Going for budget SQ build - 2017 Fusion Sport 401a

[optimusprimerib]

While I wait for my sound deadener to arrive, I figured I'd list what I have and ask those of you who no doubt know way more about this than I for recommendations. Thanks in advance, y'all. I love how helpful this community is, and how that hasn't changed much over the years.

First, if I had to pick a handful of bands to represent my varied tastes music, I'd go with Bad Religion (punk), Porcupine Tree (prog rock), Dog Fashion Disco (avante garde metal, experimental rock), Ghost (doom metal), Volbeat (heavy metal, groove metal, rockabilly), Alice In Chains (grunge), and Allegaeon (melodic/technical death metal.) So, go with a sealed box, right?

2017 Ford Fusion Sport 4dr

• 401a audio/nav package
• 12 speakers: 1 3.5" center, 6.5" mids and upper door panel tweeters in each door, rear deck 6x9 center, rear deck 5.25" corners
• 210 Amp alternator
• Sony 8" LCD touchscreen head unit
• Sony OEM 350w amp/DSP
  
  
  
  What I have lying around. I used some of these pieces in my Tundra, and they were working fine there:​

Amps/DSP

• Kicker CXA1800.1​
• Kicker KX1600.1 - used​
• Kicker KX400.4 - used​
• AudioControl D-6.1200​

Subwoofers

• (2) Alpine SWR-10D2 - used
• (2) Pyle 1590BL (LOL, j/k...but I do)

Component speakers

• (2 pairs) Kicker QSS65
• (1 pair) Polk Audio MM6501-used

Coaxial speakers

• (1 pair) Kicker QSC67
• (1 pair) Polk Audio MM651 -used

From my understanding, I can omit the rear fills entirely and just focus on doors & subs for optimal SQ. I believe I'll want to retain the front center for NAV/voice commands, leaving it powered by the OEM amplifier. Also, it makes sense to omit the passive crossovers and let the D-6.1200 handle that.

If that's correct, what are your opinions on which speakers I should use & how to wire them? Should I wire the 2.7 ohm MM6501s in series in the front doors and the 4 ohm QSS65s series/parallel in the rear? Or, should I go with the QSS65s, instead of the Polk components?

Or, shall we use all 4 amps and go bird hunting! Haha! No, I'll probably use the leftovers to retrofit an old jukebox I'm working on.


Thanks,

Kenny

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[marc2112 10+ year member]

I listen to the same kind of music (punk/prog/death) and I use a 12" in a ported box tuned at 32 and it sounds amazing. If you got some wood skills; I really recommend you build a proper ported box for those 10s.

You can use rear speakers if you like your music loud but if you want stereo imaging in you car you should focus on the front stage. I would use that AudioControl amp to power a nice active 3-way setup.

 

[JulesH 10+ year member]

Make sure you treat the doors. It really helps the midbass. If you need help with how to do that, let me know.

3 way will pull the soundstage up. Midbass in door. Midrange and tweeter in the A-pillar might work good for you. But then you need to spend money on mounting the mids and tweets with pods.

Ditch the crossovers, but put a tweeter cap in to protect them.


No rear speakers.

Run separate speaker wire to each speaker so you can tune them separately. No series/parallel stuff.

A good ported box can sound great. But may take up a bit more room.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

I would recommend getting rid of the factory amp completely if you are going SQ. The Sony systems are a PITA. I used a Rockford Fosgate DSR1 with plug and play harness to delete the amp and factory EQ/crossover points.

 

[optimusprimerib]

I would recommend getting rid of the factory amp completely if you are going SQ. The Sony systems are a PITA. I used a Rockford Fosgate DSR1 with plug and play harness to delete the amp and factory EQ/crossover points.

That'd be nice, but I have the 2017 Sport TT V6, which is an even bigger PITA than the Sony system by itself. Everyone says. "harness may not work with 2017 8" LCD Sony amp version", and they're right. Maestro, as well.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

That'd be nice, but I have the 2017 Sport TT V6, which is an even bigger PITA than the Sony system by itself. Everyone says. "harness may not work with 2017 8" LCD Sony amp version", and they're right. Maestro, as well.

Well that sucks. Wonder what changed from 16 to 17 to make it non compatible.

 

[optimusprimerib]

Well that sucks. Wonder what changed from 16 to 17 to make it non compatible.

Yeah, it's a real pain for most of us who own these cars. They have active noise cancelling mics throughout the interior, as well as a rather annoying fake engine noise that's pushed through the factory audio. If you've heard of ForScan, a custom flash seems to be a necessary workaround for a lot of folks' cars. Even then, some still require the mics be physically disabled (pull the headliner.)

 

[optimusprimerib]

Would you guys go with those Kicker QSS54 components, or my old Polk MM6501 set?