New stereo for the Stang

[Kitzy]

Every vehicle I have gets a new stereo.  This was supposed to be different as i was going to try to live with the factory stuff.  I made the mistake of listening to some stuff while I was getting my windows tinted a little while ago and it all went down hill from there.

I discussed a few options first.  Decided to leave the stock 8" door subs alone since it's tough to find anything shallow enough to fit without modifying the door panel.  Clearance is something like 3.5" and the way the enclosure is built even some of that isn't usable without trimming it.  The biggest decision I had to make was whether I wanted to run a single Alpine PDX-5 5 channel amp to power everything or two Focal amps which are better and obviously a more expensive route but also better if I decide to upgrade the stock door subs.  So rather than limit myself later or cost myself more in the long run, I went with the better setup; a Focal Solid 1 for the door subs and a Focal Solid 4 for the new speakers.  The original plan for the speakers was to run Focal Polyglass components in the doors and coax in the rear deck.  I got a call from them while they had the car.  They wanted to change to a different speaker for the rear deck that would fit better.  It was $100 cheaper (entry level Focal Access) and that for an extra $40 I could swap the components for the Focal K2s.  So I jumped on that, especially since the rear deck coax are just for fill anyway.  Then for the headunit I went with the Pioneer P4200DVD 7" touchscreen which meant having to use the Metra dash kit which relocates and changes the HVAC controls because an aftermarket double din won't fit in the stock location. 

Focal Solid 1 Amp
Focal Solid 4 Amp
Pioneer P4200DVD
Focal K2 165KR Components
Focal Access 570CA1 Coaxials

*I thought I had a direct shot of what it looked like before but apparently not.  The full interior shot will have to do.




Since my car doesn't come with a spare tire because a traditional spare won't fit over the brakes we used that area to mount the amps.  Had I gone with the single Alpine PDX-5 it would have been mounted under the passenger seat more than likely.  So here's the trunk with the liner down and then up. 




Obviously the speakers are behind the door panels and can't be seen.

[attworth]

Very nice setup man. That dash kit is pretty neato. I wondered how they would do that in those cars.

 

[Kitzy]

Thanks.  The dash kit is really clean but the Scosche kit will probably be nicer once it finally comes out.

[BigSur]

Impressive    I bet the sound is awesome.  You've got me beat for sure. 

In my F150, I pulled out factory everything....went with Pioneer 4-ways in all the doors, driven by an Alpine MRP-F300 amplifier.....Kenwood powered sub under the back seat, and a Kenwood DPX head unit (double-din).  The sound is WAY better than factory..but the subwoofer distorts on the low end.  I listen to rock and metal mostly, so it works for me.  Anything with low end bass sounds like chit.

Awesome setup Mike    I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[Too Stroked]

Mike, waaay awesome! Do me a favor though and PM me before you crank it up. I want to tape up my windows so they don't break. Wait a minute, there's a crack in one. Did you ....

[Kitzy]

Thanks guys.  I was told to take it easy on the speakers for a little while they break in.  The installer said keep not to turn it up over around medium volume.  It goes to 40. He said between 20-25 is medium.  It's pretty loud at that volume which is probably why he said I'll never listen to it at 40.

[gipraw]

very nice.  I'd like to do something in the Taurus, but no way I am giving up my sync functionality

[Kitzy]

I thought I saw somewhere that with certain head units you can retain them with an add-on but I'm not positive on that.  I know there's an add-on to retain the steering wheel controls.  The only thing I found useful with the Sync was the blue tooth worked exceptionally well.  Trying to use it to find artists on my ipod or even trying to call someone was difficult because it often got the names wrong.  I'll probably add blue tooth to this at some point.  Hopefully it works better than my Alpine unit I had in the Expedition.  Weird though that the 3200 comes with blue tooth but the 4200 does not.

[Blown F-150]

Very nice! I wondered how to make a double DIN work. I didn't know that you didn't get a spare with the big brake package. Hope you carry a can of "Fix-A-Flat" just in case...

[Kitzy]

Where the spare normally goes is an air compressor and a can of fix a flat to get you up and going temporarily.  However those are now removed for the amps which I'm ok with because I'm used to not having a spare.  I had one with my Expedition but because of the A4WD and my aftermarket wheels and tires the spare wouldn't have worked anyway.  There were a lot of wheels, even 19s which are the stock size, that just didn't fit over these brakes so the chance of a spare fitting is very slim.  There's probably less than a 1/4" clearance between the stock wheels and the caliper on the front. 

[Blown F-150]

Cool, I figured they would give you something. Had to use my spare tire for the first time in over a decade Friday night. Hit a pothole and pinched the tire.

Awesome set up, I would give up the spare if it was there for those amps.

[Old Dogg™]

Very nice system!

My 04 F150 was the first vehicle I never touched....so far.
When I used to consider it, the only thing that kept me from modding my truck stereo were the steering wheel controls but my stock unit and sub have been enough.
I ruined my low frequency hearing working around jet noise for years... and there were the many front row seats at so many concerts...I see many semi old folks jockeying around with hearing aids and still can hear chit so im trying to be kinder to my ears.
Be careful.  Once it's gone you cant get it back.

[Poorboy]

too much Mike    so how much louder than the Expy is it   

[Rollingrock]

Mike, I got the wife the 4100, how do you like the newer ipod integration?

[Kitzy]

Steve, the bass isn't even close to the Expedition but it's enough.  I don't want to weigh it down with subs anyway.  My fat ass is enough for the poor car.  I can't turn them up all the way yet either until they break in so I'm not completely sure but even at medium volume they're pretty loud.  I think they're going to be a lot louder than the Expedition.

Jason, I've had the Alpine W205 (think that's what was stolen out of your truck wasn't it?)  That was what was stolen out of the Expedition.  I really didn't care for the ipod integration at all.  Then I got the Alpine W900BT and while the ipod integration was better, it still wasn't good.  Now with the Pioneer, I can say I'm pretty happy with it.  It has a horizontal scroll bar similar to that of an internet browser where you can click on it anywhere and it jumps to that point in alphabetical order.  It also has an ABC button that when clicked the alphabet appears in place of the scroll bar and lets you pick a letter to start at.  It's much more convenient.  The actual display is nicer as well.  Just the way it reads out the artists and album names.  This is all very important when you have over 40GB of music to sort through.

Oddly enough, I can't for the life of me figure out how to set the clock on this thing.  I may have to break out the book.  My last Alpine had a terrible clock set up on it.  It had built in Navigation and the clock would use that to set itself.  It was horrible and never right.  It was always off by and hour or two because it always had the wrong timezone.