I just got a 2014 Ford Focus SE Hatchback, and not surprisingly, the sound quality is very mediocre, although not the worst I've heard in a factory stereo of a compact car. But I realized that within certain limits it can be improved when I connected my cell phone using Bluetooth and playing music using a great app called Poweramp, which has an EQ and Bass and Treble controls.
In my old car I had a nice Pioneer stereo with 4 speakers of the same brand, and an Infinity 12" subwoofer powered by an amp which name I can't remember right now, all installed by myself, including new cabling. I know that in this case to get that kind of sound I couldn't do it myself, and I would have to take it to some certified technician, but regardless I don't want to change the stereo because I don't want to mess up the car too much. Unfortunately new cars have these stereos that are part of the dashboard instead of a simple separate part that you can simple unscrew and pull out like it used to be up to the 90's. To give you an idea, this is my stereo:
The other reason I don't want to replace it is that the stereo itself, except for the sound quality, is great, and it's all tied together with the Bluetooth functionality that allows me to speak on the phone just by saying call and whatever name I want to call, and talk without touching the phone at all, as well as stream music from the phone.
But as much as the sound improves streaming from Poweramp in the phone, I can only play and pause, not change tracks or albums, without grabbing the phone, and I hate fiddling with the phone while I'm driving, so I wanted to ask the experts here if they know how far can I take this car without replacing the stereo. For example, the glove compartment has a lot of depth, so I was hoping I could put an EQ there, perhaps something like this: Amazon.com : Clarion EQS746 1/2 DIN Graphic Equalizer with Built-in Crossover : Vehicle Equalizers : Car Electronics
Then I was thinking about replacing the speakers for some better ones, and if possible to install my amp and subwoofer, but only if there is a completely safe way to pass the cable that goes to the battery from the amp, and the cable from the amp to the subwoofer. It's a new car so I don't want to start cutting things or drilling, or anything like that. If it can be done without any damage to the car, no matter how small, I'll do it, if not, then so be it.
One thing I was wondering, say for now I just want to put an EQ. Can you just add an EQ to a factory stereo that will get the signal from the speaker outputs and connect the cables that go to the speakers to the outputs of the EQ? I know this could sound horribly wrong, certainly not the way it is with home audio, but I don't know enough about car audio to know if there are some EQs made like that, or if the only way is Stereo>EQ>Amp>Speakers. I know certainly if you use a subwoofer the latter has to be the only way, but this is driving tiny door speakers, so I'm wondering if it's possible.
Thanks
In my old car I had a nice Pioneer stereo with 4 speakers of the same brand, and an Infinity 12" subwoofer powered by an amp which name I can't remember right now, all installed by myself, including new cabling. I know that in this case to get that kind of sound I couldn't do it myself, and I would have to take it to some certified technician, but regardless I don't want to change the stereo because I don't want to mess up the car too much. Unfortunately new cars have these stereos that are part of the dashboard instead of a simple separate part that you can simple unscrew and pull out like it used to be up to the 90's. To give you an idea, this is my stereo:
The other reason I don't want to replace it is that the stereo itself, except for the sound quality, is great, and it's all tied together with the Bluetooth functionality that allows me to speak on the phone just by saying call and whatever name I want to call, and talk without touching the phone at all, as well as stream music from the phone.
But as much as the sound improves streaming from Poweramp in the phone, I can only play and pause, not change tracks or albums, without grabbing the phone, and I hate fiddling with the phone while I'm driving, so I wanted to ask the experts here if they know how far can I take this car without replacing the stereo. For example, the glove compartment has a lot of depth, so I was hoping I could put an EQ there, perhaps something like this: Amazon.com : Clarion EQS746 1/2 DIN Graphic Equalizer with Built-in Crossover : Vehicle Equalizers : Car Electronics
Then I was thinking about replacing the speakers for some better ones, and if possible to install my amp and subwoofer, but only if there is a completely safe way to pass the cable that goes to the battery from the amp, and the cable from the amp to the subwoofer. It's a new car so I don't want to start cutting things or drilling, or anything like that. If it can be done without any damage to the car, no matter how small, I'll do it, if not, then so be it.
One thing I was wondering, say for now I just want to put an EQ. Can you just add an EQ to a factory stereo that will get the signal from the speaker outputs and connect the cables that go to the speakers to the outputs of the EQ? I know this could sound horribly wrong, certainly not the way it is with home audio, but I don't know enough about car audio to know if there are some EQs made like that, or if the only way is Stereo>EQ>Amp>Speakers. I know certainly if you use a subwoofer the latter has to be the only way, but this is driving tiny door speakers, so I'm wondering if it's possible.
Thanks
