# 2012 Ford F-150 audio upgrade



## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I would like some suggestions on a speaker upgrade for my 2012 Ford F-150. I have the standard stereo and although it's very bland sounding I wasn't willing to pay for their Sony upgraded sound system. What I'm looking for is a speaker and amp upgrade but I would like to keep the stock stereo as I really like the aesthetics of the truck and don't want to alter the look. I have two rear speakers and two fronts both in the doors as well as two tweeters that I'd like to replace. If I need an amp to push them I would also be willing to do that as well. Not interested in a sub as I need my rear area for work gear and kids. I don't really have a set budget but I would prefer to stay under $750. Thank you for your replies.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I have a 2010 Ford F-150 Platinum that I am about to take the front pillar tweeters out and look at here in just a little while today so that I can see what will fit. Are your tweeters in the front pillars? 

I know the front and rear door speakers are 5 x 7, but you could put 6.5" in there with an adapter. I have the Sony system in mine and it is fairly respectable at lower volumes, but if you attempt to crank it up much at all it begins to stress in the upper mids and highs... very harsh. The mid-bass is pretty good. I have the Sony sub/amp under the rear seat and it is okay, but will be replaced with a Sundown SD10 and a better power amp. 

I also have an 07 Explorer Sport Trac which I put a complete aftermarket system in. I did not replace the rear door speakers and probably want in the 2010. I used Massive CK6 Stage II separates in the front of the 07 and I think I am going back with those in the front of the 2010. They have incredible mid-bass. If I can get the Massive CK 6X separates (new for 2012) to fit, I think I will go with those... but if they will fit is TBD. I hope to know here shortly.

If you just wanted to replace the speakers, I would look at the Infinity models on Amazon. My brother replaced his factory speakers with these and they sound pretty good and don't require much power. 

If you want to step up to separates in the front I would probably try to power them. My preference on car power is JL Audio. There are a LOT of fine amps out there, but JL Audio seems to be what has always fit what I needed and are highly regarded as having accurate/true specs... especially in their HD series. I plan to move my HD900/5 from the 07 to the 10.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Sonnie,
Thanks for all of that great info. I'm checking out some Polk Audio DB 571's right now. They're rated 93 sensitivity and probably would work just fine with the stock head unit. I'll check out the Infinity's here in just a bit. I really don't need much but do want more than I have. Yes, the tweeters are in the pillars next to the safety handles.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Are you sure the speakers are 5x7s? Ford uses 6x8s in a number of their vehicles. Crutchfield's "what fits" guide will tell you for sure.

If you want to keep the factory stereo, check out the JL Audio Cleansweep. It "undoes" factory freq response modifications to get nearly a flat response. You will need an amp, tho. The Cleansweep takes line or speaker ins, but only has line outs. I have one in a Town Car and it made a lot of difference.

As for brands of speakers, I used to buy Polks, but found that the tweeters did not last long in hot interiors - never failed, but developed a horrible resonance in upper midrange. I have Kenwood Excelon 6x8s that I like a lot - a little bit "forward" in the midrange, but good bass from a 6x8. I also had Pioneers that sounded quite good. Never tried a plate. Only had a component speaker set once - a JBL with separate woofer and tweeter. Regretted buying it after a while, tho. Rather screechy.

Speaker buying for cars is pretty much hit and miss. The car audio demo boards at brick and mortar stores are pretty much worthless.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I did a search on the Ford F-150 forum and it appears that 5x7 is correct. Of course there's a lot of modification talk to make different sizes fit but I really don't want to do that. I'm going to try just the 4 speakers for now and see how that sounds. I was leaning towards the Polk's but after what you said and Sonnie's recommendation of the Infinity's now I'm leaning that way. The Infinity reference series is also rated a 93 sensitivity so they should be ok with the stock head unit.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Polks may be OK now. It was 10 years or so since I tried them. The Infinitys will do a nice job for you. Crutchfield shows both 5x7 and 6x8 as fitting. Some 5x7s have mounting holes to fit a 6x8 bolt pattern.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

The Polk's seem to be fairly well reviewed but the Infinity's have some glowing reviews. Some say the bass is a little lacking but I really don't need much. I just want clean and clear sounding over my current stock speakers which are really muddy and bland sounding. Some even say when hooked up to a 4 ch amp the bass response isn't all that bad. Not sure if I want to go the amp route or not.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Sounds like you have made a decision. Glad we could help you spend your money.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Yes, I'll be ordering the Infinity's when I get home. Thank you both for your input.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I hope you end up liking them. I have not heard any Polk speakers lately, but I do know there are a lot of guys on the F150 forums using them, so they must not be too bad, although I did read that several of the guys bought the lower end model and ended up stepping up to the best model they had available to get good sound.

I checked the pillar tweeter and the Massive CK 6X tweeters will be tight, but I think they will fit. I am more worried about the depth than the diameter. If they don't then I have a buddy that can fiberglass them in for me.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

These look like the Polks I had:

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio--7...=1344123953&sr=1-2&keywords=polk+6x8+speakers

I am surprised that they are still on the market, since as I said it has been a long time since I had them.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Sonnie said:


> I hope you end up liking them. I have not heard any Polk speakers lately, but I do know there are a lot of guys on the F150 forums using them, so they must not be too bad, although I did read that several of the guys bought the lower end model and ended up stepping up to the best model they had available to get good sound.
> 
> I checked the pillar tweeter and the Massive CK 6X tweeters will be tight, but I think they will fit. I am more worried about the depth than the diameter. If they don't then I have a buddy that can fiberglass them in for me.


They were both reviewed pretty well. The Infinity's just a tad higher though. I was leaning towards the Polk's mostly because of the high sensitivity (93). The Infinity's are also rated at 93 so I'm going to go with them. I think I'll try them without the amp at first and see how they sound. I'm going to leave the tweeters in the pillars alone for now.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> These look like the Polks I had:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio--7-Inch-Coaxial-Speakers/dp/B000P0PF96/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1344123953&sr=1-2&keywords=polk+6x8+speakers
> 
> I am surprised that they are still on the market, since as I said it has been a long time since I had them.


Those were the Polk's I was looking at. So you didn't like them? They were reviewed fairly well.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I liked them a lot - very smooth midrange. Problem was after about a year, the tweeters developed a screeching resonance in upper mids - happened on two sets in different cars. Again, that was 10 or so years ago and that may have been fixed by now.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Did you get the speakers installed Jeff?


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

No Sonnie not just yet. Pretty hectic around here trying to puppy proof the house and buying houses and crates. I plan on installing sometime the first week of September.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Did you listen to the Ford Sony system? If so, how was it? I may be trading cars sometime next year and am considering a Taurus. My brother has a Lexus with the Mark Levinson system - very nice, but the price of admisssion is a little steep


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> Did you listen to the Ford Sony system? If so, how was it? I may be trading cars sometime next year and am considering a Taurus. My brother has a Lexus with the Mark Levinson system - very nice, but the price of admisssion is a little steep


I wasn't all that impressed though it did sound better than the basic stock system. Can't remember the exact price but way overpriced.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> Did you listen to the Ford Sony system? If so, how was it? I may be trading cars sometime next year and am considering a Taurus. My brother has a Lexus with the Mark Levinson system - very nice, but the price of admisssion is a little steep


On a side note. You might check out the 2013 Fusion. They redesigned the body and it's a very sharp looking car.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

My son had a 2006 Fusion - nice car but the ride was too stiff for me. He loved the car, tho.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I liked the old Fusions and the new ones are even sharper. If I needed a car, that would be it, although I do miss my 528i... and it cost about three times the price of a Fusion. :yikes:

The F-150 Sony system is just okay to me. It ain't terrible, especially if you listen to a lot of talk radio. :bigsmile:


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Yeah, everything factory electronic is way overpriced. I have done after market many times, but at this point in my life crawling around a car interior is not way up on my list. Plus, the last aftermarket system I had locked up as often as a Windows ME PC

Maybe I should dig into savings and get the Lexus. The kids don't really need so much inheritance:rofl:


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## ambesolman (Apr 25, 2011)

If you still haven't purchased. I put Focal components in my old S4 on a 4ch amp and they were above and beyond the two previous car audio systems I had.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Ok, plan on ordering the following tomorrow…Kenwood kac-8405 4 ch amp $111.99 and Infinity reference 6832 5x7 $110.04 (2 pairs). All through Amazon for a total of $222.03. I think this should be a considerable upgrade over the stock speakers and I also plan on keeping the original head unit.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

That should definitely be an improvement over the stock unit.

Have you thought about a live level converter or does that amp have high level inputs?


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

You just went way over my skill set with that one Sonnie. I'm pretty much helpless when it comes to car audio. I've always had friends that took care of the car side of things.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Product description of the amp states "high quality speaker level input." So I guess it does. What does that do?


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Thanks to Google I know what it means now. It's for using an amp with a factory head unit so according to the product description I should be good. I was advised by a friend to buy this amp due to the speakers being 2 ohm. He said I would probably be ok but just to be on the safe side an amp would be much better.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yeah... aftermarket head units will have RCA (low level) outputs that you can feed to the amp, but factory head units only have the speaker outputs that are powered, so you need someway to convert those powered leads to lower levels to feed the amp. If an amp has high level inputs, then is basically has a built-in low level converter that does the job for you.

You will want to find out if the factory head unit is powered or if their is a factory amp somewhere in the vehicle that is powering the speakers. I have the wiring diagram I got from our local dealer, but it is for the Sony system and won't be the same. The Sony amp is underneath the center console in my truck... and the standard amp may also be located there in your truck, but I am not sure. Either way, you will need to find those speaker leads coming out of the powered head unit or separate amp (if it has one). Don't use the head unit leads if there is a separate amp, use the amp leads and feed them to the Kenwood amp and back to your speakers leads going to the speakers. The Kenwood amp will need to be in line between the factory amp (or head unit with built-in amp) and your speakers. If you have a local Ford dealer you can find out pretty easily by getting a wiring diagram, which will also save you some time figuring out what speaker wires go to each speaker. 

You can also pick up a couple of these speaker adapters from Amazon (they come 2 per package) to use on your door speakers so you don't have to cut the factory connectors off.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Ok thanks for the info Sonnie. I highly doubt it has a built in amp but I will check. I'll go ahead and order a couple of those adapters as well.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

All of my gear is in and install will commence on Tuesday or Wednesday. I went with the Kenwood kac-8405 4 ch amp and Infinity reference 6832 5x7/6x8 speakers. I will post impressions after everything is in.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I may replace the head unit in my Town Car this fall. I want full iPod control and display, buiit in blue tooth, and nav.

I saw a really nice Kenwood with the kitchen sink, but when I read reviews folks said it locked up. Had that problem years ago on Sonys and certainly don't want that now. Has this all been sorted out by any brand or is it the nature of the beast? If so, I will stick to my CD-6 HU.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I have always preferred the stock look and that's partly why I took the route I did. I purchased a new HU for my wife's Trail Blazer last year that had all of the options you're looking for and she's been very happy with it. It was a Clarion though I'm not sure of the exact model #? I bought it from Amazon and I believe it was around $150.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I just checked Amazon and it looks like the model # is Clarion cx-501. You might take a look at it as I think it offers all of what you're looking for.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Had everything installed today and yes it's a definite upgrade over the stock speakers. Very LOUD and clean sounding. The only thing missing is the low end but upgradeitis has struck again. On the 25th it will have 2 JL Audio 10" subs and a 500 watt JL Audio monoblock amp pushing them. Also going in on the 25th will be the Viper 5901 remote start/alarm to protect the contents. Good call on the speakers Sonnie! Thanks.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Glad you like it... and man you are going all out on the JL's... those babies are going to sound awesome.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I figure I might as well just do it right. I tend to stay in the same vehicle for quite some time so why not. I also got to listen to some Focal components and was very impressed. Maybe down the road but for now the subs, amps, speakers, and remote start/alarm have set me back a bit. Getting the rolling of the eyes from the lady of the house.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

If you get a chance... listen to some Hertz. These are by far the best sounding speakers I have ever heard in a vehicle. I am very very impressed.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Never heard of them but I will check them out. Thanks again for the speaker suggestion. They sound great.


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