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how bad is the factory amp really?

S

salex

New CEG'er
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
5
Reading through the sticky threads, I see that there seems to be consensus that the factory amp in my CSVT is, uh, less than state-of-the-art. I've gotten tired of not having an aux plug and so have decided to replace the HU. That said, I don't spend enough time in the car to make it worthwhile to go to the extreme that some of you have.

My question then is, if I'm only replacing the HU and if I'm going to spend <$200 on it, am I better off bypassing the factory amp or using it? I get the impression that the answer is to bypass it, but want to make sure that I'm not misunderstanding the context for the prior posts on the topic.

Thanks,
Scott
'00 silver CSVT
 
BYPASS IT!!! When I got my SVT the previous owner had a P.O.S Sony running threw the factory amp so I just hooked mine up the same way, it was quick and easy. After reading about so many C.E.G. members bypassing the amp, I took the time to get a harness and, bypass the P.O.S factory amp. I have a lower end Alpine... 50 watts per channel... and it sounds noticeably better off the head unit....Cleaner, punchier, more bass, Just plane better sounding. Use the factory amp for a paper weight!!!
 
Thanks for the quick response. It's kind of impressive that with the larger space, etc., they couldn't do an amp that's at least as good as what can be crammed inside of an HU.

Thanks,
Scott
 
There is also over 10 years worth of technological innovations between the factory amp and newer HU's. For example, my HU has a MOSFET amp built in, which produces a cleaner signal than the factory amp could ever hope for. The factory amp probably wasn't bad for it's day, it just can't keep pace with the advent of technology.

Bypass the old amp, def. worth the effort.
 
Thanks to all. I'll bypass it. I am kind of amazed that Ford did such a crappy job. Even given technology changes, MOSFETs were readily available 10 years ago. From my rudimentary knowledge of EE, usually the problems for an amp should be either power consumption, heat dissipation, or space for components. Being a large, external unit, they should have been able to do well on the latter two categories. And in a car, power consumption shouldn't be an issue for the amount of power that we're talking about assuming they weren't planning for people to run the thing at high volumes from the battery for hours.

Ah well. This won't be the last time I wonder what the guys at Ford were thinking. But given what you guys have said, I'm really looking forward to hearing the new HU w/o factory amp. It sounds like I may get more than convenience out of this.

Thanks,
Scott
 
And just as a final follow-up. I ended up with a Kenwood KDC-HD545U. I'm amazed at how much better it sounds than the stock setup. I don't know how much of that is due to the amp, the HU, and possibly even better sources. Nonetheless, I wish I'd done this years ago. Bypassing the amp with the Crutchfield kit was easy (though I did cut off several feet of extra wire from their speaker wiring harness.)

Thanks for all the help.
 
Salex,
I just went through the same experience in my contour, and I feel the exact same way...amazing improvement! I installed an Eclipse CD-5030 HU and used the Crutchfield amp bypass kit (also cut off several feet...wish I had cut more actually). You can get a set (4) of good 6x8 speakers for probably close to $100. I have some Kenwood 3 way 6x8's in my car and I think all 4 cost $100-120 ish from Crutchfield a couple of years ago. The door panels are pretty easy to get off, especially w/ the Crutchfield instructions.
 
MOSFET amps have been around since the 1970's guys. And have been popular and common place since the 80's All you have to do is look at any given Ford from the 80's-90's to realize they just didn't give a crap about audio. If you wanted a good factory system you had to get one of their Bose or Mach packages. If you want an example of Fords lack of effort in your own car, for one, they didn't use rear deck speakers to provide any sort of bass. And 2, take a flashlight and shine it through the speaker grills in your doors. You'll see that the grill is not lined up with the speaker at all and half of the speaker is firing into the door panel.
Go Ford!
 
True about the Mach 460. Sally, my roomate, has a 95 Mustang GT 'vert with that system in it. Sounds really good, even after all this time. We added a sub, but the rest of the system was so good she didn't want to mess with it.

And my point about the MOSFET systems wasn't that they were new, but that they are now pretty much standard fare for any head unit, which is going to help it sound better that the "Premium" sound systems that do not have it.
 
getsum111 said:
True about the Mach 460. Sally, my roomate, has a 95 Mustang GT 'vert with that system in it. Sounds really good, even after all this time. We added a sub, but the rest of the system was so good she didn't want to mess with it.

And my point about the MOSFET systems wasn't that they were new, but that they are now pretty much standard fare for any head unit, which is going to help it sound better that the "Premium" sound systems that do not have it.
Click to expand...

Thats because the Mach system used seperates with 7.5" woofers, 2.5" tweeters and seperate amps. They were even built into their own tuned enclosures. (as opposed to a the contours wonderful speakers just sitting in the doors) IIRC, even the mid/high speaker in the sail panel had its own custom enclosure with a tuned port on it.
 
Can i PLEASE get a picture of exaxtly what the wires and stuff look like if the amp is by passed!!!!!!!!!!! i have no idea what im doing! i bought the kit and have no clue on how to hook it up and its driving me crazy!!
 
The ONLY decent sound system ford ever installed at he factory was the JBL high-end stereos in the early SHOs. Only factory system I have ever seen with a decent sub box and amp. It was and still is very rare for OEM to be worth keeping.

My previous owner tried to bypass the amp by splicing, wish me luck on fixing that rat's nest LOL
 
topgearsvt said:
Can i PLEASE get a picture of exaxtly what the wires and stuff look like if the amp is by passed!!!!!!!!!!! i have no idea what im doing! i bought the kit and have no clue on how to hook it up and its driving me crazy!!
Click to expand...

It's pinned right at the top of the audio FAQ, it will walk you through it
 
so if you knew which speaker was which and you knew what colors went to which speakers couldn't you just compleatly forget about that plug and take the time to wire the speaker wires directly to the HU?
 
I did that but afer i did there was no sound! I dont know what i did wrong... i matched each wire up perfectly by labeling it using a drill battery to find out which wires go to which speakers and then matched those speakers to there corresponding colors and it didn't work!:help::help:
 
CarpePoon said:
MOSFET amps have been around since the 1970's guys. And have been popular and common place since the 80's All you have to do is look at any given Ford from the 80's-90's to realize they just didn't give a crap about audio. If you wanted a good factory system you had to get one of their Bose or Mach packages. If you want an example of Fords lack of effort in your own car, for one, they didn't use rear deck speakers to provide any sort of bass. And 2, take a flashlight and shine it through the speaker grills in your doors. You'll see that the grill is not lined up with the speaker at all and half of the speaker is firing into the door panel.
Go Ford!
Click to expand...

Here's to wishing Ford had made a more than premium system which should have included an 8 inch sub in the rear deck.
 
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