! Guide ! Fitting Aftermarket Tweeters Mk7

[tunne1rat]

One thing that annoys me about Ford is the lack of attention spent on the Audio.

Apart from the navigation headunits fitted to the Mondeo platform (and previous Focus platform), all of the audio systems are built by Visteon (formerly Ford Audio) - yes even the Sony branded models.

The blame cannot be attributed entirely to the Visteon headunits though. The Speakers are just as bad!

As an ICE installer of many years, it is no problem for me to change all or part of a system to get the best performance. Sometimes I like to do a full install with custom made speaker and subwoofer enclosures (like my last S-Max install) and sometimes I keep it low key with just a few minor alterations.

After listening to the Fiesta audio for some time, I concluded that a big improvement could be made to the audio simply by replacing the tweeters.

I purchased some JL Audio tweeters for £20 and set about installing them.

Luckily the tweeters can be replaced without removing the door cards.

Here’s how I did it.

The sound is now much brighter and a massive improvement over the muddy original.

All for such a small amount of money and effort.

[iNath]

Another excellent guide - do you have a link for the tweeters?

[tunne1rat]

Here you go: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JL-AUDIO-VR075CT-COMPONENT-CAR-REPLACEMENT-TWEETERS-125-WATTS-SAME-DAY-DISPATCH-/160794200988?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item257014cb9c

[Bladerunner]

Hi Steve, I also feel that the sound on my zetec is not very good infact the previous car a mk3 Micra sounded better!

Having never upgraded a cars speaker system I now feel confident to have a go.

The only thing I am not sure about is the "cross over" , what does it do and can you explain where the wires have to be soldered on to.

Also is the capacitor obvious.

Cheers

[Stoney871]

Steve- Please please tell us where you get the cartoon format from?

It makes guides so much easier to read and format.

[tunne1rat]

Hi Steve, I also feel that the sound on my zetec is not very good infact the previous car a mk3 Micra sounded better!

Having never upgraded a cars speaker system I now feel confident to have a go.

The only thing I am not sure about is the "cross over" , what does it do and can you explain where the wires have to be soldered on to.

Also is the capacitor obvious.

Cheers

A crossover is a filter which protects the tweeter from receiving bass sounds which would otherwise damage it.

In a complex speaker set-up the crossover would also filter the woofer so as to not allow higher frequencies intended for the tweeter to be sounded by the woofer.

The Fiesta factory fitted crossover is a much simplified affair consisting in most cases of a single capacitor attached to the tweeter although the Speakers fitted with the Sony premium audio have a basic filter also fitted to the woofer.

The capacitor needs to be un-soldered from the factory tweeter and fitted in line with the positive (red) tweeter wire.

If you don't want to butcher your factory tweeters, you can buy new capacitors here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Qty-5-Bipolar-Non-Polar-Electrolytic-Capacitor-Reversible-NP-Caps-Various-/110825032734?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&var=&hash=item19cdafcc1e

The value needs to be 4.7uf (micro farad) 50v min (100v will be ok) NP (non polar).

Steve- Please please tell us where you get the cartoon format from?

It makes guides so much easier to read and format.

Yes, I agree the comic style is fun and easy to follow, but even better, it is easy to use.

The software is made by Plasq and called Comic Life 2.

[Bladerunner]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for that, now I am confident that I know what to do.

As you say I would keep the factory ones as they are so they could be re-fitted easily .

Cheers.

[AJ_sXe]

Maybe my ears/hearing sucks, but I can't tell that the sound from my standard Speakers is poo...I'd love to hear a side by side comparison some day.