Original Old Double Din sounds better than Aftermarkets!?

[Feefee]

I'm looking to upgrade my 6000cd stereo as I need to play mp3 disks, however I have tried using single din good quality pioneer and sony stereo's in place to check sound quality and I have to say both of them sounded pants compared to the original. Both distorted very easily compared, and the 'real sound' quality that the original gave was just so artificial with the aftermarkets? Anyone else experienced this?

So, i'm wondering what others think. Does the standard transit (or all standard stereos) have an 'automatic distortion control' built in too? No matter how much I turn up the original, it never distorts and instead I hear it automatically drop the bass out!! I have never found this in any after market system and if i'm to upgrade I will need 'real sound' quality just like original...it's weird. I guess originals must be tuned to the acoustics of the vehicle??

[dirtydog]

If you're upgrading the stereo you might as well do the speakers as well, the original speakers aren't great and have quite a low output.

Likelihood is the replacement stereos are overwhelming the speakers, I had similar issues when I swapped to an aftermarket stereo

[Feefee]

Sorry I should have mentioned, it already has upgraded speakers in it. 6x9's in the door, hence why i'm even more baffled by it all lol
They kick out real good bass alone with standard stereo and sound quality is fantastic, i'm quite good at setting up sound systems so hp/lp and equalisers i've already played with to see various results on aftermarkets, but still no good compared to standard. Something is certainly built in...just want to know this mystery?

[stevo]

You have to make sure the speakers can handle the power output from the stereo. It sounds as though the stereo is too powerfull for your new speakers. If you have a 1000 watt stereo and your speakers are only rated at 500 watts then they will distort.
Also, speakers have a resistance, the same a a PA amplifier, in ohms. These have to match the given specs of your stereo, thats why sometimes they tell you not to power up an amp with no or only one speaker connected, it damages the amp.

[Feefee]

Yet i'm not running any amp? 6x9's are direct to head unit, kicking out max 22rms per speaker lol (speakers are 150rms handling) I understand matching frequency with an amp, but it sounds very random with an aftermarket to do so when no amp involved? Not enough power to justify it i guess.. it's very strange. I may just upgrade to an mp3 standard ford stereo, like a FORD TravelPilot EX?

[captain hook]

Ford make a 6000 CD Player that plays MP3's

[stevo]

Yet i'm not running any amp? 6x9's are direct to head unit, kicking out max 22rms per speaker lol (speakers are 150rms handling) I understand matching frequency with an amp, but it sounds very random with an aftermarket to do so when no amp involved? Not enough power to justify it i guess.. it's very strange. I may just upgrade to an mp3 standard ford stereo, like a FORD TravelPilot EX?

It doesn't matter whether you have an amp. The stereo might still be too powerful for your speakers, that's what it sounds like to me.

[Feefee]

Ford make a 6000 CD Player that plays MP3's

Ah yea! funny enough i've just bought one today..spotted it and thought RIGHT! lol hopefully that'll be just what I need now thanks

[robbie.cee]

Ive been there done it went back to ford 6000 as the sound is tonnes better with my speakers! Just wanna get my bass bin Up n running now.
I had a sony Flip front 4x 50w Rms head unit, only sounded half decent if i had the D bass on 3!!
You can get a boc that plugs into 6000 to give you a line in for 30quid on eBay !!

[zetor4321]

Another thing to consider I theft

The original stereo is unlikely to attract any undesirables

An alternative is a radio transmitter gadget

You plug your phone/mp3 player into it and then tune it to a dead radio frequency

I use one for my phone and have to say they are very good and easily transfer to a different vehicle

[robbie.cee]

The aux in box guves rca ir 3.5mm jack plug whick olugs straight into phone ir ipod and is as loud as a cd playing!! 30Quid !

[Feefee]

Ive been there done it went back to ford 6000 as the sound is tonnes better with my speakers! Just wanna get my bass bin Up n running now.
I had a sony Flip front 4x 50w Rms head unit, only sounded half decent if i had the D bass on 3!!
You can get a boc that plugs into 6000 to give you a line in for 30quid on eBay !!

Pleased i'm not the only one that has noticed sound difference then! Haha

Yeah I didn't want to buy a decent mp3 player and 30 quid for adapting stereo as by the time i faffed doing that, i may well have bought stereo that does all for same price, i just weighed up pro's and con's really and got 6000cd mp3 built in.

[motovanner]

just replaced my ford 6000 unit with an alpine single din cd/radio which has bluetooth streaming and front usb, and a system thats very smart when an iphone on maps starts talking, it mutes the sound so you can hear directions.

BUT, the sound quality from iphone / ipod whether through streaming or the usb lead, is rubbish.

much better sound from the old cd radio 6000 unit originally fitted which iv kept!.

not impressed with alpine - so looks like its goin to need small powered under seat / in-cab sub to pad out the sound better - i like everything about the alpine unit - except the sound! crazy lol

[Feefee]

just replaced my ford 6000 unit with an alpine single din cd/radio which has bluetooth streaming and front usb, and a system thats very smart when an iphone on maps starts talking, it mutes the sound so you can hear directions.

BUT, the sound quality from iphone / ipod whether through streaming or the usb lead, is rubbish.

much better sound from the old cd radio 6000 unit originally fitted which iv kept!.

not impressed with alpine - so looks like its goin to need small powered under seat / in-cab sub to pad out the sound better - i like everything about the alpine unit - except the sound! crazy lol

Haha Yeah i tried an alpine single din & sony single din all high end prices aswell, but sound is so artificial and 'fake' sounding isn't it? The 6000cd stereo sounds 'real time' and I love that. I have 6x9's in the doors and the bass is lovely without an amp even needed. I swear the 6000cd has automatic 'distortion leveling' inside the unit too, but can't find anything online to suggest this, weird and secretive world eh!

I used a mp3 fm transmitter for a while with the 6000cd, they were pretty good I have to say but I just prefer mp3 cd's. Cant beat good tunage wherever you are!

[AllAboardTheWolfBus]

I haven't replaced the head unit in my Custom, and the stock CD player that came with my old Tourneo (04 model) didn't work, so I couldn't compare the sound, however the 6000CD that was in my '03 Mondeo [url="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9A7qPIlMRns/0.jpg"]this one[/url] was bloody awful, and was quite quickly replaced with a Pioneer X5500DAB. The difference (even without upgrading the stock speakers) was night and day. I can only assume one of the following:

1. poor speakers that can't handle the output
2. poor wiring loom adapter (this is the first thing I'd examine)
3. the aftermarket head unit is not very good