One of the first mods I did on my S was adding an additional subwoofer. I went with the JBL BassPro hub, which is a sub that sits inside your spare tire. Sounds amazing and you don’t lose any trunk room. (Pro Tip: add plentiful sound deadening to avoid sounding like a teenager with dual 12 inch subs in a Civic with a rattling license plate and cracked bumper)

For the audio feed, I tapped off the factory amp output to the 6x8’s. Originally I was using a simple line out converter, but it was either quiet or full throttle. To fix this, I installed an AudioControl LC2i.

Here’s where things get interesting. The factory amp is temperamental to say the least. Changing anything (except splicing into the speaker out) causes the amp to go into protect mode.

First thing I wanted to do was replace the 6x8s in the deck….the amp didn’t like that; it wouldn’t even power on. Come to find out the factory 6x8s are 2ohm each, which isn’t stamped on the back like most other FoMoCo OEM speakers. The output from the factory amp is single channel connected to both speakers.

After more digging, I found the factory amp is 100 watts pushing at 2ohm. (The same amp is used in tons of Ford models, typically those with the “Mach” package) Theoretically, I could replace the 2ohm 6x8 woofers, but I haven’t tried this yet.

This setup works well, except with certain tracks. At times the factory 6x8s will clip, but the JBL has no issues. What I am trying to do next is create a way to control the output to the factory speakers, while still providing the JBL with a full line out signal. To do this, I bought a 3.5mm volume control unit and spliced it into the factory amp speaker output. Amp didn’t like this either and went immediately into protect mode.

My questions for you gurus, does anyone know of a way to splice in a volume controller which wouldn’t cause an issue with the factory amp output? And does anyone know of a good 6x8 2ohm woofer which could replace the factory 6x8s? I’ve come across one so far, but it’s a two-way and a 5x7. I don’t want to modify the box if I can help it.

Also happy to help if you are thinking of adding a sub to your S.

 

Will be following this post as I am also looking to modify slightly my audio system in my 2006 S Type R. It sounds quite good really from the factory but I know with modern day improvements in audio system's it can certainly sound a lot better. If you come up with anything let me know as this is a road I have not been down before in terms of modification.

 

My suggestion would be go to a couple of rock concerts and sit in the first 10 rows and make sure that when you come out of the concert your ears are still ringing. After that you won’t have to mess with your car stereo at all because it’ll sound fine

 

I'll be sure to do that if I want to loose my hearing by the time I'm 60. Till then I think I'll avoid going up close in a concert , look forward to seeing what others have done audio wise on our cars.

 

can you guys speak up little? I am having trouble hearing this thread.

 

Mclovin22, LLLA's car would be an X200 and would not have the exact same audio set us as yours. The audio setup changed somewhat from the X202 upwards. From X202 on the rear subs to memory were 6" (round speakers) 2 OHMS each one. Also for the X202, X204 and X206 the 'Premium Audio' option was not standard for most of the (including STR's) production run.

 

Ah okay. Well that’s useful information I’ll have to keep in mind. Was not aware the audio systems varied slightly, but it does make sense. Appreciate the info as I’m quite new to the S Type platform.