable in brands of speakers these days, I asked him for a recommendation. The first words out of his mouth were Polk Audio. He recommended two pair of Polk db570's for the front and rear doors. He also sold me a tool to pry up the panels without breaking the fasteners.

$100 for the first pair, $50 for the second pair (buy one, get the second for 50% off), $9 for the pry tool, $11 for shipping. Total: $170 delivered to my door in two days.

The Crutchfield kit came with free detailed instructions customized with pictures for the '03 Expedition. The were dead-on. Told me exactly where every fastener was and in which order to remove things. Crutchfield also included free adapters to connect the factory wiring harnesses to the new speakers without cutting, stripping or soldering any wires. IMPRESSIVE! (I might have saved a little money by shopping around for the Polks, but those free instructions and adapters were worth at least as much as the speakers to me...)

I'm no professional, but I did install a few car stereos in my younger days. This whole thing took me about 1:45. The first door taking about 45 minutes. The second took 30 minutes. The third and fourth taking about 15 each. It was really easy! Surprisingly so actually.

When I take on a stereo project, I usually expect to end up making a trip to Radio Shack, the dealership, or to a professional installer when I realize that something's missing or broken, but this was a lay-up. All I needed were: a philips screwdriver, a T-20 Torx driver, a 7mm nutdriver, needle-nosed pliars, the pry tool, and a roll of electrical tape (to hold the wires close to the speaker so they don't hang in the way of the window glass.)

The sound is really nice! I don't want to exaggerate or overstate it, but the improvement was more than worth the time and $170. Now the highs and mids are smooth and crystal clear to match the full lows from the factory subwoofer. DVD's are incredible! Turn on the DSP 'hall echo' setting and put in an action movie. Wow...

Not surprising, the factory speakers in the back doors were flimsy pieces of paper with whizzer cones for tweeters. The front speakers were, however, nicer two-way units with real, separate tweeters. They were also in enclosed plastic boxes. Much nicer than expected from the factory, but still no match for the clarity of the Polks.

I'm sure there are other speakers that would sound just as good or better than the Polks, but i haven't tried them so I can't say. If you want to try this yourself, just make sure the replacements are the right size - including depth and how far the tweeter protrudes. The Polks fit with only minor adjustments made with pliars and 3" of electrical tape.

If anyone wants the gory details, reply with your email address and I'll let you know a few tricks I learned.

Andy