94 GT Stereo Question

bpalmbos

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Hello all! I have a 94 Mustang GT convertible. I recently replaced the head unit with a new Alpine unit and all new kicker speakers in the stock locations. Rather than going with component speakers I bought 2-way 6X8's for the lower doors, 6 1/2" 2-ways for the lower rear's, and dome tweeters. I purchased everything through Crutchfiled with all the proper adapters. I kept the stock amps, but am now thinking that might have not been a great choice. After getting everything installed I am really not happy with the sound quality. The high's are very overpowering, the bass seems ok, but very little mids, and in general not very loud when the top is down. I have tried playing with the EQ in the head unit and it's really not helping much. I know there are 3 amps, 1 under the head unit for the tweeters, and 2 behind the rear seat for the front and rear lower speakers. Would replacing the amps be my next step? Or is there something else that I can do?
 

ttocs

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the stock amps do NOT play well with aftermarket speakers no matter what adaptor who ever sold you. You need to bypass the amps but thankfully that is easy to do. If you pull the radio out on the passenger side of the console clipped into place is a black 8 pin harness. If you disconnect it you can actually cut the male end off and then use the 8 wires on it as your input, or get a metra 70-1770 and the wire colors will match the radios speaker output colors. First wire your radio into that speaker harness and that harness goes directly to the tweeters. Use the tweeters speaker wire as the signal wire at each location for your 6x8s and it should fix a lot of the low/mid problems your having. Not sure what tweeters you got or how you wired them in or if they are crossed over but that all matters. You shouldn't just buy a random tweeter and stick it next to any old speaker.
 
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bpalmbos

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Thank you TTOCS! I will take a look at that tonight or tomorrow. Is the 8 pin harness you are speaking of plugged into the existing amp under the radio?

Also, the tweeters are Kicker 46CST204, the CS series dome tweeter that came recommended for my application from Crutchfield. They have an inline crossover that I wired directly to the existing inputs from the stock speakers.

When you say to use the tweeters speaker wire as the signal wire, do you mean to run a new wire from the positive tweeter input in the door down to the 6X8 and replace the lead from the amp on the 6X8? Just want to be sure I understand what you are saying.
 
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bpalmbos

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Last night I found the 8-pin harness that you were referring to, ttocs, and connected that to my speaker outputs from the new head unit. I connected my lower door speakers to the tweeters also. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!! It sounds soooooo much better!!

it's lacking a little on the bass end of things, so I am thinking I may end up connecting the lower rear speakers to the tweeters also and maybe look for a small sub to fill in the bass. I appreciate the tips and advice!
 

TrickVert

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I'd suggest a Bazooka-style sub. There's precious little trunk space in the 'verts, and a rectangular box will eat up most of it.
 

ttocs

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I had 6.5" bazooka's in my old ranger 25 years ago and loved them. IT was all that could fit behind the seat of my regular cab ranger. Eventually I started wanting more and swapped them for a JL 8", and I liked the bazooka's better honestly...
 

Tturaider

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Just installed new speakers in my 94 vert. Bypassed the Mach system with the additional merry harness that plugs into the connector I removed from the amp under the dash. You just need to wire the speaker wires into the aftermarket harness.

I Put 5.25 in the doors and 6.5 in the rear. Right now just powered off the aftermarket Kenwood deck but a huge step up from the Mach
 

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