MK3 Zetec head unit and speakers sound quality.

[MaxDee]

Not that happy with the sound quality of my MK3 Zetec Focus(6 speaker) so looking into some simple improvements.

The head unit is fine but the Speakers are not especially the rear. Don’t want to spend a lot of money and not really looking in a very load system but anything better that the stock Speakers will do!

1. Is the power output from the unit all same or is the rear power lowered?

2. Are all 4 Speakers 6.5”?

3. Starting by replacing the rear speakers, will theses improve the quality?
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kfc-e1765

4. Any suggestions welcome!!

Thanks in advance.

[alexp999]

The rear Speakers are more for fill they are not the same volume as the fronts. If you shift too much balance to the back then it just goes muffled as you loose the front tweeter volume, as there are no tweeters in the rear in the standard 6 speaker system.

The speaker mounts are not standard so any off the shelf Speakers will need an adapter bought or made.

The Speakers from the Sony system are higher quality they look like blue aftermarket ones. Same fitment and connectors so easy swap and they are pretty cheap. I replaced all 6 on my Fiesta for about £80 from a Ford dealer, although I did change the head unit too so never tested how well the speakers improved the sound on their own.

If you try it and it improves then let me know as my mum wants a better sound in her car. I don't want to go down the route of trying to change the head unit especially as hers has SYNC, but if just switching the speakers works then I'll say about it to her.

[MaxDee]

29 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

The rear speakers are more for fill they are not the same volume as the fronts. If you shift too much balance to the back then it just goes muffled as you loose the front tweeter volume, as there are no tweeters in the rear in the standard 6 speaker system.

The speaker mounts are not standard so any off the shelf speakers will need an adapter bought or made.

The speakers from the Sony system are higher quality they look like blue aftermarket ones. Same fitment and connectors so easy swap and they are pretty cheap. I replaced all 6 on my Fiesta for about £80 from a Ford dealer, although I did change the head unit too so never tested how well the speakers improved the sound on their own.

If you try it and it improves then let me know as my mum wants a better sound in her car. I don't want to go down the route of trying to change the head unit especially as hers has SYNC, but if just switching the speakers works then I'll say about it to her.

Thanks for your reply.
I have tried the fader to the rear and yes they are lower but it could be because there are no tweeters. Are the sony ones the ones installed in the Titanium X?
 

[alexp999]

On the pre facelift mk3 the Sony Speakers are fitted to titanium and titanium x as standard.

On the post facelift mk3.5 the Sony Speakers are only fitted as part of the premium speaker package on the titanium x and ST-3.

[MaxDee]

Are these the ones?

[alexp999]

That's what the premium Speakers look like yeah.

[MaxDee]

They do look better and bigger magnets too. Do they come with 2 or 4 tweeters? I think they will sound better even with the original head unit.

[alexp999]

The tweeters in the front doors are different too.

The sony system does normally come with rear tweeters by the rear door handles too but I agree and would have thought even just replacing the 6 standard paper cones for the premium polymer ones, it should sound better. Might just have to turn the volume up a bit more to compensate for the bigger magnets.

[JW1982]

The standard Speakers are actually not bad in my opinion. My experience is that the sound quality can be improved quite much by installing sound insulation inside the door panels. This will prevent the door panels from resonating and make the Speakers sound a lot better.

I have the 6-speaker High Level audio system with SYNC and was also not happy with the sound quality. After I installed 25 mm sound insulation inside the door panels the sound quality became a lot better. I also installed the original rear door tweeters and changed the amount of Speakers in the Central Car Configuration to 9-speakers which also improved the sound quality.

[MaxDee]

On 5/20/2016 at 11:04 AM, alexp999 said:

The tweeters in the front doors are different too.

The sony system does normally come with rear tweeters by the rear door handles too but I agree and would have thought even just replacing the 6 standard paper cones for the premium polymer ones, it should sound better. Might just have to turn the volume up a bit more to compensate for the bigger magnets.

Alex I have managed to find some Speakers from the Titanium X model on e bay as per picture attached which i bought and received. Unfortunately the seller didn't have the tweeters so I'm planning to leave the stock tweeters and see how it goes first. I also have some old tweeters which i never used and I'm planning to fit them on the rear doors. I just need some time off which I haven't got at the moment to fit everything and will let you know if the sound improves.

[alexp999]

Let us know how they sound :)

[JW1982]

The rear door panels of the Focus MK3 have a curved surface. Only the original tweeters are a nice fit to the curved surface of the door panel. Aftermarket tweeters do not have this curved shape and will not fit nice.The original tweeters only cost about €12,50 a piece from Ford and improve the sound quality quite a bit.

 

[MaxDee]

I noticed the curve in the panel but I'll see if i can fit the ones I already have somewhere else on the door. If they don't look right i will get originals.

[tazzman600]

His Max. With your car being a Zetec and 6 speaker system do your rear doors have a blank where a tweeter would fit? If not then you may have to buy genuine ford tweeters and cut a hole in the door trim to fit them.

I'm unsure with the rear door Speakers as I've left mine as standard (I have a titanium x).

I replaced the front door Speakers with Infinity units. They are powered by a Rockford Fosgate 120w per channel amp. I've had an Alpine 8"powered sub in the boot. I have a thread on my build. Sound deadening helps a lot (JW did you really use 25mm stuff???). I used 2.5mm dynamat.

Experiment with what you have. Play with the tone controls. The mk3 sounds better than mk2 mk2.5 because it has better sound deadening as standard

[MaxDee]

Vlad, no a zetec does not have holes on doors. I have some old surface tweeters which i will use and experiment with them first. If i like the sound quality i will fit them properly, but will just leave them hanging at first. If I'm not satisfied I will get the originals and drill holes in doors.

[tazzman600]

OK thanks Max. Do you have crossovers for the tweeters you have? If not you can use a simple crossover in the form a 6 micro farad capacitor (used them back in the 80's in competition winning cars) in the positive wire. Have fun.

[MaxDee]

1 hour ago, tazzman600 said:

OK thanks Max. Do you have crossovers for the tweeters you have? If not you can use a simple crossover in the form a 6 micro farad capacitor (used them back in the 80's in competition winning cars) in the positive wire. Have fun.

Yes Vlad, the tweeters I have do have a crossovers (capacitor). I just need some time to install everything now!

[JW1982]

Quote

Sound deadening helps a lot (JW did you really use 25mm stuff???). I used 2.5mm dynamat.

Yes, I used 25 mm thick sound insulation material. I used sound absorbing foam plates with an oil and water resistant finish.

 

 

I installed this material inside the door panels. The materials is self adhesive and very easy to install. My experience is that installing this type of material arround the speaker location is sufficient to stop the door panels from resonating. Unfortunately the Focus MK3 door panels do not have much space left over inside so it is not possible to install this type of sound insulation inside the complete door panel.

 

[tazzman600]

Mmmmmm. When I sound deadened my car I only placed the stuff on the outer skin because of the foam material Ford used as the inner skin. I can't imagine fitting 25mm stuff within the door skins. But you managed it somehow so well done to you JW.

[JW1982]

I used the 25 mm thick sound insulation material for a 2-Year project at work. I was able to take all leftovers (50 cm x 50 cm pieces) home so I used this material for both my previous MK2 and My current MK3. On my MK2 I was even able to install 50 mm of insulation material on some locations inside the door cards.

I still have a lot of this material left so i am also planning to install it inside the tailgate.

[MaxDee]

On 5/27/2016 at 4:40 PM, alexp999 said:

Let us know how they sound :)

Managed to fit all Speakers today. I have installed all four Speakers from the titanium version, Kept the stock front tweeters and installed some old tweeters to the back doors. I can honestly say the the sound has improved a lot and now can pump up the volume have some base with no distortion. The tweeters on the rear doors have made a huge difference but the sound on the rear doors can do with slight amplification as still sounds lower than the fronts. Even the wife and kids have noticed the difference and can't believe that Ford installs such rubbish Speakers to a Zetec.

I am now happy with it and don't need to do any other modifications.

[tazzman600]

Nice one Max. Don't worry about the rears sounding a lower volume than the fronts. It's absolutely normal. The rears only act as a bit of rear fill.

You'll see from those who have done car audio installs that they've left the rears alone and driven by the headunit.

Maybe though to make the car look standard why don't you mount factory rear tweeters where they live in say a titanium x.

[MaxDee]

42 minutes ago, tazzman600 said:

Nice one Max. Don't worry about the rears sounding a lower volume than the fronts. It's absolutely normal. The rears only act as a bit of rear fill.

You'll see from those who have done car audio installs that they've left the rears alone and driven by the headunit.

Maybe though to make the car look standard why don't you mount factory rear tweeters where they live in say a titanium x.

Mounting the factory rear tweeters is my next project. I have noticed that in the rear of the door cards there are circle marks which makes it easier to drill the correct place.

The pictures show my rear tweeters which have made a difference in the sound.

[tazzman600]

Blimey. Most unorthodox tweeter placement in the back.

Have fun installing factory rear tweeters but most of all enjoy.

[MUMA]

I have a focus mk3 titanium. I dont have rear tweeters. Can that be added plug and play? Like is there wiring from factory or do you need to make a soldering from rear speaker?