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Replacing the Mach 460
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Posted by: Dark_Cobra

Whoa...

If you ever change your Mach 460 Head Unit (HU).. Make sure you get a Head Unit with built in HIgh Pass and Low PAss Crossover Ability or your screwed.

I just dodged a bullet.

OMG..

http://www.stangnet.com/Tech-Article...Head-Unit.html

I put the harnesses together last night and I am now ready to test it out once I get my car back..

Posted by: TorchRedSVT

i have heard replacing the mach 460 system is a nightmare. For me the sound quality is actually very good.

I do sometimes miss the two tens I had in my old GT

Posted by: Mustang5L5

Mach 460 is a decent enough stereo for me. I wish I had the 1000, but i'm happy.

Most of the time, my radio is barely on anyway. I like to shift by the sound of the exhaust. It's how i judge if i'm slipping the clutch enough or too little. If i can't hear it, i tend to drive crappy...like Ed

Posted by: roushpwrd

You had a Mach 1000 in your GT??? If so, I didn't know that. I love the 1000....and as Mike said, I too don't keep it too loud unless on the highway. I use the sound to shift also...

Posted by: TorchRedSVT

I didn't have the 1000 in my GT, I built a box with two 10's and spliced into the low pass wire that goes between the factory amps and used that to send signal to the subs. Worked awesome for like three years. Mustang world has a nice article on how to do it.

I believe Jake/Jim has the mach 1000 in that GT...sounded pretty good from what I remember

Posted by: jmac72187

I am happy with the 460. It has pretty decent sound quality. I could care less about bass. I have the bass up anyway.

I am with everyone on never having it up very loud. I like to listen to the car. If I drive in cold weather with the windows up and the music on it feels like I drive badly.

Posted by: 95Cobraman1024

same here, I definitely prefer to hear my Cobras sing. just curious though; is that issue also relevant with 96-98 Mach 460 systems or only the ones which use the DIN setup?

Posted by: Dark_Cobra

I drive the car to listen to the engine as well.. I'm only replacing the HU for the Cruise nIghts and show's when she's sittin pretty..

Posted by: awwyea

My car is too loud to hear the stereo over the exhaust...

Posted by: bullitt5177

Quote:

Originally Posted by awwyea

My car is too loud to hear the stereo over the exhaust...

I actually have the same problem. I'm gonna be upgrading my stereo though, so I can listen to both.

Posted by: MY-S281

When I bought the car the previous owner pretty much stripped out the stock system, I think it had the 460 in it,

they put in some POS stereo that I cant barely hear even if I wanted to and it sounds like every speaker is blown in the car, its either that or they never hooked it up correctly... probably more liekly than not.... I actually prefer the sound of the car over the music and its hard to listen to the music when driving especially with the top down on the highway. anyways I shift more by the sound like many others do,so I am not sure if I will ever bother replacing the junk system he put in unless a deal to good to pass up came along that included the install.....

Posted by: Mustang5L5

I'd say you can prob pick up a Mach 460 for cheap but people still want big money for them!!

I once looked into putting a Mach 1000 into my GT since i loved how Jakes/Jim's sounded. I found it was gonna cost me over $1000 to do it!! For that much i'd go aftermarket. I figured since it was stock components i might get them cheap but aparently not

Posted by: TorchRedSVT

adding the two after market subs to my old GT made a huge difference....the mach system actually allowed me to run a low pass signal to the bass and it helped to clean up the mids and highs through the 460....i was happy with the combo and would definitly do it again if it was ever going down that road.

with the top down though...most of the time im listening to the stingers singin loud

Posted by: 95Cobraman1024

this weekend I added a Pioneer head unit to the Mystics Mach 460 system; I had free install with purchase of the head unit at Circuit City. all that was needed was one harness adapter to connect it to the Pioneer. sounds awesome and cost less than $200 including a 2-year extended warranty.

Posted by: Dark_Cobra

Quote:

Originally Posted by 95Cobraman1024

this weekend I added a Pioneer head unit to the Mystics Mach 460 system; I had free install with purchase of the head unit at Circuit City. all that was needed was one harness adapter to connect it to the Pioneer. sounds awesome and cost less than $200 including a 2-year extended warranty.

That's how simple it is for most installs (after year 2000) .. But you might want to make sure your not running full frequency signals to your tweeters..

Also note that if the pioneer you bought has high and low pass crossover filters built into it you're all set anyways no matter what year car. This could be the case.

Last Note on the 460 and even the new stang audio system:

If there's a popping sound when turning on the radio (it's the amps kicking on with 12 Volts hitting it and not 5V and should be fixed).. You can fix this easily with a 12v-5v regulator from Radio Shack for less than a buck. Wire it inline to the the power going to the amps (there are 2 separate wires for 2 separate amps but you can combine them onto one lead of the regulator.) And of course ground it.. You may also want to mount it to some metal in the dash cause the regulator can run hot.

A member at A&W last night with a newer GT had his Alpine installed recently and talked about this problem existing with the new stangs as well... His radio shop overlooked installing one after he even mentioned it, and had to complete the install by himself.. So I wouldn't trust Circuit City to be on top of the little things like this for the mustang audio systems.

Posted by: Dark_Cobra

I just discovered some more WONDERFUL things about the factory 460 system... The sub Amps are 4 ohms (with bridged/mono signal) and have 2x 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel .. therefore a 4 ohm load is matched to the amp.

If you change out the speakers to 4 ohms (which is 99% of the aftermarket products), you put a 2 ohm load on the system and overheat the Amps.. BAD BAD BAD..

Now I have to replace it all if I want decent replacement speakers..

Posted by: TorchRedSVT

that definitly sucks

Posted by: Dark_Cobra

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorchRedSVT

that definitly sucks

That's what everyone says who has tried to throw in aftermarket speakers.. Amps overheat and go into protection all the time on them when turning it up..

I dug through the schematics at the link below a short time ago and confirmed what everyone has said.. the speakers are 8 ohms for a reason.

Wires 7 and 8 on the amp at the top show parallel wiring.

http://www.stangnet.com/Tech-Article...ad-Unit-8.html

Posted by: Dark_Cobra

They should of used a 2 ohm stable amp .. then things would of been upgradable.. Friggin penny pinchers at Ford suck

Posted by: TorchRedSVT

yeah, i have heard alot of nightmare stories about trying to upgrade the mach 460....