MM Stereo Poll

[Mezclador]

With the awesome performance of my MM, as of now, completely stock (I just got my black '04 5 days ago- 7500 miles!), Mercury did a poor job matching the stereo to such a gem of a car. In particular, the subwoofer is worthless. I get better sound in my stock Dodge Ram 2500! The sound is completely unbalanced having too little bass. And further, the rear dash vibrates with the little bass there is, sounding like a blown sub. I pulled it today to discover the sub is ok- it was the carpet on top in the rear.

First question is can the subwoofer alone be changed? Has anyone done this and has it yielded any more bass and balanced sound? You'd think the amplifier is undersized too. Can the radio work with another sub? I'd hate to lose the buttons on the steering wheel and have a hole in my trunk where the changer was.

Second, is what overall recomendations do MM owners have that works. I'm not interested in ghetto thumping, just even full sound. Let me know what you have.

Bottom line is if you think you have the perfect stereo for the Marauder, post it. Be specific about stock or non stock, amps, eq's, speaker and sub brands and sizes, and of course, head unit make and model.

This ought to be an interesting thread.

[fastblackmerc]

Other have replaced the stock sub with 1. - a small aftermarket sub in the same enclosure & 2. - a custom-made sub enclosure for the trunk.

Remove the rear package tray and if there is a foam insert in the sub take it out. While your back there tape down any loose wires & connections.

I replaced the factory speakers with aftermarkets and it sounds a whole lot better. Seems the head unit is good, the factory speakers leave alot to be desired.

Do a search and you'll find what others have done.

[LVMarauder]

my stereo is in my sig. did it all myself. sounds great, the trunk functions as a huge enclosure so my stock amped 10" mtx sounds pretty decent .

[dwasson]

The stock speakers are bad enough that almost anything you buy will be a great improvement.

[magindat]

I have designed the ultimate enclosure for the MM. SSM members have seen and heard it. It provides full, rich sound and no rattle whatsoever. It ain't cheap, but it could run behind the factory radio with the right amp. I have written about it many times. If you want it, I'll build it. Feel free to PM.
This, plus a full set of replacement speakers with high sensitivity and low power handling will make a vast improvement behing the stock radio.

[RF Overlord]

Since audio is extremely subjective, the best thing to do is actually hear other car stereos and decide what combination sounds best to you.

I won't claim to have the "perfect stereo", but replacing the OEM speakers in the doors and package shelf with Infinity Reference 5752cf (now discontinued...replacement is the 6812cf) improved the sound quality significantly. The highs are clearer and the lows are more controlled. After removing the foam piece (mentioned by fastblackmerc above ^^^), I found the stock sub satisfactory for my needs.

[ckadiddle]

Hey, now, it's the best stock stereo I've had in any car I've owned so far-Ford or other makes. ;) Upgrading the stereo is waiting till after some more speed upgrades.

It's not bad, it's just not outstanding.

EDIT again:
I take that back. The stock Mach 460 ( I think it's called) system in the wife's 2000 stang will make your ears bleed with the top down. I wish it they had put the same in the Marauder.

[ctrlraven]

Yeah I have to say the OEM "audiophile" system the Marauder has is awful. My old ZX3 focus with no sub sounded better and I'm used to having full audio systems with head units, front 2-way comp amped and 1 or 2 subs amped.

I have a question, who here has hooked up a small 8 or 10" subwoofer to the stock amp and if so what brand sub, custom or pre-fabed box and how did you like it?

[Marauder_Santa]

I installed the Infinity Subwoofer. It is a 10 inch 200 wat amp that fits nicely in the area where the stock sub is. You will have to remove the stock sub to get the Infinity Subwoofer installed. Bought it at Circut City. Here is the link.

http://www.infinitysystems.com/caraudio/product.aspx?ProdId='BASSLINK'&Ser=BSL&Cat=PSU

[ctrlraven]

I installed the Infinity Subwoofer. It is a 10 inch 200 wat amp that fits nicely in the area where the stock sub is. You will have to remove the stock sub to get the Infinity Subwoofer installed. Bought it at Circut City. Here is the link.

http://www.infinitysystems.com/caraudio/product.aspx?ProdId='BASSLINK'&Ser=BSL&Cat=PSU Does the unit allow you to use the oem wires that plug into the oem amp instead of running new wires? If I have to run new wires I'll just bite the bullet until I can get a full on system installed.

[Marauder_Santa]

Don't know. I had it installed at Hi Fi Buys along with a new head unit. It sounds great. It comes with additional brackets to lay down. The picture shows it standing up. Be carefull when you install because of the gas tank. Hi Fi Buys (Tweeter) punctured the gas tank. They made good by paying 100% for the tank - install of the tank and rental. Also got a sweet deal on an alarm system out of the deal.

[fastblackmerc]

Does the unit allow you to use the oem wires that plug into the oem amp instead of running new wires? If I have to run new wires I'll just bite the bullet until I can get a full on system installed.
Checkout the website, there is an install document there. Splanes everything..

[O's Fan Rich]

I just recently replaced the stock speakers with the Pioneers in my sig. I sed the same speaker at each location ( RF's advise ).
Not only did the sound eget better but the bass response really picked up with the stock sub.

[Tallboy]

I just recently replaced the stock speakers with the Pioneers in my sig. I sed the same speaker at each location ( RF's advise ).
Not only did the sound eget better but the bass response really picked up with the stock sub.

Rich-was it tough/necessary to modify the connections at the speakers?

[O's Fan Rich]

Rich-was it tough/necessary to modify the connections at the speakers?
It would have been, but Crutchfield included the adapter harness'
IT was so easy, even I could do it in less then an hour!

Oh, I got the stock size speakers and the holes lined right up. I even used the stock screws and door adapters.
Those harness' are a plug in, no soldering or anything.

[STLR FN]

Rich-was it tough/necessary to modify the connections at the speakers?

It would have been, but Crutchfield included the adapter harness'
IT was so easy, even I could do it in less then an hour! ...snip
Those harness' are a plug in, no soldering or anything.

Circuit City sells them for like 5 bucks a pair if you don't wanna order through Crutchfield.

[fastblackmerc]

I got the speaker adapters from Best Buy@ about $6.00 a set. I put 6x9's in the rear, had to do a little cuttin but they sound good.

[ParkRanger]

Admitting I'm not an audiophile - I have to say my stock system sounds pretty good! Concurred by friends who know the difference (even another MM owner who admits my system is better than his).

Are there better sound systems - Yes! Is it worth the money?????? :down:

PR :burnout:

[wchain]

I changed my head unit to a pioneer AVH-6500 DVD unit and I am running JBLs in the front, MB Quarts in the rear, bass is enough for me with that setup, and the 10W6s are going to go in the suburban....
http://images5.fotki.com/v61/photos/4/41821/1902023/DCP_0415-vi.jpg

[jawz101]

click me (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23974)

on Kicker ZR 120:
Kicker 3.5" components up front
Eclipse coax 5x7" rears

on Kicker ZR240:
2 Orion 10" DTX(?- something like that- dual voice coil)

Sony deck (old... like 40 bucks now on eBay)

If I had to spend more money, which I won't, I'd get a deck w/ more power, newer subs since these are about 7 yrs old and are loosened up, and probably new front components since Kicker components aren't great at midrange.

The best upgrades I'd say are replacing the deck. It has this sub compression DSP stuff that Ford puts on their high-end OEM decks. W/ aftermkt subs it cuts the bass response about 1/2.

I'd also say a custom box up on the back deck (see linky at top) really gets the bass where it needs to be. I had another box in the bottom of the trunk but it doesn't force the sound up front.

Oh yeah, Sony sucks. I've had to dismantle, solder, put back together everything I've had Sony. And someday you'll want some new accessory - 'that'll be $200'. No thank you

[jawz101]

Oh yeah... If you want to retain steering wheel stereo controls
thread here (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=22515)

Yeah, I could've consolidated that into my 1st reply but I want another star under my name. Where's a buttermilk thread when you need one?

[Lowell]

I have replaced the stock stereo with the Pioneer AVIC-Z1 heaed unit. The speakers have been replaced with Pioneer Rev 6x8s. Removed facory sub, replaced with Pioneer thin 12 in a one cubic foot enclosure, amped with a Pioneer 1000 watt mono block amplifier. Sounds damn good in my opinion. Hi pass @80 hz, low pass @80 hz.

[texascorvette]

the stock unit is good enough for my old ears. my complaint is the changer in the trunk only works correctly for about 20 minutes, and then all of the sudden there is a clicking noise that repeats every second or so continuously. does the same thing on all six CD positions. does the same on CD's that I bought and CD's that I burned. ends up being a 1-disc in-dash CD player instead of a 6-CD changer. very aggravating.