SchoolZoneSpeeder
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2019
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 42
- Location
- Daytona Beach, FL
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 Ranger Lariat FX4
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi,
I recently traded my 19 Ranger for a 21 Tremor, and my goal with the non-B&O stereo was to upgrade the door speakers, and modify the doors to make the most of the speakers.
I saw some good reviews on the Powerbass 6.5 coaxial that is designed to mount up to factory Ford locations, so I bought a set for the rear to try them out while I decided on what front component set I wanted.
I installed Kilmat on the majority of the inner door skins, and on a few surfaces of the door frame where I knew it wouldn't interfere with the panel fit. Let me tell you, it made a MASSIVE difference in the sound resonation of the doors, and you can knock on them from the outside and get a nice dead thud sound. I've always thought the Ranger doors sounded cheap when closing them, and this helps a bunch.
So on to the speaker installation. In the past after installing aftermarket speakers in doors, I have seen several times that although the sound quality and high frequencies are much better, they would often lose bass. In an effort to prevent this, I tried a couple things.
I bought foam surrounds from Boom Mat, rubber speaker protectors with a lip that is meant to seal the front of the speaker against the door panel, and foam surrounds that are also meant to seal the speaker against the door panel.
It turns out that due to the factoryish (lol) design of the Powerbass speakers, I couldn't fit the rubber trim, so I will try them on the front components.
I put the Boom Mat foam surround under the passenger side speaker, and on the driver side there is nothing on the back of the speaker. I installed the foam rings around both speakers to seal them against the panel. After playing the speakers I determined that the Boom Mat definitely decreased the bass response, and it is likely because it is just such a small enclosure that it doesn't give the speaker much air to work with. I don't think the product is useless though, because it would definitely be helpful in protecting speakers in the case of a vehicle that gets a lot of water intrusion leaking down into the doors. When I pull the panels I am going to trim the bottom half of the enclosure away so the speakers will be protected against water, yet still have the benefit of the large enclosure of the door.
The foam seal rings seem to do a good job of directing the sound out of the speaker grills in the panel instead of allowing the sound to go sideways back into the door.
The biggest issue I ran into is that the new speakers don't sound good, and I don't think it is the fault of the speaker. They seem to be good quality, yet they barely sound better then the factory speakers. There is a harsh spike in the upper midrange, there isn't much treble, and the bass is not as punchy. I suspect the DSP Is designed to make the factory crappy speakers sound as good as possible, so the EQ is nothing like what it should be for speakers that can actually produce accurate sound. Another reason I think DSP is heavily at play, is when I fade the speakers all the way to the back, they sound really dead. Once I start moving the fade a little to the front, the rear speakers start sounding better, and more bass and treble seem to come out of them. Of course the overall sound is better because now the front components start playing, but I mean directly at ear level in the back, the rear speakers start sounding better once the fade is moved to the front a couple notches.
I know from the limited amount of browsing I've done so far here, that the DDP can be disabled with the addition of a different wiring harness, processor, amp, etc, but I didnt want to go that route. Is there any way to disable the DSP without having to add a bunch of equipment?
Thanks
I recently traded my 19 Ranger for a 21 Tremor, and my goal with the non-B&O stereo was to upgrade the door speakers, and modify the doors to make the most of the speakers.
I saw some good reviews on the Powerbass 6.5 coaxial that is designed to mount up to factory Ford locations, so I bought a set for the rear to try them out while I decided on what front component set I wanted.
I installed Kilmat on the majority of the inner door skins, and on a few surfaces of the door frame where I knew it wouldn't interfere with the panel fit. Let me tell you, it made a MASSIVE difference in the sound resonation of the doors, and you can knock on them from the outside and get a nice dead thud sound. I've always thought the Ranger doors sounded cheap when closing them, and this helps a bunch.
So on to the speaker installation. In the past after installing aftermarket speakers in doors, I have seen several times that although the sound quality and high frequencies are much better, they would often lose bass. In an effort to prevent this, I tried a couple things.
I bought foam surrounds from Boom Mat, rubber speaker protectors with a lip that is meant to seal the front of the speaker against the door panel, and foam surrounds that are also meant to seal the speaker against the door panel.
It turns out that due to the factoryish (lol) design of the Powerbass speakers, I couldn't fit the rubber trim, so I will try them on the front components.
I put the Boom Mat foam surround under the passenger side speaker, and on the driver side there is nothing on the back of the speaker. I installed the foam rings around both speakers to seal them against the panel. After playing the speakers I determined that the Boom Mat definitely decreased the bass response, and it is likely because it is just such a small enclosure that it doesn't give the speaker much air to work with. I don't think the product is useless though, because it would definitely be helpful in protecting speakers in the case of a vehicle that gets a lot of water intrusion leaking down into the doors. When I pull the panels I am going to trim the bottom half of the enclosure away so the speakers will be protected against water, yet still have the benefit of the large enclosure of the door.
The foam seal rings seem to do a good job of directing the sound out of the speaker grills in the panel instead of allowing the sound to go sideways back into the door.
The biggest issue I ran into is that the new speakers don't sound good, and I don't think it is the fault of the speaker. They seem to be good quality, yet they barely sound better then the factory speakers. There is a harsh spike in the upper midrange, there isn't much treble, and the bass is not as punchy. I suspect the DSP Is designed to make the factory crappy speakers sound as good as possible, so the EQ is nothing like what it should be for speakers that can actually produce accurate sound. Another reason I think DSP is heavily at play, is when I fade the speakers all the way to the back, they sound really dead. Once I start moving the fade a little to the front, the rear speakers start sounding better, and more bass and treble seem to come out of them. Of course the overall sound is better because now the front components start playing, but I mean directly at ear level in the back, the rear speakers start sounding better once the fade is moved to the front a couple notches.
I know from the limited amount of browsing I've done so far here, that the DDP can be disabled with the addition of a different wiring harness, processor, amp, etc, but I didnt want to go that route. Is there any way to disable the DSP without having to add a bunch of equipment?
Thanks
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