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2012 Focus - Aftermarket Stereo possibilities.

464K views 397 replies 116 participants last post by  Metalcrack 
#1 ·
Okay, it's still very early and the 2012 model is still brand new..

But, for those of us who have bought a Focus, or who are thinking about buying a Focus, with after market audio in mind.. Here is some research I've done explaining different possibilities.

As we know, today's car electronics and stock stereo systems are becoming increasingly complicated. Gone are the days when the radio, was just the radio, and swapping an aftermarket headunit for vastly improved sound was very easy.

These days, it takes a lot more effort, due to the way radios are integrated into the entire car.

As we also know, having an aftermarket headunit with speakers, amp(s) and a couple of subwoofers in the trunk makes for the best sound. Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more of a challenge, however with some trims on the 2012+ Focus, it will be possible.

The Focus has several stock stereo options. I am not going to get into full details, but here are the generalities.

(1) Base radio, no sync.

(2) Base radio, with sync.

(3) Sony radio, with sync.

(4) Sony radio with sync & MFT.

The above four options also come with varying amounts of speakers (4, 6, or 10).

Let me just flat out say this. If you are thinking of putting in an after market stereo, there's really no reason to get option (3) or (4). Especially (4). Why spend the extra money on something you are just going to yank out?

If you get option (4), pretty much forget about it. The level of integration (climate control etc.) is so high that you would lose wayyy too much functionality.

Option (3) will be possible, but again, why buy an upgraded sound system just to yank it out. One could argue that you would like to have the 10 speaker system, and then add trunk subwoofers w/ aftermarket HU to it, but I'd argue that 6 speakers are just fine. Just my opinion.

That leaves us with Options (1) and (2), which are the most viable for aftermarket installations.

We all know to install an aftermarket HU, there needs to be a dash kit available to fit either a single or double DIN unit. It also needs to keep any functionality that may be lost when removing the stock dash area.

Looking at the radio in the focus, this appears to be a nightmare. It is weirdly shaped, with buttons that control items on the screen, in addition to a hazard light and lock light buttons. (The annoyances of modern cars... Why are these things on the radio again?)

In looking at possibilities, I stumbled upon some Ford Fiesta material. The Fiesta radio is essentially the same as the Focus radio. See below photo.



So what is available for the Fiesta? A quick search yielded some promising results.

Metra has released a single-din (NO DOUBLE DIN) dash kit for the Fiesta, that includes all buttons needed to keep the functionality of the LCD screen above the radio.

http://www.metraonline.com/part/99-5825S

Wiring harnesses are also available.

http://www.installer.com/item/display_item.php?it=XSVI-5524-NAV



Option (1) does not include Sync, so a good possibility would be to get an aftermarket headunit with bluetooth for phone, and an aftermarket GPS unit to stick on the windshield. It appears double DIN may not fit on our Focii unfortunately, if it turns out being the same as the Fiesta. So we'll be stuck with Single DIN. Not a big deal in my book.

Option (2) includes Sync, which is a little bit more messy, but there are aftermarket Sync "retention modules" that exist. I haven't done my research on this, but I've heard it works decent enough. I ordered my car with Option (1) to avoid these troubles.

Hope this helps for anyone thinking along the same lines as myself.
 
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#369 ·
There is a Florida company that builds Head Units like you can do with Raspberry Pi. He uses Windows CE I think, but he charges around $1200 they are called Car PC's. If his prices were not ridiculous more people would probably buy them. He has SSD hard drives inside so you can store a lot of music and videos.

My brother had a Windows 7 Head Unit on his Kia Spectre 5 a few years ago, everytime the car turned on it would load up and play the Windows tone.
 
#371 ·
What is the sales page link for this, where are the factory buttons, does it keep them on the car? I knew there was another one like this but I lost track of the website I saw it on. Metra's buttons people say are cheap compared to factory and that backlight is pretty bright and not the blue as the dash lights.
 
#375 ·
FYI, as it turns out, the frequency issue I wrote about above is a little narrower (only 37hz-43hz) but just as devastating of a problem. To reduce the EQ issues in the rear mids and highs, I opted to send the front full range signal to the rear also. This vastly improved high end harshness and boomy low end. I also decided to send all rear signal to subwoofer input only so that I could fade the stereo to the front for no sub bass or to the rear for sub bass only (test tone adjustments).

So, to counteract the dip in the 40hz range, I've opted to switch from the LCQ-1 to the DQ-61 for the one addition of a 40hz nob on the sub EQ section.

I'll post my findings as soon as everything is installed.
 
#376 ·
ThaSurgeonGeneral what stock head unit do you have? Basic or the Sony system? I have the Sony system on the myford touch and I am getting some crazy harsh highs. I was wondering if anyone know if the front speaker signals coming out of the stock sony amp are left as full range? I know the amp has the tweeter signals coming out but Im not sure if it leave the front signals output still intact. Thanks in advance for any info!
 
#377 · (Edited)
I'm using the non Sony version. There is no difference in the decks themselves between the two non touch/non Sony with My Ford models. Just 4 speakers or 6 which really is still 4 with a set of crappy components...

I've heard the Sony version and honestly, I'm willing to bet that the eq and fade settings are much the same as the My Ford versions, just with more power.

I bet that your speakers are getting full range from around 30hz with a very steep roll off, up to around 18-22khz in the front and steep roll off in the back around 40-45hz up to 18-22khz in the rear with one ugly spike around 5khz in your rear highs making them impossibly harsh. But if you test it, you probably get sub bass in the rear that kicks in at 36hz and much much lower. I don't believe the stock speakers respond that low so Ford didn't bother filtering the sound like they did the front components.

I think the spiked highs was done to make up for the lower location of the rear speakers but it sounds HORRIBLE...

Like I said before, send your rear signal to your subs then get a unit capable of adjusting for your 40hz dip which will allow you ignore the spike in the highs. Then get the full range much more tamed signal routed to your mids and highs and this will also allow you to "mix in" your subs to your liking without a remote control...

Or, and I wouldn't know because I don't have the Sony unit, if you have control over the gain of your subwoofer from the stock deck, send the front full range to your front and rear mids n highs, skip your rear signal altogether, send your sub signal to your new sub and adjust for any frequency spikes or rolloffs thus keeping your sub control in tact and giving your mids and highs a much fuller tameable sound...

Also, give your speakers and sub a week of playtime before you really EQ and get your gains set just right... Those suspensions need to loosen up for a good full range sound, then take your time EQing and getting the gains dialed in.

Sidenote, I set my outputs and gains to be at max output at 23-24 on my volume setting giving me full sound at all volume levels, minimal roll off and controlled highs. Find your stereo's loudest point at which sounds clear, minimal distortion, decent bass and most "musical" then keep this as your reference point when tuning and EQing...

Hope that helps...
 
#378 · (Edited)
Oh, and if your front highs are harsh I'm willing to bet it's either in the amps gain settings or the speakers themselves. Every set of Sony components I've ever heard were harsh AND bright...

You'd probably do well with some better balanced replacements. The Image Dynamics are very pleasing. With my tweets in the A Pillar and set to -3db in the crossover, they're just loud enough to hear, my mids are much more pronounced giving me a warm fat sound and not a cold thin sound... The rear IDs are coax and in spite of this fact, they sound nearly identical to the components. They get loud and are perfectly happy performing from around 45hz to 22khz @100w per channel. I chose 45hz so that when my sub is off, I don't feel completely bass deprived.

Btw, I'm an audio engineer and my two favorite studio monitors are the KRK VXT8s and the Dynaudio BM6As... Both of which I own and rely on and I trust my ears over anything else so, don't take my word for it, listen for yourself! Trust your ears... :blush:
 
#380 ·
So my setup is Alpine spr-60c front and rear 2 type r 10" subs in the trunk and alpine's PDX-F4 4 channel amp and MRX-M110 mono amp. Right now I am summing the channels coming out of fords stock amp with an old lc6i I had from a previous car. I just got an Audiocontrol EQS and it has the high level inputs and I was thinking it might be better to just replace the lc6i with just the EQS. What do you think? I had a friend install the lc6i so Im not sure if he used the front tweeter signals when he summed the channels.
 
#381 ·
Honestly, it looks as though you should use both in tandem. I might be wrong but the EQS, being created as an EQ but usable as an OEM integration processor, lacks the ability to sum signals...

Also, neither unit has the Accubass feature, or the delay feature found in the DQ-61.

You need to use the LC6i for channel summing but the EQS also, to Tame that curvy sumnabich. The EQS does have that 40hz eq knob in the sub eq section... That's good.

If you look at your LC6i , does it have 3 sets of separate lines going to it? Or are any or all of the lines looped together? Also, are any of the summed indicators on the face of the unit lit in green? How many of the preamp outputs are you using?
 
#386 · (Edited)
I haven't seen anything mentioned but I have a 2012 Ford Focus Sport with the Sony Speaker stereo system.

However in Australia it didn't come with the 'SYNC' system that you are all quoting.

Does that mean that the aftermarket head units should work? I only ask as my vehicle is out of warranty and has started to develop the bug where the audio on the unit keeps cutting in and out.


 
#388 ·
i have a 2013 ford focus with the my sync no sirius i was wondering if i could change the radio out and put in the radio from the st model as mines the se
what you do is you search thru the threads on this website and you'll find everything out that you need...
 
#389 ·
I've dug through the thread but don't see anything.

Looking to get Android installation.. lots of mixed reviews around things coming from China and even when you hunt on Amazon every product has zero reviews.

Is there something out there for the 8inch screen (I have 2015 Focus) which will work with reverse camera but also allow me to have video etc available whilst the car is moving?
 
#395 ·
I've been running an Android unit for more than a year now and still works. I even updated my maps to 2017 and changed the ROM to a nicer looking one.
Given I had just a basic system this upgrade was huge for me.

Happy to answer questions, post links, photos, and video.
 
#396 ·
so what's the install kits you all recommend for the 12 focus se ? with basic radio. would love to put a nav unit in it. that all i need is the nav part i use a exterior garmin now would love to have it built in the dash. and im good with my siriusxm plug and play. just want a better radio and nav system is all.
 
#397 · (Edited)
I have a 2010 Focus SE, and the CD player has recently quit. When we bought the car, the one they showed us had Bluetooth, and this one has phone buttons on the radio but they just display "No phone" and there's no way to set it up. So I guess it's the non-Bluetooth radio and they just all have the same buttons. It has Sirius XM, but I don't care if I lose that; I let the subscription lapse, anyway.

I'm thinking of installing an aftermarket radio; probably use the Scosche dash kit. I've installed aftermarket radios before in slightly older vehicles. What I'm wondering is how you set the car's clock afterwards, because the menu buttons seem to be part of the radio?

Edit: Looks like the Clock# button and the number pad are all the setup buttons that would be missing w/o the stock radio.
 
#398 · (Edited)
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