I have an SE HB with the 6 speaker system. Let's just say it's really lacking in the sound department. If it was my daily driver it would have been changed out already buy the wife drives it and hasn't really complained too much.

 

I've had the 10-speaker and now the 6-speaker. the six speaker really isn't bad but it's easily improved. I had all my speakers changed out to in-expensive pioneers or something like that at a cost of $250 and the stereo sounds very good.

the speakers were built into the door panels and had to be broken to remove, and they are very cheap and made of paper.

BTW, my 2014 ST1 cost $20400 and it's similarly equipped except I have discs all the way around, 100 more HP, turbo, bigger wheels and tires, 6-speed manual tranny.....

 

I've had the 10-speaker and now the 6-speaker. the six speaker really isn't bad but it's easily improved. I had all my speakers changed out to in-expensive pioneers or something like that at a cost of $250 and the stereo sounds very good.

the speakers were built into the door panels and had to be broken to remove, and they are very cheap and made of paper.

That doesn't sound too bad. I was imagining much more (maybe needing an amp to power some better speakers).

 

I found the six speaker sound to be dreadful. Sounds came out of those speakers that caused me to wince. The only OEM thing in the Focus cheaper than the speakers is the carpeting, but that's off topic.

No audiophile and not a ton of money, I added an 75 watt per channel 4 channel amp, a small powered sub-woofer, and upgraded speakers all around. Bought everything on line from Crutchfield (I have no affiliation). Spent maybe $600. Very satisfied with results. System is sufficient to enjoy music at most any volume for me.

Sound is a very personal experience. At home I run one of the smaller Bose Acoustimass systems with a Sony A/V receiver using HDMI. All I can tell you is that I am equally happy with the sound in the car as at home.

If you enjoy music at all, and if you spend a significant portion of your life in your car, do the upgrade. You will not regret it.

 

I found the six speaker sound to be dreadful. Sounds came out of those speakers that caused me to wince. The only OEM thing in the Focus cheaper than the speakers is the carpeting, but that's off topic.

It's funny you say that about the carpet b/c I vac'd the car for the 1st time last night and thought the same thing.

 

I just got my new 2014 focus se 6 speaker. I am quite the "bass-head", and this has absolutely no bass. A speaker upgrade is an absolute must if you enjoy listening to quality music.

 

As an aside, there is no comparison between the two you are looking at. 9 times out of 10, I would go with the first (Black) 5sp. The 1 times I wouldn't is because I like the smell of new leather.

I think black is a better color, it's a better deal, and you never need to worry about the transmission. (I remember seeing your other post, it seems you have upgraded your search)

Back to topic: Personally, I am more than happy with the 6 speaker. I've been in a 10 speaker Focus before, and it is superior, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 6. I'm able to get it up to a decent volume without any buzzing or sense that I'm about to blow a speaker.

Then again, music in the car is far from my first priority, so I may not relate to your needs at all.





But yeah, go with the first one.

 

In my Contour, I have a nice aftermarket 4 speaker system and 12" sub with 150w amp powerring it. So that's my reference. In comparison, the Focus isn't totally dreadful at the volumes it can put out...the speakers actually have decent bass (not for rap/dance music though!). The car is pretty quiet (except the droning exhaust could be quieter!), so you don't need to play it as loudly as in older cars.

I plan to replace the speakers (all 6), and add a subwoofer, hopefully in the area/well that the spare tire sits in (the old 12" sub in my Contour ate up a lot of room!). I'll probably also add a "speaker level input" 4 channel amplifier for the speakers.

I test drove a loaded ST with the sony 10 speaker system and it did not seem much better (especially not for the $1500 that the Sony + nav costs), but it was a short drive... Wouldn't it suck to buy the expensive radio and still be unhappy? I see the sony subs being unloaded on ebay....

 

one theory was the ST sony system has a different amp than some of the regular foci and didn't sound as good.

I had the 10-speaker system in my 1012 SEL hatchback that I drove for 23k miles. for a stock system in was excellent, imo. but of course there are plenty of complaints of not being loud enough, not enough bass yadda yadda....

that was the only system in the last six vehicles or so that I didn't upgrade, tho I thought about replacing the speakers.

 

I have a 14 focus se with the 6 speaker sound system and I got a alpine KTP 455u inline amp and wired it up into the factory harness behing the dash (no wire cutting) The harness I used I modded to have the LOC for the Amp for the 12" Sub so I didnt have to cut anything for that either then I replaced the speakers with kicker components for the front and then kicker speakers for the rear. Everything looks factory but sound 10x better. I had the Sub, Amp and wires so I only spent $240 on the speakers, $135 on the Alpine KTP455u, $20 for the LOC, and $40 for the Harness I used.

 

Thank you! I think you've solved all my MK3 audio problems!

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142LOC80/Scosche-LOC80.html?tp=2001

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP445U/Alpine-KTP-445U-Power-Pack.html?tp=115

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_2064CSS654/Kicker-40CSS654.html?tp=106

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_2064CS654/Kicker-40CS654.html?tp=95

If you order through crutchfield make sure you specify what car you have so that they send the proper speaker mounts.

The harness was a parrot qcfor11. I will dig up the thread I used for it.

 

Why use a line level convertor when the amplifier supports speaker level inputs? Didn't want the added heat in the amplifier?

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142LOC80/Scosche-LOC80.html?tp=2001

 

Also This is the thread I used.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=324097

I didnt use the factory speaker plug. I clipped it off. Also the wires if you strip back the electrical tape the black wires have a little white dot to signify positive.

 

Looks like mine...2013 hatch, 17" wheels, heated & powered leather (rather have cloth - hate sweating on leather!), performance blue.

I got a surprisingly good price from Crutchfield on my prior car's audio system. They gave awesome directions. I crimped the connections - didn't want to solder under my dash (and don't forget OEM wires are short, so it's awkward). Crimping worked out great.

 

The harness I got I did all the soldering in the house and then everything was plug and play no cutting of any factory wires except for the door speakers.

Why use a line level convertor when the amplifier supports speaker level inputs? Didn't want the added heat in the amplifier?

I was sending it to a larger amp and I attached it to the pre amp side to send to the other amp. The bass is just as clean as my aftermarket radio used to be in my old truck.

 

I think I may have not used a harness because my car had a factory external amplifer, so the wiring was unusual...can't recall. Since I doubt I'd ever go back to stock on the Focus, I might skip the $40 harness. If it was 100% plug and play it would be worth it.

 

If you are playing songs from a compressed format like MP3 or FLAC. It will allways be lacking in quality because the dynamic range gets lost and the high and low end gets cut off. Always judge speakers with a high end sound source, like WAV files or a factory CD