My wife has a 2002 EB Expedition and it has the Mach system in it. Can she blow the stock speakers and sub if she has the bass and treble turned all of the way up. I have read through several posts and have not read much about this MACH system. Any help or suggestions would help. I am open to speaker and sub replacement hints also. Ryan

 

I don't know if they have enough power to blow them. I crank mine every now and then and it seems the speakers could handle more power than the amp has to offer.

I'm sure if you keep it cranked a lot, at some point it may do some damage; who knows...

 

It's possible, but depends on the music being played. I'm not sure why you would want the bass and treble turned all of the way up though. When Ford designed this system they tailored the signal level pretty close to the power handling to keep a person from accidentally over driving the speakers. To be safe though I would back off to about 75-80% on the volume, bass and treble controls.

 

She listens to music with alot of heavy bass. Are the speakers that come with the MACH system crappy cardboard or a step above that. I understand that crutchfield has several replacements and I am not oposed to putting a little better speaker in her Expedition if it will sound better for her. I looked at the sub lastnight and it felt like it had a molded bumpy plastic surface. I have never seen a sub that looked like it before. Thanks for all of the help. Ryan.

 

AINTNOTOY, You are correct that the ford speakers are a step above paper cone types but not by very much. I don't think that she will blow the speakers but you have to take into consideration wear! A speaker moves in and out to make sound. The louder the music the more it moves in and out. With the music she listens to, dance and hip hop, causes changes in tones that are very drastic. Each bass note causes the speaker to push the cone to its excursion limit. Upgrading speakers, well here is my suggestion, if you like music and plan on keeping your ride for a while then yes upgrade, preferably to a 3-way speaker. If the answer is no, then it is fine to use the mach system BUT the volume should never be played beyond the speakers limits. Limits are set by distortion. This is when the music is no longer clear and crisp. More like sloppy and unmanaged. This my friend is no good.

 

A fairly inexpensive replacement speaker and one that's user freindly to install would be replacing the 4 speakers in the doors with the Polk DX7. These can be had on Ebay for under $100.00 a pair and will definitely improve the sound. Another upgrade to look at would be replacing the subwoofer inclosure with a Thunderform Sub setup from MTX. This is also a drop in replacement, but will take a little more work, but it will be hiden away in place of the factory sub. You might want to consult a car stereo shop about installing it. This sub is available powered or unpowered, but the unpowered one would probably require an aftermarket external amp to get the most out of it and would require a little more work in configuring it properly. This upgrade would be fairly inexpensive and would dramatically improve the sound over the stock system. If you don't want to mess with the subwoofer, then the door speakers alone for under $200.00 would definitely be a big improvement. Good luck.

 

I dont have a MACH system but I do listen to music with the bass all the way up. I used to anyway. My front passenger speaker has started to rattle. Its an annoying sound that comes on when I put the bass higher then 1/4 of the way now. So yes its possible to damage the speakers. It says premium on the speaker covers but Iam not sure if thats exactly true. I think I might buy a new set of Xplode or something similar.

 

Well I ordered some new speakers from crutchfields and will have them friday. They are putting some Kenwood speakers in the front and some JBL in the back. I also ordered the direct replacement sub from MTX for an extra $400.00. They are sending all of the correct wire harness and ensured me a very easy install. I will let everone know how it goes. Ryan

 

Hey gas guzzler, go for pioneer, it's better than xPlod....

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I know pioneer is a good company but I heard that you can get a good deal on xplode. I will go to best buy and check ot the quality of the speakers first or try to get them on ebay.

 

If she play's some of that THX Bass test stuff, She could blow them, I cant turn mine up much, it raddles everything to bad. I would like to replace my speakers with some Alpines, but I'm not shure how they will sound.