Is it worth upgrading the stock stereo unit with quality speakers or is this a wash unless you upgrade the stereo it self. If changing speakers what speakers are some of you using. I have a 4x4 reg cab.

 

This is just my opinion, but just upgrading the speakers is only going to get you partial improvement. I upgraded the speakers in my 05 supercrew and it sounded better until I turned the volume up. Then things started to sound just like the factory speakers. If you upgrade the headunit, you will get more power to the speakers which would help. I decided on leaving the factory speakers and headunit in and installing a kenwood wOOx to handle the bass for the facorty system. What a difference. I know many people who will disagree with me, but I am not into the big boomy bass anymore and just wanted to fill out the sound I was hearing. My wOOx will boom a little bit, but I really do notice that the extra bass has given the music a fuller sound. I just turned down the bass coming from the headunit to the factory speakers and adjusted the output from the sub and voila!! Pretty nice sound for F150. I can keep the factory look and the wOOx is hidden under the rear seat. Back to your question, I would probably upgrade both the headunit and speakers if I were you. I might make a difference for your re. cab. Hope this helps and was not to confusing or contradictory.

 

Thanks, I think the standard speakers are a little thin and was thinking maybe to try upgrading the speakers first.

 

Tank55 -

I agree the stock speaker do seem stretched a bit. They seem to have gotten better now that they are more broken in, but they don't sound nearly as good as my 98 SCab Lariat's stock system or my 99 Expy Mach System. I upgraded to a Ford 6 disc in dash reciever because I liked the ease of changing the cds. I am going to upgrade speakers next, but who's subwoofer idea isn't bad. I like my rock music but I like my hearing too, so it depends on how much power you really need.

 

I confess that every now and then I crank it up a bit. Specially with some of the oldies but goodies on the XM. I was just wondering what kind of $ I need to spend and what and how many speakers I have in my reg cab.

 

I think in the front door of my XLT SCrew there is a tweeter and a 5x8 or 6x9. Then there is a 5x8/6x9 in the rear door. You can get some pretty nice speakers for not alot of money - check Crutchfield.

 

If you want to go with some decent speakers without spending too much, look for Clarion Pro Audio or Boston Accoustics. They have the most amazing sound and it makes your stock deck come alive. You might even shoose to get a small amp just for the speakers, it is worth it and will last you for years if you get a good brand name.

 

For those on a budget, the Pioneer TS-A6870R speakers fit right in, just have to splice the wires at the speakers. You should be able to get 4 for about 120.00. They sound good with even a modest stereo.

The factory speakers are 25 watt....
Chris

 

Last weekend, I did exactly what Chris just suggested...I did my research at Crutchfield (checked out fitment, sensitivity, freq respose, power rating, etc)...and then went to Wally-World and got the Pioneer TS-a6870r's. They were $50 a pair. They are soo much clearer than the factory 25-watters and the bass is better. I'm still going to put a sub in when I get around to it...but this is definitely an improvement from stock. If you want fantastic sounds...then you'll have to shell out some $$...but for those who want a noticable improvement over stock, it's hard to beat the Pioneers.

Hope this helps.

 

There is certainly different levels you can go for augmenting your stereo. I went from just changing speakers to wireing and whole new system. I ended up doing the whole complete job for $700 including amps, sub box, subs, new speakers, head unit, and wiring. Ebay is a good way to go to buy stuff after you have done your research.

Honestly, I am glad I spend the dough on the stereo. It really makes the grind of daily traffic easier with some nice quality audio. Everyone who steps in now is amazed that a truck can sound that nice. I have wired a few systems before and this one is the best in quality. My MACH 460 in my Cobra doesn't sound half as good as the aftermarket setup in the truck now!

T

 

One quick note here..what I did to splice into factory speaker wires was use a clam shell clamping style connecter that you just slip the existing wire into and then add your new lead for your speaker into and crimp them all together. This way you do not need to cut off your existing factory speaker harness in the event you want to return it to stock. Make install very easy too.

T

 

I upgraded only the speakers in my 2004 Lariat SCrew. Kept the 6 CD non audiophile unit alone. It made a huge difference. My only suggestion is to use Dynamat or similar material to deaden the door panels. If you opt for a decent set of speakers the doors will rattle. Get the door kits from Dynamat.
To adapt the new speakers, I merely cut off the connector on the stock speaker side, cut down the voice coil tabs, drilled small holes in them, then used the wire that came with the speakers cut them shot leaving only the terminal ends with a short pig tail, verified + and - on the connector, and soldered the short pigtail on the tabs, used liquid tape then regular electical tape, now I have a direct connect into the factory harness without cutting the harness connector off. Then just hooked up the thin and larger terminal to the approprite speaker terminal. Tried to get an adapter to go from the factory connector on the harness to the speaker, but no one locally had them, nor could I find the needed part number on the internet.
Look for speakers for the Screw that are 5x7/6x8, or just 6x8. The 5x7/6x8 are just that they fit 6x8 cutoouts and screw moiunts. In fact most 5x7 fit just make sure the corner screw holes are elongated and at an angle. The end tabs on the speaker have to be removed.

 

I think that there is a huge difference in what people want on sound in a vehicle.

While some will not be satisfied unless the system in their truck is competitive with a good home theatre system, others just want clear, full music.

I can turn the sound up on my system till no one with normal hearing can tolerate it, and I don't get any buzz, or rattle from the doors on my truck.

This is on a regular cab, I think Screws and Scabs have a little different acoustical situation. No rear seat to deaden the sound, and less overall volume to fill with sound in the regular cab.

I use a very small amp, 100 watts, just to take the load of my 8” sub woofer.
The 240 watts of the head unit is divided among the 4 speakers. Thus my system is a max of 340 watts.
The dual voice coil 200 watt eight inch sub is more bass than I really need in a regular cab truck.

A really huge amount depends on the type music you listen to.
If I was into rap or other ‘thump’ music I would need more bass. Right now I get enough that some rock music thumps too much for my wife to tolerate.

She wants a switch to disable the woofer when she’s in the car.
Easy mod, just put a switch in the amp activation wire, with that disabled, no sub-woofer..

Cool part with improving our sounds is that you can spend exactly as much as you want, and improve it as much as you want.
100 bucks gets you better sound.
The fanciest I've seen in one of the forums is 2500 for the head, and 2000 for the rest of the system, with total install over 5k.
America, where we do it our way!
Chris

 

Yeah, that is about what I just spent for the system in my wifes rodeo. It has an 8 speaker system with component front speakers. All are boston accoustics with two four channel amps. A clarion pro audio deck, an orion 4002 amp for the sub, with a kicker solo baric 10" in a slot port box. It is really just for show but you can listen to classic rock to rap without having to touch a setting. It is all just personal preference as to what you want a vehicle to sound like. I do recommend the wally world pioneers though. A good sound for a less expensive price.