Upgrading Mk7 Sound Quality

[AntonyJ]

First post! B)

I seem to spend a lot longer listening to music in my new Fiesta than I do my high-endish hi-fi at home, so I'm looking to improve the overall sound quality. My tastes are pretty mainstream, and at my age (40) I'm not looking to turn my ride into a mobile nightclub...

Mostly it's OK, but some roads cause really annoying levels of noise in the cabin (the 40-profile Bridgestones don't help I'm sure ), and even on smooth roads the mid/bass tones from the Speakers seem a bit "muddy".

Reading this and other sites, it looks like I need to upgrade the Speakers (possily just the fronts) and install some sound deadening. I've noticed the door cards seem to vibrate strongly both from road noise and the Speakers, so I'm thinking about stiffening them (with resin or expanding foam) and adding some open-cell foam. Then doing the same to the inner moisture guard, and mounting the new speakers on some plywood or MDF baffles (assuming there's room). And adding butyl pads to the door panels.

Looking around, this looks like the list of stuff I need:

• Silent Coat or Damplifier bulk kit
  
• Overkill or Phonocar 4/923 Soundpoofing (open cell foam)
  
• Fibreglass resin or expanding foam
  

Then the interesting stuff:

• Pioneer TS-E107ci 17cm Component speakers (for the front)
  
• Pioneer TS-E1702i 17cm Coaxials (if I replace the back as well)
  

Or is there a much better choice for the money?

The moulded grills in the plastic door card look like they might absorb some of the speaker's energy - has anyone thought about cutting the cards and installing mesh/cloth or the grills supplied with the new speakers? (I'm looking to keep the original look as far as possible). Also I'm planning to fit the tweeters in place of the originals - should I be thinking of moving them to the dash/A-pillars instead?

Can I get away without installing an amp? I'd rather avoid it if possible. Also I don't really want to install a sub (the speakers I've selected go pretty deep)

Does this sound about right to you guys or is my money/effort better directed elsewhere (e.g. new tyres/wheels)?

Cheers,

Antony.

[Strutter]

Wont make much of a difference if you run it off the stock HU without running a processor (Genisis or A1) to flatten the sound and up the quality to have the right channels, I would save the money from all of that and save some more to do it right, anything else is just covering the inital root problem.

And actually component wise the Tweeters are in a very bad position sound wise, im looking at removing the fornt interior pillers to mould my own and place them inside that instead for quality.

[Parkesie]

Id go with sound proofing (something like dyna mat) in the doors replace the Speakers with something more up market and more importantly and often over looked id look at replacing the speaker wires from the H-unit to the Speakers.

1st id try Speakers in the existing locations if your still not happy then get the knife and fiber glass out.

Waiting for the nice new sony stereo to come out aswell :)

[LeeZetecS]

I was quite interested reading about you wanting to do some deadening within the doors as i'm finding some vibration from the doors within the car also.

From outside the car the only vibration i can hear is something from the rear, under the rear difuser.

I haven't yet had time to investigate but it could be something to do with the poor excuse for a spare wheel. I'l need to take out the poly tray for the sealent and see if that cures it, otherwise it could be the heat plate for the exhalst.

I have an active sub installed and sounds pretty good, i find with the audio setting on the headunit, bass set at par, treble at +1 and mid at +2 the factory Speakers arent that bad!

I wouldn't move away from the 40 profile tyres as they look so much nicer.

Oh and welcome to FOC too! :D

[LeeZetecS]

Waiting for the nice new sony stereo to come out aswell :)

When is that being released?

[james_60]

Ditto iam waiting as well .

Probably will not hear anything about it until it is released as with anything ford.

Iam also going to dynomat the rear quarter panels and boot floor as well as anywhere where i can sufficiently lift the carpet.

Jamie

[LeeZetecS]

I'l definatly be looking into this dynomat then.

I do the fibre optic infrastucture at the ford site in Dagenham and talk to the guys there alot, they seem to know alot about new stuff being released, i'm surprised they have only just starting putting front sensors on the cars as the guys knew about that for months.

I'l have to ask about the sony headunit, i'v seen pictures and it looks great.

sorry we seem to be drifting from the subject

[AntonyJ]

I was quite interested reading about you wanting to do some deadening within the doors as i'm finding some vibration from the doors within the car also.

From outside the car the only vibration i can hear is something from the rear, under the rear difuser.

I haven't yet had time to investigate but it could be something to do with the poor excuse for a spare wheel. I'l need to take out the poly tray for the sealent and see if that cures it, otherwise it could be the heat plate for the exhalst.

On smooth tarmac the car is dead quiet. I've also experimented with de-clutching (so the revs drop) and I'm convinced my problems are down to the road surface (concrete is worst, but rough tarmac comes are close second) with the vibrations coming up through the suspension/sub-frame into the body. I can feel it through the floor mats into my heels...

You might have a loose heat shield - not everything gets screwed down properly. My under-bonnet pad was loose on delivery causing a rattle until I pushed the clips firmly home.

I have an active sub installed and sounds pretty good, i find with the audio setting on the headunit, bass set at par, treble at +1 and mid at +2 the factory Speakers arent that bad!

Which sub did you get? Was it easy to install? My settings are similar Bass 0; Mid +2; Treble 0. And I agree, the factory Speakers aren't bad. But I'd like better :)

I wouldn't move away from the 40 profile tyres as they look so much nicer.

Yep, that would be a last resort... The standard wheels look horrid :o

But maybe it explains why the Titanium isn't being offered with the 17" wheels now.

Oh and welcome to FOC too! :D

Cheers!

[LeeZetecS]

I have a Vibe Active Sub bought from Halfords about 2 years ago, 1200watts which i think for the same sort of spec you'l look to pay around 260 for one. and 20 for a Vibe amp wiring kit.

It was easy to do but still having small problems with interferance at low volume and it's in at ford tuesday morning for what i believe to be an electrical fault which could of been due to disconnecting the battery.

the cars been acting weird since the weekend when i installed it.

Those 17's are loud, which is why i've stuck with the 16's.. gotta watch those potholes with low profiles tho!

[AntonyJ]

Wont make much of a difference if you run it off the stock HU without running a processor (Genisis or A1) to flatten the sound and up the quality to have the right channels, I would save the money from all of that and save some more to do it right, anything else is just covering the inital root problem.

And actually component wise the Tweeters are in a very bad position sound wise, im looking at removing the fornt interior pillers to mould my own and place them inside that instead for quality.

I'd rather not install a processor and amp (I don't know where to put them in a Fiesta, without sacrificing a lot of space). Obviously this wouldn't work for the radio, but couldn't you pre-apply the parametric equalization on your PC before encoding the MP3s?

I've seen pictures of some really impressive installs with the tweeters in the A-pillars, but my preference is to make the install invisible if at all possible. I think there's a deep dark hole you stare into once you start buying fibreglass and Alcantara...

Cheers,

Antony.

[Parkesie]

Keep it all hidden and keep it simple. Adding more dosnt necesarily make it better after all.

Only seen the pictures of the sony headunit and it does look rather nice. Come on ford get a move on.

Here it is :)

[james_60]

Parksie the link is dead :(

[Parkesie]

my bad fixed now

[Crieffy]

Parksie the link is dead :(

Just remove the 2nd http// from the link address :) ..here..

On second thoughts, it's best not to look, as you'll be wanting one ASAP :D

EDIT/ doh, I'm too slow at typing

Edited March 20, 2010 by Crieffy

[james_60]

crieffy bought it so nobody else can :( :(

[Mk7_Rbj]

Sorry to hi-jack

Wondering if u can help me with some questions i have about installing a sub and amp

Please have a look at my posts here in my progress thread and let me know if you can help..

Thanks

RBJ