Premium door panels/speakers swapped into a base model - 2013 GT

[TGR96]

OK guys, I have searched a few forums, the interwebz, and I have only found a little bit of info regarding the swap from the base model door panels to the premium panels with the door speakers (subs?). Has anyone on here done this, or have an idea on what it involves? I assume that it isn't plug and play, since the premium panels have additional speakers that the base car does not.

It looks like I will need at least an amp to power the door subs. I have found factory Ford amps from these cars on eBay for around $20. Will I need anything else? I assume the wiring connectors, obviously.

Any help would be appreciated. And for the record, I am not an audiophile, and I have only done a very little bit as far as wiring car audio, and it was pretty much a simple head unit and speaker replacement. I just want a little better sound than the factory base model stereo. So be gentle...

And as the thread title says...the car is a 2013 GT.

TIA

 

[07 Boss]

I would actually think all of the factory wiring would be there. Most car builders will install one harness for a car that has everything and if the car is not optioned for those items they just leave them unplugged.

 

[themoose06]

How about pulling the door panel and checking it out? See if there are any unplugged connectors, get some pics of the 13 prem backside of door panel and compare

 

[TGR96]

I would actually think all of the factory wiring would be there. Most car builders will install one harness for a car that has everything and if the car is not optioned for those items they just leave them unplugged.

Yeah, that is exactly what I was thinking/hoping, but from the limited information that I can find, I don't think that's the case here. We'll find out soon enough.

How about pulling the door panel and checking it out? See if there are any unplugged connectors, get some pics of the 13 prem backside of door panel and compare

Yeah, I hear ya. I just kinda wanted to get a better idea of what I was looking at, work and parts-wise, before I started getting into this project. I will probably pull one of the door panels this weekend and just take a look.

I have a bad feeling that this little upgrade may involve more than I initially thought it would. Did I mention I hate dealing with automotive electronics???

 

[themoose06]

Can't imagine it'd be too bad. Worse comes to worse just plug the regular speaker and leave the extra hanging. I know with the 05-09's the door panels can come off in about 15. You'll know better once you can see inside, could be worrying about nonissues.

Automotive wiring is fun.... jk. Just toss some 10 gauge wire in the panel, don't connect it, snap your fingers 3x, open the panel and the wiring gods will have wired it for you

 

[Fosters]

I would actually think all of the factory wiring would be there. Most car builders will install one harness for a car that has everything and if the car is not optioned for those items they just leave them unplugged.

They used to do that more often, but I can tell you on the base cars they don't have them. Reason being, those are amplified and do not run off the deck on a premium car; mine doesn't have them, doesn't have the amps/wiring for those.

That being said, you're not gonna find many good 8" subs to fit in there; and a sub will need a well sealed (aside from the port) enclosure, which the door is actually a mess... A lot of the sound quality guys will leave those unplugged when going to a nice aftermarket system. Put a 4ch amp driving high quality 5.25" components with tweeters placed well for imaging; and a mono amp/sub in the trunk where it belongs and call it a day. The doors are a very crappy location for subs. Maybe some mid-bass type driver instead if you're keen on it.

 

[TGR96]

They used to do that more often, but I can tell you on the base cars they don't have them. Reason being, those are amplified and do not run off the deck on a premium car; mine doesn't have them, doesn't have the amps/wiring for those.

That being said, you're not gonna find many good 8" subs to fit in there; and a sub will need a well sealed (aside from the port) enclosure, which the door is actually a mess... A lot of the sound quality guys will leave those unplugged when going to a nice aftermarket system. Put a 4ch amp driving high quality 5.25" components with tweeters placed well for imaging; and a mono amp/sub in the trunk where it belongs and call it a day. The doors are a very crappy location for subs. Maybe some mid-bass type driver instead if you're keen on it.

Uh...whut?



Like I said, I am not a car audio enthusiast, so it doesn't take much to impress me, stereo-wise. All I know is my wife's factory '14 V6 Premium stereo sounds a crap-ton better than my crummy base model sound system, and I want something like that. I figured if I went factory, I could do the install myself and it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.

 

[themoose06]

Uh...whut?



Like I said, I am not a car audio enthusiast, so it doesn't take much to impress me, stereo-wise. All I know is my wife's factory '14 V6 Premium stereo sounds a crap-ton better than my crummy base model sound system, and I want something like that. I figured if I went factory, I could do the install myself and it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.

put subs in the trunk and forget the door panel subs

 

[Fosters]

Uh...whut?



Like I said, I am not a car audio enthusiast, so it doesn't take much to impress me, stereo-wise. All I know is my wife's factory '14 V6 Premium stereo sounds a crap-ton better than my crummy base model sound system, and I want something like that. I figured if I went factory, I could do the install myself and it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.

Basically what the moose said. Subs in the doors is bad design... it may sound mildly good, but it's not. You are better off with a simple tried and true design; components in the front doors, coaxials in the rear deck, 4ch amp and sub amp and sub(s) in the trunk. You can even get away with a good coaxials all the way around if you wanna make it simpler.

Basically, treble travels like shit - very linear - but it doesn't need an "enclosure" to generate. Ideally, you want the tweeters pointing at you, at ear level. if that's too much work/not feasible then go with a coaxial set up front and call it a day. Components in the rear deck are kind of a waste because you can't put the tweeters anywhere useful. Bass travels much better but it has to have a proper enclosure (well calculated speaker box, port volume, etc) in order to be generated.

With subwoofers in the doors you'll run into 2 issues. Basically, each subwoofer moves X amount of air, and subwoofer enclosures need to move that amount of air efficiently to create the sound. If the hole they are moving that air through is too small, the air will move fast and you will hear what is called port noise, a woosh sound. If the hole is too big, your subwoofer will basically free-air and you won't get much sound out of it. In the doors, depending how many holes they have in the panel holding the sub in, you'll either have lots of holes meaning the sub will freeair and you won't get much sound, or you'll have lots of small nooks and crannies through which air will escape and hiss and sound like junk. The only time you'll see subs in doors in high end car audio is when they have custom door panels and fiberglass enclosures built to seal up the driver from the rest of the door.

You are better off forgetting about those holes unfortunately.

 

[TenSpeed]

I have a '13GT Premium, exactly what you are trying to mimmick. The speakers in the door blow ass. They rattle the door panel when the bass hits. If it was me, I would go a different route. Get a nice amp and a good box and sub, doesn't have to be 4 15's in the trunk, a good 8 or 10" should do the trick.

 

[Fosters]

I have a '13GT Premium, exactly what you are trying to mimmick. The speakers in the door blow ass. They rattle the door panel when the bass hits. If it was me, I would go a different route. Get a nice amp and a good box and sub, doesn't have to be 4 15's in the trunk, a good 8 or 10" should do the trick.

Yup. The JL Audio stealth box is great, especially if you can find it used on ebay. Basically a very loud sound quality focused solution. If you want to go smaller/cheaper, the corner mounted enclosures with a good quality 10" will also do very well.

 

[TGR96]

Well, thanks for your feedback guys, and thanks Fosters for dropping a little car audio knowledge on me. Like I said, am an not audiofile, and just barely know the difference between a woofer and a tweeter as far as audio goes!

I just know that my wife's premium sound system in her '14 sounds 100X times better than mine, and I wanted to upgrade the looks of my plain ole base door panels, and add a little bit of sound improvement into the equation. I picked up the door panels for a good deal on eBay, and wanted to utilize the existed door subs, since I was hoping it would be easy and cheap to do.

I may look into some of the stuff mentioned in your post, Fosters. I guess for now, I will just install the new door panels and not hook up the subs. At least it will look a lot nicer! LOL

 

[nbk13nw]

Low profile 8" subs can be found and they do sound better than the factory door subs.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[TrackpkCoyote13]

The door subs on my 2013 GT premium suck ass. Not sure why Ford makes everything different to where there is few or now replacement speakers. I recently upgraded the speakers on my Mercury Milan with the audiophile and there is only one 6x9 2 ohm speaker out there and they don't work well with the factory amp. The front door speaker was busted and when I replaced the speakers they had two plug ins while the aftermarket only had one.

 

[TrackpkCoyote13]

Only problem with upgrading the door 8" subs is that they are shallow and 1.8 ohm. I found that my 2013 factory subs sound worse than the door subs in my 2008. In fact, the 2008 subs had great bass with a lot less distortion.

 

[nbk13nw]

I used a heat gun to soften the backside of the enclosure to allow a low profile aftermarket sub to press in and fit. I had the remove the cover on the backside of the sub. And they sound great for a low cost replacment using a JL Audio 6 channel amp for the two front components speakers... two rear 5 x 7 and the two 8" door subs. Running a two channel JL Audio amp bridged for two JL Audio 12" subs in the rear.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[Fosters]

I used a heat gun to soften the backside of the enclosure to allow a low profile aftermarket sub to press in and fit. I had the remove the cover on the backside of the sub. And they sound great for a low cost replacment using a JL Audio 6 channel amp for the two front components speakers... two rear 5 x 7 and the two 8" door subs. Running a two channel JL Audio amp bridged for two JL Audio 12" subs in the rear.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Those JL 6ch amps are great; had 2 of them and gonna use one in my Fiesta - same way, last 2 channels powering a sub (a JL 8W3v3 eventually)

 

[TGR96]

Dang, I wish I knew what in the heck y'all were talking about!