Mach 460...Are these the correct speakers in my door?

purevenm

Member
May 27, 2005
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I have had a problem with my MACH 460 stereo system since I aquired the car in 2001. It's a 1995 Mustang Cobra with the MACH 460 system in it from stock. The amps would always back off or back down when the volume was up in the high range and a song came on with some BASS. Through my research, I was told it could be a number of things. One being that someone may have installed some aftermarket speakers. Which we all know is the wrong thing to do.

Well, as I was working on installing new carpet, I clicked off these photos. The door speakers to me do not look like the stock MACH 4560 speakers I've seen.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/PUREVNM/Spring Fling Project/DSC01466.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/PUREVNM/Spring Fling Project/DSC01578.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/PUREVNM/Spring Fling Project/DSC01580.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/PUREVNM/Spring Fling Project/DSC01582.jpg
 
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they are aftermarket, but you can change the speakers to after market. They should work with no problem. It's not the best thing to do but the speakers should be able to handle a factory load from the amp.

I hate to say it, but the problems he's describing are from aftermarket speakers being on factory 460 amps.

The mach460 system uses odd impedances for the speakers, and by placing standard impedance aftermarket speakers in, you're both defeating the crossover network (IE, those additional drivers on those speakers aren't being fed much other than noise), and overworking the amps.

I'd either A: find some mach speakers to restore the system or B: gut the whole 460 system and drive the speakers off the headunit or any aftermarket amp.
 
Aftermarket speakers can cause the problem your having, they impedance they drive is too much for the amplifiers and they shut themselves down. You could switch the speakers back to Mach 460 ones, or go to aftermarket amplifiers.
 
I hate to say it, but the problems he's describing are from aftermarket speakers being on factory 460 amps.

The mach460 system uses odd impedances for the speakers, and by placing standard impedance aftermarket speakers in, you're both defeating the crossover network (IE, those additional drivers on those speakers aren't being fed much other than noise), and overworking the amps.

I'd either A: find some mach speakers to restore the system or B: gut the whole 460 system and drive the speakers off the headunit or any aftermarket amp.
Your right I forgot the ohms are different.
 
Thanks everyone, it just confirms what I was thinking too. I'm getting 4 Mach 460 speakers and 3 Mach amps from a guy in the next couple of days. I checked the rear speakers and they are to stock Mach speakers. I'm going to replace the door speakers and I hope that fixes the problem I've been having since I bought my car in 2001.

Thanks again,
:SNSign: rules
Darin in Omaha
 
The problem with the Mach 460 is the the stock speakers are 8ohm and after market are usually 4ohm. That requires the amps to go to 4ohm and they are not stable at 4ohm. The replacement speakers are drawing too much power from the amp and it will soon overheat and shut off. Why Ford decided to go with 8ohm I'll never know. You need to replace the entire system to change out your speakers.
 
The amps are outputting an 8 ohm signal ??

The link I had for a rather detailed breakdown of the 460 says the amps output at 4 ohm ...


Power Amplifier Section

Mach 460:
Ford Hi/Mid-Pass Amp - 2x60w = 120w Max. 2x30w = 60w Nom.
Ford Mid/Low-Pass Amp - 2x85w = 170w Max. 2x43.5w = 85w Nom.
230w / 13v = 17.7 amps Nom. 4 Ohms at 2% THD
460w / 13v = 35.4 amps Max. 4 Ohms at 2% THD


Mach 1000:
Ford Hi/Mid-Pass Amp - 2x60w = 120w Max. 2x30w = 60w Nom.
Ford Mid/Low-Pass Amp - 2x85w = 170w Max. 2x43.5w = 85w Nom.
Visteon MA185 Subwoofer Amp - 2x85w = 170w Max. 2x43.5w = 85w Nom.
570w / 13v = 36.5 amps Nom. 4 Ohms at 2% THD
1140w / 13v = 73 amps Max. 4 Ohms at 2% THD



http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/Mach.html





???
 
Its been awhile since I read about the mach 460 so I forget specifics. Anyhow, whatever impedance the speakers are combined with how they are wired, has the amps see a 4 ohm load. I think it was in parallel, someone else can do the math on that, but I think it comes out to a 6 or 8 ohm speaker.
 
If you use a 4 ohm speaker with the wiring the way it is the amp sees a 2 ohm load and shuts off. I read the woofer speakers in the car are not stereo. They have a cutoff at low pass cutoff at 300hz sending the higher frequencies to the tweeter/midrange speakers.