CrooklynF150

have a 2011 F150 with the Sony package with navigation, is there a way for me to raise the max volume ? Do i have to change the amp & speakers ? or can i just change the amp? I was told that I can raise the max volume by having the system reprogramed .

GATORB8

There's no way to reprogram the stock setup to be louder, beyond messing with the head unit equalization settings.

It really boils down to your expectations and how much you are willing to spend to meet them.

You can replace the stock speakers with more efficient aftermarket ones and noticeably increase the volume of your mids and highs, the stock subwoofer and amp are matched, and it's unlikely you can swap the sub and see any noticeably improvement.

You can also install a more powerful amplifier using your stock speakers and see a noticeable improvement, but you'll need to be careful with the amount of power to prevent blowing the stock speakers.

Really, the best option is to replace the whole system with new speakers and amps.

kwallace11

I have a 2012 F150 FX4 w/ navigation and sony package and I replace all four door speaker with 350w pioneer speakers and I notice a fair amount of difference in volume/sound quality. I am now thinking about adding an amp to the door speakers what would be the best size/brand amp to use for the price? What is the best way to run the amp to the factory head unit?

GATORB8

I'm assuming you picked up the TS-A6874R set. Ignore the 350W Peak/Max rating, RMS is the only real measurable rating. This is why your 700W Sony system isn't as loud as you want, it's 700W peak.

If I'm assuming correctly, your speakers are rated to take 40W RMS a piece.

Overpowering speakers is not a bad thing necessarily, you do not want to overpower them with a distorted signal, however. I'd look for a 50W RMSx4 amp, make sure you set the gain with the head unit volume at around 60% and you should be getting close to your clean max output. You could probably get away with 75x4 if you want to push it. In the lower price range, sticking with the well known brands will normally net you a good value/performance (Pioneer, Kenwood, etc). With these power levels you can do an A/B class amp with no problem, but you can find more and more class D's now which are not only more efficient, but have a smaller footprint.

I'm assuming the Nav voice only comes out of the speaker in your instrument panel, let me know if that is incorrect.

You can pull an RCA level full range signal from in front of the Sony DSP/Amp. You should be able to set your amp High Pass Filter at around 80hz and blend with the factory sub (at least frequency wise). You may feel that your bass isn't capable of keeping up with your mids/highs after this change, in which case you'll need to upgrade the sub and it's amp as well. If you're gonna end up doing this anyways, you may want to go ahead and spring for a 5 channel amp that can push your sub as well (this may save you money over doing two separate amps).

I'm not positive, but I would assume that the Sony amp is acting as an active crossover splitting the mids to your doors and your highs to your tweeters. This install would also send the highs to your doors, so the stock Sony tweeters will continue to play and may make the highs a little too much, but you could always disconnect them if they are too much.