$400 for a good audio upgrade :) yes it's doable!

Here's the list to the stuff I'm getting - all pretty much Pioneer A-series stuff, not audiophile grade but better than OEM

https://2017-ford-raptor.blogspot.com/2017/04/600-for-premium-sound-system-is-it.html

add $170 of Dynamat to get the stuff all dialed in too

 

If you haven't bought the stuff yet, i recommend turning off the the fake engine noise and then see how your audio sounds.

 

already purchased

 

May the Rock Gods be with you!!!!!!!

 

So I have upgraded my Front speakers - just the fronts so far but will definitely do the dash and probably do the rear doors as well. Have not changed the amp or the sub yet. I thought i'd do 1 thing at a time and write up a some reviews along the way.
Pioneer TS-A6996R A-Series 6" X 9" 650W 5-Way Speakers $82

 

Oh - only - i do NOT change out the A-pillar tweeter either and dont think I will.

 

So couple things first.

I am a stereo nut. Home stereos, Home theaters, endless auto stereo upgrades. When I lived in CT I had a friend who owned a Car Stereo store and I would simple take my new rig - whatever it was - and drive straight over to his shop and spend a couple grand on upgrades. Then drive the car for a while and go back and spend some more and so on and so forth. We all know this cycle and it gets expensive fast. Then when you go to sell the car / truck / suv you never get your money back or you have to pay or take the time to pull all the stuff out and so on...........

Friend does not own the store anymore, I dont live in CT anymore and as an "adult" (heheheee) I am still interested in good sounding car audio but I no longer need "the best"..

So when I got the Raptor and fired up the XM radio I felt like the sound was flat. I wasn't awful but... well you know.

The first thing I did was got my 160gb IPOD and FIIO X3 music player with lots of lossless files and hooked those up. Well the sound was better. The sound was a bit crisper and even the bass a little tighter with high quality files - Garbage in Garbage out.

Next I got my OBD MX and educated myself on FORScan and turned off the fake engine noise. Again noticeable improvement. The Stereo / amp / speakers were clearly using a decent portion of there capabilities to produce fake engine noise instead of producing music. this is a must in my eyes. So I put 5k miles on the Raptor listening to mostly high quality files with the fake noise turned off and was satisfied until spring came along and I started putting more miles on my VW with Morel separates in all the doors, upgraded head unit, 2 alpine amps and a JL Audio sub in the the trunk.

Yup - i felt myself getting pulled down the rabbit hole. But without a trusted local shop or a desire to spend thousands I thought I'd start replacing parts one at a time, go slowly and see where I ended up..

So new front door speakers - $82 bucks on amazon, plus the mounting plates, the ford connectors and some weather stripping I now had my first upgrade ready to go - about 110 bucks spent.

I did the install yesterday evening. First door took a little over an hour, going slow and taking my time - some IPA was involved as well. 2nd door took half the time. All buttoned up in less than 2 hours. I did snap a little plastic clip off of the tiny trim piece that covers 4 of the door screws located under the door handle. Already spoke to Ford $4.85 to replace the trim piece! That could have been worse. I ordered 2 - ill be taking that piece off again I think.

Spent about an hour in the truck driving around after the install. Significantly tighter bass. Much Much more clarity in vocals and mids. Highs seemed about the same but remember I did not change out the A pillar tweeter. Very pleased!

Next step is the 2 3.5 inch speakers in the dash then I think ill live with it for a while. I dont think i need to change out the rears but probably will - rear 6.5' pioneers that match the front are only $40 bucks. I am also thinking i am not going to have to pull the tweeters AND I never thought i'd say this may not have to change the AMP - but time will tell. more thoughts later.

 

SO yesterday finished my door / dash speaker upgrade. I used all the Pioneer speakers already listed in this thread (or very similar - there are lots of little options 3-way, 4-way, 5-way) - I spent maybe $220 for speakers ( fronts 6x9, dash 3.5 inch, rear doors 6.5 inch) ford connectors and mounting plates and some foam weather stripping. I did buy some Dynomat but I didnt use it (yet). As i mentioned earlier I want to go step and by step so i could report back to the group what I think made the biggest difference. Now obviously my little experiment is far from perfect because its cumulative and it depends on what order I did things.

All that said. for $100 replacing the front door speakers made the single biggest difference to sound, both loudness and quality. As you can see from pics above there is a pretty big difference in the sony stock door speaker and the Pioneers. Also I choose the Pioneer not just because of the attractive price but more importantly because of the frequency response AND the sensitivity. Clearly these Pioneers dig a lot deeper than the stockers and the added sensitivity makes up for not replacing the amp which is probably not very powerful.

So after replacing doors and dash - I did NOT replace sub or A-pillar tweeters - the sound is very good. Much louder, MUCH tighter bass - those 6x9's kick! and a lot more clarity. Sounds pretty damn good now.

Will i replace the A-pillar tweeters - no
Will i replace the sub speaker - maybe
Will i replace the amp - probably not
Will i dynomat the doors - maybe - didnt do it because its very time consuming.

speaker comparison link -
http://www.toptenreviews.com/home/auto/best-car-speakers/


any questions give me a shout.

Lets get those trucks dirty!!!!

 

What did you do with the other 3.5" speaker for dash??, I got dibs

 

you pay shipping and its YOURS!! or you can come VT and we can run the Raptors around in the woods.

 

helpful links -

trim removal tools - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M3SP84D?psc=1
front door brackets - https://www.amazon.com/Metra-82-560...rd_wg=qZt69&psc=1&refRID=NFWP50YV5JBF5WK86C5H

speaker connectors - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GEIOZYS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

So just a quick note after spending a month with my do it yourself, inexpensive upgrade of the stereo. SO all i did was swap out the front and rear door speakers and the center dash. I left the A-pillar tweeters, i left the sub and i left the Amp alone. I did not even bother to dynomat (yet - i did buy it just didnt install it). NOTE - I did need to open up the driver side door again because i had an annoying rattle - i forgot the wrap the white factory plug that the speaker plugs into and it was vibrating with any decent bass. Dont forget to use plenty of foam tape and wrap anything you see that could rattle / vibrate against the door. So b/t using higher quality music ( ipod and FIIO X3 with lots of lossless files), turning off the fake engine noise and swapping out the speakers I can say i'm satisfied with the sound. I probably put another 1200 miles on the truck in the last month and I have been enjoying what I think the truck should have sounded like from the factory. Windows down. 50 or 60 mph, volume dial around 18 or 20 (this is very dependent on what input i'm using) - it sounds good. Very clear. good tight bass from the huge 6x9's in the front doors and a very convincing sound stage. Will I swap out the tweeters in the A-pillar - no. I dont think there is a need. Will i swap the sub or the Amp - i might. I think im going to get some extra lights first (fordraptorlights.com) and live the stereo for another month or so.

 

Thanks Toadster! I just installed the pioneer a series 6x9s. So I think the general audio clarity is remarkably improved over stock. It’s definitely the first point to change things for bang for the buck approach. Bass definitely clearer but not remarkably louder. Over all, I highly recommend the upgrade. I used the excact recommendations for speakers, mounts and wire kit in toadsters message

 

Like VT said, there is different levels of this as in any modding. I have finally got the tuning just about done on my ridiculously expensive stereo and it is beyond sick. The definition and clarity in the sound stage is beyond anything I have ever built, and I've done some pretty decent stereo's over the years. The funny thing is, this is considered a mid/high level build.