Door Speaker Wiring

Do you have the Mach 460 system? The aftermarket speakers might have a different impedance or sensitivity than the tweeters and therefore they will be quieter.

Well since you mentioned tweeters I assume you have the Mach 460 stereo in your car. I believe the Mach stereo uses 6 ohm speakers. And most aftermarket speakers are not rated at 6 ohms. This will alter how much power the amp actually puts out, which changes the sound characteristics of your stereo. So you can either put resistors in the tweeter speaker wires, return the new speakers and get 6 ohm ones, or get a whole new stereo system.

I have seen add-on "faders" in Wal-Mart that allow you to adjust the power each speaker receives. They are basically just a resistor.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

I'm sure there is a way to hook up a new amp to the current stereo, but if you're going to do that, you might as well wait until you can save money for a new headunit. You can buy an adapter that will plug the headunit's RCA outputs into the Mach460's power amp inputs, so the headunit would be sending a line level signal to the Mach's amps. Then you can unhook the door speakers from the Mach's power amp and run new wires from the new headunit.

This would mean you have 3/4 of the Mach 460 stereo combined with 1/2 of the headunit's power output (roughly). I don't think you can control the fade or balance this way except for the door speakers.

What I would do if I were you (it's the least amount of hassle) is search hard for some 6 ohm speakers for now and return your pioneers (check a ford dealer for stock replacements-pricey but they'll be the right speaker). Then if you still want to get better sound quality save up for a while and buy a whole new headunit and 4 new 3-way speakers for the door and back seat. It might not have as much bass right away, but the quality will be better, and you can add a power amp and sub easy to an aftermarket headunit. Sure it means tearing out all the Mach460 stuff (3 amps and 8 speakers, plus headunit and CD player) and starting with an all-new aftermarket system, but the Mach is a PITA to add stuff to. It's good for stock, but nothing compared to a well-assembled aftermarket stereo.

BTW, if you want more info. on finding replacement speakers, adapters, etc., the Sound and Shine forum will be more helpful probably. I have never messed with my Mach stereo, but I plan on replacing it soon and I've read up on it in that forum. That's where I got all my info. on it.

If you have decent door speakers you shouldn't need the door tweeters anymore. I would buy some nice 3-way speakers with tweeters in them and not worry about the upper ones. If you still want tweeters up there then i'm sure you could add some 4 ohm tweeters up there. If you run those off the same wire as the bottom door speakers you will end up with a 2 ohm load on the amp, which is less (8 ohm +8 ohm = 4 ohm, 4 ohm + 4 ohm = 2 ohm, etc.), and that means your amp will actually put out more power, but most headunit amps aren't meant for a 2 ohm load. Also, the tweeter will get the same amount of power as the door speaker, so the highs will probably be exagerrated. Let's say your sony headunit has a 50w x 4 amp. Well that means 50w per channel - front right, front left, rear right, rear left. So your front tweeters would get like 35w each, the door ones would get like 35w each (at 2 ohms). Then if you ditched the rear tweeters and got 2 5x7's with built in tweeters, they'd each get 50w (cuz they are still on a 4 ohm load). Another option would be to buy a separate amp for your tweeters up front. I really don't think you'd need tweeters in the back seat. The 5x7's are in a good enough location for ppl in the back. Besides, YOU are the one who listens the most, and you're up front.

The easiest thing to do if you go with a new headunit would be to get door speakers with tweeters already on them, and the same for the rear speakers, and don't worry about the separate tweeters. If you still want those tweeters, you could get a separate amp and use the RCA outputs on the Sony headunit to run a signal to the tweeter amp, then run wires from that amp to your new tweeters. I don't think you'll be able to find replacement tweeters though. I've looked. You could stick some tiny dome tweeters in there though if you pull out the old tweeters. Most tweeters can only take about 40w or so max, so you won't need a big amp for those. Then later down the road you can add another nice power amp for some subs if you need more bass.

Is the static consistent with your engine rpms? Because if it is, your nose filter went bad. New plug wires can help this because they will have better insulation. Also I believe radio shack sells filters for this. If it is something else I dunno what to tell you. The antennae could be damaged, or the wiring from it to you stereo could be damaged somewhere. I would give it a good look-over and see if the antennae is ok.

Hope this helps...

Headunits do not output what they are rated at. Most headunits these days are rated at 50Wx4, but that's peak output. It's actually 15W to 21W RMS on most headunits. If you hook up speakers to a headunit it will not sound that good (well at least for a person who knows what good sound is).

Your new 6x8's probably sound quiter because they are only getting low frequencies. The 6x8's are considered woofers. The mach system has a crossover in it so that low freq. go to the 6x8, and mids and highs to the tweeters. Your 4 ohm speakers will actually 'pull' more power from the amps than the 6 ohms OEM's did. It's just that they are only getting low frequencies that makes them sound quieter. You can damage an amp by pulling too much power. I don't know if the mach amps can handle less than 6 ohms, but probably not. The quiteness could be that the amp is overloading and going into foldback, reducing power. Similar to when your revs go too high and power is reduced. Again, I don't know if the amp does this, it could just 'blow up' when overdriven.

I've never seen replacement 6 ohm 6x8's - ever. Ford OEM is probably your only choice.

I've heard (from internet data, not actually listening in person) that people get good results with an aftermarket head unit with the mach system. This assumes that the speakers are in good condition.

The best plan for you is to remove the mach system, and install all aftermarket. Unless OEM speakers are affordable (what's the chances of that!?!?).

CHOICES----------


Budget plan: new head, new 2 or 3 way 6x8's in the doors and rears, no amps. Gutted mach system.

Better plan: budget plan + sub and amp

Better yet: better plan + 2 channel amp for the front 6x8's or 4 channel amp for the front and rears. I'd suggest at least 30W RMS/channel with 40W being good, and 50W being sweet.

Best: better yet - front 2 or 3 way 6x8's + component package (seperate 6x8, tweeters, and matching crossover) for the front. Mount the tweeter in the mach pod.

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It's all how much you want to spend. The mach system is not very expandable at all. I suppose that it may be cheaper to get new OEM speakers than to go with the better yet plan (or even better), but I've never actually verified it.

Check my sig. My setup BLOWS AWAY any mach setup. I had a bad rear end bearings, loud 2 chamber flowmasters, and windows down, and once turned up, you can't hear anything but music. Of course, reducing all of this extra noise, only makes the system sound that much cleaner and better.

Rick