14 Limited w/Nav - Sound quality isn’t great

[11lariat]

Hey all,
I picked up a low mileage 2014 Limited over the summer, been mostly happy with it so far but the audio leaves something to be desired. I’m not an audiophile by any means and am mostly comparing to the Sony systems in my 2011 F150 and the wife’s 2016 Explorer - both of which sound great to my ears.

My Expy has tweeters in the doors and rear subwoofer, which from what I can tell means it has the ‘audiophile’ stereo - but bass is muddy and highs aren’t there like they are with the Sony.

I guess my question is - has anyone upgraded door speakers and sub while leaving the rest intact? I quite like the factory navigation setup and would like to keep it. Is it worthwhile?

 

[Anchorclanker]

In my 08, I changed the head unit out for a Pioneer dbl din. It really woke up the speakers, both the tweeters and the sub. I didn't have the OEM navigation so that wasn't an issue. The stock head units leave a lot to be desired in that respect.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Jamo]

Same here...'14 EL LTD with tweets and sub. I went from an '04 Tahoe to my EL, the Tahoe had a Bose system that sounded fantastic. That Bose is what sold my old Tahoe... the kid buyer loved it.
There's no way I'll mess with all that electronic crap in the dash to upgrade so I guess I'll just get used to it and live with it. Kind of bums me out every time a favorite song comes on, but it might be the SeriusXM too. I've heard they send a ****** signal????

 

[oldpaddy]

I have a '14 limited and dont have a problem with the sound, but boy does sync and navigation suck. I can't do handsfree texting and the a third of the time the nav doesn't accept the street name or number. It's complete garbage.

 

[barrydu4]

I have owned a 2011 Ford Expedition Limited and now have a 2017 Ford Expedition Limited. I'm 67 years old and have always listened to great music since I was in High School. I'm not an audiophile (?) but the sound systems in both of the Expeditions have worked great for me. From my wife's country stations to my 60's music and rock and roll, the music comes out great. I guess it's in the ear of the listener.

 

[oldpaddy]

I have owned a 2011 Ford Expedition Limited and now have a 2017 Ford Expedition Limited. I'm 67 years old and have always listened to great music since I was in High School. I'm not an audiophile (?) but the sound systems in both of the Expeditions have worked great for me. From my wife's country stations to my 60's music and rock and roll, the music comes out great. I guess it's in the ear of the listener.

I was actually impressed with the sound when I bought the vehicle last year. But I mostly listen to talk radio.

 

[JExpedition07]

OP that is interesting, I’ve read many felt the opposite. My dads F-250 Lariat has the Sony system and the Audiophile system in my Expedition Eddie Bauer seems to knock the socks off his Sony system, maybe it’s the bigger cab in mine. Both are the “premium options” for their respective models/years. The Audiophile system comes with an 8” subwoofer and separate in door tweeters on the Expedition. The Sony system also includes these extras on the Expedition. I’m not sure if the F-Series comes with a subwoofer like the Expeditions premium systems since it doesn’t have the extra room we do. I’d imagine the Expeditions systems are better than the F-150 with the bigger cab and subwoofers. I’d play with the settings.

 

[coupe11]

I have no idea what system is in my 2014 EL Limited but everyone that rides in it tells me how good the radio sounds.

The only issue I have with it is at the volume level we use it seems like one setting is a little too quiet/harder to hear and turning the volume knob 1 click seems a little too loud. Tried the steering wheel controls and it does the same thing.

I'll just live with it.

 

[snellemin]

I have the '14 limited with Nav and agree that the sound kinda sucks. However when playing CD's or the ones loaded onto the built-in jukebox, the sound does improve. That sound quality of the Sirius XM sucks most of the time. BT signal quality is ok, not great. I feel just upgrading the front door speakers and tweeters could improve the situation. Or replacing the actual amp that drives those door speakers. I haven't bothered with either options as of yet.

 

[Jamo]

I agree...mine does sound better with a CD or my old cell phone on Pandora. Must be a ****** signal from Sirius, eh? It should be perfect for $$$ we pay them...

 

[snellemin]

I agree...mine does sound better with a CD or my old cell phone on Pandora. Must be a ****** signal from Sirius, eh? It should be perfect for $$$ we pay them...

I have been messing around with the different stations and I concluded that Sirius older library sounds pretty crappy vs the newer music library that they have. I use Tidal most of the time, to feed my audio needs.

 

[Franklin Jones]

I have been messing around with the different stations and I concluded that Sirius older library sounds pretty crappy vs the newer music library that they have. I use Tidal most of the time, to feed my audio needs.

This.

Bounce between the 80’s channel and something today (like hits one) and you hear the difference immediately.

Same holds for channels with a mix of classics and today, but you have to wait for them to play an older song.

It really is just a lower quality source for some channels.