Question About Stereo

21957 Views 23 Replies 11 Participants Last post by F1ST, Jan 18, 2014

Atomic17

Discussion Starter · Jan 3, 2014

Hey gang - long time reader, first time poster.

I'm severely interested in the FiST, but the one thing that bothers me about it is the 100 watt stereo. By no means am I an audiophile, but I like to have a decent sounding system. I currently have a Veloster Turbo with a 450watt Dimension 8 speaker system, and it sounds great. Prior to that I had the 265watt Bose system in my Mazda 3. I've also had a Harmon Kardon system in my MINI. But on the other end, I've had a 160watt standard 6 speaker system in my Honda Fit and thought that sounded great too (again, not an audiophile, but I like what I like).

So, with all that given, how does the Sony system in the FiST sound? My dealer doesn't have one yet, so I haven't been able to take the sound system for a test drive yet. My buddy has a Focus Titanium, and his Sony system has 355watts, and sounds AMAZING. I don't listen to my music all that loudly, but come summer I like to take long drives with the roof open/windows down, and tunes cranked - can this system handle it? I listen to mostly electronic dance music, 80's, and industrial - a lot of bass, but not overwhelming.

Thanks for any info you can pass along, I really like this little car and hope that the sound system will be up to spec!

And yes, I know, I won't be listening to music anyway, only the sound out of that symposer!

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

silvertoy

· #2 · Jan 3, 2014

Hey there. If you liked the focus stereo, it's about equal. I traded my focus ST with the Sony system and they're very similar, before the focus ST I had a Mini with the HK system and the mini system was more clear but had less bass. I listen to similar styles of music and honestly have never been impressed by any of these systems but have little choice now that everything is so integrated. I miss the old days of single and double DIN opening option that were easy to add aftermarket systems. I have a killer system in my Jeep but it only sounds good when it's parked, lol, It's mostly to overcome the road noise

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Sil3nt611

· #3 · Jan 4, 2014

I didn't do extensive testing of the stereo on my test drives, however I did plug in my iPod and turned up a "bassy" song. Compared to the system in my car with 100W amped 6.5" component speakers on a decent Pioneer head unit, as well as an 8" sub, I wasn't expecting it to sound as good as it did. That being said, it could still use a real subwoofer just to get the low lows (an 8" would be plenty enough for me), but the bass wasn't empty. I didn't play around with the sounds settings, so maybe it could sound even better. But when I go to test drive the car, I end up having fun driving it and taking pictures and tend to forget about testing out the rest of it.

But just like projector headlights, I don't think a subwoofer will ever become an option in a Fiesta so I could live without it.

I need to go out to a different dealer I haven't visited yet that has one in stock sometime to see if I can get another test drive (I gotta fill my need to drive it somehow until I can afford it) and actually remember to test out the My Ford Touch system in it (link my phone, really test the sound system with my iPod music, play with the sound settings, see the navigation in action, and maybe learn and try out a few voice commands).

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Atomic17

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 4, 2014

Thanks guys, appreciate the input! Sounds like the stock system will be more than enough for me...

wash

· #5 · Jan 5, 2014

Wattage does not tell you much in car stereo and today a $20 head unit has some features you couldn't find in a $1,000 head unit five years ago.

I think its pretty safe to assume that any stereo with a name like Sony, Harmon Kardon or Bose attached to it is going to sound pretty decent.

Bose is famous for making cheap speakers sound good with a handful of opamps and that's what any good OEM car stereo does, active equalization and phase change to make a good sound field near the passengers heads.

About the only thing you can tell from 100 watts is that its not going to have really loud, deep bass, you just need more power to move enough air for that.

Sil3nt611

· #6 · Jan 5, 2014

^That's about what I felt about the sound from it. There was definitely bass there when listening to a song with bass, it just wasn't really deep compared to my car with an actual subwoofer. But like I said, if Ford added an 8" factory subwoofer to the Fiesta, I'd be completely fine with how it sounded. I'm no audiophile, but I know when my music sounds good and when it doesn't.

joker96

· #7 · Jan 5, 2014

I dont like the system at all. But nothing new speakers can't fix. Highs are good, mids are not that clear and bass is there but its like the speakers can't produce it unless there's a lot of it. I have played some songs with a lot of bass and they sound good but if there's little they won't produce them at all. It might not make sense what am trying to say but when I had a sound setup on my previous car you could notice the different freqs of bass. On the FiST you can't. But again nothing new speakers can't fix.

kamakazee

· #8 · Jan 5, 2014

Does anyone here in Orange County, CA know of an audio shop they can recommend? Al and Eds used to be the place I go to but they have gone out of business.

scooby2

· #9 · Jan 5, 2014

I was thinking about ordering this guy from Tasca using the coupon. The system seems fine just lacking bass. Thoughts?

http://tinyurl.com/kbmeye2

here is the install Manual (Steve from Tasca sent it to me):
http://www.64systems.com/sub-install.pdf

kamakazee

· #10 · Jan 5, 2014

scooby2 said:
I was thinking about ordering this guy from Tasca using the coupon. The system seems fine just lacking bass. Thoughts?

http://tinyurl.com/kbmeye2

here is the install Manual (Steve from Tasca sent it to me):
http://www.64systems.com/sub-install.pdf

That's a nice clean set-up but seems a little pricey. I noticed that my 2012 Fiesta SE had better sound quality and bass than the ST. Does anyone else notice this? Even with the bass setting cranked up, the speakers just aren't able to produce the same bass as the SE.

joker96

· #11 · Jan 5, 2014

scooby2 said:
I was thinking about ordering this guy from Tasca using the coupon. The system seems fine just lacking bass. Thoughts?

http://tinyurl.com/kbmeye2

here is the install Manual (Steve from Tasca sent it to me):
http://www.64systems.com/sub-install.pdf

That sub is for the sedan I dont think it will fit the ST. Its also on Ford's website.

scooby2

· #12 · Jan 5, 2014

joker96 said:
That sub is for the sedan I dont think it will fit the ST. Its also on Ford's website.

A couple Ford dealer sites say it fits the sedan and hatchback (including ST).

scooby2

· #13 · Jan 6, 2014

It would be nice if we could confirm before someone buys it.

Stevelach

· #14 · Jan 6, 2014

kamakazee said:
That's a nice clean set-up but seems a little pricey. I noticed that my 2012 Fiesta SE had better sound quality and bass than the ST. Does anyone else notice this? Even with the bass setting cranked up, the speakers just aren't able to produce the same bass as the SE.

I notice that! My 2011 had better sound than my ST. Strange as we have more wattage, a Sony stereo, and 2 more speakers.

joker96

· #15 · Jan 6, 2014

http://accessories.ford.com/speaker-asy-10588.html

stuntdoogie

· #16 · Jan 6, 2014

I cannot see myself throwin down those kinda duckets for a small ass sub like that.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

joker96

· #17 · Jan 6, 2014

stuntdoogie said:
I cannot see myself throwin down those kinda duckets for a small ass sub like that.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Yeah the setup I am considering and fitting it under the rear floor is cheaper and better. A 12 inch shallow enclosure and sub. Sub is rated at 400w rms 800w peak tho @ 1ohm if am not mistaken. And amp is 300w at 1ohm with a peak of 900w. And it costs 350$ total. Sub and amp are Rockford Fostgate

kamakazee

· #18 · Jan 6, 2014

Stevelach said:
I notice that! My 2011 had better sound than my ST. Strange as we have more wattage, a Sony stereo, and 2 more speakers.

Ok cool, I thought I was crazy to put that out there. Glad I'm not the only one. I tried adjusting the mids, fade etc. but couldn't replicate the sound quality of the SE. It could be the head unit or cheap speakers but I hope it's the latter since that would be the cheaper fix.

MosesCDN

· #19 · Jan 6, 2014

joker96 said:
http://accessories.ford.com/speaker-asy-10588.html

That's VERY expensive. If it were about half the price, I would strongly consider it. I like the factory fit of it. Do you know if it would even fit in our cars? It looks like it's for the sedan.

wash

· #20 · Jan 6, 2014

joker96 said:
I dont like the system at all. But nothing new speakers can't fix. Highs are good, mids are not that clear and bass is there but its like the speakers can't produce it unless there's a lot of it. I have played some songs with a lot of bass and they sound good but if there's little they won't produce them at all. It might not make sense what am trying to say but when I had a sound setup on my previous car you could notice the different freqs of bass. On the FiST you can't. But again nothing new speakers can't fix.

Good luck with that, you'll need it.

Speakers can't be organized as good, better, best, they are just all different. Using an expensive speaker with the wrong equalization can sound a lot worse than a cheap speaker with the correct equalization.

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

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