Baltimore Client Gets Ford F150 Stealth Stereo System

A client from Baltimore, Maryland, came to WSS Westminster Speed & Sound looking to get an F150 stealth stereo system for his 2012 Ford. He had read some of our build posts on F150s and had heard good things about us, so he gave us a call. We scheduled an audio consultation with him so we could get to know him better, and to look over his truck with him. One of our team members spent significant time on looking over his vehicle and asking questions about his goals for the audio upgrade. At that point, they went into our sound room and started listening to equipment. When they were finished, we worked up a proposal for the client based on all of the information we had gathered. He liked our idea, and we made an installation appointment.

Factory Radio Retains Features in this F150 Stealth Stereo Upgrade

We were able to retail the factory radio and add in better components for the rest of the system.

The factory radio in this F150 had all the features the client needed.

This 2012 F150 had the base-level audio system, so it did not have an external amplifier. It did have factory Bluetooth and Sync, and the client wanted to keep that functionality. We decided to keep the factory radio intact in the dash, which also met his goal of keeping the install completely “stealth.”

Audison Processor Allows Detailed Tuning

We fed the musical signal coming out of the factory stereo into an Audison bit Ten processor. This particular device strips any equalization out of the music that the Ford radio adds in, leaving with the original musical signal, which is what we wanted. The bit Ten also allowed us to individually tune each and every speaker we added to the vehicle. That provided us with control over crossover points and slope, gain, digital delay and 31 bands of equalization for each and every speaker. In the hands of a skilled tuner, the Audison processor can do incredible things to the sound quality of the audio system. It takes you out of the small box called a truck and makes you think you are in a large studio listening to the band playing right in front of you. The sound is not biased toward the door closest to you but, rather, stages across the dash in lifelike detail.

Great Amplifier Solution From JL Audio

JL Audio’s HD series of amplifiers provide lots of great sounding power in a small footprint.

We mounted the JL Audio amplifier knob in an easy spot to reach for the driver. The knob provides control of the subwoofer volume.

The music now travels to a JL Audio HD900/5 amplifier that will power the front speakers and the subwoofer, supplying over 900 watts of clean power to the system. We made a custom amp rack to hold the JL amplifier and the Audison processor behind the rear seat, completely hidden from view.

We flushed a bass level control knob into the dash to the right of the steering column, giving the client easy level adjustments for his subwoofer.

Hertz Speakers For High Performance Sound

The anemic factory speaker was very weak and tinny sounding.

Our solution for better sound was to upgrade the speakers with the Hertz Hi-Energy components.

The Hertz tweeters fit perfectly behind the factory tweeter grill in the A-pillar.

Once our work in the door was done, it looked completely stock, but sounded so much better.

When it came time for front speakers, we chose Hertz HSK165.4 component speakers. That included a 6.5” woofer that we installed in the front doors on a custom mount, and a 1” tweeter that we installed in the factory location in the A-pillars. We treated the front doors with Hushmat damping material to eliminate the possibility of any buzzing or rattling that may occur from the installation of high-performance speakers.

JL Audio Stealthbox For Nearly Invisible Bass

The JL Audio Stealthbox is nearly invisible thanks to its small size and perfectly matched carpet.

It is hard to believe so much great sound comes from this little package.

The Stealthbox is securely mounted with supplied brackets. There is still underseat storage available on the passenger side, too.

Any good audio system needs a subwoofer to reproduce the lowest frequencies of music, such as a kick drum or bass guitar, so we went back to JL Audio for the F150 and chose their Stealthbox. It is a unique product, housing a 13TW5v2-2, 13.5” subwoofer in a fiberglass enclosure that is color-matched to the vehicle. It gets bolted into position underneath the driver’s side rear seat, looking factory-equipped when installed.

Rear Speakers Retained

The team at WSS Westminster Speed & Sound chose to leave the factory rear speakers playing off the rear channels in the Ford radio. Under normal circumstances, there is no reason for rear speakers, as they don’t add anything to the music. But when he has people in the backseat and wants to give them music, he simply fades the sound toward the rear.

Extensive Tuning Yields Great Results

Once the installation was complete, the install team spent lots of time on tuning the system in the vehicle. As we chose to have independent channels of amplification for the woofers and tweeters up front, the tuning became even more important. The good news is that, when we were done tuning it, it sounded incredible – music staged so beautifully across the top of the dash, and with such clarity and depth that you wanted to sit and listen for hours. We imagine the client will no longer mind traffic jams, but now might look forward to them!

When the client came to pick up his vehicle, he was overwhelmed at how the vehicle sounded, while it looked completely stock. He said we not only achieved his goals but exceeded them. And that made our day.

When you are in the market to upgrade the audio system in your vehicle, we invite you to stop by WSS Westminster Speed & Sound and get to know us better. Let us show you why we have been chosen as one of the Top Mobile Electronics Retailers in the nation for five years running.

You can also contact us here for more information about any of our products and services.