2012 Stereo Build

herbz · 12-23-2011, 08:09 AM

Hey guys. So, when I decided to get the Focus, I was faced with 2 options. Get the upgraded audio or not. Being a brand new car to the US, I knew the aftermarket was going to be slim. But after visiting these forums and seeing the thousands of threads complaining about Sync and MFT, I decided to get the most stripped down radio possible and wait for the aftermarket audio scene to play itself out for this car.

Here is the car.

I ended up paying $20k for my SE 5spd w/ 201a, sport package, winter package, basically the most pumped up 5 speed you can get without Sync.

I've ordered the following stereo equipment. My thought is to have a car entertainment system that is better than what Ford can provide for the same/less money.

First order of business is the dash kit. European company called ACV deals with a company in Philly called Perzan audio. They ordered it and shipped it to me. It comes with the harness adapter and stalk adapter to retain steering wheel controls (this may or may not work - we'll see.) The harness adapter looks like it should work fine based on the photos I've seen so far. Also comes with an antenna adpater for the aftermarket stereo. Ran $350.

You'll see the hole where you can insert a hazard/door lock switch. This switch was $50

These two pieces of equipment totalled $400, but to me, it's well worth it. The kit is solid and retains the factory look really well. Looks way better than the cheap looking kit that Metra put out for the Fiesta.

So stupid looking..

Anyways. I ordered the following parts.

Pioneer x930bt - $760 with traffic tuner and ipod cable

Kicker DS6.2 components for the front. Not the greatest, but anything is better than stock. Love how there's the factory mounting spot available for the tweeters. - $100

Kicker DS60 coaxials for the rear - $70

Kicker CompVR 10" subs (2) - $140

Box for the subs - $100

Kenwood KAC 9105 mono amp - $170

The headunit I got is great. It has built in navi, with traffic tuner I'll get live traffic updates. For free. Plays ipod, video, dvd, microsd, cd, usb, anything you can think of. Streams audio over bluetooth. Make/receive calls from bluetooth seamlessly. If you have an iPhone (which I don't) it has a built in Pandora app. You can stream Netflix from your iphone/ipod on it. It really does do anything that MFT does, except better. The only thing it doesn't do is voice commands, but I think those are dumb either way.

Costs add up to approximately $1740 for everything. This is not including install which I estimate to be about $1k. So conservatively let's call everything $3000.

I paid $20k for the car. $23k for a car with all that stuff, to me, is a great price. I'm hoping everything goes great with the install. I will keep this thread updated from now on.

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***sleepyboy*** · 12-23-2011, 08:25 AM

Nice and subscribed!

motleysalty · 12-23-2011, 09:58 AM

Does anybody know If you'd be able to retain SYNC control with this setup, or with any additional parts? I know because of the aftermarket HU, not all of the SYNC controls would be retained, but as far as the phone controls? That would most likely be HU dependant i'm guessing. Any thoughts?

herbz · 12-23-2011, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motleysalty

Does anybody know If you'd be able to retain SYNC control with this setup, or with any additional parts? I know because of the aftermarket HU, not all of the SYNC controls would be retained, but as far as the phone controls? That would most likely be HU dependant i'm guessing. Any thoughts?

There are aftermarket SYNC adapters out, but not yet for the Focus. They will eventually come out. I am not sure how good they work, or if they're able to retain every single function. My particular car does not have SYNC, due to the fact that I did not want to deal with that issue when I replaced the stereo.

Gazookz · 12-23-2011, 06:15 PM

Looks like it's going to work out great for you! I have the same HU in my '11. I absolutely love it. I retained SYNC, but never even use it. The HU is MUCH better.

The only complaint I have is the prices you paid for some of the stuff. You paid a little more on the HU and on the door speakers than you could have compared to many online retailers. Then again you said you got the ipod cable and traffic tuner, so that's probably the difference in price. I don't know how much everything else normaly costs so I couldn't tell you about the rest. But other than that it should be awesome. I know you'll love the x930bt.

herbz · 01-02-2012, 11:35 AM

Did get in most of the parts recently. Here are some pics.

Subs with the box:

Headunit:

Traffic tuner/ipod cable for headunit

Components for front/coaxes for the rear

Speaker brackets from crutchfield

Kenwood kac-9105d mono amp:

And a sneak peak of how it will look once installed:

All I'm waiting for now is the Proclip mount for my ipod classic and phone.

I've also compiled a list of issues for the installer. They're as follows:

Bass knob for the amp. Didn't come with one, would like to install one. Need to find a location for it
Steering wheel controls. Not sure if the included ACV adapter will work, but it is worth a shot.
Mic location included with the headunit. Need to find a place to mount
Routing for the amp power cable. I've read that there aren't any holes through the firewall. Need to drill.
Amp mounting location. Back of seats?
GPS antenna location. Where to mount.
Mount the tweeters in the factory location

I also did mess around with the wires to make sure everything will be correct. The antenna adapter from ACV looks fine. The wiring harness from ACV looks fine. Even the steering wheel controls look fine. As far as I'm concerned the installers should have everything they need to pull off this install without any problem.s

One thing I'd like them to look at is some possibilities for the upper display. I'd really like to replace it with a Scangauage:

http://www.amazon.com/ScanGauge-Auto.../dp/B000AAMY86

Of course mounting it in that little hole since it's probably not the right size would be a pain. But taht upper screen is going to annoy me since it's basically going to be useless.

I'm also getting a tint. Still torn between the legal 35% all around or if I want to go darker, around 20%. Either way the tint will be a necessity with this much money in the stereo.

Appointment with the installer is 1/19, they will do the install 1/20. So, a couple of more weeks.