2025 XLT Speaker Swap - KICKER Front Door & Rear Pillar Upgrade

[mechgingeneet]

I've seen several posts on 2022-24 speaker upgrades (honestly, I may have read them all) - but not too many on the '25s. As many have commented, the base audio system on the 2025 model year appears to be upgraded, but after doing this install, I'm pretty confident the only change from the 2024 model year is more power coming from the new amp in the Sync 4 head unit. Regardless, I've found the new base system to be...fine. It's loud enough and is relatively full sounding. But for <$200, I can now say confidently it is absolutely worth upgrading!

TL;DR - swapped the front door speakers with Kicker 6 3/4" 2-ways and the rear pillars with 4" 2-ways, and the improvement in low-end response, clarity across the entire spectrum, and sensitivity to changes in the "Tone" control in the Sync 4 software makes this a no-brainer for anyone who wants to upgrade the XL/XLT stereo!

The goal: Improve the low-end response and clarity of the stock system for <$250, without adding a sub. Why no sub? Well, two main reasons: Forscan for the 2025 is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment, making it infeasible for me to reset the DSP to "Flat" to tap into the rear speaker wires (nor do I want to really mess with a Kicker KEYLOC or Key 500.1). Secondly, I haven't decided if I'll end up building a box to put full-size sub under the rear seat or go with a low-profile model. So I figured I'd swap the door and rear pillar speakers and see what improvements I noticed. (Spoiler alert: I will still want a sub eventually, but I think this improvement is good enough for 90% of people).

The equipment: Just buy from Crutchfield, y'all. The adapters were plug-and-play, the mounting rings were perfect, and I was able to get "scratch & dent" speakers which were same-as-new, saving me $20. Worth it!

• Front Doors: KICKER 51KSC6704s for their low-end response, silk tweeter, and general price-to-performance.
• Rear Pillars: KICKER KSC40s for similar reasons, but especially the smoother highs when the speaker is 3" from my kids' heads.

I strongly considered options from Focal & JL Audio, but neither of them had the low-end response I was looking for, since my goal was to see just how much improvement I could see in the lower frequencies without a sub first. KICKER does have a "sound" and I tend to like it - but if you have a dedicated sub that you're planning to install, you could probably afford to move up to a more refined door/pillar speaker.

Front Door installation: I've seen lots of posts claiming the front door panels would be a pain to remove...but that wasn't my experience! Maybe it's because I've done several speaker swaps in a variety of cars before, but honestly, the Maverick's panel attachment is pretty straightforward. With just over 1000 miles on my truck, I can confirm that the plastic clips were TIGHT, though, so it took a lot of force to get them off. The front doors were by far the easier of the two locations to get to.

The speaker adapter rings that came from Crutchfield were great, but I did have to drill a hole to feed the wires behind the speaker. I used some of the black sticky sealant that came with the speakers to hold the wires in place and seal the hole back up. Secondly, I know most people have already seen this, but I could not believe how small the drivers are on the stock speakers (left):

I also took the time to add some butyl sound deadening mat to the interior of the door panels. These have definitely cut down on resonance in the panels themselves, so I would recommend taking the extra 30 minutes per door panel to do this step!

Rear Pillar installation: The rear pillars are a total pain - not impossible, but just all-around annoying. I followed this excellent video. Don't ask if I broke any clips...no one will ever know! I took some time while I was back there to add some butyl sound deadening mat to the largest surfaces on the bulkhead...time will tell if those will really help, but they certainly can't hurt. At least the rear speakers from OEM have decent-sized drivers (though especially next to the KSC40s, they sound muddy, tinny, and all-around bad, so clearly driver size isn't the only factor!) OEM on the right below:

I know some people have said the rear speaker swap isn't worth it, but after hearing the difference between these two (installing one, then fading left-to-right to hear the difference directly), it is 100% worth it. IMO, this is still bad placement and these clearly can't contribute any low-end, but the clarity improvement was substantial. Secondly, I know people have fit 4x6 speakers in these spots, and it'd be easy to do...but I've never found a 4x6 I like the sound of, and the High Pass Filter applied to the rear speaker circuit is going to limit your low-end information anyway.

The Verdict: WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

I was surprised at the dramatic improvement in all these areas:

• Low-end: The bass is tighter, more pronounced, and has minimal distortion even at high volumes. I've got my Fade set to the top of the center console in the system's graphic, and that (to my ear) keeps most of the low end without under-driving the rears. To be clear, you won't get the thumping sub-bass from a dedicated subwoofer, but for me, this is definitely enough to scratch the itch of that tight, punchy bass in modern rock, metal, and EDM.
• Clarity: You don't realize how muddy and garbled the OEM speakers are until you compare them directly. This is absolutely the biggest difference, even with speakers that are not known for their supremely detailed reproduction. There's a lot of treble in the mix by default, especially when you add the extra tweeters on these 2-way speakers, so I would recommend dropping the treble or boosting the bass in the EQ to compensate, but even at high volumes, I'm picking up a lot more detail across a variety of genres.
• Sensitivity to EQ Changes: A surprise to me, but these speakers respond more readily to changes in the system's EQ - a single notch up or down in any area is immediately noticeable, whereas with the OEM speakers, I would have to move 2-3 notches before I really heard a difference. This means more control over the system's tone, which I appreciate!

"BuT wHy DiDn'T yOu Do XyZ?! aRe YoU aN iDiOt?! iT wOuLd SoUnD bEtTeR iF yOu..."

Chill, bro. I just wanted better sound for not a lot of money. I'm a musician, and have nerdy musician friends and family. Now my truck sounds GOOD, I get to enjoy more detail in my music, and the installation took me half a day. The end result was totally worth it, and I'd recommend this as a great first step for anyone looking to get much better sound for a couple hundred bucks and some elbow grease. If you're an XL or XLT owner and you're on the fence...give it a shot!

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[Carlitos_92]

Thanks for the write-up and photos. Honestly you have probably already done the hardest upgrade work you'd have to. The rest is just money and wires. Maybe some light carpentry.

I own a 2023 but I have a Crutchfield cart full of stuff myself (including Kicker speakers), but I will add a 200.4 to help with the dynamic range and more importantly, use the built-in DSP...

Was there any reason you didn't touch the dash speakers? Did you disable them now that you have 2-ways in the doors? My plan is to use components up front. It's still not ideal imaging with the placement of the dash tweeters, but I am positive you will see some of the same benefits to clarity by swapping out the cheap tweeters for decent ones.

 

[Toddman45]

Since you've upgraded to Kicker 2-ways front door & rear pillar speakers. You need to replace the OEM tweeters as well in the dash next.

Whenever they get Forscan working right on the 25s, then you can go in and change the EQ to flat as well as changing the setting for front and rear speakers to woofer + tweeter in the ACM via EZ Mode.

 

[mechgingeneet]

Was there any reason you didn't touch the dash speakers? Did you disable them now that you have 2-ways in the doors? My plan is to use components up front. It's still not ideal imaging with the placement of the dash tweeters, but I am positive you will see some of the same benefits to clarity by swapping out the cheap tweeters for decent ones.

Honestly, I may decide to swap them, but felt there was plenty of high-end and it was reasonably clear already. I'm confident I'll have a better feel for that after more hours of listening. I'm all ears (pun intended) for recommendations, as long as they don't require cutting into the dash mount!

 

[mechgingeneet]

Whenever they get Forscan working right on the 25s, then you can go in and change the EQ to flat as well as changing the setting for front and rear speakers to woofer + tweeter in the ACM via EZ Mode.

Good tip about the change to the door speakers via EZ Mode! I'll check that out whenever I can get FORSCAN working!

 

[DougS2K]

Good write up. Picked up my 25 a few days ago and was immediately disappointed with the stereo. Sounds very hollow and lacks any low end. I was thinking of throwing a 10" in the back to fix this. I use to have big ass stereos in my cars decades ago but not looking to do that nowadays. I just enjoy music (Rap, Rock, Techno) and the stock stereo leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe I should give the door speakers a try and see if it makes a sufficient difference before I get into a sub and amp.

 

[Toddman45]

Good write up. Picked up my 25 a few days ago and was immediately disappointed with the stereo. Sounds very hollow and lacks any low end. I was thinking of throwing a 10" in the back to fix this. I use to have big ass stereos in my cars decades ago but not looking to do that nowadays. I just enjoy music (Rap, Rock, Techno) and the stock stereo leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe I should give the door speakers a try and see if it makes a sufficient difference before I get into a sub and amp.

It makes a huge difference upgrading all the oem speakers and adding a 10" sub.

 

[DougS2K]

It makes a huge difference upgrading all the oem speakers and adding a 10" sub.

Very nice. How deep would you say the mounting depth is for the rear 4" speakers? Crutchfield is saying most 4" don't fit but not sure how accurate they are considering it says some that have more mounting depth fit while others with less mounting depth don't.

 

[Toddman45]

Very nice. How deep would you say the mounting depth is for the rear 4" speakers? Crutchfield is saying most 4" don't fit but not sure how accurate they are considering it says some that have more mounting depth fit while others with less mounting depth don't.

I'm not sure what the actual depth is, I went with crutchfield as well. I wanted to get the Hertz 4" 2-ways, but Crutchfeild said they wouldn't fit. So I bought the Kicker C4 4" 2-ways.

 

[mechgingeneet]

Very nice. How deep would you say the mounting depth is for the rear 4" speakers? Crutchfield is saying most 4" don't fit but not sure how accurate they are considering it says some that have more mounting depth fit while others with less mounting depth don't.

The issue isn't necessarily the depth, it's that the cutout in the metal structure of the pillar for the driver is only slightly larger in diameter than the speaker itself. You could definitely get another 1/4-1/2" if you made your own adapter instead of the plastic one that Ford has installed - it adds a lot of depth on the front side of the speaker.

I would wager that even if Crutchfield says it won't fit, it probably would...but you can always return them if they don't fit!

 

[DougS2K]

The issue isn't necessarily the depth, it's that the cutout in the metal structure of the pillar for the driver is only slightly larger in diameter than the speaker itself. You could definitely get another 1/4-1/2" if you made your own adapter instead of the plastic one that Ford has installed - it adds a lot of depth on the front side of the speaker.

I would wager that even if Crutchfield says it won't fit, it probably would...but you can always return them if they don't fit!

Good to know. I have a 3D printer and a little bit of CAD skills so I could easily make my own adapter if needed.

 

[CBennett]

Well done, back ..oh around 20-25 years ago I used to upgrade all the systems I owned.. that was back when it was super easy and didnt rely on ripping door panels apart and all that..it was back when you could remove a screw or 2 to access say the A pillar then take that off pop out the speaker then replace..it was easy something anyone could do..Now its removing dashes and door panels in full and that put me into farming it out...I tried this exactly 1 time broke half the clips and ended up taking it back to the dealership to put it back together.. so Id love to do this but id also farm out the labor.. how long did it take??(to estimate labor time to farm it out)

This systems a lot better stock than the old one in my Subaru Forester that was horrid..I never did upgrade it but it always sucked even the wife didnt like it and would always ask why its so quiet and she had to turn it up to 15 to even hear it and her car was good for her on 8(didnt want to explain that to her...so i said its just crap system). I like cheap upgrades did you add in a amp also? or keep stock just speakers..

 

[wax87]

I've seen several posts on 2022-24 speaker upgrades (honestly, I may have read them all) - but not too many on the '25s. As many have commented, the base audio system on the 2025 model year appears to be upgraded, but after doing this install, I'm pretty confident the only change from the 2024 model year is more power coming from the new amp in the Sync 4 head unit. Regardless, I've found the new base system to be...fine. It's loud enough and is relatively full sounding. But for <$200, I can now say confidently it is absolutely worth upgrading!

TL;DR - swapped the front door speakers with Kicker 6 3/4" 2-ways and the rear pillars with 4" 2-ways, and the improvement in low-end response, clarity across the entire spectrum, and sensitivity to changes in the "Tone" control in the Sync 4 software makes this a no-brainer for anyone who wants to upgrade the XL/XLT stereo!

The goal: Improve the low-end response and clarity of the stock system for <$250, without adding a sub. Why no sub? Well, two main reasons: Forscan for the 2025 is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment, making it infeasible for me to reset the DSP to "Flat" to tap into the rear speaker wires (nor do I want to really mess with a Kicker KEYLOC or Key 500.1). Secondly, I haven't decided if I'll end up building a box to put full-size sub under the rear seat or go with a low-profile model. So I figured I'd swap the door and rear pillar speakers and see what improvements I noticed. (Spoiler alert: I will still want a sub eventually, but I think this improvement is good enough for 90% of people).

The equipment: Just buy from Crutchfield, y'all. The adapters were plug-and-play, the mounting rings were perfect, and I was able to get "scratch & dent" speakers which were same-as-new, saving me $20. Worth it!

• Front Doors: KICKER 51KSC6704s for their low-end response, silk tweeter, and general price-to-performance.
• Rear Pillars: KICKER KSC40s for similar reasons, but especially the smoother highs when the speaker is 3" from my kids' heads.

I strongly considered options from Focal & JL Audio, but neither of them had the low-end response I was looking for, since my goal was to see just how much improvement I could see in the lower frequencies without a sub first. KICKER does have a "sound" and I tend to like it - but if you have a dedicated sub that you're planning to install, you could probably afford to move up to a more refined door/pillar speaker.

Front Door installation: I've seen lots of posts claiming the front door panels would be a pain to remove...but that wasn't my experience! Maybe it's because I've done several speaker swaps in a variety of cars before, but honestly, the Maverick's panel attachment is pretty straightforward. With just over 1000 miles on my truck, I can confirm that the plastic clips were TIGHT, though, so it took a lot of force to get them off. The front doors were by far the easier of the two locations to get to.

The speaker adapter rings that came from Crutchfield were great, but I did have to drill a hole to feed the wires behind the speaker. I used some of the black sticky sealant that came with the speakers to hold the wires in place and seal the hole back up. Secondly, I know most people have already seen this, but I could not believe how small the drivers are on the stock speakers (left):

I also took the time to add some butyl sound deadening mat to the interior of the door panels. These have definitely cut down on resonance in the panels themselves, so I would recommend taking the extra 30 minutes per door panel to do this step!

Rear Pillar installation: The rear pillars are a total pain - not impossible, but just all-around annoying. I followed this excellent video. Don't ask if I broke any clips...no one will ever know! I took some time while I was back there to add some butyl sound deadening mat to the largest surfaces on the bulkhead...time will tell if those will really help, but they certainly can't hurt. At least the rear speakers from OEM have decent-sized drivers (though especially next to the KSC40s, they sound muddy, tinny, and all-around bad, so clearly driver size isn't the only factor!) OEM on the right below:

I know some people have said the rear speaker swap isn't worth it, but after hearing the difference between these two (installing one, then fading left-to-right to hear the difference directly), it is 100% worth it. IMO, this is still bad placement and these clearly can't contribute any low-end, but the clarity improvement was substantial. Secondly, I know people have fit 4x6 speakers in these spots, and it'd be easy to do...but I've never found a 4x6 I like the sound of, and the High Pass Filter applied to the rear speaker circuit is going to limit your low-end information anyway.

The Verdict: WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

I was surprised at the dramatic improvement in all these areas:

• Low-end: The bass is tighter, more pronounced, and has minimal distortion even at high volumes. I've got my Fade set to the top of the center console in the system's graphic, and that (to my ear) keeps most of the low end without under-driving the rears. To be clear, you won't get the thumping sub-bass from a dedicated subwoofer, but for me, this is definitely enough to scratch the itch of that tight, punchy bass in modern rock, metal, and EDM.
• Clarity: You don't realize how muddy and garbled the OEM speakers are until you compare them directly. This is absolutely the biggest difference, even with speakers that are not known for their supremely detailed reproduction. There's a lot of treble in the mix by default, especially when you add the extra tweeters on these 2-way speakers, so I would recommend dropping the treble or boosting the bass in the EQ to compensate, but even at high volumes, I'm picking up a lot more detail across a variety of genres.
• Sensitivity to EQ Changes: A surprise to me, but these speakers respond more readily to changes in the system's EQ - a single notch up or down in any area is immediately noticeable, whereas with the OEM speakers, I would have to move 2-3 notches before I really heard a difference. This means more control over the system's tone, which I appreciate!

"BuT wHy DiDn'T yOu Do XyZ?! aRe YoU aN iDiOt?! iT wOuLd SoUnD bEtTeR iF yOu..."

Chill, bro. I just wanted better sound for not a lot of money. I'm a musician, and have nerdy musician friends and family. Now my truck sounds GOOD, I get to enjoy more detail in my music, and the installation took me half a day. The end result was totally worth it, and I'd recommend this as a great first step for anyone looking to get much better sound for a couple hundred bucks and some elbow grease. If you're an XL or XLT owner and you're on the fence...give it a shot!

I added a power sub, and that was easy. It fills in the low end but does not shake the windows.

 

[mechgingeneet]

Well done, back ..oh around 20-25 years ago I used to upgrade all the systems I owned.. that was back when it was super easy and didnt rely on ripping door panels apart and all that..it was back when you could remove a screw or 2 to access say the A pillar then take that off pop out the speaker then replace..it was easy something anyone could do..Now its removing dashes and door panels in full and that put me into farming it out...I tried this exactly 1 time broke half the clips and ended up taking it back to the dealership to put it back together.. so Id love to do this but id also farm out the labor.. how long did it take??(to estimate labor time to farm it out)

This systems a lot better stock than the old one in my Subaru Forester that was horrid..I never did upgrade it but it always sucked even the wife didnt like it and would always ask why its so quiet and she had to turn it up to 15 to even hear it and her car was good for her on 8(didnt want to explain that to her...so i said its just crap system). I like cheap upgrades did you add in a amp also? or keep stock just speakers..

It took me about 5 hours, but now that I've done it once, I could probably do the full swap in under 3. I'd plan for half a day for an experienced shop.

I did not add an amp or sub - I'm waiting on Forscan to get reliable 2025 support so I can modify the EQ in the stock DSP before going to the trouble. The stock head unit in the 2025 has plenty of power to drive these speakers!

 

[GaryTerry]

It took me about 5 hours, but now that I've done it once, I could probably do the full swap in under 3. I'd plan for half a day for an experienced shop.

I did not add an amp or sub - I'm waiting on Forscan to get reliable 2025 support so I can modify the EQ in the stock DSP before going to the trouble. The stock head unit in the 2025 has plenty of power to drive these speakers!

are you using the latest beta of forscan? it seems to work just fine for me

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