Riddick
Well-known member
- First Name
- Leonard
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2024
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 184
- Reaction score
- 306
- Location
- Yorktown, VA
- Vehicles
- 2024 F-150 XLT
- Occupation
- Logistics
- Thread starter
- #1
From the moment I drove my XLT 302A off the lot I could not stand the factory stereo set-up. It sounded muddy/flat and it drove me crazy, best way to describe it is find your grandfathers AM transistor radio and it sounds pretty dang similar.. If you feel the same then hopefully this will help some of you. I am by no means an audiophile but enjoy a clean sounding set up. Below is my how I upgraded my set up over the last year and what made the biggest differences.
As stated above I need to improve the sound and I figured changing out the stock speakers would give me what I was looking for. I had no intentions of going past this so I wanted a true plug and play set up. I went with Powerbass 6x9 components in the front and 6.5 in co-axials in the back. Immediately I could tell there were more highs introduced through the system but overall the system still sounded extremely flat and lacked any type of mids or bass for that matter.
I tried to leave it alone but then I kept reading about how sounds good stereo block off plates made a huge difference in mids and bass, just what I was after or so I thought at the time. I some how lucked out and when I ordered the block off plates for the front I won an entire sound deadening package which included deadening materials for inside the door as well as the door skin. I wont touch much on this part but the sound deadening made a huge difference in cabin noise. I know everyone will say their stock truck is quiet and mine was to but this absolutely took it up a notch. Additionally, the block off plates definitely gave the stock system a ton more mids and bass, speakers would thump pretty good overall and when I had it turned up fairly loud it didnt sound to bad. However, the system still lacked clarity.
A few months went by and I kept hearing how members on this board were making Forscan adjustments by flattening out their EQ. Figured what the heck lets give it a shot. Immediately noticed a better sound overall and I thought I was content but the system still lacked the clarity and crispness I was looking for. I also had to change all of my tones to the instrument cluster speaker only and this kinda drove me nuts. I made it a month before changing theEQ back to factory settings and I was instantly reminded just how bad the system sounded.
At this point I realized the only way to get better sound was to have a better power source. The factory head unit is absolutely garbage and you can throw any speaker you want behind it but it wont make a big difference. I searched the forums and the Kicker Key 200.4 came highly recommended along with the entire kit from plug and play which really makes the install very easy.
I installed the kit today and its very easy, taking a few breaks from the heat I had everything done in just over 2 hours from start to finish and this included me messing with the settings trying to get it to power on and figuring out the auto tune process (both were my fault but I figured it all out)
After running the auto tune set up you can toggle back and forth to see what it sounds like before vs. after DSP tuning. Even with my cheap Powerbass speakers the system sounds so much better with the DSP. I still have all of the bass I had before but even more and now the system has the clarity I have been looking for. I sat out in the truck for about 20 minutes listening to music while adjusting the gains and I am pretty sure I am done at this point. I may try some better speakers one day but for now im good. There are way better systems out there but for the money a key costs its gonna be hard to beat in my opinion.
My advice to anyone looking to upgrade their stock stereo is dont start with the speakers. While they do make an improvement you really need a better power source to take advantage of any aftermarket speakers. By far the best bang for your buck are going to be the SGS block off plates and then id highly encourage an amp such as the Key or something similar. I never heard the stock speakers off the Key but members on here have said its a solid improvement. Prior to this forum I was someone who went out and only bought speakers and then became frustrated when they didn't make a huge difference.
Thanks to all the members on here for posting up their experiences in the past. I am a big researcher and spent many nights reading here and everything I have done to make improvements was previously posted by one of you, thanks again!
As stated above I need to improve the sound and I figured changing out the stock speakers would give me what I was looking for. I had no intentions of going past this so I wanted a true plug and play set up. I went with Powerbass 6x9 components in the front and 6.5 in co-axials in the back. Immediately I could tell there were more highs introduced through the system but overall the system still sounded extremely flat and lacked any type of mids or bass for that matter.
I tried to leave it alone but then I kept reading about how sounds good stereo block off plates made a huge difference in mids and bass, just what I was after or so I thought at the time. I some how lucked out and when I ordered the block off plates for the front I won an entire sound deadening package which included deadening materials for inside the door as well as the door skin. I wont touch much on this part but the sound deadening made a huge difference in cabin noise. I know everyone will say their stock truck is quiet and mine was to but this absolutely took it up a notch. Additionally, the block off plates definitely gave the stock system a ton more mids and bass, speakers would thump pretty good overall and when I had it turned up fairly loud it didnt sound to bad. However, the system still lacked clarity.
A few months went by and I kept hearing how members on this board were making Forscan adjustments by flattening out their EQ. Figured what the heck lets give it a shot. Immediately noticed a better sound overall and I thought I was content but the system still lacked the clarity and crispness I was looking for. I also had to change all of my tones to the instrument cluster speaker only and this kinda drove me nuts. I made it a month before changing theEQ back to factory settings and I was instantly reminded just how bad the system sounded.
At this point I realized the only way to get better sound was to have a better power source. The factory head unit is absolutely garbage and you can throw any speaker you want behind it but it wont make a big difference. I searched the forums and the Kicker Key 200.4 came highly recommended along with the entire kit from plug and play which really makes the install very easy.
I installed the kit today and its very easy, taking a few breaks from the heat I had everything done in just over 2 hours from start to finish and this included me messing with the settings trying to get it to power on and figuring out the auto tune process (both were my fault but I figured it all out)
After running the auto tune set up you can toggle back and forth to see what it sounds like before vs. after DSP tuning. Even with my cheap Powerbass speakers the system sounds so much better with the DSP. I still have all of the bass I had before but even more and now the system has the clarity I have been looking for. I sat out in the truck for about 20 minutes listening to music while adjusting the gains and I am pretty sure I am done at this point. I may try some better speakers one day but for now im good. There are way better systems out there but for the money a key costs its gonna be hard to beat in my opinion.
My advice to anyone looking to upgrade their stock stereo is dont start with the speakers. While they do make an improvement you really need a better power source to take advantage of any aftermarket speakers. By far the best bang for your buck are going to be the SGS block off plates and then id highly encourage an amp such as the Key or something similar. I never heard the stock speakers off the Key but members on here have said its a solid improvement. Prior to this forum I was someone who went out and only bought speakers and then became frustrated when they didn't make a huge difference.
Thanks to all the members on here for posting up their experiences in the past. I am a big researcher and spent many nights reading here and everything I have done to make improvements was previously posted by one of you, thanks again!
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