I have a 2003 GT and I just purchased a Pioneer Avic D3x HU w/ navigation, ipod, bluetooth, dvd, the whole nine yards. From what I've read, replacing the components of the Mach system is a real pain in the a--. I am also considering replacing the speakers as well if this will make installation easier and improve the sound system as a whole. Can the new HU and new speakers be installed and hooked up with the Mach amps? If so what do I need to do this? What installation harnesses and connectors do I need to install the HU? What is recommended for speakers? Do you recommend a component set to replace the door woofers and door speakers respectively? Will I need bass blockers? I have done a lot of searching but I've heard mixed approaches to this which is why I'm making another post. Thanks for your help!
Installing Pioneer Avic D3, speakers? Factory Amps?
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ChingonStang
Member
If your gonna replace the mach speakers, trash the mach amps as well. You will save yourself a lot of headaches.
Yes aftermarket speakers will make a big difference,but the problem lies in how the factory mach system is set up,but i'll explain that in a second. First to reuse the mach sound system you need a Scosche part number 70-1550-1. It will take the low level signal from the D3 and feed it into the factory amps.
The reason people sometimes have problems with replacing the factory speakers is that the mach system has bult in crossovers for each of the 4 front speakers. Bass and some midrange comes from the 5x7 in each door and upper-mid and treble comes from the 2 inch "tweeter" in each sail panel. Aftermarket speakers(components in particular,which are better than coaxials) are designed to have bass and midrange fed to the 5x7 and just treble to the tweeter. When you replace just the 5x7,you aren't utilizing the tweeter and so not much difference in sound is heard. If you do it "right" and replace both mid and tweet but run them off the factory amps,the aftermarket tweet is fed too much frequency range and either sounds bad(distorts easily) or cooks itself quickly because of it. So,the best,best option is to bypass the factory amps and replace the speakers with aftermarket components.
The reason people sometimes have problems with replacing the factory speakers is that the mach system has bult in crossovers for each of the 4 front speakers. Bass and some midrange comes from the 5x7 in each door and upper-mid and treble comes from the 2 inch "tweeter" in each sail panel. Aftermarket speakers(components in particular,which are better than coaxials) are designed to have bass and midrange fed to the 5x7 and just treble to the tweeter. When you replace just the 5x7,you aren't utilizing the tweeter and so not much difference in sound is heard. If you do it "right" and replace both mid and tweet but run them off the factory amps,the aftermarket tweet is fed too much frequency range and either sounds bad(distorts easily) or cooks itself quickly because of it. So,the best,best option is to bypass the factory amps and replace the speakers with aftermarket components.
08blueskunk
New Member
I am an installer at Circuit city, and I agree with Red2000GT, I have done a couple of Mach systems, My 97 cobra had the Mach460 (not sure yours). It is alot of work because the front tweeters on mine where small pods and had to be manipulated (dremeled) to replace them with aftermarkets.
Now as far as the door speakers you should be fine to replace the factory speakers with regular 5x7's don't have to do components because the amp only sends low freq to the speakers, and when you buy components you pay the $$$ for the crossovers (which you already have built i your factory amps) and the built in tweeters won't blow because they aren't getting their proper signal anyways (just a low freq). The 5x7's will sound awful just by themselves because they only recieve bass, and the tweets up on the door mirror handle the treble.
The Factory amps are pretty good you can use them and get plenty of clean power. They are pushing in the ballpark of 35-65RMPS watts, which will be about 20watts more what the D3 pushes for RMS. Most run of the mill 4ch. amps (kicker, MTX, JL ECT.) average about 75 watts RMS. and you will need to buy 2 amps to match similarities the factory offers.
OH yeah and Let's not forget about a sub...that another stroy for another thread,
I can tell you anything you wnat to know about the stang systems I am owning my 3rd stang and have done plenty of them at work.
Now as far as the door speakers you should be fine to replace the factory speakers with regular 5x7's don't have to do components because the amp only sends low freq to the speakers, and when you buy components you pay the $$$ for the crossovers (which you already have built i your factory amps) and the built in tweeters won't blow because they aren't getting their proper signal anyways (just a low freq). The 5x7's will sound awful just by themselves because they only recieve bass, and the tweets up on the door mirror handle the treble.
The Factory amps are pretty good you can use them and get plenty of clean power. They are pushing in the ballpark of 35-65RMPS watts, which will be about 20watts more what the D3 pushes for RMS. Most run of the mill 4ch. amps (kicker, MTX, JL ECT.) average about 75 watts RMS. and you will need to buy 2 amps to match similarities the factory offers.
OH yeah and Let's not forget about a sub...that another stroy for another thread,
I can tell you anything you wnat to know about the stang systems I am owning my 3rd stang and have done plenty of them at work.
So you're saying go with new speakers and by-pass the factory amps? This would entail rewiring the whole car and adding a 4-channel amp to power them, correct? As I understand it now, with components, the woofer handles the low frequencies and the tweeter the highs. So if you get a component set, the woofer will go in the lower door and the tweeter will go in the door sail replacing the factor tweeter? Do they make tweeter small enough to fit in there? Also where can I find the sizes for all the speakers in my car?
ChingonStang
Member
08blueskunk
New Member
No no no. sorry for any confusion, it is hard to explain typing.
You wont need to rewire anything the harness you buy does it all for you, just need to do a couple extra things for the navigation ect...
Keep factory amps just change out your speakers.
Most likely 5x7 or 6x8 (same speaker) for the lower doors/ rears
they could be rounds, My convertible had speaker pods that contained 5 1/4" rounds
tweeters are 1" domes.
Scenarior #2
GUT THE WHOLE STEREO...and buy:
(1) set of tweeters
(4) 5x7 speakers (or whatever fit in the stock holes)
(1) 2xCh amp to power tweeters
(1) 4xCh amp to power 4 5x7's
(1) pair of frequency blockers for the front 5x7's to block high freq. (cheaper instead of crossovers)
(1) Mono amp for sub
(1) Subwoofer
(1) box for subwoofer
(1) 4ga. wire kit (multiple amp kit)
(1) Big ass capacitor
(1) VERY LARGE CHECK BOOK!!!!!!!
and Come on up to Maine i will get it all for you and installed for less than $2,000 easily (Kicker or MTX)
You wont need to rewire anything the harness you buy does it all for you, just need to do a couple extra things for the navigation ect...
Keep factory amps just change out your speakers.
Most likely 5x7 or 6x8 (same speaker) for the lower doors/ rears
they could be rounds, My convertible had speaker pods that contained 5 1/4" rounds
tweeters are 1" domes.
Scenarior #2
GUT THE WHOLE STEREO...and buy:
(1) set of tweeters
(4) 5x7 speakers (or whatever fit in the stock holes)
(1) 2xCh amp to power tweeters
(1) 4xCh amp to power 4 5x7's
(1) pair of frequency blockers for the front 5x7's to block high freq. (cheaper instead of crossovers)
(1) Mono amp for sub
(1) Subwoofer
(1) box for subwoofer
(1) 4ga. wire kit (multiple amp kit)
(1) Big ass capacitor
(1) VERY LARGE CHECK BOOK!!!!!!!
and Come on up to Maine i will get it all for you and installed for less than $2,000 easily (Kicker or MTX)
03TrueBlue
Member
The stock system has horrible crossover issues. The mids have the low freqs and the tweeters the highs. The tweeters are powered off the stock deck amp and the woofers off the rear amps. The system really has mid range problems. I temporarily ran wires from my deck( alpine 9835) to the front tweeters and mids and I use the active crossover in my deck to get the correct freqs to these speakers. then I ripped out the rear mach shelf and installed a sub box and used the mach amps to run the 2 12s. It is a cheap way of doing it but it sounds so much better and I control the crossover points, slope and gain on all the speakers. And those cheap mach amps really pound those 12s , well good enough for me and it makes everything vibrate.
You can fit aftermarket tweeters easily in the factory locations but if you use the factory amp to power them,you will damage them if you like to turn the system up for any length of time. Any aftermarket tweet from 3/4" to 1 1/4" is not designed to run at as low of a frequency as the mach 460 cuts them off at. I don't know of an aftermarket speaker in a 2"size. I only recommended using the components due to the fact that sound quality was brought up,and they will sound better than a coax in any normal system.
03TrueBlue
Member
I agree with red200gt. Best case is to rewire and run what you want. I personally dont like rear speakers and like to run a good front stage with a sub. there is not a good thing you can do with the Mach system except get rid of it. but thats just my opinion. if you want to replace the fronts get a good pair of comps and either make adapters or have them made and install a good pair pf comps with at least a 6.5 mid
Red2000GT: So you say its not difficult to put tweeters in the factory locations? Well that's a relief. It's not a direct mount, right? What should I do about an adapter plate?
03TrueBlue: First off, nice car. I have the exact same one! I was thinking this: tear out the Mach completely, install my Avid D3, put in a nice set of infinity components up front and a decent set of full range in the back. I'd power those with a 4-channel amp. I'm more than likely going to add a sub to the trunk as well. Whatt do you mean by "either make adapters or have them made and install a good pair pf comps with at least a 6.5 mid" What are pf components? And as far as the 6.5 mid...I talked to a guy at Crutchfield yesterday and he said I could fit 5.25" in the door. Are you saying I can do a 6.5"? I would rather not do any cutting of the door panel.
03TrueBlue: First off, nice car. I have the exact same one! I was thinking this: tear out the Mach completely, install my Avid D3, put in a nice set of infinity components up front and a decent set of full range in the back. I'd power those with a 4-channel amp. I'm more than likely going to add a sub to the trunk as well. Whatt do you mean by "either make adapters or have them made and install a good pair pf comps with at least a 6.5 mid" What are pf components? And as far as the 6.5 mid...I talked to a guy at Crutchfield yesterday and he said I could fit 5.25" in the door. Are you saying I can do a 6.5"? I would rather not do any cutting of the door panel.
03TrueBlue
Member
Yes you can mount a 6.5 in the doors without cutting. You have to make an adapter. I make mine out of 3/4 mdf board, medium density fiber board is the real name. just have to cut it out with a jig saw. You should be able to go to a local shop and they can make them for you. I had 7" mids in my 99 without cutting the doors. I would go with a different set then the Infinitys. I had a set and the tweeters were very harsh and the mids just didnt have much midbass for me. If you want info on stereos you can go to caraudio.com and ask questions about components there.
I installed my D3 to the mach 460 using the Metra adapter and bass blocker. Sounds fine to me. It's like a better version of the factory sound. Sure, it would sound 1000000x better with new amps and speakers, but I didn't want to go through all that again. Not into big sound in the cars anymore like I was as a kid. I want my big sound in my home theater 
Not sure what year your stang is...but I have an 03 GT that I did a complete system upgrade in. It was previously a MACH460. I took out the rear shelf and installed some JBL 6X8's, the front door got the same JBL's, and the pillars got a set of JBL 1" tweeters. It is all run by a JBL 5 channel amp via a Kenwood Excellon DVD deck. It was a pain to rewire everything, but, WELL WORTH every second of it!!! Just in case you were wondering, I did not choose to use the factory "frequency split" between the door speakers and pillar speakers. The door speakers are running at full bandwidth and it sounds AWESOME!! I also installed 2 12" JBL subs that run off the same amp. This is my first single amp/multiple output setup and I love it. There is no comparison between the stock setup and aftermarket setup that will justify how good it sounds. The difference is night and day!
lazy_stang
New Member
- Mar 22, 2009
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Kraw: what is the metra adapter and bass blocker? I am keeping my mach 460 setup but changing out the headunit. . . just wondering on how to go about doing it? I have never bought an adapter harness for any of my other cars when changing head units, but the mach 460 is a bit more of a pain in the a--! So the metra adapter, is that just the adapter harness that will plug into the factory stereo harness and i can just wire up my deck to it? And what is the bass blocker?
Thanks
Thanks
