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Standard speakers any good?

starquestbd22

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I am also pleased with the stock system in my 21 Ranger XLT. Can’t imagine the Maverick being much different.
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Fish Chris

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I am also pleased with the stock system in my 21 Ranger XLT. Can’t imagine the Maverick being much different.
Hey Starquest, asking, "are the standard speakers any good" is not really the right question.
I've been doing aftermarket stereo stuff for 35 years, and here's something to keep in mind. Factory speakers, are relatively cheap and easy to replace... So even if they were not that good, that is an easy fix. But the thing is, the power and signal they are getting is far more important to great sound, than the actual speakers themselves.
I guarantee that if you could somehow integrate a Digital Sound Processor, ran to a sufficiently strong amplifier, you could make those stock speakers sound pretty darn good ! Like, surprisingly so. Now, if you were to "only" replace those mids and highs with some $1000+ Rainbow speakers or top end Audio Frogs or something, but did nothing with your power and signal, they still wouldn't sound great.
And unfortunately, adding DSP's and after market amps, takes a lot more work, and money.

All of this said, I just found out about the Bang and Olfsen setup that actually has a center channel and sub.
I'm going to look more into that now. If it's not a rediculous expensive option, that might work as a daily driver. The thing is though, as long as a plug and play DSP were made for the Maverick (which might take a while... but maybe never) I know I could build a super nice SQ setup for like $1500-2000 for the Maverick....
I'd really have to learn more, and then listen to that B&O system, and see if it could touch the $1500 system that built for my Prius. If it could do that at a reasonable price, Sold ! 🙂👍
 

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Hey Starquest, asking, "are the standard speakers any good" is not really the right question.
I've been doing aftermarket stereo stuff for 35 years, and here's something to keep in mind. Factory speakers, are relatively cheap and easy to replace... So even if they were not that good, that is an easy fix. But the thing is, the power and signal they are getting is far more important to great sound, than the actual speakers themselves.
I guarantee that if you could somehow integrate a Digital Sound Processor, ran to a sufficiently strong amplifier, you could make those stock speakers sound pretty darn good ! Like, surprisingly so. Now, if you were to "only" replace those mids and highs with some $1000+ Rainbow speakers or top end Audio Frogs or something, but did nothing with your power and signal, they still wouldn't sound great.
And unfortunately, adding DSP's and after market amps, takes a lot more work, and money.

All of this said, I just found out about the Bang and Olfsen setup that actually has a center channel and sub.
I'm going to look more into that now. If it's not a rediculous expensive option, that might work as a daily driver. The thing is though, as long as a plug and play DSP were made for the Maverick (which might take a while... but maybe never) I know I could build a super nice SQ setup for like $1500-2000 for the Maverick....
I'd really have to learn more, and then listen to that B&O system, and see if it could touch the $1500 system that built for my Prius. If it could do that at a reasonable price, Sold ! 🙂👍
I used a kicker key in my Tacoma with male/female wiring harness to make it plug and play. It was small enough to tuck in behind the head unit, pushed 45w rmsx4 to the speakers, and had a dsp built in. Set the included microphone on the drivers headrest, play test tones off the kicker website, and it took care of the rest.
 

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Having seen the amp and the sub/ enclosure, as well as having seen drivers from premium oem systems of other fords, I have no doubt that one could put together a better sounding system than b&o (remember, bang and olufsen doesn't even put their real name on it... it's "'b&o' by bang and olufsen") for 1500. Probably nobody should get lariat lux just for the sound system. But if you're getting lariat lux anyways, and you don't have high expectations for the audio system, I bet the b&o would be good enough to keep
 

Nkm136048

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The best upgrade I've done to my 2015 F150 has been to:
- Add a sub behind the drivers side back seat. Tight fit and ended up not using the Ford provided sub wiring harness already there (for the Ford sub addon, but not enough juice) with a dedicated amp.
- Add an inline amp for the head unit
- Replace the front (door + a-pillar) and rear speakers with Focal's, add sound deadening material to doors.

It is NIGHT AND DAY better compared to what came with the truck, and I am so glad I went through the effort to do it. (I already had the sub amp and sub sitting around so that helped.)

My only problem (isn't there always one) is my son now wants to use my truck ALL THE TIME. He has told me it is the best sounding of all his friends vehicles.
how much does that cost?
 

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how much does that cost?
I'd have to guess since its been quite a while. Here we go:
1) i had a Pioneer slimline sub that "just" fit behind the F150 rear sears (supercab). I think I spent 100-150 $ for it originally on a sale.
2) I had a JBL amp for the sub, again it fit behind the rear seats. Again, I might have spend $100 or so for it on a closeout. This sub tested out at 500 watts RMS.
3) I originally used the F150 rear sub wiring harness (built in for the Ford sub), but it was inadequate for power so ended up having to run direct from the battery w/a dedicated circuit and wiring. Dunno cost on this.
4) I bought a parrot wiring harness () which let me wire up an inline amp w/the sync 2 system. ($40).
5) I used this amp: which I paid $85 (not $200). I don't know what the 2021 equivalent would be, but it provided decent power.
6) I used Focal ISC-165's for the rears: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091ISC165/Focal-Integration-ISC-165.html and Focal ISS-165's for the fronts/A-pillars: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091ISS165/Focal-Integration-ISS-165.html which cost (in total) $220. All where mucho discounted due to closeout/new models.
7) Also used sound deadending (e.g. Dynamat) in the doors. Figure $100-$200 for this.

Sorry I can't be more specific on this, but figure $1000-$2000 total, close to the lower bound with what I paid and closer to the upper bound buying all at once at retail prices.

It is the best vehicle audio system I've ever had. The Focal speakers are outstanding, but need to be broken in for a while. (They sounded too bright originally.) It is not a harsh sound, like some (myself included) complain about Kickers, etc. Sounds great on everything from Rap to Jazz to ...well everything.

The important thing is that it is pretty much impossible (at least it was with the F150 sync-2) to replace the head unit, so you need a solution to provide clean signal to the speakers and the sub w/o replacing the head unit.
 

Fish Chris

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I used a kicker key in my Tacoma with male/female wiring harness to make it plug and play. It was small enough to tuck in behind the head unit, pushed 45w rmsx4 to the speakers, and had a dsp built in. Set the included microphone on the drivers headrest, play test tones off the kicker website, and it took care of the rest.
That's awesome. I don't think those have been out too long. I read a little about those a couple months ago. I wonder if one of those would work for the Maverick ???
Think I'm going to look into those a bit more now. Thank you.
 

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That's awesome. I don't think those have been out too long. I read a little about those a couple months ago. I wonder if one of those would work for the Maverick ???
Think I'm going to look into those a bit more now. Thank you.
No reason it wouldn't work in a maverick, it's basically a just class d amp with on board dsp. I know you mentioned being into car audio for about 35 years... I'm not sure how much you've kept up with recent developments in chipsets but I just got back into audio (home and mobile) after maybe 10 years of not really paying attention. I am astounded at how much class d has progressed since the late 90s when I had a directed 1100d and class d amps were only good for limited frequency response. Class d has gone totally full range and can sound pretty darned good. It is amazing (and great news for those of us who are ordering hybrids and don't want to tax the system too much)!
 

Fish Chris

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No reason it wouldn't work in a maverick, it's basically a just class d amp with on board dsp. I know you mentioned being into car audio for about 35 years... I'm not sure how much you've kept up with recent developments in chipsets but I just got back into audio (home and mobile) after maybe 10 years of not really paying attention. I am astounded at how much class d has progressed since the late 90s when I had a directed 1100d and class d amps were only good for limited frequency response. Class d has gone totally full range and can sound pretty darned good. It is amazing (and great news for those of us who are ordering hybrids and don't want to tax the system too much)!
Still fairly well versed. I spend quite a bit of time on a popular car stereo forum, and subscribe to several car audio YouTube channels.
Like I say, I did look at those kicker keys, but I'm going to look at those more closely now, and see what I can find out.
 

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I'm curious how easy a enclosed underseat powered sub would work. I have one in my car now it really fills the void
 
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Hey Starquest, asking, "are the standard speakers any good" is not really the right question.
I've been doing aftermarket stereo stuff for 35 years, and here's something to keep in mind. Factory speakers, are relatively cheap and easy to replace... So even if they were not that good, that is an easy fix. But the thing is, the power and signal they are getting is far more important to great sound, than the actual speakers themselves.
I guarantee that if you could somehow integrate a Digital Sound Processor, ran to a sufficiently strong amplifier, you could make those stock speakers sound pretty darn good ! Like, surprisingly so. Now, if you were to "only" replace those mids and highs with some $1000+ Rainbow speakers or top end Audio Frogs or something, but did nothing with your power and signal, they still wouldn't sound great.
And unfortunately, adding DSP's and after market amps, takes a lot more work, and money.

All of this said, I just found out about the Bang and Olfsen setup that actually has a center channel and sub.
I'm going to look more into that now. If it's not a rediculous expensive option, that might work as a daily driver. The thing is though, as long as a plug and play DSP were made for the Maverick (which might take a while... but maybe never) I know I could build a super nice SQ setup for like $1500-2000 for the Maverick....
I'd really have to learn more, and then listen to that B&O system, and see if it could touch the $1500 system that built for my Prius. If it could do that at a reasonable price, Sold ! 🙂👍
Dear Lord I am old. I remember when acrylic tuned tuned Harmon Kardins and Infinity speakers were considered high quality, I have never even heard of Audio Frog and to me Rainbow is a Vacuum manufacturer.

I would Ali worry about placement and interference from other electronic components. I assume the standard it still to cross minimally and then as close to right angles as possible to prevent cross talk and inductive issues.
 

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Been a while since I purchased a new Ford product.
I am curious if anyone knows how good are the standard speakers? Who is the manufacturer? (Not B&O)
I am not an audiophile, but the base audio system in my Maverick is (obviously my opinion) poor. The mid range sounds muddy and the base is an afterthought. It needs some help.
I may wait to see what components others use to upgrade, but audio is subjective and many of us suffer from confirmation bias - so I will probably just upgrade the speakers, making a purchase based on how much I want to spend, and add an amp and maybe DSP if I'm still not pleased. Also, I would love to see some db measurements and subjective results for sound deadening treatments.
 

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@Headdead this is troublesome.
I invite others to share their impression on the standard audio in the xl and xlt trims.

The maverick has unconventional speaker locations. They are not in the front\rear doors but above so that you have room for those water bottle. They are very high.T

your comment is not a good news I am afraid
 
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I am not an audiophile, but the base audio system in my Maverick is (obviously my opinion) poor. The mid range sounds muddy and the base is an afterthought. It needs some help.
I may wait to see what components others use to upgrade, but audio is subjective and many of us suffer from confirmation bias - so I will probably just upgrade the speakers, making a purchase based on how much I want to spend, and add an amp and maybe DSP if I'm still not pleased. Also, I would love to see some db measurements and subjective results for sound deadening treatments.
Thanks for the review
 

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I plan on replacing all the speakers and putting subwoofers under the back seats. The only Ford factory speakers I didn't replace was my 2002 Mustang GT Mach 460 just added subwoofers.
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