2017 Edge - dash speaker replacement done

[Lifeisabeach]

I replaced the center speaker located in the dash of my wife's 2017 Ford Edge today. This was a pretty straightforward job and is an easy way to improve the sound in these cars, which as discussed elsewhere here, is pretty muddy. To prepare for the job, I tried to see if there were any existing tutorials/videos of removing that speaker from the 2015-2017 Edges, but couldn't find anything. I used this video tutorial for replacing the same speaker in a 2016 F150, which has a very similar speaker grill and storage compartment in front of the speaker as the Edge does. That replacement was done with the cover to that storage compartment removed and while I didn't remove my cover (I didn't know how to remove it, and how to do so wasn't covered in that video), I would suggest doing so in retrospect if it's easily done even though I managed popping the speaker grill just fine. Below are a couple "before" photos demonstrating the speaker grill in place, viewed from above and from inside the storage compartment.

 

 

I used a nylon pry tool from inside the storage compartment to pop the speaker grill up a little at the corners. I couldn't pop it fully out because the cover to the storage compartment got in the way. But it was up enough to get a start on and finish from above. Below is a photo showing the front of the grill up a little.

 

 

I next used a small screwdriver with the end covered in electrical tape to help prevent the tip of it scratching the dash. I worked the front end up some more then again from the sides and back until I was able to get my fingers on it and pop it out completely. Below is a photo of the exposed speaker and one of the underside of the speaker grill.

 

 

These next two photos demonstrate the terminals on the factory speaker and the adapter connected to those terminals that connects to the factory harness. There isn't an aftermarket adapter available to my knowledge (Crutchfield doesn't list one, but it's possible there may be one for another vehicle that is compatible), so I clipped the wires off the speaker terminals and removed the white plastic clip that secures the adapter to the factory speaker. Note that the red wire is positive and the green one (with red stripe, I believe) is negative. The diagrams posted in this other discussion indicate that the wires should have been green and gray/yellow but that clearly is not the case here. This may be something that changed between 2015 to 2017.

 

 

 

The replacement speaker is an Infinity Reference REF-3022cfx that I ordered from Crutchfield. This is the only speaker that they list as compatible with the 2017 Edge's dash and while I expect there are others that would have worked fine, I went with this because it's an excellent choice regardless. Crutchfield included for free some mounting hardware, but I have no idea why they thought it was necessary. The original screws worked fine. These speakers also came with a capacitor to be optionally installed in-line on the positive speaker lead. I wasn't comfortable using that one since it would have required soldering it directly to the terminal on the speaker and otherwise just seemed awkward to manipulate and fit in the space for the speaker. I wound up picking up a bass blocker kit from Best Buy, which basically is a capacitor that is already in-line with a speaker wire and fully insulated. The kit came with 2 pairs, one with a cutoff of 300 Hz, the other with a cutoff of 2800 Hz. I used the 2800 Hz one but in retrospect I should have used the 300 Hz one since the frequency range for vocals starts well under 2800 Hz. Crutchfield has some similar bass blockers that range from 300 Hz to 800 Hz, so I likely will redo this with perhaps a 600 Hz one. I want this speaker to handle just highs and vocals. Below is a photo of the new speaker with the factory adapter and bass blocker ready to be attached, as well as a photo of the new speaker in place.

 

 

So the bottom line, did this make a difference? It's hard to say how much is me imagining a difference, and I otherwise wouldn't expect a significant difference since it's just the single dash speaker so far. There's also the matter of me using too-high a bass blocker. That said, my wife and I agree there is an improvement with the overall sound seeming a little 'brighter" than before. It's basically functioning just as a tweeter right now, but it's an excellent one. Correcting the oversight on the bass blocker should result in an even better impression once done. I still plan to replace the door speakers and I've just about settled on the Polk Audio DB6502 component set for front and rear. Crutchfield lists the tweeter as fitting in the upper doors and the woofer as fitting in the lower doors. They are priced in the ballpark for what I wanted to spend and I'm very satisfied with the Polk Audios I have in my own car (2010 Edge), so it's pretty much a no-brainer.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Lifeisabeach

[Lifeisabeach]

After doing some more reading, my initial instinct to use the 2800 Hz bass blocker may be the better choice. I'm getting the upper midrange and above in this speaker now, and replacing the rest of the speakers later will round out the sound more fully. I'll post a link to an article that does a great job of explaining the audio spectrum in detail. I should be getting more of the vocal range than I was last thinking. The capacitor that came with the speakers blocks from approximately 300 Hz (edit: actually it's about 200 Hz), which I think would be reasonable if this was the primary speaker in the car. Opinions and further thoughts/discussion would be welcome.

http://www.teachmeaudio.com/mixing/techniques/audio-spectrum

 

Edit: It occurred to me that the bass blocker is actually blocking at a higher level than rated for this speaker. It's a a 3-ohm speaker, which Infinity says combines with the speaker wire for a "true" 4 ohm load. But being in the dash, the wiring run should be rather short compared to the doors, so the load is likely 3.something. I found a calculator that will give you the capacitance for a given impedance, and assuming I'm really at 3.5 ohms, the bass blocker I'm using (rated at 13 uF) would be cutting off at about 3500 Hz and up. Way too high for sure!

Edited January 11, 2017 by Lifeisabeach

[Chipster]

Thanks for this write up! I am about to do this same thing to mine with the same speaker. Are you now suggesting that the "bass blocker" is not needed? By the way what is the size of the head of the speaker mounting screws / bolts?

Edited January 9, 2017 by Chipster

[Lifeisabeach]

Thanks for this write up! I am about to do this same thing to mine with the same speaker. Are you now suggesting that the "bass blocker" is not needed? By the way what is the size of the head of the speaker mounting screws / bolts?

 

 

I used a 9/32" socket. It was a little loose even though it did the job without slipping, but I'm sure a metric socket (7mm I believe) would fit better.

 

I absolutely would use a bass blocker. The Infinity speaker "can" reproduce ranges as low as 32 Hz (edit: 85Hz, my bad), but a 3 1/2 driver just isn't going to deliver the lows as well as the 6.5" drivers in the doors. If you keep the lows from getting to it, it will do a better job of reproducing the mids that a driver this size is better suited for. If this was the ONLY speaker in the car (or all were this size), then you may have to settle for not using a blocker and get what you can get, but we don't need to settle here. The problem is that the blocker I'm using just blocks way too much (really, it's a bass and midrange blocker). The Infinity speakers came with a capacitor that looks like this one:

 

 

 

The one Infinity provided is rated for 133 uF (edit: it's rated at 270 uF), which equates to a "bass blocker" of 300 150 Hz and lower on a 4 ohm speaker. I was caught by surprise when I started my install because it didn't know what to do with this. I had assumed it'd be pre-packaged with a speaker wire and connectors like the bass blocker I wound up using. This you'd have to solder in place and soldering isn't something I'm good at. So I had to scramble a bit to find a better solution and luckily Best Buy had what I wanted. This has been a learning experience for me, and I muddled along a bit too much while installing. I'm better familiarizing myself with bass blockers after-the-fact and thinking it through more. I think sticking with a 150 Hz bass blocker will be fine for this speaker since it's what Infinity provides themselves, but going with a 300-600 Hz one should be a reasonably good alternative if it fits better into your overall strategy for the sound in your car. Bear in mind that a bass blocker rated at "300 Hz" applies to a 4 ohm speaker. The Infinity is a 3-ohm speaker, so a 300 Hz bass blocker will block 400 Hz and downwards. Maybe a little less if the speaker wire resistance adds to that calculation. A 600 Hz bass blocker would be closer to 800 Hz on this speaker. Crutchfield's product page recommends using a 600 Hz bass blocker for low powered systems, 800 Hz for high powered systems. I wouldn't call the factory system "high powered", and since the 600 Hz bass blocker will really be closer to 800 Hz on this Infinity speaker, I'm thinking stick with the 300 Hz one if you are just doing speaker replacements and not amp upgrades.

Edited January 11, 2017 by Lifeisabeach

[Tacyon]

Hey, Lifeisabeach, you didn't mention the cap that is already on the REF-3022cfx. Did you determine what its being used for and what affect that it'd have when adding the one provided by Infinity?

[Lifeisabeach]

Hey, Lifeisabeach, you didn't mention the cap that is already on the REF-3022cfx. Did you determine what its being used for and what affect that it'd have when adding the one provided by Infinity?

You are talking about the little one already attached? I don't know why that specifically is there. I'm looking at Infinity's website now and they show the frequency response for the speaker is 85Hz - 21kHz. I misread the low on that previously as 32Hz (how I managed that, I have no idea!). My guess is that the small built-in one is a very low level bass blocker itself, filtering out below 85Hz to keep this small speaker from trying to produce levels it can't possibly reproduce satisfactorily.

 

Edit: as a side note, I likely am NOT going to use the Polk Audio set for the doors I mentioned previously. One review on Crutchfield's site claimed the bass was distorted from these speakers, and Crutchfield responded saying they need a bit more power than some of the alternatives due to their high RMS rating of 100 (peak of 300 watts). That's a really good point so I'm looking for something with an RMS of 50 watts or so (peak of 100 watts or so). The Memphis Audio 15-PRX6C looks promising. Anyone know what the factory amp output is?

Edited January 10, 2017 by Lifeisabeach

[Chipster]

You are talking about the little one already attached? I don't know why that specifically is there. I'm looking at Infinity's website now and they show the frequency response for the speaker is 85Hz - 21kHz. I misread the low on that previously as 32Hz (how I managed that, I have no idea!). My guess is that the small built-in one is a very low level bass blocker itself, filtering out below 85Hz to keep this small speaker from trying to produce levels it can't possibly reproduce satisfactorily.

Do have any plans to revisit that bass blocker issue by taking off the bass blocker you added and comparing that to the speaker as is? Might be a pain, but would make for an interesting comparison. Inquiring minds (ears) want to know!

[Lifeisabeach]

Do have any plans to revisit that bass blocker issue by taking off the bass blocker you added and comparing that to the speaker as is? Might be a pain, but would make for an interesting comparison. Inquiring minds (ears) want to know!

I'm going to replace it for sure this weekend maybe. It'll take about 20 minutes now that I know what to expect and do. When I put the speaker in, before mounting it I tested it to be sure it was working. I couldn't feel the cone moving, but I was obviously getting highs from the tweeter so I figured the cone was moving but barely enough to be noticeable, so I shrugged it off since it was getting late. In retrospect, it would seem it really wasn't moving at all because the bass blocker was killing just about everything the small cone driver is supposed to handle, leaving just the tweeter operating. Whoops. I'll make a mental note of the sound beforehand and after, and feel the cone again while playing, but I'm expecting good things.

 

BTW, just spoke with my wife and she is VERY happy with the sound change. She said she doesn't have to turn the volume up as much as before now and it's noticeably clearer. For her to be this impressed, it had to be a huge difference.

[Chipster]

Good deal, thanks!

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

'tis good when the S.O. signs off on the project LOL!

[Lifeisabeach]

Hey, Lifeisabeach, you didn't mention the cap that is already on the REF-3022cfx. Did you determine what its being used for and what affect that it'd have when adding the one provided by Infinity?

 

 

You are talking about the little one already attached? I don't know why that specifically is there. I'm looking at Infinity's website now and they show the frequency response for the speaker is 85Hz - 21kHz. I misread the low on that previously as 32Hz (how I managed that, I have no idea!). My guess is that the small built-in one is a very low level bass blocker itself, filtering out below 85Hz to keep this small speaker from trying to produce levels it can't possibly reproduce satisfactorily.

 

Alrighty, I just took a look at the extra speaker I had from the set. That small capacitor is rated at 4.7 uF, so if you plug it into that calculator, then for a 3 ohm speaker you get 11276.6 Hz. So it appears to be a blocker for the tweeter.

 

I also double-checked the extra capacitors that came with the speakers. I have to apologize for getting that rating mixed up earlier. It's rated for 270 uF, which equates to 196.3 Hz bass blocking. So a bass blocker rated for 150 Hz on a 4 ohm speaker would be the equivalent for this 3 ohm speaker. Damned if I know how I got that number wrong earlier. Either it was wrong on Crutchfield's site and they've since corrected it, or maybe I was looking at the wrong product. Or it was late at night and things were fuzzy. *shrug*

 

Anyone have any idea what the speaker size is in the rear hatch for the 12-speaker systems? I can't find any info on them anywhere. The best I can find is the part listing on an OEM Ford parts site for a 2016 Edge. Judging from the illustration, it should be a 3.5" woofer, similar to the dash speaker.

Edited January 11, 2017 by Lifeisabeach

[Lifeisabeach]

If you plug a 2015 Ford Edge into Crutchfield's website, you'll get a bunch of install photos that should apply equally to 2016 and 2017 models. I'll link to them here.

 

This first one is the tweeter in the front door. It appears to be a view from the backside of a panel?

https://images2.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160930131200/VehiclePix/2015/Ford/Edge/Sport%20Utility/With%20Sony%20audio/frontdoortweeterspeaker.JPG

 

This next one is with the tweeter removed, showing the "nest" it sits in.

https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160930131200/VehiclePix/2015/Ford/Edge/Sport%20Utility/With%20Sony%20audio/frontdoortweetercavity.JPG

 

Woofer in the front door.

https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160930131200/VehiclePix/2015/Ford/Edge/Sport%20Utility/With%20Sony%20audio/frontdoorwooferspeaker.JPG

 

Woofer removed.

https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160930131200/VehiclePix/2015/Ford/Edge/Sport%20Utility/With%20Sony%20audio/frontdoorwoofercavity.JPG

 

Rear door woofer.

https://images2.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160930131300/VehiclePix/2015/Ford/Edge/Sport%20Utility/With%20Sony%20audio/reardoorwooferspeaker.JPG

 

Rear door woofer removed.

https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageBank/v20160930131300/VehiclePix/2015/Ford/Edge/Sport%20Utility/With%20Sony%20audio/reardoorwoofercavity.JPG

 

If you look at how the woofer is wired, replacing this is going to be more challenging than usual. The wiring harness is in-between the door panel and the door, not inside the door. There are also 4 wires going into the woofer???? Whaaaa?? I'm guessing the extra pair is leading back out to the tweeter. But that is WEIRD! The woofer must have a crossover built-in to itself or maybe just a high level bass and mid-blocker for the tweeter's signal. Hmmm... it seems it may basically be a 2-way speaker, with a reallllllly long wire run to the tweeter. Can anyone confirm what's going on here?

 

At the minimum, since there is no (known) wiring harness for these cars right now, using the factory wiring would require clipping that adapter and extending the wiring to a replacement speaker's inputs (or to the passive crossover for a component system). I'm not even sure where I would put the crossover. Thoughts?

Edited January 11, 2017 by Lifeisabeach

[akirby]

If you look at how the woofer is wired, replacing this is going to be more challenging than usual. The wiring harness is in-between the door panel and the door, not inside the door. There are also 4 wires going into the woofer???? Whaaaa?? I'm guessing the extra pair is leading back out to the tweeter. But that is WEIRD! The woofer must have a crossover built-in to itself or maybe just a high level bass and mid-blocker for the tweeter's signal. Hmmm... it seems it may basically be a 2-way speaker, with a reallllllly long wire run to the tweeter. Can anyone confirm what's going on here?

 

That's exactly what I was talking about in another thread about the wiring on my 2006 Fusion. There was a crossover/blocker of some sort built into the lower door speaker with wires going back to the tweeter. So essentially yes, it's a 2-way speaker with a remote tweeter. That means you're getting a full range signal from the head unit and can use your own crossover.

 

Is this the Sony system? That one showed separate channels from the head unit for the front woofers and tweeters but a common channel for the rear doors.

[Lifeisabeach]

 

That's exactly what I was talking about in another thread about the wiring on my 2006 Fusion. There was a crossover/blocker of some sort built into the lower door speaker with wires going back to the tweeter. So essentially yes, it's a 2-way speaker with a remote tweeter. That means you're getting a full range signal from the head unit and can use your own crossover.

 

Is this the Sony system? That one showed separate channels from the head unit for the front woofers and tweeters but a common channel for the rear doors.

 

 

Crutchfield's. photos were from a model that doesn't appear to have the Sony system, so it's possible the front speakers are wired differently. The wiring diagrams posted by HappyHourSport in another thread here show the front woofers and tweeters are wired separately and directly from the DSP on the fronts, but it's looking like that is just for the Sony system. The rears should still be the same as shown and as you describe from your Fusion, judging from those diagrams. I'm looking over the photos he posted of his front door and if I'm looking at the right wiring harness, the connector that plugs into the woofer has... 8 wires? That can't be right. I see another connector to the right of the one I'm looking at... maybe that's the one that goes to the speaker, but I can't see the wires. I do see where he says that all harnesses are 4 conductors.

[Chipster]

I'm going to replace it for sure this weekend maybe. It'll take about 20 minutes now that I know what to expect and do. When I put the speaker in, before mounting it I tested it to be sure it was working. I couldn't feel the cone moving, but I was obviously getting highs from the tweeter so I figured the cone was moving but barely enough to be noticeable, so I shrugged it off since it was getting late. In retrospect, it would seem it really wasn't moving at all because the bass blocker was killing just about everything the small cone driver is supposed to handle, leaving just the tweeter operating. Whoops. I'll make a mental note of the sound beforehand and after, and feel the cone again while playing, but I'm expecting good things.

 

BTW, just spoke with my wife and she is VERY happy with the sound change. She said she doesn't have to turn the volume up as much as before now and it's noticeably clearer. For her to be this impressed, it had to be a huge difference.

Will you still do a "sound check" with the speaker as you have it vs. without the " added bass blocker"?

[Lifeisabeach]

Will you still do a "sound check" with the speaker as you have it vs. without the " added bass blocker"?

 

 

I'm curious myself actually. I was planning to do a quick swap this weekend, but I've got a lot going on. I may sit on it for a week so I'll have time to really listen carefully.

[Chipster]

Thanks!

[DBDRVN]

You are talking about the little one already attached? I don't know why that specifically is there. I'm looking at Infinity's website now and they show the frequency response for the speaker is 85Hz - 21kHz. I misread the low on that previously as 32Hz (how I managed that, I have no idea!). My guess is that the small built-in one is a very low level bass blocker itself, filtering out below 85Hz to keep this small speaker from trying to produce levels it can't possibly reproduce satisfactorily.

 

Edit: as a side note, I likely am NOT going to use the Polk Audio set for the doors I mentioned previously. One review on Crutchfield's site claimed the bass was distorted from these speakers, and Crutchfield responded saying they need a bit more power than some of the alternatives due to their high RMS rating of 100 (peak of 300 watts). That's a really good point so I'm looking for something with an RMS of 50 watts or so (peak of 100 watts or so). The Memphis Audio 15-PRX6C looks promising. Anyone know what the factory amp output is?

The one that is already there acts a a crossover for the tweeter and protects the tweeter from low frequency. If you apply a capacitor to the entire speaker it will effect the frequency the tweeter is crossed over at but should not be an issue unless you are building a sound quality vehicle and need to adjust more precise.

[Lifeisabeach]

Will you still do a "sound check" with the speaker as you have it vs. without the " added bass blocker"?

 

 

 

 

I'm curious myself actually. I was planning to do a quick swap this weekend, but I've got a lot going on. I may sit on it for a week so I'll have time to really listen carefully.

 

Alrighty, the job is done. I did a sound check using the 150 Hz and 300 Hz bass blockers (200/400 Hz on this 3 ohm speaker). I used Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" as my demo since it's a great track with soft easy vocals and a mix of instruments with nothing overbearing. First off, you can't go wrong with either of these. There was definitely slightly stronger bass when using the 200 Hz bass blocker and didn't come across as "muddy", but it seemed to be slightly less clear in the mids when compared to the 400 Hz blocker. I say "seemed" to be because it sounded good regardless and not being an "audiophile", and with there being a few minutes' gap during swapping out the blockers, I don't know how much was me imagining that difference in the mids. One thing that did occur to me... if you think about the area the speaker sits in, it has a fair bit of space much like a small speaker cabinet, which should help a bit with the bass acoustics.

 

That all said, I went with the 300 Hz bass blocker. My wife doesn't care to have strong bass and since I'm planning to replace the rear door speakers this weekend, I felt this was the better choice for the overall plan. One other note... according to a diagram I've seen, the DSP is located in the back cargo area, not in the head unit. I would have thought the exact opposite, but this means that the dash speaker has the longest length of speaker wire running to it. Using this Infinity 3-ohm speaker to minimize the impedance would seem to have been a great choice for that reason alone. Really, the sound is so much better now that I'm almost disinclined to replace the door speakers. Yes, it made THAT much of a difference. I'm still going to replace the rear door speakers, but may not bother with the fronts, or maybe just do the tweeters. We'll see.

[Chipster]

Thanks, I plan to do the dash speaker replacement in the next few days. My plan is to use the new speaker "as is" and see how that sounds. I don't think I am willing to take on the replacement of the front door speakers myself, but may have an audio shop do that if needed. I would love to think that the overall sound is improved enough with the addition on the new dash speaker to negate that action, but that remains to be seen / heard.

[Lifeisabeach]

Thanks, I plan to do the dash speaker replacement in the next few days. My plan is to use the new speaker "as is" and see how that sounds. I don't think I am willing to take on the replacement of the front door speakers myself, but may have an audio shop do that if needed. I would love to think that the overall sound is improved enough with the addition on the new dash speaker to negate that action, but that remains to be seen / heard.

You know what? I forgot to test it with no bass blocker added at all. I was thinking it was to be a test of the two different blockers. Sorry about that. It should sound fine with none, but I'd expect it to be a little cleaner with the lesser of the blocker options. Looking forward to seeing your impressions. Hopefully I'm not just imagining the differences.

[Chipster]

I got Steely Dan all set to go, all I need is for UPS to bring me that speaker.

[Chipster]

I received my Infinity speaker yesterday (Thanks Tacyon) and went about the task of removing the old one in preparation to install the new one. I must say getting that dash grille up is a bit nerve wracking. You can get to the back end of it by opening the storage compartment, but if you pop the clips all the way you can’t close the compartment lid which prevents any further action. (unless I missed something?) So after a bit of fiddling, I managed to work the grille up, but not completely out of its clip base then with the use of a long shank screwdriver did the same with the front grille clips. I will say that those clips are pretty tight and I kept telling myself to “take it easy” and they finally unseated. Once the grill was removed the rest of the replacement operation is pretty basic and no further issues were noted. I used the Infinity as received without any other additions. (bass blockers)

My take on the sound difference: As Lifeisabeach noted it is hard to remember the details of a speaker vs speaker comparison when there is a time gap in that comparison. That being said, I found that there is a general improvement in tonal brightness and a bit tighter bass sound to my ears after the replacement. I found it was well worth the money and time to make this speaker exchange. I am not sure what others used for their music source, but I used and listen mainly to CD’s so that was my source of choice. I am now more than before, undecided as to whether I will get the front door speakers changed out or not. For the time being the overall sound improvement to this system with the addition of this new speaker will work for me!

[Lifeisabeach]

I received my Infinity speaker yesterday (Thanks Tacyon) and went about the task of removing the old one in preparation to install the new one. I must say getting that dash grille up is a bit nerve wracking. You can get to the back end of it by opening the storage compartment, but if you pop the clips all the way you can’t close the compartment lid which prevents any further action. (unless I missed something?) So after a bit of fiddling, I managed to work the grille up, but not completely out of its clip base then with the use of a long shank screwdriver did the same with the front grille clips. I will say that those clips are pretty tight and I kept telling myself to “take it easy” and they finally unseated. Once the grill was removed the rest of the replacement operation is pretty basic and no further issues were noted. I used the Infinity as received without any other additions. (bass blockers)

My take on the sound difference: As Lifeisabeach noted it is hard to remember the details of a speaker vs speaker comparison when there is a time gap in that comparison. That being said, I found that there is a general improvement in tonal brightness and a bit tighter bass sound to my ears after the replacement. I found it was well worth the money and time to make this speaker exchange. I am not sure what others used for their music source, but I used and listen mainly to CD’s so that was my source of choice. I am now more than before, undecided as to whether I will get the front door speakers changed out or not. For the time being the overall sound improvement to this system with the addition of this new speaker will work for me!

 

 

Glad the difference wasn't just my imagination. :D. If you think about what's going on here, the original speaker was just a 3.5" woofer cone with no tweeter. Since the replacement speakers we are now using are 2-way speakers and are now putting out crisp highs thanks to a high-quality tweeter now in use, it's clear that the signal going to the dash is completely unfiltered. That means the old speaker, which was a relatively poor one to begin with, was trying to reproduce a greater range of audio than it's capable of doing well. So it's no wonder the audio was so "muddy". This does make me wonder if the door speakers are similarly unfiltered.

[Tacyon]

re: " This does make me wonder if the door speakers are similarly unfiltered." -> I can tell you from the 2011 and 2013 absolutely!

 

In my 2011 IIRC, they were about the same quality frame as the 2013 and presumably the 2015+ except the 2011 had paper cones!

 

In the 2011 I only replaced the front and back seat speakers with the Infinity KAPPA 682.11cf (back then I think they were model 682.9CF) and it was like a different sound system. Ok, I might be gushing a bit.. but only a little bit. The stock amplifier is still anemically trying to power all those speakers and goes daft at the upper end of the power spectrum.

 

Something you also have to remember about as least for the dash speaker, not only is it a WAY better engineered speaker, but it's also only 3ohms vs 6ohms for the stock speaker. (assuming they didn't change that for the 2015+ premium sound) This results is a slight louder sounding output from the Infinity 3ohm speaker. I remember thinking, "OH there is sound that comes from that opening!!" But it was also clean, vibrant sound.

 

Replacing the door speakers in what fits the new rounds can only be "moar better."

 

Now, if there was only a way to get pre in and outs from the head unit. I would be a very happy camper. But alas I'll have to settle for the DSP method.