New headunit install question

[Nbrac27]

Hey everyone!

I have a question in regards to an issue I've run into after installing a new HU into my 04 Cobra. I've been doing research upon research on how ridiculous this mach 460 system is when it comes to upgrading but cant find anything in regards to this issue. I currently have sound coming out of every single speaker and tweeter, and power to the sub that came with the car when I bought it and the bass is hitting, however the system overall sounds strange. Kind of like muffled almost. So I started messing with the fader to try to see if I could discover if specific speaker sounded worse than the rest. I found out that when i push the fader all the way to the top right (passenger side speaker) I'm getting sound out of the speaker, but also my sub in the trunk. Then when i push the fader all the way to the rear deck, no bass from the sub. Could this be what is making my system as a whole sound strange? I have the harness from crutchfield that is supposed to make aftermarket HUs work with this system, but it's definitely sounding off.

I'm no wiring genius so I'm not really sure where to look for this. I got the wiring harness wired from crutchfield so I think thats correct but now I'm not sure? When I get home I'll pull it back out and take some pictures and hopefully someone can see something i dont.

 

[Midnight_Cobra]

I'm not sure what your setup is in terms of speakers, amps, sub, etc. If you're using the stock Mach speakers and amps, get rid of that crap. The doors and rear are 8-ohm 6"x8" component woofers in the doors, wired together in parallel. The tweeters are wired weird as well, I can't remember exactly how. So adding just a headunit won't exactly be an improvement because you're still limited to the amps, because your speakers are powered by the amps, not the headunit.

I recently replaced all my speakers with 4ohm's, new headunit, rewired with new speaker wire, 5 amp sub, and a 10" woofer. Sounds 100x better.

 

[Revvv]

There should be a sub input on the back of your receiver. This will allow you to separate the frequencies. It is a built in crossover.

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[Nbrac27]

I'm not sure what your setup is in terms of speakers, amps, sub, etc. If you're using the stock Mach speakers and amps, get rid of that crap. The doors and rear are 8-ohm 6"x8" component woofers in the doors, wired together in parallel. The tweeters are wired weird as well, I can't remember exactly how. So adding just a headunit won't exactly be an improvement because you're still limited to the amps, because your speakers are powered by the amps, not the headunit.

I recently replaced all my speakers with 4ohm's, new headunit, rewired with new speaker wire, 5 amp sub, and a 10" woofer. Sounds 100x better.

I'm thinking I'm going to end up doing the same thing.. but I'm not super audio inclined. Correct me if I'm wrong, but could I essentially remove the stock amps and speakers, and then just install say a good 5 channel amp, and run the fronts, rears, and sub to that amp, and then have the new headunit I use still power the aftermarket tweeters I end up putting in as well?

 

[Midnight_Cobra]

I used a "component system". A component system includes a door speaker and tweeter for one channel wired together at 4 ohms,. I bought four of those. So now I have 4 speakers and 4 tweeters for my 4 channels. The fifth channel is a 10" subwoofer all wired into a 5 channel amp. If you get rid of the amps and speakers, I would suggest running new wiring. It took me a weekend of taking my time and making sure I have a clean install.

I'd suggest doing some research and getting everything ready so you know your plan of attack. Every install is different with different preferences. Just depends on what you want.

 

[2000GTSTANG]

The "mid-range/tweeter" speakers are powered off the HU, factory HU or aftermarket, there's no factory amp to power them like 2000 and older cars. I honestly dont think the Mach system is that bad if you just plan on putting in a new HU and an aftermarket sub and amp.

Yes the woofers in the doors and rear deck are 8-ohm and wired funky, but they're woofers so they're not meant to have balance and fade control.

Whoever hooked your system up must have connected the subwoofer RCAs to the front output and the RCAs for the factory Mach woofers to the subwoofer output on the HU. You can always buy some RCA splitters, 1 male to 2 female, that will allow you to hook both sets of RCAs to the same subwoofer output on the HU.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Ive been messing with these cars for a long time and know the stock sound system pretty well. Im running an aftermarket Pioneer HU with the stock Mach 1000 system with upgraded 2.5" Dayton Audio mids in the front door.

 

[Nbrac27]

The "mid-range/tweeter" speakers are powered off the HU, factory HU or aftermarket, there's no factory amp to power them like 2000 and older cars. I honestly dont think the Mach system is that bad if you just plan on putting in a new HU and an aftermarket sub and amp.

Yes the woofers in the doors and rear deck are 8-ohm and wired funky, but they're woofers so they're not meant to have balance and fade control.

Whoever hooked your system up must have connected the subwoofer RCAs to the front output and the RCAs for the factory Mach woofers to the subwoofer output on the HU. You can always buy some RCA splitters, 1 male to 2 female, that will allow you to hook both sets of RCAs to the same subwoofer output on the HU.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Ive been messing with these cars for a long time and know the stock sound system pretty well. Im running an aftermarket Pioneer HU with the stock Mach 1000 system with upgraded 2.5" Dayton Audio mids in the front door.

So on your last paragraph you say you have your stock system but with upgraded mids in the front door (are those the front door speakers? Is that what mids are?) If so so does that mean you actually can just upgrade the front door speakers and they'll work still since they're run off the HU? I have an aftermarket headunit but it makes my front speakers sound like garbage for some reason. My rear deck and aftermarket sub that came with the car still sound good but it makes the fronts sound horribly muffled on everything aside from really bass heavy songs.

 

[2000GTSTANG]

The mids are the speakers at the top of the door, by the mirrors. You can upgrade them but there isnt anything that drops right in. I had to modify the speaker a tad bit and open up the enclosure to fit the magnet.

You should check your crossover settings in the headunit and ensure that the high pass filter is turned on. That will prevent bass to the small mid speakers. That may be your problem.

 

[Nbrac27]

Oh I always thought those were the tweeters. Okay I'll try to find that when i get out of work and hopefully itll help a little bit at least.